Kemah Boardwalk

Cinco de Mayo

Celebrating Mexican culture with family-friendly events and lots of parties.

New Year's Eve 2012 Guide

New Year's Eve 2012 Guide

Bayou City Boo

This year's best Halloween parties.

Bayou City Boo!

2012 Houston Press Halloween Guide

Bayou City Boo!

Where to celebrate everyone's favorite holiday.

2012 Summer Guide: Summer in the City

2012 Summer Guide

A new minor league baseball team, a new amusement park, the urban wilderness of Buffalo Bayou, food, concerts and plays — Houston, prepare to get your summer on.

Top 7 Promotional Music Gimmicks -- Both Used & Unused

One of the most interesting things in the music business is how managers and record companies promote and market their artists. Sometimes they do a great job, and other times they fail. When they do fail, their like that hickey you got three weeks ago -- still there. But, like a hickey, people even ... More >>

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme...And Mint, Marjoram, Oregano, Chervil...

Simon and Garfunkel apparently only had four herbs in their garden, but you should have much more than that in your backyard. It is herb and vegetable planting season in Houston. Our terribly cold winter (haha) has passed, and the weather is perfect for gardening. It's a great time of year to build ... More >>

Valentine's Day Dining 2012

Ed. note: We are running this again after publishing it a week ago, for all you last-minute lovers. It isn't hard to figure out why dining and chocolate candy play such a prominent role in Valentine's Day celebrations. Eating is, by nature, extremely sensual. Few activities are capable of pleasura ... More >>

We Love Food

Our 100 favorite dishes in Houston.

Landry's Plans a New Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier

Photo courtesy of Landry'sClick here to see a high-res version of the proposed plans for the new Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier.​Longtime residents of the Houston metro area will no doubt remember the Flagship Hotel. Jutting out on a pier from Galveston Island's seawall, it was the on ... More >>

Tilman Fertitta's Galveston "Pleasure Pier" Will Be World-Class, Tilman Fertitta Says

Ye olde pleasure piere and shoppes​Fun magnate Tilman Fertitta unveiled his plans today for turning the old Flagship Hotel pier in Galveston into a -- wait for it -- a "world-class amusement park for all ages." Scheduled to open in May, the project will look (and cost) a whole lot like the Ke ... More >>

Romance Under-the-Sea Five-Course Valentine's Dinner

FantaSea Valentine's Day Cruise

Free for All: Art Without a Price Tag

Friday's your last day to see the "Saddest Love Story Almost Never Told: Based on a True Idea" exhibit by Sketchy Neighbors, a free-wheeling artists collective. The group is known for its unorthodox approach. Members pull ideas for materials and concepts literally out of a hat. One idea for "Love ... More >>

Upcoming Events: A Taste of Triniti and Brews on the Bayou

Photo by Paul KnightBrews (and booze, if you go inside and order it) will be served on the bayou at Brenner's upcoming Beer Fest.​This weekend, if you aren't headed to our own BestFest, check out the 3rd annual Wine Festival on the Kemah Boardwalk on Saturday, September 24, from 2 to 5 p.m. Mo ... More >>

Bad Business

After Ryan Sumstad was charged with murdering his wife, his secrets were exposed.

Upcoming Events

​First and foremost, mark your calendar now for June 30, the night of our first annual Houston Web Awards with special guest Fat Tony among other presenters such as the crew of Technology Bytes and the fabulous Houston Roller Derby girls. Nominations are closed, but we will be presenting awar ... More >>

Tilman Fertitta's Yacht Will Save Atlantic City

Cozy.​Tilman Fertitta is coming to the aid of New Jersey people who own yachts and like casinos. Someone had to, it appears. Landry's, Fertitta's chain-seafood/casino company, has purchased the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in that jewel by the sea known as Atlantic City. With it comes operatio ... More >>

Comment of the Day: What Would Tilman Do?

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Tilman Fertitta's Ace Up the Sleeve

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Galveston's Flagship Hotel, Slowly Coming Down

Shelby ScottGalveston's Flagship Hotel, coming down slowly​The musty old Flagship Hotel, the famous building on a Galveston pier, is a lot more airy than it used to be. Crews are in the process of taking down the edifice in order to build Tilman Fertitta's Kemah Boardwalk-like "Pleasure Pier" ... More >>

Tilman Fertitta: ATMs for Gold Bars Are Genius

Tilman Fertitta knows a hot trend when he sees one​Most people, when they read about the Florida ATM that disbursed bars of gold instead of cash, thought, "Good Lord, that is possibly the most idiotic thing I've ever heard in my life. And that includes the Matrix sequels." Tilman Fertitta, th ... More >>

Tilman Fertitta an "Executive to Watch" in 2011

This is Tilman Fertitta's three-story yacht. How's your 2011 looking so far?​Houston's Tilman Fertitta made a short list of restaurant executives to watch in 2011, in part because of his recent acquisition of a trio of new restaurant chains: The Oceanaire, Claim Jumper and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co ... More >>

2000 - 2010: A DECADE TO FORGET

How Things Went Downhill

Wet and Half Naked

One way to smuggle cash

Flagship Hotel: Five Suggested Attractions For The New Amusement Park

Don't miss the Galveston Police Whack-a-Mole game​As was announced yesterday, the not-so-beloved Flagship Hotel in Galveston is being torn down so Tilman Fertitta's Landry's Restaurants can build an amusement park on its pier.What sort of attractions should be offered at the new destination? We ha ... More >>

Bye-Bye, Flagship Hotel: Did Anyone Ever Stay In It?

Flagship Hotel: On its last legs​For 45 years, the Flagship Hotel has been a part of Galveston's seascape, out there on a pier bravely facing whatever weather the Gulf decided to throw at it.But not for long. The hotel, which had long fallen on hard times, was heavily damaged by the 2008 storm and ... More >>

Bailey's Shutters Seabrook Location; New Venture Planned

You'll have to get your banana pudding fix at Sudie's for now.​The second shocking shuttering of the week -- after the discouraging closure of the wonderful Sabetta Cafe & Bar -- took place in Seabrook, when employees showed up to Bailey's American Grille on Monday to find it closed after thre ... More >>

Houston Slammed By European Travel Blog: We're Boooorrring

But...but...there's the Kemah Boardwalk!!​Among world cities, in which category does Houston rank second only to Brussels, the capital of the European Union? Tedium, at least according to the European Union-funded wiki blog OpenTravel. According to "Chili," an English-language challenged scr ... More >>

Kemah Boardwalk Firework Extravaganza

Kemah lights up the sky over Galveston Bay for the 4th of July

Tweet, Tweet

Readers resppond to "The Twitterverse."

Extreme Makeover: Kemah Edition

Photos by Lee Riner / Click here for a slideshow​The Kemah Boardwalk has been hopping more than usual lately -- and in a weird way, some of it's because of Hurricane Ike ("You Bastard!")It's not gawkers hoping to see debris everywhere, 16 months later. Although we did see a large, phallic-shaped e ... More >>

The Annual Christmas Boat Lane Parade on Clear Lake

This yearly flotilla lights up the Gulf Coast

Get All Dressed Up

There's plenty of places to go this Halloween.

What The Hell? Kemah Is One Of The Top Ten Boardwalks In The U.S.?

Photo by mhowry​We didn't notice this until KPRC pointed it out recently, but the website Forbes Traveler recently published an article entitled "We Don't Know Anything About Boardwalks."That wasn't the actual headline on the article, but it should have been. Unless you believe that the pre-fab sc ... More >>

Kemah Cops Are Finding Out About Fighting City Hall

Photo by Daniel Kramer​It's been about one month since we reported on the four Kemah police officers who were laid off and filed grievances with the city because the officers weren't buying the story that they were simply victims of the economic downturn and Hurricane Ike. Attorney Greg Cagle, who ... More >>

Trails to Terror

2008 Halloween Guide

Trails to Terror

2008 Halloween Guide

T-Bone Tom's Steakhouse Restaurant

Visit T-Bone Tom's and help keep Kemah weird

Osso Buco Me? Osso Buco You!

Our food critic gets tossed out of another restaurant

Stay Out of the Kitchen

Catch the fish before it gets to the kitchen