Houston had a busy September. A roundup from the Houston Chronicle counts 15 new restaurants and cafes that opened around the city last month, and the range is exactly why I keep telling people Houston is one of the most underrated eating cities in America. Burgers sitting right next to fine dining on the same list, and nobody in Houston finds that strange.

The headline name to know: Justin Yu and Bobby Heugel opened a new concept together. If you follow Houston food at all, you know those two names carry weight, and for me the pairing alone could pull a drive down from Austin on a weeknight. Details on the concept itself are still settling, but when two people this respected in the same city team up, you plan around the opening.

Burger Bodega also expanded. I haven't been yet, so I can't tell you what the burgers are like, but the name has been sitting on my Houston list for a while and an expansion feels like a good enough excuse to finally go. And if a burger place is growing in this city, of all cities, somebody's doing something right. I'll report back once I've eaten my way through it.

The rest of the 15 run the full spread, burgers to fine dining. That mix is the Houston thing. You can eat one of the best meals of your life at a strip-mall Vietnamese restaurant for 14 dollars and then drop real money on a tasting menu the next night, and both meals are correct. The city doesn't sort itself into neat categories, and the new-opening list shows it.

If you're planning a trip, don't try to hit all 15. Pick three. Make the Yu-Heugel spot one of them if you can get a reservation, add Burger Bodega for lunch, and fill the third slot with whatever place on the list is closest to where you're staying. Houston traffic is not a joke, and two relaxed meals beat four frantic ones every time.

I keep a running list of cities I want to revisit before the end of the year, and Houston just moved up a few spots. New openings from people this good don't stay quiet for long.