Mimo

On a list of words describing anything in Houston, “pastoral” probably falls exactly nowhere. Yet, somehow, the folks at Mimo managed to get a restaurant hidden behind an East End strip center to evoke the Italian countryside. It also happens to serve some incredible rustic-style Italian food. So, if your vacation budget is tight, but you also think drinking an aperol spritz in rural Italy would fix you, head to Mimo. 

The dining room here affects a feeling of stately calm, as though you just walked into a still life painting of a centuries-old European farmhouse, which makes sense given one of Mimo’s partners also opened the intimate wine bar 13 Celsius. During lunch service, the overhead lights are usually off, allowing instead for light to filter in through soft pink curtains. There are dark wood tables, framed oil paintings, and shelves and shelves of wine. The deep, moody blue ceiling makes the space feel worlds away from the searing hot parking lot outside.

photo credit: Liz Silva

Everything at Mimo looks and feels romantic, including the ciabatta panino in front of you. Served at lunch, sandwiches come on soft, rustic bread filled with slow-roasted Sicilian beef, seared eggplant and crisp broccolini, or thick layers of cold cuts. Not to anthropomorphize a sandwich, but these feel honest, not-flashy, and a little sincere. As does everything else on Mimo’s lunch and dinner menus. From a simple but addictive plate of crispy rapini fritto, creamy fettuccine crowned with mortadella, and snapper acqua pazza laid over a hunk of bread in a savory tomato broth, this is the kind of food that makes you want to quit your job and become a farmer. Or at least attempt to grow heirloom tomatoes. 

But maybe don’t quit your job just yet (or do, whatever). Just dig into Mimo’s deeply comforting food instead. The aperol spritz and paninos may not cure what ails you, but either might make a long, leisurely lunch or a casual dinner feel like a mini-vacation. Plus, if you gaze through the pink curtains and squint hard enough, instead of a parking lot,  you might even glimpse  a picturesque landscape sloping toward the Mediterranean Sea.

photo credit: Liz Silva

photo credit: Liz Silva

photo credit: Liz Silva

photo credit: Liz Silva

photo credit: Liz Silva

Food Rundown

photo credit: Liz Silva

Rapini Fritto

Forget kale chips, this pile of flash-fried rapini is the snack we crave. Blanketed in shaved parmigiano, we could munch on this pile of greens forever, especially once it's spritzed with orange and lemon.

photo credit: Liz Silva

Sicilian Beef Panino

If you need a sandwich that will fill you up and probably feed you again later, get the Sicilian roast beef sandwich. It’s basically a whole ciabatta loaf piled with beef, arugula, and a large serving of house pickles.

photo credit: Liz Silva

Fettuccine

More just a supporting role for the real star: sliced mortadella, AKA, what bologna wishes it was, every bite of the fettuccine is also laced with cream sauce and zesty lemon. You might not want to share this.

photo credit: Liz Silva

Snapper Acqua Pazza

Simple yet complex, and also supremely satisfying, one bite of this aromatic broth-poached snapper and crusty bread will make you a little emotional.