Brad Moore

Pop-Ups Are Back: Will They Continue to Predict Houston's Culinary Future?

Restaurants such as The Pass & Provisions, Oxheart and Goro & Gun are already so firmly affixed in Houston's culinary firmament that it's sometimes difficult to believe the restaurants which are bringing so much attention to our city's food scene have only been open for a year -- or less, in the cas ... More >>

Go West, Young Man

The top 10 restaurants in Westchase.

Openings & Closings: Time for El Tiempo's Big Debut and More Crawfish in Chinatown

Are you in this for the long-haul? Good, because this week was chock-full of restaurant news -- and most of it happy news. Grab a cup of coffee and settle in for a long post, starting with recaps of a few stories from earlier this week. Ryan Rouse and Brad Moore of Grand Prize Bar in Montrose and B ... More >>

Goro & Gun, Houston's First Ramen Shop, Opening Soon Downtown

Goro and Gun are the two main characters in Tampopo, a 1985 Japanese cult classic that's often referred to as the "first ramen Western" (a play on the old spaghetti westerns such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). It's fitting, then, that Joshua Martinez's upcoming downtown restaurant would be name ... More >>

Justin Burrow Heads Downtown: New Cocktail Bar Planned for Main Street

The downtown block that already contains classic bars Warren's Inn, Char Bar, Dean's Credit Clothing and Notsuoh is about to get one more watering hole when bartender Justin Burrow opens his new bar in late March. The bar doesn't have a name yet, but Burrow and his partners -- Brad Moore and Ryan Ro ... More >>

First Look: OKRA Charity Saloon Looks to Make Change In More Ways Than One

OKRA, the organization founded by local bar and restaurant owners "to pursue charitable community initiatives," is hoping its newest effort will be a trendsetter. Treading untested waters in both concept and locale, The Original Charity Saloon is among the most ambitious bars in Houston memory. The ... More >>

Celebrate National "Duck Out for a Drink Day" Tomorrow at OKRA's Charity Saloon

I'm not sure if you are aware of this, but tell the boss now: Tomorrow is National Duck Out for a Drink Day. I couldn't make up something this awesome. Even though the day itself isn't technically tomorrow. "Unfortunately, August 25th, the day the holiday has traditionally been celebrated the last ... More >>

Grand Prize Bar to Become Coolest New "Restaurant" in Town, Plans to Host Rotating Lineup of Chefs in Kitchen

Grand Prize Bar has been more than just a bar since it opened nearly two years ago -- it's had a culinary history of its own nearly since its birth. Only a few months after Grand Prize began shaking up its first cocktails in July 2010, chef Adam Dorris and his cooking partner Will Walsh began servin ... More >>

Rest Of The Best: Houston's Top 8 Jukeboxes

Along with pickled pig's feet and a steady supply of Slim Jims, a good jukebox is a prime element for any great bar. But, like dinosaurs, jukeboxes are a vanishing breed. Unlike digital jukes, iPods or DJs, jukeboxes require love, care and maintenance, as well as -- among the truly great ones -- som ... More >>

Last Night: Jandek At Big Star Bar

Jandek Big Star Bar April 1, 2012 The first time I saw Jandek live, I learned to leave whatever I had been expecting in another room. That was Rudyard's in April 2009, and I had been expecting (correctly or not) some kind of solo Bill Callahan-like avant-folk implosion, and got a trio playing a sol ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Green Seed Grows Roots

Starting off the week with two bits of good news: Green Seed Vegan has moved out of its food truck confines and into a space of its own. The new spot at Wheeler and Almeda is conveniently located just down the street from Green Seed's former digs in the Third Ward, and it also means you'll be able t ... More >>

Nabi-Hood Hangout

This Montrose spot is serving up beautifully constructed modern Asian cuisine, at small prices.

Montrose Welcomes Nabi to the Neighborhood

When chef Ji Kang moved to Houston from Dallas, he didn't know what to expect. By his own admission, Houston was a last resort. The Austin native and Dallas-trained chef hadn't planned on moving here, but -- as he said in this week's cafe review of his new restaurant, Nabi -- he's glad he did. "If ... More >>

Jandek Performing "Strobe Light"-Heavy Concert at Big Star Bar

Brad Moore, owner of Big Star Bar and Grand Prize, was driving through Roswell, New Mexico when his cell phone blew up. "It was Jandek, I shit you not," says Moore about the experimental musician who's traditionally an enigma around here, but has been in the public eye more of late. Moore explai ... More >>

Boiling at Big Star: What Goes Better With Beer Than Crawfish?

Bargas rolling out the crawfish at a recent boil.​If EOW blogger and Louisiana native Jason Bargas's posts on how to put together the perfect crawfish boil have made your mouth water and your jaw ache just thinking of those spicy little bugs, we've got a treat for you. Bargas is co-hosting a ... More >>

Photos: Anvil's First Annual Enthusiast Cocktail Competition

Photo by GroovehouseChuck Cook made a Star Trek-inspired Mon Capitan cocktail.​Customers from all walks of life -- from IT professionals to aerospace engineers -- competed last night in an unusual twist on a cocktail competition at Anvil Bar & Refuge. Although they were all cocktail enthusiast ... More >>

Gourmet With a Side of Ghetto at Grand Prize Bar

Do you know how dark it is in GPB? This is the best I could manage.​There is a point at which last night's events begin to get extremely fuzzy for me. I know that some time around 10:30 p.m., I ended up on the back porch at Grand Prize Bar (1010 Banks, 713-526-4565) smoking cigarettes -- I don ... More >>

Open Tab: Feed Your Belly And Your Head

Pull up a chair, start a tab and order a round of shots, because this is Rocks Off's weekly roundup of the goings-on in the Houston bar scene. Ups and downs, openings and closings, we will cover it all. Hit us up with any hot tips at craig.hlavaty@houstonpress.com. Craig HlavatyUnder the Volcano ... More >>

Third Strike

Grand Prize finallys opens

Diving Into Houston's Best Dive Bars

​Although the number of "true" dive bars is shrinking by the day, that didn't stop our own John Nova Lomax from tracking down the best ones left in the city and covering them in last October's feature story, "Dive Bars: A Handcrafted Tour of the Best, Most Obscure Places to Lean on a Stool in ... More >>

Winning the Grand Prize

Ponying up to the new bar at Grand Prize.​The bartenders were all punch-drunk tired and most of the patrons were just plain drunk. The lightbulbs were red and the jukebox blessedly didn't have an Internet connection. The air conditioning was cold and the patio was filled with smoke. The drinks ... More >>

New Bar's Jukebox Takes The Grand Prize

Craig Hlavaty​Thursday night, after seeing the Houston Symphony cover Queen and then running to Warehouse Live to bathe in Ratt, Rocks Off went to the opening night of Brad Moore's new bar in Montrose, Grand Prize. Formerly Ernie's On Banks, GP was hopping from 9 p.m., when the first drink w ... More >>

The Once and Future Ernie's

This is a picture of Ernie Banks, the Chicago Cubs player. Not to be confused with Ernie's on Banks, the now-defunct bar.​Barflies and beer lovers were shocked to learn today that Ernie's on Banks had suddenly and mysteriously closed overnight. The stalwart bar on Banks -- its very name reflec ... More >>

Does Washington Avenue Need Any More Live Music?

Son Lam If Pearl Bar did have live music, where would the band fit?​Last week, the Chronicle ran a story about the owners of Salt Bar, a newer drinking establishment on Washington Avenue, and their goal of building "a live music scene in Houston from the ground up." One of the partners ... More >>

Go Ask Alice

In the north end of the Heights, the Tall Texan gets it just about right.

Walter's Staying On Washington Until At Least April

Chris Gray​This past week we found ourselves at Walter's On Washington about three times for various shows, amateur boxing matches and the random drink (or five). The club's rumored move has been Internet and scene fodder since word of its then-imminent change of location came to light last fall. ... More >>

Houston Gets the Clap Tonight - the Soul Clap Dance Party, That Is

​Looks like Rocks Off better get out of here pretty quick and take a nap, because it appears we'll be overindulging at Mango's for two nights in a row. We might be able to dance off some of those beers this time though, because on his way to Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, former Houstonian Jonathan T ... More >>

Dive Bars

A handcrafted tour of the best, most obscure places to lean on a stool in Houston.

Dive Bar-ology 101: What A Dive Bar Is Not

​These days, there are a lot of misconceptions about what constitutes a dive bar. Going by lists on sites like Yelp and Citysearch, and especially this laughable list from the Houston Chronicle, apparently any drinking establishment that does not sport bottle service, valet parking and a velvet r ... More >>

Valentine's Night at Ernie's on Banks

Sports Lovers

New North Heights Hipster Hang: Big Star Bar

Bad Motor Scooter

SXSW Ephemera, Part Deux: More Random Notes from the Field

The Smoking Ban

Has it been good for Houston? A dozen local music figures sound off

Ten Years After — the 1997 Houston Press Music Awards

Where are the bands and nominees today?

Hunter Ward, R.I.P.

Montrose knew him as a Poor Dumb Bastard. His family knew him as a talented, bright brother and son.

Bayou Blow

Coke is the new weed

Aaron Loesch Vies to Become the Guitar Center King of the Blues

A dying Houston scene suddenly might have new life

Liquid Lunch

A weekday afternoon in Westbury's Cozy Corner

Houston Rock Scene Woes, Continued

A tri-ologue with three scene vets about selling out, not being true to yourself and rocking too hard

Downtown H-town Throwdown

Tearing it up at the Music Awards Showcase

Faux Strummer, Bogus Buzzcocks and Phony Ramones

Never mind the bollocks, here's Rudyard's punk karaoke night

Street Scene

Sex, drugs, rock & roll, and the ballad of 2100 Lexington

Houston Press 1997 Music Awards Preview

A guide to who's who in the Press Music Awards ballot. Plus, the where and when of the Press Music Awards Showcase!

Punk Parents

With the "No Future" generation deciding to breed, are we headed for anarchy in the pre-K?

Royal and Righteous

Queen for a Day benefits a good cause and gives local bands a chance to rock you

Press Picks

Press Picks

Press Picks

Blues Kudos & Burb Buzz

Handy Houston bluespeople, and the next great wave from -- Katy

Good Keen Fun