Caracol



Cuisine

Mexican, Seafood



Meal Periods

Breakfast/Brunch



Dining Format

Buffet



Phone

(713) 622-9996



Address

2200 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 160
Houston, TX 77056



Website

caracol.net



Cuisine

Mexican, Seafood



Meal Periods

Breakfast/Brunch



Dining Format

Buffet



Phone

(713) 622-9996



Address

2200 Post Oak Blvd, Suite 160
Houston, TX 77056



Website

caracol.net

EXPERIENCE

An oyster bar is a promising beginning to Sunday brunch at Caracol, Hugo Ortega and Tracy Vaught’s coastal Mexican restaurant near the Galleria. The all-you-can-eat buffet brings seafood together with tamales, comal antojitos and Mexican egg dishes. It’s a brunch for people who enjoy a long restaurant lunch and would happily give ceviche as much attention as the eggs.

The restaurant takes its name from the Spanish word for snail or conch. Ortega’s memories of making conch ceviche with his brother in Playa del Carmen helped inspire its coastal focus, which reaches across Mexico’s Pacific, Gulf and Caribbean cooking. That gives the Sunday buffet a clear subject. Seafood is a leading attraction, with plenty of warm Mexican dishes for a table whose interests extend beyond shellfish.

The room carries that coastal feeling through marine artwork and sweeping sailcloth waves, with a great red octopus painting supplying one memorable detail. The open dining spaces and shaded patio suit a longer lunch, while Sunday’s live music gives the buffet its own atmosphere within the restaurant’s week. It’s a pleasant setting for getting together over a meal, with the food providing plenty to talk about between courses.

Sunday buffet service runs from 10am – 2:30pm, with live music from 11am – 2pm. The restaurant is in the PNC Bank building on Post Oak Boulevard, with valet at the entrance and validated garage parking. Once seated, give the corn dishes and desserts some of the attention that first went to the seafood. Caracol’s appeal is in enjoying the coastal cooking as a whole meal, with enough time to follow it through to flan or tres leches.

FOOD

The oyster bar, citrus-marinated ceviches and seafood cocteles make Caracol’s Sunday buffet a coastal Mexican lunch from the outset. Oysters give shellfish a leading place, while ceviche brings citrus and the cocteles offer a chilled seafood cocktail. Marinated vegetable salads sit alongside them. That combination gives the first course some brightness before the warm, sauced dishes, with the day’s oysters and seafood selection subject to availability.

The warm dishes begin with ingredients the kitchen makes itself: masa, cheeses, salsas and moles. Those are especially welcome in a buffet where corn dough and sauces have such a large place in lunch. A tamal brings soft masa around its filling; an enchilada brings tortilla, filling and salsa together. These are satisfying foods to explore at the same meal, with the kitchen’s work on the dough, cheese and sauces contributing to more than one dish.

Antojitos from the comal add more warm corn cooking, while chile rellenos bring a filled chile into the selection. The fillings can change, leaving the interest in the preparations themselves: a small masa dish from the griddle, a tamal, a sauced enchilada or a stuffed chile.

Pan de elote with poached eggs is a particularly distinctive brunch choice. Corn bread gives the poached eggs a gently sweet base instead of the usual toast, with the corn’s gentle sweetness set against the savory egg. It’s an appealing way to enjoy breakfast in a restaurant with so much attention to masa and corn. Chilaquiles, huevos rancheros and huevos poblanos are also among the egg dishes, keeping the breakfast side of the meal firmly Mexican.

In the chilaquiles, tortilla pieces soften in salsa and take on the sauce’s flavor. That warm corn-and-salsa combination is part of the pleasure of a Mexican brunch, especially alongside eggs or a tamal.

For dessert, tres leches offers milk-soaked sponge cake, while flan de queso brings the smooth richness of cheese custard. Churros add a fried-dough sweet alongside the cakes and custards. Fruit, waffles and cheesecake are also among the choices. Caracol makes the chocolate used in its desserts and beverages in house, extending the kitchen’s from-scratch approach to the sweet finish.

Regular drip coffee is included, making a cup with tres leches or flan a fitting last course. Specialty coffee, espresso drinks and other beverages are additional, with cocktails, wines and juices available separately. After citrusy seafood, corn dishes and eggs, a creamy dessert and coffee make an especially agreeable end to the meal.

FOOD HIGHLIGHTS

♛ Oyster Bar — a leading Sunday attraction, with availability varying by service.

♛ Ceviches and Cocteles — chilled seafood choices alongside marinated vegetable salads.

♛ Comal Antojitos — warm Mexican dishes from a kitchen making its own masa.

♛ Pan de Elote with Poached Eggs — corn bread gives brunch eggs a fitting companion.

♛ Tamales and Chile Rellenos — warm selections with fillings following the changing menu.

♛ Flan de Queso — cheese custard among the Mexican dessert choices.

♛ Tres Leches and Churros — milk-soaked cake and a fried sweet to finish.

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