Want to find the biggest hair in Houston? The best dessert in Dallas? The tastiest taco in San Francisco? Or the loudest band in L.A.? Well, look no further. We asked four tastemakers from four of our favorite American cities to spill their hometown secrets. So go live it up—you can thank us later

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HOUSTON
the curator: yasufumi nakamori
Texas ain't Tokyo—and as one Museum of Fine Arts Houston photography curator (and Tokyo expat) tells us, that's not bad at all

Best Taste of Texas "Goode Company is a barbecue joint filled with cowboy memorabilia. When my friend artist Miwa Yanagi came from Tokyo for her show at the MFAH last year, she loved Goode's ribs so much that we ate them twice in three days [5109 Kirby Dr.; 713-522-2530; entrées, $9-$12]."
Best Martini "The drinks are served simple and strong by a crew of studious bartenders at , a sleek cocktail lounge that opened last March [1424 Westheimer Rd., Suite B; 713-523-1622]."
Best Walk "I don't drive, so I'm a strange bird in Houston, where every person seems attached to his car, but the city's tranquil mid-century modernist movement is best seen on foot anyway. I start my architecture stroll at the MFAH's boxy white Audrey Jones Beck Building, created in 2000 by Spanish architect Rafael Moneo [5601 Main St.], and walk west on Bissonnet Street to the Law Building, one of two Mies van der Rohe-designed museums in the world [1001 Bissonnet St.]. From there, it's a short walk to the University of St. Thomas, whose linchpin is the Chapel of St. Basil, a stark cube topped with a gleaming gold dome [3800 Montrose Blvd.]. On the museum district's northeastern edge, Renzo Piano's Menil Collection building is amazingly spacious [1520 Sul Ross St.]."
Best Place to See Big Hair "I thought huge Texan hair was a stereotype until I had drinks at the bar at Hotel ZaZa and found myself surrounded by voluminous-maned Houston yuppies and their various contemporaries: heavy drinkers, elaborately accessorized collectors, and men wearing lots of cologne. Needless to say, it's a great place for people-watching [5701 Main St.; 713-526-1991]."
Most Relaxing Mini-Break "I've gotten massages in New York and Tokyo, but the best Swedish massage I've ever had was at Timberline Fitness [3939 Montrose Blvd.; 713-523-7007; one-hour massage, $70]."
Best Hipster Hangout "Creative types, wannabes, and students can be found at the Contemporary Arts Museum's openings and events; the museum is free and shows mainly works by living artists [713-284-8250; camh.org]."
-Reported by Eimear Lynch