Best Po-Boys in Houston: 8 Shops Ranked by Bread and Filling

Houston has had a Louisiana po-boy scene since before most cities had one at all. The eight shops in this guide run from a 1962 original that food writers call part of “the city’s food DNA” to a Michelin-recognized Midtown kitchen serving Gulf shrimp on Leidenheimer bread shipped from New Orleans. Here is where to go.

What is a po-boy?

A po-boy is a Louisiana sandwich built on New Orleans French bread — a loaf with a thin, shattering crust and a soft, airy interior. The name dates to 1929, when New Orleans brothers Bennie and Clovis Martin fed striking streetcar workers at their restaurant for free. “Here comes another poor boy,” they would say whenever a striking worker walked through the door.

Leidenheimer Baking Company, founded in New Orleans in 1896 by German-Austrian immigrant George Leidenheimer, still makes the benchmark loaf. The most popular fillings are fried Gulf shrimp, fried oysters, and roast beef debris — shredded meat and drippings from a slow-cooked roast, ladled back over the beef in dark gravy. “Fully dressed” means the sandwich comes with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayo.

Why Houston has so many

Houston and Louisiana share an economy. The oil industry linked the two states from the early 20th century, and refinery, port, and pipeline work brought steady waves of Cajun and Creole workers — and their food — west across the Sabine River. The Louisiana diaspora grew sharply after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when more than 200,000 Louisiana residents relocated to Houston, including restaurant workers and the cooks who ran small family shops.

Here is the part most Houston food histories leave out: the city’s oldest surviving po-boy brand was started not by a Louisiana transplant but by a Lebanese and Syrian immigrant named Jalal Antone, who in 1962 opened a shop in the Fourth Ward. His original plan was to serve Levantine food to the city’s Middle Eastern immigrant community. His brother-in-law told him customers would not know what to order, so Antone pivoted to sandwiches — specifically po-boys. By the 1990s Antone’s had grown to about fifteen locations. The Original, a cold-pressed ham, salami, and provolone with chow chow relish, is still a Houston staple.

The quick list

• The Houston original since 1962: Antone’s Famous Po’Boys, multiple citywide locations.
• The oldest dedicated po-boy kitchen: Ragin’ Cajun, serving po-boys at 4302 Richmond Ave since 1974.
• Most locations in the metro: BB’s Tex-Orleans, 12 locations across greater Houston.
• Best downtown stop: 1929 Po-Boy Kitchen inside Lyric Market at 411 Smith St.
• Best with cocktails: Winnie’s in Midtown, po-boys on Leidenheimer with a full bar.
• Best in the Heights: Field & Tides, Gulf Coast seasonal kitchen at 705 E. 11th St.
• Critically acclaimed: Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition, 318 Gray St, Midtown.
• Cold-pressed old-school: Paulie’s Poboys, two Houston-area locations on Bellaire and Westheimer.

How we chose

Every shop on this list was confirmed open via its official website or official social page in October 2026. We required a po-boy on the current menu (French bread sandwich with Gulf seafood or roast beef), a Houston metro address, and current hours posted publicly. We left out places where only a third-party delivery app listed hours and shops we could not confirm were still operating. Hours change: treat every schedule below as typical and check the restaurant’s site before you go.

Antone’s Famous Po’Boys — the Houston original

Multiple locations: 4520 San Felipe (Galleria area) and 2724 W T C Jester Blvd · typically Monday–Friday 10 AM–7 PM, Saturday–Sunday 10 AM–5 PM; check before going

Jalal Antone opened the first Antone’s shop on Taft Street in 1962, planning to serve Levantine food to Houston’s Lebanese and Syrian immigrant community. His brother-in-law convinced him that local customers would not know what to order, so Antone pivoted to po-boys. The Original — cold-pressed ham, Genoa salami, provolone, and chow chow relish on a French roll — is described by food writers as being in the city’s food DNA the way Shipley Do-Nuts is. It accounts for a large share of sales and has since the 1960s.

By the 1990s Antone’s had expanded to roughly fifteen locations. The brand went through ownership changes after Jalal’s death in 1974 and a long family dispute; Legacy Restaurants revived it. The current Houston locations are spread across the metro, making this the most convenient shop on the list for a weekday lunch.

What to order: The Original (cold, with chow chow). The fried oyster version is the hot upgrade.

Ragin’ Cajun — fifty-plus years on Richmond Avenue

4302 Richmond Ave, Afton Oaks area, and 1725 Wirt Rd, Spring Branch · typically Monday–Thursday 11 AM–9 PM, Friday–Saturday to 9:30 PM; check current hours

The Mandola family — the same family behind several Houston restaurant institutions — opened this kitchen in 1974 as “Ray Hay’s Cajun Po-Boys on Richmond Avenue.” By 1980 it had become Ragin’ Cajun. The original Richmond Avenue location has not moved since it opened, making it one of the longest-running po-boy shops in Houston at the same address. The kitchen’s stated philosophy: no frills, just real, honest food.

The foundation of every sandwich here is an 8-inch toasted French baguette, fully dressed with lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, and ketchup, served with fries or hush puppies on the side. The roast beef debris — slow-cooked beef shredded back into dark pan drippings — is the order that separates Ragin’ Cajun from every chain Cajun concept in the city.

What to order: Roast beef debris, fully dressed. Gulf shrimp for the classic. Both come on a toasted baguette.

BB’s Tex-Orleans — the most locations in the metro

12-plus locations across greater Houston including 2701 White Oak Dr (The Heights), 3139 Richmond Ave (Upper Kirby), 515 Westheimer Rd (Montrose), 6154 Westheimer Rd (Briargrove), and more · hours vary by location; check the website

BB’s Tex-Orleans is the most accessible entry point on this list. With twelve locations spread across the metro — Heights, Montrose, Upper Kirby, Galleria, Katy, Kingwood, Pearland, and more — there is almost certainly a shop near you. Every location serves the Bedtime in the Bayou (fried Gulf shrimp on Leidenheimer bread, fully dressed with remoulade) and the Midnight Masterpiece (slow-cooked roast beef debris on Leidenheimer with dark gravy). Both sandwiches use Leidenheimer bread imported from New Orleans.

BB’s also runs crawfish boils, gumbo, frozen daiquiris, and fried seafood alongside the po-boys, so it works for a mixed group. Locations vary by closing day, so confirm hours on their site before you make the drive. More on the Cajun side of the menu in our Houston crawfish guide.

What to order: Bedtime in the Bayou for fried shrimp. Midnight Masterpiece for roast beef debris.

1929 Po-Boy Kitchen — the dedicated downtown stop

Lyric Market food hall, 411 Smith St, Downtown Houston · Sunday–Wednesday 11 AM–9 PM, Thursday–Saturday 11 AM–10 PM. Second location: 911 E NASA Pkwy, Clear Lake · Sunday–Thursday 9 AM–8 PM, Friday–Saturday 9 AM–9 PM

The kitchen takes its name from the year the po-boy was born — 1929, when the Martin brothers promised to feed every striking streetcar worker who came in. The menu at the Downtown Lyric Market location is the most po-boy-focused on this list: po-boys, gumbo, yakamein, jambalaya, and fried seafood platters, nothing more. The sandwich lineup covers fried catfish, fried shrimp, fried oysters, soft-shell crab, and the Peacemaker (fried oysters and roast beef together), all with remoulade.

The Lyric Market food hall at 411 Smith Street puts you in the middle of Downtown without committing to a full-service restaurant. For more eating and drinking nearby, see our Downtown Houston restaurant guide.

What to order: Fried catfish po-boy for something distinctly Gulf Coast. The Peacemaker for the New Orleans tradition.

Winnie’s — Leidenheimer bread and cocktails in Midtown

3622 Main St, Midtown Houston · typically 11 AM–11:45 PM daily; check before going

Winnie’s is a cocktail bar and sandwich shop that serves po-boys on Leidenheimer bread. The Peacemaker — fried oysters and roast beef together, fully dressed — is the classic order. The rotating specials include a Truth BBQ Smoked Turkey Po-Boy, which pairs Leidenheimer bread with smoked turkey from Truth BBQ, one of the city’s respected barbecue joints. That kind of local cross-pollination is what Houston does with Gulf Coast food.

Winnie’s stays open late into the evening, which makes it a natural Midtown stop before or after a night out. It is on the same stretch of Main Street as several bars and music venues.

What to order: The Peacemaker. Or the Truth BBQ Smoked Turkey special if it’s on the board that day.

Field & Tides — Gulf Coast seasonal in the Heights

705 E 11th St, The Heights · Monday–Thursday 11 AM–9 PM, Friday 11 AM–10 PM, Saturday–Sunday 10 AM–9 or 10 PM; check for current hours

Field & Tides is the one shop on this list that does not use Leidenheimer bread — the seafood po-boy here is built on a French roll from Kraftsmen Baking, the Houston bakery that has been making European-style bread in the city since 1998. Whether that is better or worse depends on your loyalties.

Chef Travis Lenig’s cornmeal-crusted shrimp and oyster po-boy changes with the catch and the season. The version described in other guides may not be the one on the menu when you arrive; that is intentional. The kitchen follows Gulf Coast sourcing rather than a fixed recipe.

Field & Tides participated in Houston Restaurant Weeks 2026, which makes it the most reservation-friendly option on this list. For more nearby options, see our Heights restaurant guide.

What to order: The seafood po-boy. Ask your server what is in the cornmeal crust that day.

Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition — critically acclaimed in Midtown

318 Gray St, Midtown Houston · Monday–Wednesday 11 AM–3 PM and 5–10 PM; check official site for current days and hours

Josephine’s has earned wide critical recognition and takes Gulf Coast seafood as seriously as any kitchen in the city. The shrimp po-boy is built on Leidenheimer bread with Blue Plate mayo — the New Orleans mayonnaise brand that is the traditional choice for po-boys in Louisiana. The menu also covers raw oysters, gumbo, muffuletta, shrimp and grits, and fried chicken.

This is not a Cajun-themed restaurant doing approximations. The kitchen treats Gulf seafood with the same attention a tasting-menu spot would give to prime beef. It is the most restaurant-level option on this list.

Josephine’s runs split hours, closed some days, so confirm before going. More nearby options in our Midtown Houston restaurant guide.

What to order: Gulf shrimp po-boy on Leidenheimer, fully dressed with Blue Plate mayo. Add a cup of gumbo.

Paulie’s Poboys — the cold-press tradition

3823 Bellaire Blvd, Meyerland area · Monday–Saturday 9 AM–7 PM, Sunday 10 AM–5 PM. Also: 11805 Westheimer Rd, Ste 360, west Houston · Monday–Friday 10 AM–5 PM, Saturday 10 AM–4 PM, closed Sunday

Paulie’s keeps alive the cold-press tradition that Antone’s brought to Houston: a New Orleans-style po-boy built on French bread with Italian deli meats, provolone, and chow chow relish. The Supreme (ham, salami, provolone, chow chow) is the starting order. Paulie’s also does a muffuletta — the round Sicilian-bread sandwich of New Orleans that shares the same Italian-immigrant origin story as the Antone’s Original. Side by side, the two sandwiches tell the story of how New Orleans cuisine absorbed the city’s 19th-century Italian immigration.

Paulie’s closes earlier than the rest of this list, and the Westheimer location is closed Sundays. Check hours before you make the drive.

What to order: The Supreme po-boy. Or the muffuletta, to compare the two New Orleans Italian-immigrant sandwiches.

Fried shrimp or roast beef debris: which to order first?

Order fried shrimp on a first visit for the Gulf Coast baseline — the combination of crisp batter, sweet Gulf shrimp, and tangy remoulade on shattering French bread is the reason po-boys spread from New Orleans. Order roast beef debris when you want something richer: slow-cooked beef shredded back into dark pan drippings, then piled onto bread with the gravy soaking in. The debris is what separates a serious roast beef po-boy from an ordinary roast beef sandwich, and it is the test a kitchen either passes or does not.

Does the bread matter?

Yes, significantly. Leidenheimer bread has a crust-to-crumb ratio that shatters differently from most local French bread, and several Houston shops import it to preserve that character. BB’s Tex-Orleans, Winnie’s, Josephine’s, and 1929 Po-Boy Kitchen all use Leidenheimer. Field & Tides uses a Kraftsmen Baking French roll, which is the best local substitute. Antone’s and Ragin’ Cajun use their own French bread, suited to the style of sandwich each shop makes.

Save this: a three-stop po-boy crawl

Never drive between stops if you’ve been drinking — use a rideshare or plan ahead.

1. Start at Antone’s (San Felipe location, Galleria area) for the Original — cold-pressed ham, salami, and provolone, the sandwich that put po-boys on Houston’s map in 1962.
2. Head south on Kirby to Ragin’ Cajun (Richmond Ave) for a hot fried shrimp or roast beef debris — the Richmond Avenue institution since 1974.
3. Finish in Midtown at Josephine’s (318 Gray St) or Winnie’s (3622 Main St) for Gulf oysters, a final po-boy, or a cocktail to close the night.

For more Louisiana-influenced cooking in Houston, see our best Cajun restaurants in Houston guide and best seafood restaurants in Houston.

Last verified: October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the oldest po-boy restaurant in Houston?

Antone’s Famous Po’Boys, founded in 1962 by Jalal Antone in the Fourth Ward, is the city’s oldest surviving po-boy brand. Ragin’ Cajun on Richmond Avenue has served po-boys at the same address since 1974.

Which Houston po-boy shops use real Leidenheimer bread?

BB’s Tex-Orleans, Winnie’s, Josephine’s Gulf Coast Tradition, and 1929 Po-Boy Kitchen all use Leidenheimer bread imported from New Orleans. Field & Tides uses Kraftsmen Baking’s French roll, the best local substitute.

What does ‘fully dressed’ mean on a po-boy?

Fully dressed means the po-boy comes with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayonnaise — the standard New Orleans dressing. If you want to customize, order it plain or ask for specific toppings.

What is roast beef debris?

Roast beef debris is the shredded beef and drippings from a slow-cooked roast, stirred back into the dark pan gravy and served on the sandwich. It is the filling that distinguishes a serious roast beef po-boy from an ordinary roast beef sandwich.

Where can I get a po-boy near downtown Houston?

1929 Po-Boy Kitchen is inside Lyric Market at 411 Smith Street in Downtown Houston, open Sunday through Wednesday 11 AM to 9 PM and Thursday through Saturday 11 AM to 10 PM.

What is a Peacemaker po-boy?

A Peacemaker is a po-boy stuffed with both fried oysters and roast beef — a classic New Orleans combination. Both 1929 Po-Boy Kitchen at Lyric Market and Winnie’s in Midtown Houston serve a version of it.