Rodeo Houston honors top-rated restaurants and wineries in annual culinary awards

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo kicks off with annual wine and food competition

HOUSTON – The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo officially began Sunday with the annual Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup & Best Bites Competition. Thousands of attendees in cowboy boots gathered at the NRG Center to participate in the massive food and wine showcase on Feb. 22, 2026.

This year’s competition featured nearly 500 wines and thousands of dishes from 25 countries. Oregon was the featured region of the event, contributing more than 200 entries to the field.

Chimney Rock Cabernet Sauvignon took home the evening’s top honor, winning Grand Champion Best of Show.

In the culinary categories, catering company Cotton Culinary earned the first-place People’s Choice award. Creole Kitchen and Daiquiris received first place for best presentation, while Coppa Osteria won the award for top traditional dish.

Several local businesses earned recognition, including Giselle Hauser’s Guzel Cakes, which took second place in the dessert category. The event served as a platform for various chefs and restaurateurs to showcase their products, ranging from Common Bond Cafe’s croissants to Malbec from 5 Fifty-Five Vineyard and Winery.

The festivities continue Thursday with the Bar-B-Que Contest. Rodeo Houston will officially run from March 2 through March 22.

HOUSTON — Beyond the spectacle of the traditional livestock show, the Rodeo Uncorked! competition has emerged as a critical bellwether for Houston’s shifting economic landscape. Historically defined by its hydrocarbon and ranching dominance, the city is increasingly leveraging its culinary and viticulture sectors to signal a more diversified and resilient local economy.

Data and anecdotal evidence from the event suggest that the competition now serves as a high-stakes incubator for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The transition of entrepreneurs like Giselle Hauser—who pivoted from the petroleum sector to launch Guzel Cakes—illustrates a broader structural shift in Houston’s labor market and entrepreneurship pipeline. For many local players, securing a spot at the Rodeo is a strategic move for brand equity; Hauser’s success in scaling from a startup to a retail fixture in major supermarkets highlights the event's role in market penetration.

Similarly, the emergence of the Texas wine industry at the event underscores a significant inflection point for regional agribusiness. According to Tom Kilgore of 5 Fifty-Five Vineyard, the local wine sector is currently navigating a "moment of prominence," utilizing the Rodeo’s platform to challenge established national incumbents and gain commercial recognition.

The diversity of the winners—spanning Creole, Italian, and Southern comfort cuisines—reflects the city’s evolving demographic and commercial profile. For industry veterans like Chef Jason Gould, the event is less about the festival atmosphere and more about the integration of local restaurants into a robust business ecosystem. By providing critical networking infrastructure and exposure to a high-net-worth audience, the Rodeo has cemented itself as a vital component of Houston’s economic development strategy, fostering growth far beyond the arena.

For Houston’s thriving Vietnamese-American community—a major economic and cultural hub for the diaspora—events like Rodeo Uncorked! carry significant weight. Although no specific Vietnamese businesses were highlighted, the event serves as a prime example of the opportunities available to local entrepreneurs. This is an arena where the community is incredibly active, expanding its footprint from established mainstays like phở restaurants and the nail salon industry into broader culinary and commercial sectors. For small business owners across Little Saigon and the greater Houston area, these success stories provide the inspiration needed to scale their operations and showcase their products to a mainstream, diverse audience.