I enter the lobby of the Hotel Derek (2525 West Loop South, 713-297-4383), a location that has failed for a series of owners since opening in... More >>
"A house divided cannot stand," declared Abraham Lincoln. But despite his respectable Jewish given name, honest Abe's advice is not carrying much... More >>
It's a gray, wintry day in old Houstontown. The problem is, the temperature is still in the 70s. How does one get into a proper holiday mood when... More >>
The Gatsby (2540 University Boulevard, 713-874-1310), a disco bar advertised with billboards showing a woman in 1930s vamp drag, seems curiously... More >>
The economy may be slowing, and light rail construction may be playing havoc with small businesses along its route, but new bars and restaurants... More >>
"A dime of cotton money," a Houston native told me the year I arrived in town from the enchanted island of Manhattan, "is worth a dollar of oil... More >>
The foodies, F. Scott Fitzgerald may have written, but didn't, "are different. They are not like you and me." In the American foodie universe, New... More >>
There is an Italian restaurant in Houston owned by a chef from Thailand who has managed to confound Kipling's dictum "East is East and West is... More >>
It is the 83rd anniversary of the storming of the Winter Palace in Petrograd, November 7, New Style, the day the Soviet Union was born. It seems... More >>
The remaining wards of Houston don't seem to be included in much publicity from the chamber of commerce or other civic organizations promoting the... More >>
Mattress Mac may be able to save you money. But in saving us money, he has made quite a bit for himself, which is as it should be. It seems that... More >>
In Paris, Harry's Bar has provided expatriates like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway a place to sip martinis and manhattans and sidecars... More >>
The humble tamale may be the most authentic Texian dish there is. Spanish explorers found the native residents of the region now known as South... More >>
I have always wondered about the cocktail called the Cuba Libre. Which free Cuba are we talking about here? The Fidel-free Cuba of the future? The... More >>
Maybe it's all those American flags I see around the city, but I am getting a powerful thirst for something really patriotic to drink. Driving... More >>
Morton's is an institution. The high-end chain began in Chicago and spread across the United States and abroad, opening up steak shops as far... More >>
In all of the restaurants I have ever worked in, the bartender was a creature apart from the kitchen staff. While both chef and barman create... More >>
There are dog people and there are cat people. There are Bush people and there are Gore people. There are even Nader people, for that matter, but... More >>
As the calendar advances, Houstonians can at least pretend that we've changed seasons. We can bid adieu to white shoes and chilled soups, and... More >>
It's a Wednesday night at The Rhythm Room (1815 Washington Avenue, 713-863-0943). A woman named Diunna Greenleaf, backed by her quartet, the Blue... More >>
U.S. businesses setting up shop in Mexico are hardly news. The current president of the country, after all, is a former executive of the Coca-Cola... More >>
There's only one really bad thing about the anti-clotting pill Pradaxa. You can't fall or get cut while taking it because once you start bleeding, there's almost no way to stop it. There's no reversal agent, no antidote.
There's no gloves or batting helmets when Larry Joe Miggins and the rest of the Houston Babies regularly travel back in time to play the game by its 1860 rules.
