The accolades continue to roll in for Houston West African, fast-casual restaurant, ChòpnBlọk. Most recently, the Montrose restaurant featured on New York Times‘ list of the America’s Best Restaurants 2025.
As the fifth edition of the list, New York Times dispatched a fleet of 14 food editors, who visited, reviewed, and researched over 200 restaurants across 33 U.S. states. Through its culinary assessment, the publication compiled its list, in no numerical order.
The only Houston restaurant list to make New York Times’ list is ChòpnBlọk. Founded by James Beard Award-semifinalist Ope Amosu, ChòpnBlọk was initially conceived as a pop-up dinner series before opening as a food stall in POST. In 2024, Amosu opened a brick-and-mortar at 507 Westheimer Rd. in Montrose.
ChòpnBlọk was one of four Texas restaurants to make the list. New York Times‘ reporter, Priya Krishna, wrote up the Houston restaurants among the other Texas features, saying the following:
“In a world of sad salads shoveled out of cardboard, ChòpnBlọk is a delightful antidote to the slop bowl era.”
Krishna also commended the restaurant on its full-service expansion, including small bites and cocktails at its Montrose location. The reported hailed Chopnblok as her restaurant of the year.
ChòpnBlọk staples include the Buka Blok Pairing – a naive West African red stew with steamed rice & beans, boneless short rib and sweet plantains – and the Golden Bowl – smokey jollof jambalaya, curry, blok chicken, yaji vegetables, and stewed plantains.
Earlier this year, ChòpnBlọk featured on Southern Living‘s list of “The 20 Best New Restaurants In The South“. The publication praised Amosu for championing “his roots with dishes that sing, like a Scotch Egg reimagined with Southern-inspired deviled filling and a spin on traditional jollof as ‘jambalaya’ with BBQ-style smoked sausage.”
Other Texas restaurants to make the publication’s list of the country’s best restaurants include Isidore in San Antonio and Lao’d Bar and P Thai’s Khao Man Gai & Noodles in Austin.