Arts & Entertainment >>

• Best Influx
  New Orleans musicians
  We've heard plenty about the problems Katrina washed onto our shores, but we can't forget those magical months right after the storm when our city was flooded (yeah, we said it) with the sounds of the Big Easy. Kermit Ruffins, Lil' Wayne, Glen David Andrews, Corey Henry, Dr. Michael White and... More >>
• Best Happy Hour
  Cafe Adobe
  If years and years of practice have taught us anything, it's that happy hours end pretty badly unless you get some food in your stomach before things really get going. Otherwise, you forget to eat altogether (and we all know how that turns out) or you end up snacking later in the evening and get... More >>
• Best Artist
  Francesca Fuchs
  We love Francesca Fuchs's breasts. We especially love that she had the balls (so to speak) to devote an entire show, "MOM," to them at Texas Gallery. All six paintings were different shots of a breast-feeding baby, seen from above, through the mother's eyes. But this wasn't a foray into maternal... More >>
• Best Artistic Collaboration
  I Love You Baby
  Last year was a paint-splattered banner for I Love You Baby. The collective -- consisting primarily of Will Bentsen, Andrea Chin, Rodney Elliott, Mark Flood, Paul Kremer, Chris Olivier and Dale Stewart, but involving whoever the hell shows up on any given Wednesday night -- showed pieces at... More >>
• Best Sports Bar
  Bubba's Sports Bar & Grill
  A stone's throw from Memorial Park sits a ramshackle house with a roof that appears to be caving in under the weight of two enormous satellite dishes. Inside Bubba's Sports Bar & Grill, flat-screen TVs fill every corner. With its worn wood floors and stone fireplace, this neighborhood favorite... More >>
• Best Icehouse
  Shady Tavern
  The bartender, a whip-smart kid with a shaved head, is about to enter the police academy. He's excited about it, even counting down the days. "Cops are like flies," spits a shaggy-haired patron, pausing to make sure the kid is listening. He adds, triumphantly, "They eat shit and pester people."... More >>
• Best Patio
  Ernie's on Banks
  Christopher Columbus stands at the south end of Bell Park pointing an index finger toward some trees as if he has made some big discovery. The six-foot sculpture ought to be rotated 90 degrees so Chris can point the way to a place that's really worth discovering, if you haven't already: Ernie's... More >>
• Best Hotel Bar
  Four Seasons Hotel
  The bar located just off the lobby at the Four Seasons Hotel is a throwback to an earlier era, when love-struck couples donned their best duds for a night on the town. Spare in its details -- cushy chairs, a few framed artworks and lamp-lit tables that emit a hazy orange glow -- the room springs... More >>
• Best Mural
  Sand Dollar Thrift Store
  The "Sky's the Limit" mural on the side of the Sand Dollar Thrift Store isn't there just to beautify the shop's exterior -- it's also there to remind the hundreds of kids who walk past it every day on their way to school that there's no limit to their potential. Coordinated by Reginald Adams, co... More >>
• Best Art-Opening Cocktails
  Art Car Museum
  The Press conducted a lot of research for this category (see "Free Booze," December 1), and we've got to hand it to the freewheelin' spirits at the Art Car Museum for running away with the prize. Of course, they don't really serve up cocktails per se; rather, a couple of kegs are tapped and... More >>
• Best Movie Theater
  Angelika Film Center
  Maybe it's because the Angelika seems to be the only Houston theater where there aren't any assholes answering cell-phone calls throughout the entire movie. Maybe it's the cinematic selection, a mixture of art-house indie and mainstream indulgence. Whatever the reason, the Angelika provides a... More >>
• Best Radio Station (4 Comments)
  KTRU/91.7 FM
  Somewhere on the dial, among the Blue October and Laura Ingraham, there's a little college radio station pumping out 50,000 watts of pure uncommercialized goodness. From the excellent MK Ultra DJ sets every Friday night to the generally upbeat morning drive, Rice University's KTRU gives Houston... More >>
• Best Radio News (2 Comments)
  KTRH/740 AM
  There's really no competition in this category. While many other radio stations have "news departments" or an assortment of programs, KTRH remains the gold standard. With a mixture of original local reports, locally based talk show hosts (Sam Malone, Deborah Duncan, Chris Baker) and selected... More >>
• Best Blues Club (1 Comment)
  Monroe's Gallant Knight Club
  Whether Cynthia's dishing out some delicious Malibu punch or it's Big Bass serving up some funk-dafied bass thump, we're in love with the Gallant Knight. A gem in the middle of Medical Center dullness, the Gallant Knight has been helping kids and doctors get their blues on for more than 35... More >>
• Best Place for Cocktails
  Houston Magnolia Hotel
  If you work downtown, you should already know that the best place to unwind is the Magnolia Hotel. After a long, tedious day of playing office politics and staring out the window at the beautiful array of ozone and carbon monoxide that makes up Houston's daytime sky, you deserve a little piano... More >>
• Best Bar Games
  The Tipsy Clover
  The Tipsy Clover is the kind of beautifully schizophrenic neighborhood bar that serves a dual purpose: It can be the place to go to meet up with friends after work, grab a pizza and play a casual game of pool. Or it can be an all-out frenzy of Golden Tee competitiveness and dart-board mayhem,... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar - Midtown
  Leon's Lounge
  There's no other bar in Midtown -- or in Houston, for that matter -- like Leon's Lounge. Not only does it boast an existence spanning nearly six decades -- quite a feat, considering the blink-and-you-missed-it nature of Houston businesses -- it's also the most interesting place you can find any... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar - Montrose
  Poison Girl
  Though a number of other worthy watering holes crowd the field, Poison Girl strong-arms the competition with its outstanding service, noteworthy patio and, most of all, its compulsion to give back. Despite being all but concealed in shadows, Poison Girl has become popular through word of mouth.... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar - Downtown
  Warren's Inn
  Warren's is a bar. You drink at Warren's. You don't watch the game, you don't pick up chicks. You have them pour you a stiff cocktail and you put John Lee Hooker on the juke and you smoke a cigarette. You look at the inevitable old drunk guy, and you make a toast to his liver. He belongs here,... More >>
• Best Neighborhood Bar - Heights
  Onion Creek Coffee House/Bar/Lounge
  Onion Creek, with its decidedly Austin-esque vibe, is a great place to grab a drink and catch up with friends. Half coffee shop, half wine bar, it's the perfect combination of casual cool and laid-back hip. Go on a Saturday night and you're likely to see a few local celebrities/Onion Creek... More >>
• Best Coffeehouse
  Agora
  Dear Agora: You have us spellbound. So much so that we will risk breaking our neck on your steep staircase and pay a little more than we should for that Greek coffee whatchamacallit or that Shiner Bock. But we will do this because you kick ass. We love your warm, woody interior. We love your... More >>
• Best Gay Bar
  South Beach
  Probably the most popular gay bar among straights and hags, South Beach is the hub of the Pacific Street district, the sparkling gem of Montrose. True, most of the men there are gorgeous. Sure, the go-go boys are divine. Yes, the drinks are stronger than the love of those two cowgays from... More >>
• Best Comedian
  Paul Oddo
  Paul Oddo (pronounced "OH-doe") isn't a giant on the city's professional comedy scene, but he's sparked some humorous fires at alternative venues such Rudyard's and The Proletariat. It's likely his native Houston isn't ready to embrace his long-winded, introspective style: His approach to... More >>
• Best Party
  Starbucks Music Series, The Beats of Basquiat
  We usually rail on hipster types who begin sentences with "Oh, you mean you've never...," but if you missed these parties, well, it sucks to be you. From the understaffed, expectation-blowing explosion that was the first event to the overcrowded, throbbing mélange that was the last, the Beats of... More >>
• Best Art Show
  "Andrea Zittel: Critical Space"
  Andrea Zittel's work is literally life-changing. Her sculptures and installations reflect the media-driven desire to tweak all aspects of our day-to-day travails, and the solutions she presents -- portable chamber pots, modular living spaces, bizarre escape pods -- often come off as... More >>
• Best Installation
  Tom Burckhardt: Full Stop
  Tom Burckhardt's cardboard atelier blew us away. Using brown cardboard and black paint, the artist took over DiverseWorks's project space and re-created an entire studio, complete with a vintage storefront entrance decked out in graffiti. Inside, we felt like Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger... More >>
• Best Dive
  Alice's Tall Texan Drive Inn
  Call it a semantic paradox: Once a place gets labeled a dive bar, it ceases to be one. Regular drunks don't use the term "dive bar" -- only hipsters do. And once the hipsters show up, well, you know where we're going with this. But Alice's Tall Texan somehow has managed to buck the trend,... More >>
• Best Bathroom Graffiti
  Rudyard's British Pub
  No one can beat the ne'er-do-wells at Rudz when it comes to scatological cleverness. The normal bathroom taggers are well represented: Chicken Boy, I Love You Baby, Consumer, GY and DTS. But it's the literary odes that get us chuckling when going about our business. Take the mullet haiku, for... More >>
• Best Jukebox
  Under the Volcano
  Many bar owners are content to let jukebox vending companies stock their boxes for 'em. That's why you so often see the same Otis Redding, Patsy Cline and Eagles discs everywhere you go. And while there's nothing wrong with those, it's cool when you see and hear something different. Under the... More >>
• Best Place to Watch Trains and Drink Beer
  Little Woodrow's
  Like beer? This little ice-house-style tavern's got plenty -- about six dozen varieties, bottled or canned, and a couple dozen on tap. And they have an airy patio out in front. But hell, so do a lot of places, including Little Woodrow's other locations. What sets this location apart is the fact... More >>
• Best Ballet
  Houston Ballet's Swan Lake
  A streamlined classic with touches of pre-Raphaelite dressing by the late Kristian Fredrikson, Stanton Welch's new $1.6 million Swan Lake was the high point of the dance season this year. Beautiful to look at and swift of foot, this version of one of ballet's most beloved tales of love and loss... More >>
• Best Dancer
  Houston Ballet's
  Mireille Hassenboehler
  And once again the award goes to...Mireille Hassenboehler, Houston Ballet's rising star. This long-limbed creature -- who looks and dances like the best and brightest of the Balanchine glory days -- proved her classic chops again this year as Odette/Odille in the new Swan Lake. Not only has this... More >>
• Best Modern Dance Company
  Dominic Walsh Dance Theater
  Dominic Walsh is a triple threat: He dances, he choreographs and he has better business acumen than Jeff Skilling. Who knew a former Houston Ballet dancer could put together a company that was not only artistically vibrant but also financially healthy? Walsh has done it. Last season he mounted... More >>
• Best Bar Food
  Rudyard's
  Rudyard's is the self-described "living room of Montrose," and considering that quesadillas, pizza and other tasty treats (the ones most likely to stain your sofa) are in no short supply here, this is a fair assessment. Many drinking establishments are really restaurants that also sell alcohol,... More >>
• Best Band Name
  The Squishees
  Lead guitarist Erik Westfall, whose band was formerly known as the Slurpees, once said that he knew the band would make it big if they were ever sued by 7-Eleven. Well, they came close: After a write-up in the Chron, the group received a cease-and-desist letter from the home of the frozen treat.... More >>
• Best Bar Atmosphere/Decor
  Helios
  The people at Helios have always maintained that the joint is an art space, not a bar, but once you've kicked back a few well drinks and/or Lone Stars, it's hard to tell the difference. Owner Mariana Lemesoff and other local artists created most of the tables, chairs and decor from scrap metal.... More >>
• Best Bar
  Catbirds
  Catbirds doesn't have the town's best parking situation, especially on a busy night, but once you're inside and the vocals by greats such as Ella Fitzgerald and Nat "King" Cole kick in, you forget about the perilous journey you made to get there. The atmosphere is always laid-back, regardless of... More >>
• Best DJ
  Witnes
  Witnes's skills on the ones and twos, plus his ability to keep a steady scene at The Proletariat's "Rockbox" every Thursday, are what make him worthy of Best DJ honors. (And his radio show, Late Nite Snax with The Grinch on KPFT/90.1 FM, brought Houston the latest in local, independent and... More >>
• Best Art Gallery
  Moody Gallery
  Moody Gallery, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, is a well-respected fixture on the Houston art scene. Founder and director Betty Moody focuses on work that has what she feels is a personal vision; she doesn't care about courting art stars and avoids flash-in-the-pan trendiness.... More >>
• Best Curator
  Paola Morsiani
  Italian-born Paola Morsiani brings a broad range of art to the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. In the past year, she organized an exhibition of work by an international art star, an installation from a little-known Albanian artist and a group show of emerging Houston artists. She also... More >>
• Best Microcinema
  Aurora Picture Show
  Aurora Picture Show operates like an innovative art gallery and is based on the theory that each film -- and each artist -- is a piece of a bigger picture. Now in its ninth year, Aurora presents curated film shows during its 11-month season, occasionally peppering its lineup with treasure hunts,... More >>
• Best Alternative Club
  The Proletariat
  Alternative in just about every sense -- except maybe sexual preference -- this unashamedly divey hangout is peerlessly grungy and eclectic, with a great jukebox, pool, cheap drinks, handy parking at the bank next door and an entertaining weekly lineup of DJs and local bands. In the past year,... More >>
• Best Museum
  The Menil Collection
  Picking Houston's best museum wasn't easy: Lawndale Art Center is the herald of the local scene. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston thinks outside the box, bringing in Colombian artifacts and quilts from Alabama. Even the Orange Show has an underdog charm. But, in the end, we had to give it up for... More >>
• Best Performance Space
  The Axiom
  Old punkers fondly recall The Axiom, the semi-decrepit club in the Warehouse District east of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Since 2001, though, the facility has been best known as the home of Infernal Bridegroom Productions. Even though IBP has added the luxury of working bathrooms, the... More >>
• Best Chorus (1 Comment)
  The Gay Men's Chorus of Houston
  The Gay Men's Chorus of Houston (formerly the Montrose Singers) was founded in 1979, and over the past 25 years it has flourished and grown into one of the finest choirs -- and assemblages of talent -- in town. And through all of its political ups and downs, the chorus has been a constant source... More >>
• Best Meeting of Art and Music
  The Menil Collection and
  Da Camera of Houston
  The Menil Collection is admired not only for its outstanding assemblage of art but also for its impressive building; the Renzo Piano design inspires a sense of awe and serenity. Da Camera of Houston has helped the Menil make the most of that intimate setting with its series of live concerts.... More >>
• Best Club for Local Acts
  Javajazz Coffeehouse/
  The Rockville
  Although Javajazz sounds like it might be a cozy, bohemian hangout, it's anything but. The spacious Spring-area venue has two full-size stages (the Javajazz stage and the Rockville stage) where they throw two shows a night, four days a week. And we're talking six to seven bands per concert --... More >>
• Best Concert Venue
  Warehouse Live
  When Warehouse Live opened earlier this year, we were skeptical. Live music in a midsize club usually means shitty sound, long bar lines, smokiness and an aesthetic that can only be described as filthy. But after dozens of shows, we can think of just one word to describe the club: perfect. From... More >>
• Best Public Arts Project
  (in Progress)
  David Adickes Sculptorworx Studio
  Some hoity-toity critics contend that David Adickes's sculptures -- which include the enormous statue of Sam Houston set along Interstate 45 -- are more roadside kitsch than art. Love him or loathe him, the parking lot to his studio represents the city's best, and most surreal, public arts... More >>
• Best Radio
  Talk Show (6 Comments)
  Ray Hill's The Prison Show
  A little girl sings to her father "You Are My Sunshine." A mother pleads for her son to drink plenty of water after laboring in the fields. A wife chokes on her tears, promising her husband, "My sweet love, I love you, I'll try to see you soon." The forum for all this pathos could only be The... More >>
• Best Nightlife Trend
  Party paparazzi photographers
  You don't need to lug a camera around anymore to capture moments from your nightly escapades, thanks to the recent rash of photographers who've been canvassing the hottest nightlife spots and snapping shots of regular folks as if they were celebrities. Many of these photographers, including... More >>
• Best Pool Hall
  Cue & Cushion
  Pool is the drinking man's game of choice, for good reason: The more you drink, the better you play. And there's no better place to get a rack-chalk-and-break game on than Cue & Cushion. Though it's smaller than some pool halls around town, it boasts 16 pristine pro-size Brunswick tables, cue... More >>
• Best Midtown Club
  Rich's
  Many clubs open and close within a matter of a few years, but Rich's has been going strong for two decades. Despite being located, for many years, in a desolate area of town between downtown, Montrose and the Third Ward -- long before Midtown became a nightlife hotspot -- the two-story,... More >>
• Best New Bar
  The Mink/The Backroom
  When The Mink and its neighboring Backroom opened last summer, Montrosian hipsters finally had a good reason to hit up the burgeoning Main Street strip in between Wilbern and West Alabama. The Mink is housed in what once was Drink Bar, but owner/nightlife entrepreneur Tim Murrah gave the slender... More >>
• Best Bar Mom
  Kim Weatherbee
  Before setting foot in Rowdy's Roadhouse, all we knew was it had a mechanical bull. We had to assume that its patrons were rednecks and/or refinery workers. We didn't know just how rural the surrounding area is (you can actually see the stars in the big Texas sky), and we didn't know that we'd... More >>
• Best New Club
  a38
  Clubs in Midtown and downtown are so predictable: They usually have asinine rules and regulations, and there's almost always a queue of suburban dwellers paying upward of 15 bucks to get inside a club playing Top 40 hits, '80s throwbacks or hip-hop. Booooring. But a38 is changing the way we view... More >>
• Best Original Show
  Speeding Motorcycle
  Leave it to Jason Nodler, the long-absent founding artistic director of Infernal Bridegroom Productions, to return with a bang. After spending time working around the country, Nodler visited the Bayou City just long enough to create his best original show to date. Speeding Motorcycle, a... More >>
• Best Actress
  Shannon Emerick
  Given her bookishly shy demeanor and a willingness to step back and let others shine under the spotlight, Shannon Emerick hardly seems like much of a star. Yet when she moves across a stage, something in her deeply intelligent gaze takes over. It's difficult to take one's eyes away from her... More >>
• Best Actor (1 Comment)
  Jeffrey Bean
  Jeffrey Bean is one of Houston's most valuable theatrical treasures. A character actor with all the charismatic glow of a leading man, Bean makes just about every show he's in better. But last season's production of Martin McDonough's much-lauded The Pillowman gave Bean a chance to show us the... More >>
• Best Theater Company (1 Comment)
  Mildred's Umbrella Theater Company
  Five years ago, Mildred's Umbrella started out in a cavernous, cold room, putting on original shows with virtually no set, no lights and no money. It's come a long way. The company is still putting on new work by resident playwright John Harvey, but MU has also added some terrific nationally... More >>
• Best Musical
  Wicked
  In this day and age of musicals that have little to do with artistic expression and everything to do with making buckets of dough, it's wonderfully refreshing to discover a song-filled night of theater that actually asks us to think. Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman's Wicked, which ran last... More >>
• Best Theater Season
  The Alley Theatre
  Any theater that can land the regional premiere of The Pillowman for its season deserves a standing ovation; producing Martin McDonagh's much-lauded sensational drama about a writer of horror tales was a true feat. But the Alley Theatre and its artistic director, Gregory Boyd, did more than grab... More >>
• Best Cigar Bar
  Downing Street Ltd. 2549 Kirby
  Once upon a time, Downing Street Ltd. was the hangout for local politicos, trust-funders and single yuppie guys. The crowd has changed a bit -- there are more scenesters and social climbers these days. But most folks flock to this River Oaks lounge to simply enjoy the cigars, premium Scotch,... More >>
• Best Strip Club
  The Men's Club of Houston
  You might think all strip clubs are the same: Naked women shaking their asses to "pay for school"; cheesy 50-year-old men paying a girl their daughter's age to spend five minutes pretending they're interested in them; and some DJ named Rick playing a ten-year-old Limp Bizkit song for Sinammon's... More >>
• Best Music Gadfly
  Rad Rich
  If you switch on the radio mid-song and hear Bun B's latest joint segue into a ferocious live attack from Irish punks Flogging Molly, you've probably tuned in to Rad Rich's Rock & Roll Revue on KPFT/90.1 FM. In a city that's far too often bound by the dictates of dozens of independent scenelets,... More >>
• Best Band to Get Together in the Past Year
  Sharks and Sailors
  Taking listeners on a musical ride that has as many ups and downs as a voyage at sea, Sharks and Sailors combines heavy choruses with soft breakdowns. Featuring former members of Panic in Detroit, the group emerged from the Super Unison scene to deliver their sound to Houston. Reminiscent of... More >>
• Best Band to Break Up in the Past Year
  Michael Haaga's Plus and Minus Show
  We've always held that there was a Houston Press Music Awards jinx. Over the years, most of the bands that win big either break up shortly thereafter, move to Austin (never to be heard from again) or even end up in prison, as was the case with South Park Mexican. But rarely has the jinx operated... More >>
• Best Band to Leave Houston in the Past Year
  Hayes Carll
  Steve Earle once wrote a song in which he called Townes Van Zandt "the last of the hardcore troubadours." But Earle hadn't yet heard Hayes Carll. While Carll isn't quite as hardcore as Van Zandt -- no epic vodka bouts or heroin binges, as far as we know -- he's very much the real deal as a... More >>
• Best Unsigned Band
  Rx Medicine Show
  Venues fill to capacity practically every time this band plays a gig. You'd think, "These guys must really know how to rock." But you'd be wrong. Nay, sir. The Reverend, Uncle Tick, Rag Tag Mac, Coach and friends really know how to jug-band. Owning the stage while playing grassroots instruments... More >>
• Best CD by Local Musicians
  This Is Where the Story Ends, Scattered Pages
  Exquisite melancholy is a difficult emotion to capture on disc -- most bands that strive for it end up sounding either whiny or pretentious. Scattered Pages is not most bands. The newest of their three EPs -- 2006's This Is Where the Story Ends -- picks up where Neil Young's Harvest left off:... More >>
• Best Local CD cover
  Chango Jackson,
  Chango Jackson
  This op-art gem is crisp, it's bright, it catches the eye, and the picture of the grinning, gold-toothed chimp set in yellow-and-orange swirls references the English translation of the band's name. (Yes, yes, we know, chango means monkey, and chimps are primates, but still...) The whole thing is... More >>
• Best Menagerie
  The Eclectic Menagerie Park
  Just south of Loop 610 off State Highway 288 is the newest manifestation of Houston's inherent weirdness -- a fresh companion for other such exuberant folk-art outbursts as the Orange Show, the Beer Can House and the Flower Man House. In a huge green field just off Holmes Road, on land belonging... More >>
• Best Spanish-Language
  Radio Station (7 Comments)
  Mega 101
  Mega 101 doesn't have an entirely Spanish-language lineup; they play a Spanglish mix of hip-hop, rock, salsa and reggaetón. So what makes it so popular with Houston's Latinos? It's the music, combined with the "Latino and Proud" attitude, that have earned it legions of listeners. The morning... More >>
• Best Place to Relive the '50s
  Bellaire Broiler Burger
  Step inside the Bellaire Broiler Burger dining room and you'll find yourself transported back to a time when burgers weren't fusion food, and a ten-spot could actually get you a satisfying dinner. The Happy Days malt-shop decor includes vinyl booths, knickknacks right out of Grandma's living... More >>
• Best Place to Relive the '80s
  Friday Nights with Molly & the Ringwalds at the Continental Club
  Music -- way more so than movies, books or fashion -- has the power to put you in the Waybac Machine and plop you instantly into the past. Hearing the opening notes to "The Safety Dance," "Addicted to Love" or "Goodbye to You" will take more years off your visage than any beauty cream. For three... More >>
• Best Place to See
  Vintage Flicks
  Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
  Ever wonder what it was like to see silent films in the old days, with an orchestra providing a dramatic soundtrack? Wonder no more. The film department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston regularly includes silent films along with offerings of classic and contemporary cinema. And some of those... More >>
• Best Jazz Club
  Cezanne
  Everyone has a front-row seat at Cezanne, since the bar holds only 150 people. Upscale without being stuffy, the club's intimate setting makes it the perfect place to take in local jazz favorites such as David Caceres and Sebastian Whittaker, as well as national acts. (Joshua Redman made his... More >>
• Best Band Stage Show
  LoneStar PornStar
  It's not only Houston fans who are getting to see LoneStar PornStar's stage antics: The group is now making regular appearances in Austin, Corpus Christi and San Antonio, as well. And antics -- loud antics -- is the correct term for these hard rockers. Singer Greg David Stegman commands the... More >>
• Best Latin Club
  Azteca's Margarita
  Bar & Grill
  People go to Azteca's for dinner, but that's not the main draw. The main draw is the live music. Oh, and the $2 margaritas. And the jamming happy hour. And the crazy DJs. Located on the edge of Montrose, Azteca's is not for the faint-hearted. When it gets crowded (which is often), the service... More >>
• Best AM Radio Personality (1 Comment)
  Ronnie Renfrow
  Most of Houston knows Ronnie Renfrow from the Ronnie Renfrow Big Band. But bandleader Renfrow turned radio host a while back and has been spinning jazz and big-band tunes on the Swinging 650 -- Classic Cool show on 650 AM for more than a year now. He's on air seven days a week with partner Tom... More >>
• Best Brewpub
  Two Rows Classic Grill & Brewpub
  Rice Village is a prime place to go to forget you're in Houston or, hell, even in Texas. It's a textbook example of the glitzy hodgepodge of strip malls that's homologizing the country, but hidden amongst the Gap, Starbucks and Kinkos is Two Rows Classic Grill & Brewpub, an establishment you can... More >>
• Best Wine Bar
  The Wine Bucket Boutique
  & Bar
  Sometimes it seems as though Junico and Tracy Velarde are rubbing it in. Not only did they score the phone number 713-942-WINE, but their Wine Bucket Boutique & Bar seems designed to attest to the fact that no other couple inside the Loop knows more about wine and wine drinkers. The bar and gift... More >>
• Best Place to Consider Ending It All
  The Rothko Chapel
  Yeah, we know it's meant to be a "peaceful sanctuary" and all, and no, we're not exactly arguing. But we must respectfully ask: What's more peaceful than death? The, shall we say, negative capacity of the black canvases on the walls is not to be underestimated as environmental design, but we... More >>