Tiny Champions — Restaurant in Houston

Tiny Champions in Houston is the type of restaurant you don’t want to leave once you’re settled in. It’s one of those places where the food is great, the vibe is just right, and you immediately feel like you’ve discovered something special.

We kicked things off with the cabbage salad, which was a delightful surprise. With pistachio apricot agrodolce and pecorino cheese, it had the perfect balance of sweet, tangy, and rich flavors an unexpected combination that worked wonderfully. Taking this recipe home!

Next came the baked feta served with confit tomato, Italian chili crunch, and ciabatta. The creamy feta paired with the sweet, savory tomatoes and a touch of heat from the chili was simply divine.

The chicory greens, another one i am adding to my home menu. Tossed in a lemon vinaigrette with pickled pears and aged goat cheese, were a standout. The bitterness of the chicory balanced beautifully with the tartness of the lemon and the sweetness of the pears, while the goat cheese added a rich, creamy depth.

Then, the chicken milanese arrived, and it was stunning. Perfectly crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside, and seasoned just right. Paired with a fresh arugula salad and herby aioli, it was a simple yet elevated dish that I’ll remember for a long time.

After those starters, we decided to order a few pizzas. The pepperoni pizza was exactly what you’d want from a classic—crispy, cheesy, and delicious. The mixed seasonal greens pizza, topped with ricotta cream sauce, mozzarella, roasted onions, and pickled garlic, was a surprising highlight. It was light, airy, and packed with flavor a perfect balance. For our third pizza, we let the waiter choose, and they picked a winner, sasuage and fennel. I am a pizza snob and let me tell you, this pizza makes a top list.

Now, here’s where the irony kicks in: after all this, I later found out that I had accidentally dined at Nancy’s Hustle, their sister restaurant, the previous day. Same owners, similar vibes, and, unsurprisingly, equally fantastic food. I had no idea I was walking into a place that was so closely tied to Tiny Champions, but I ended up enjoying both experiences without realizing it.

To say I was unintentionally on a Tiny Champions / Nancy’s Hustle double-header would be an understatement. But honestly, it was an incredibly fortunate mistake. Both restaurants share that same approach to creative, well executed dishes, a focus on fresh ingredients, and a relaxed yet polished atmosphere. I may have stumbled into this double experience without planning it, but I certainly walked out satisfied and already planning my next visit when I finally...

I am a big fan of Nancy's Hustle. So when I heard the minds behind Nancy's Hustle opening a new place, I got super excited and I set my expectations high. I walked in one time, but there was no spot at the patio, and waiting time was ~45 min. so I passed. So if you want to get seated, make sure you reserve in advance. I used resy to make reservation for a party of two. It was easy-peasy. We arrived on time and received a warm welcome. The same vibe as in Nancy's hustle. The staff is so nice and helpful. Even under the masks, you can discern their smiles :) We got seated and given the regular menu and the happy hour menu. So they have this awesome happy hour deals on pizza: 50% off! We ordered a bottle of rose, a pizza, and mussel appetizer. Mussel appetizer: divine! It was so delicious. Even when I am typing this, i can almost smell and taste it. It is deep fried, and served with some saffron mayo (?) sauce. Then we got our pizza and wine. Well... They have interesting pizza specials. We selected the one with chilli ricota cream, finocchiona etc. It looked fantastic. Nice golden-brown crust, the sauce, salami, and the fresh herb mixture tossed on. The first bite was great but then something started to feel off. Or too much, I must say. Salt flakes tossed on the pizza… It was so sodium laden that I forgot about the taste of pizza and started to think of my blood pressure. Joke aside… I think the salt meant to complement the herb mixture but it was overwhelming. I mean finocchiona is already salty as it is…I am trying to follow sodium conscious diet, so I got a bit nervous. Anyways, but the rest of the pizza was great. We ordered a bottle of wine: Cheverny Rose (during happy hours, 20% off a bottle; another great deal). Well, I smelled the wine: so much red fruit, mainly cherry and strawberry. It reminded me of my grandmom’s homemade cherry juice. Well, it also tasted like that. It is not a necessarily bad thing, but obviously I am not a big fan of fruit forward wine, so I am not going to get that wine again. But as I researched about that wine later on; it is quite highly rated one. So give it a try. Following our dinner, we ordered two old-fashions (also on happy hour menu). It was not that good. I had cocktails at Nancy’s and they were simply fantastic. So I was expecting around the same caliber but it was rather bland. It did not even have cherry. Anyways, I like the place. But maybe my expectations were too high due to its associations with Nancy’s hustle. I was not super impressed. I will go there again and try other things and maybe not during happy hour. And...

For starters, we decided to go to this establishment for a birthday dinner (party of 2). The place is local to us and we have never been. Happy hour isn’t really “happy hour”, we got a total of 4 drinks and they were the watermelon shandy, which consisted of beer and what seemed as a watermelon purée? Each drink alone was $6, which is typical for a beer to cost $6 and up depending on where you go. That to me seems like a regular priced beverage not “happy hour” drink. Their happy hour menu for food/drinks is completely separate from their main menu and has about less than 10 options to choose from, so that to me is an automatic scam from the restaurant. Their actual cocktail drinks do not qualify for happy hour, so you end up paying regular price for those. Their happy hour pizza menu, only consists of 3 options (cheese, pepperoni and veggie) and you HAVE TO eat it there, you can’t take it to go, such tedious rules considering the establishment is in an ugly area. As for the food, we got the crab stuffed shells, which in all reality lacked flavor and the portion was TINY so I guess the restaurant name fits the whole menu. We got the salami pizza with hot honey and in reality it was not worth the $21, pizza lacked flavor, super flimsy and yet again, TINY! Now for the fun part, DO NOT GO CELEBRATE A BIRTHDAY HERE WHATSOEVER!! Customer service is HORRENDOUS. Waitress (Maria S.) and food runners look soo miserable and look like they barely want to do their job. They really do kill the vibe. Waitress approached our table to say that although the reservation states that it is for a birthday, that we would have to purchase one of the desserts on the menu and that they don’t do birthdays? Which in reality is kind of obvious that when we first got sat, we made it clear who the birthday person was and the waitress had the most boring serious face on planet earth. What ever happened to sympathy, not sure if it’s part of their training but geez! Also, there’s NO PARKING we got lucky to have parked in front of the restaurant but we saw people walking from blocks down the road just to come eat here? CRAZYYY! I found out once we left through videos and peoples feedback that cars get broken into and that overall it isn’t a safe area. Save your time and money and go eat...