Jack in the Box Inc.

Health Department Roundup: Bad Day at a Totilleria, and the Montrose/Midtown Question

It's hard to define exactly when an inspection turns bad, but like Potter Stewart said, you know it when you see it. And El Maizito Tortilleria (4912 Airline) had a bad time. Seventeen violations lead to a citation; it might be a good idea to get your tortillas somewhere else for a bit. Issues there ... More >>

The Dan Marino Restaurants

The 13 restaurants that nearly made our 30 essential Texas restaurants list.

How Does Your Garden Salad Grow? Ranking 7 Fast Food Salads from Best to Worst

Since I've made a New Year's resolution -- along with half of America, as with every year -- to eat healthier, I've been investigating fast food salads every now and then as a quick lunch option. I'm not one of those for whom eating salads is a penalty, however: I love a good salad, the crunch of go ... More >>

Match the Anticipated Crowds For Selected RodeoHouston Concerts

This week's RodeoHouston lineup announcement officially kicked off 2013 for Houston's party people and rodeo fans. The lineup is dependable as always, with your standard country acts, classic-rockers, kiddie-pop acts, R&B, and norteño offerings making up the month of music. Sadly, once again this ... More >>

Pho to Ramen, Bulgogi to Bo 7 Mon

The top 10 restaurants in Chinatown.

Curtis Martin Sets The New Bar For Hall Of Fame Induction Speeches

"[It was] a brutally honest, heartfelt, and complex speech from Curtis Martin." -- Rich Eisen of the NFL Network describing Curtis Martin's Hall of Fame induction speech The appropriate response to Rich Eisen's description of Curtis Martin's Hall of Fame induction speech by anyone who saw it should ... More >>

Pitt Fans Hijack #AskASU Hashtag To Express Their Hatred For Todd Graham

There aren't many things that college football fans can universally agree on, but one immutable truth unequivocally unifies all of us -- everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, hates Arizona State for now head football coach Todd Graham. That's because Graham's act leaves scorched earth and jilted players ... More >>

Montrose's Half Price Books Strip Mall Has a Buyer

After just three months on the market, the block that contains Montrose's Half Price Books has been sold Swamplot is reporting. Details are sketchy, as neither the buyer or seller is talking yet, but HFF, the company that had listed the property, now says the property is under contract. The site, ... More >>

Things I Intend to Keep Doing Even Though I Know Better

Life is full of enough rules as it is, and the food world especially can be easily overtaken by snobbery and excess etiquette. To combat this soul-crushing feeling, there are a few areas in which I willfully misbehave -- things which I stubbornly continue to do even though I know better because they ... More >>

Fast Times: Jumbo Jack Burger

This Jumbo Jack Burger marks my first official jaunt into the world of Jack in the Box. I made this week's fast food journey a "Husband's Choice," and he returned with Jack in the Box. I was not thrilled. I know it's been like, 20 years, since that whole E. coli thing in the early '90s, but that kin ... More >>

Fresh Juice at Snap Kitchen

Photos courtesy of Snap Kitchen​I've been on a juice kick for the last few months. A good green juice is great for busy days and stressful times, and a far better alternative to my other stress food: Jack In The Box tacos. Mind you, I don't have the required appliances to do the juicing mysel ... More >>

Question of the Week: What Does a Jumbaco Really Look Like?

JUMBACO! JUMBACO! I've found myself unconsciously singing the annoyingly catchy Jack In The Box ad jingle in the car dozens of times since first viewing the commercial above. I hate myself for it. But as deep as my self-loathing goes, my morbid curiosity runs even deeper. (See also: the Skittles ... More >>

The Six Creepiest Food Commercials of 2011

Yes, it's true: The original Ronald McDonald was played by Willard Scott.​Food commercials have been unintentionally (or, in some cases, intentionally) creeping us out since the original Ronald McDonald was introduced to audiences in 1963. That's him over there to the right, providing what wou ... More >>

Oh Lawd: New Phone App to Tell You If Your Son Is Gay

This week a new app hit the Android market, aimed at helping families figure out once and for all if their sons are homosexual or not. The app, costing $1.99 on my phone, opens with a stark black and white photo of a worried mother, looking into the middle distance at a future filled with wedding ca ... More >>

Fast Times: Angus Cool Deli Sandwich at Arby's

​Lately, it seems like every other commercial that comes on is an Arby's ad for its new Angus Cool Deli sandwich. They can claim that their marketing dollars got at least one customer, as I found myself at the Arby's one afternoon. Arby's is not the first place that comes to mind when I get ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Fast Times

"Islands made of cheese / And a sushi bar / Health inspectors say / That there's nothin' wrong..."​Fast food can be hard to resist. It's just so convenient and satisfyingly self-destructive. Plus, corporations put chemicals in that stuff to give you physical cravings for their processed crap. ... More >>

Off the Wall: Guilty Pleasures

​Joanna O'Leary's article from last week inspired several readers to comment on guilty food pleasures. One commenter in particular, csoakley, recommended the McRib and Jack in the Box egg rolls. Screw the McRib, Jack in the Box has egg rolls? I had no idea, probably since I hadn't eaten th ... More >>

Comment of the Day

​When Joanna O'Leary wrote that she didn't like admitting her love for Little Pappasito's, some commenters were angry, including csoakley, who wrote, "So for all of you foodies, you can all go to hell. I'm going to Pappasito's!!" But after some back and forth, csoakley decided to join the fun: ... More >>

Don't Kill the Messengers

How bike couriers plan to survive the internet age.

Bravo, Bravo!

This hybrid Mexican-Peruvian restaurant is a delicious surprise.

Random Food Christmas Traditions: Late Night Jack in the Box

​ My family has always done our big dinner on Christmas Eve. That's when we bring out the pork roast, potatoes, Moros y Cristianos, and a bunch of other traditional American and Cuban dishes. We gorge ourselves until we pass out, and then the next morning we sleep in and start the day wit ... More >>

Top 5 Worst Fast Food Commercials

Fast food commercials are often complete head scratchers, reaching new levels of stupidity and crudeness. Here are five fairly recent offenders. 5. Taco Bell's Shrimp Blogger When's the last time you've seen a non-annoying Taco Bell ad? You haven't, they don't exist. This one is borderline rece ... More >>

Battle of the Bands

Kids march towards a better future.Fighting declining interest and funding woes, two HISD high schools offer kids an oom pah pah way to better futures

A Peruvian Anniversary Party at Pollo Bravo

Scandalously good lúcuma ice cream, a rare treat in Houston.​Pollo Bravo (10434B Richmond Ave.) is the only place in town I know of that makes homemade lúcuma ice cream. They're the only place I know that serves lúcuma ice cream, for that matter. The flavor is difficult to describe -- caram ... More >>

Last Night: Kesha At House of Blues

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Kesha House of Blues July 26, 2010 If Lady Gaga is Chipotle, arguably the trendiest gourmet fast-food burrito on Earth, then Kesha is a frozen gas-station burrito. The kind that you buy drunk while you have gas on your hands, and ends up burning your mouth and you tast ... More >>

Has 50 Cent Jumped The Shark?

Photos by Marc Brubaker / Click here for a slideshow​9:24 p.m.: While waiting at the box office to get our tickets a kid walks up and asks, "Excuse me, how much are tickets?" He looks absolutely crushed when he hears that they're about $50. It's super sad to see. I mean, he just wanted to see ... More >>

Healthy Alternatives: Late Night Breakfast

​Cramming for finals and 24-Hour diners go together like butter and salt. Diners and eating healthy, not so much. So when we decided to step up the difficulty level and make this week's healthy-alternative meal center on late-night breakfast, we enlisted a little help via the Internet. Living ... More >>

Doesn't Anyone Get Naked Anymore? In Houston, Yes

Mike SimonJust like you like it: The Jack-Onz get it their way.​One of the observations Rocks Off has heard a lot over the years is, "What do David Bowie's kids do to rebel?" The meaning behind that is obvious. As we rocketed towards the end of the last millennium, the boundary of what is shocking ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup: 77056-77063

​We're forging ahead here on Health Department Roundup, trekking through the city's zip codes one by one. If you live, work or, more importantly, eat in 77056-77063 (mainly an area just west of the Loop and a few pockets near Aldine, the Johnson Space Center and Hobby Airport), this is your he ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup: 77051 to 77055

​There were some big offenders this week on Health Department Roundup. We're not from an area of the country that Jack in the Box has colonized, so we never had the "I don't care if it's rotted, I live for this crap" experience that would force us to visit one. That feeling was cemented on t ... More >>

Pizzeria Taqueria (Por Mis Cazuelas Taqueria)

​Pizzeria Taqueria (807 Telephone Road, 713-921-9250) is tucked behind a Jack in the Box, in a nondescript building with a red roof. When we walked in, we felt a little awkward -- the only other people there were making out in the middle of the dining area. The menu was written in Sharpie o ... More >>

A New Champion: Chick-fil-a Peppermint Chocolate Chip Shake

​Last month J.C. Reid raved about DQ's Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, ushering in the 2009 holiday-beverage season. Frozen or not, these are guilty pleasures at best. But we'll still take them intravenously if given the option, from tried-and-true drinks like the Starbucks Gingerbread Latte to Jack in ... More >>

Whirlwind Weekend: See What You Missed

Halloween weekend was cause for much merriment and mischief making. Whether at Rich's or the Roxy, the House of Blues or the streets of Montrose, a cosplay convention or an erotic ball, fun was found all over the city this weekend. Check out our favorite photos below. Photo by Son Lam​The hu ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Single-Service Edition

Usually the Roundup shines its light on the misdeeds of full-service restaurants, but this time out we reconnoiter the single-service foodscape. These are generally not sit-down restaurants but cheaper grab-n-gos where you aren't expected to tip anyone. These establishments cannot get away with spi ... More >>

$7 at Cali Sandwich

Photos by Blake WhitakerWhere: Cali Sandwich What $7 gets you: Delicious Vietnamese sandwiches, and then some. For seven bucks, you can purchase some greasy burger-joint fare, which is similar to methadone in its ability to induce sickly listlessness and regret. Or, if you're near Midtown, you can ... More >>

Ten Classic Restaurant Commercials from the 1980s

If you're a child of the '80s, much of your misspent youth was misspent in front of the television taking in shows like Mr. Wizard and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But just as those classic TV shows from your childhood have remained with you all these years, so have the equally classic commercials. ... More >>

Happy 4/20, Mon: Why Bob Marley Is Overrated

When the calendar hits April 20, thoughts turn to man's other best friend: the marijuana plant. Yes, along with copious amounts of Reese's Pieces and trips to the nearest Jack in the Box drive-thru, almost everyone agrees nothing goes better with the reefer than reggae. (Personally, give us Slee ... More >>

Healthy Big Macs, Only In Houston

Photo by Chris MacGregor Why the hell is your Big Mac so small? Because you live in Houston. Houston is apparently the only US test market for McDonald's new "Snack Wrap Mac," which looks to be a  smaller Big Mac in a tortilla. We're sure grosser things have been contemplated before, but ... More >>

Even Transsexuals Need To Pee Somewhere

If you're a transsexual and you gotta pee, there are at least 21 locations in Houston where you won't run into any problems - at least according to safe2pee.org, a website that lists 1,848 transsexual-friendly bathrooms in 476 cities. Hair Balls tried to get in touch with the person who started the ... More >>

Billy Gibbons Tells an Awful Blonde Joke: Video and Pictures from ZZ Top's DVD Release Party

There's No Place Like Home

Especially when you're eating at Montrose Diner, where the food's subpar and the wait's long

Grande Plans

Houston's most famous chef talks about prostate cancer, turning 50 and what's next for Cafe Annie

Best Onion Rings

Mushroomhead, and Dope

Thursday, February 5

Junk-Food Journalism

A new book detailing the "dark side of the all-American meal" could use a little more beef itself

Psychedelic Cheeseburger

For serious meat-on-a-bun surfers

News of the Weird

New Wave Good-bye

Houston's The Shivers ready for Austin

Taking the Heat

Philadelphia Story

Searching for a magic mixof meat, cheese and bread