Quesabirria tacos, H-Town Dog highlight U of Houston gameday menu

HOUSTON — The University of Houston’s updated football gameday menu gives fans a reason to show up early. The tasting held this week revealed a lineup that blends Texas flavor, Houston street food and campus favorites into one stadium experience.

The walkthrough opened with Game Day Lemonade, a new concept UH has already tested at the Fertitta Center and Schroeder Park. Freshly made lemonade poured into clear cups with strawberry, mango and peach available for sampling. Theme‑night flavors will rotate throughout the season.

From there, the tasting moved into Space City Franks, built on Wagyu hot dogs and framed around the “four corners of Texas.”

The Steakhouse Dog brought North Texas with burgundy mushrooms, classic steak sauce and shoestring fried onions. The Cajun Dog leaned east with crawfish étouffée and remoulade.

Lots of Dog options

Houston, representing the south, had its own hot dogs: the H‑Town Dog, pepper jack mac and cheese, Hot Cheeto dust, topped off with a fresh  jalapeño. The Rodeo Dog, stacked with pollo asado, fresh guacamole and pico de gallo along with tortilla strips.

West Texas arrived in the Smokehouse Dog, finished with pulled pork, shaved red onion and bread‑and‑butter pickles. Rounding out the lineup were Nonna’s Dog with parmesan‑crusted sausage, marinara, melted mozzarella or provolone and garlic‑herb crumbs, plus the All‑American Dog and the Plain Dog for fans who prefer the classics.

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“If you want to go there, try the H-Town dog,” said Stephen Gary, Houston athletics’ food and beverage general manager. “That’s kind of what our favorite is leading to, so we got pepper jack mac and cheese, hot Cheeto dust and fresh jalapeno.

“If you want something a little bit more unique, look for teams playing from like the Louisiana area and to our east. Try the Cajun dog, crawfish a touffé, regolon sauce and shoestring onions on top of a hot dog.

It’s kind of like hot dog parmesans. Little marinara sauce, some mozzarella, some parsley, some Parmesan. You know there as well, too, but something for just about every taste.”

“If you’re like me, you got a little Italian blood in you, try the Nana’s dog,” Gary said. 

Campus favorites rolled out next. Absurd Bird, familiar to students from the RAD Center, served regular chicken tenders, buffalo chicken tenders and curly fries. Tatchos added tater tots, cheese sauce and green onions served in a collectible Cougar paw bowl.

“It’s a take on Nashville hot chicken and stuff,” said Mathew Wilson, UH Athletics executive chef. “They’ve got some other flavors going on, but it is something that is already on campus, and just trying to pull that into bringing the students. And once they get here, they have something familiar for them.”

Houston Nacho time

A few steps later, Crunch Time Nachos offered one of the most customizable items on the menu. Fresh‑made chips were topped with white queso, then finished with a choice of beef fajita, chicken tinga or smoked brisket.

The tasting shifted into Houston street‑food territory with Urbe, formerly Hugo’s and now rebranded into their street‑food concept. Urbe brought three items: quesabirria tacos with a rich consommé, chicharrones paired with fresh guacamole, and papas bravas topped with a special sauce.

The tasting closed with dessert: red velvet cake with chocolate ganache and buttermilk icing sauce. A sweet finish built around UH’s red, black, and white colors.

There were plenty of good bites, and here are my top five. I’d go with the H‑Town Dog first. Quesabirria tacos with consommé were a close second followed by pork belly chicharrón with guacamole. Nonna’s Dog was my fourth favorite, followed by the Smokehouse Dog.