Subject: Mike Giglio

• $13 at Kitchen Kreations

  Photos by Mike GiglioWhere: Kitchen Kreations (but the sign outside still says Milburn's Café), 8601 MLK Blvd. & Reed Rd., 713-738-3011 What $13 will get you: A euphoric food coma that lasts well into the evening. Doors are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.; lunchtime saw a grown man giddily jumping and wringing his hands as he watched his plate fill up behind the counter. The hefty lunch plates are layered first with enough white rice to feed a small family. You can have it flavored with gravy from

  June 1, 2009

• Good News: Helpful DNA Evidence. Bad News: Her Client May Still Die

  Defense attorney Sarah Frazier got the DNA results she wanted. They might even win her tomorrow's hearing. But her client could still be put to death. Frazier has fought for years to introduce new DNA testing to the case of Charles Raby, who was convicted almost 15 years ago of murdering a grandmother in Northwest Houston. Now that they're finally in, Raby looks destined for lethal injection all the same. "There's no remedy at the end of this rainbow," Frazier tells Hair Balls. "I've got to conv

  January 15, 2009

• The Most Dangerous Game: Man Vs. Metro

  Photo by Mike GiglioLomax, keeping to his strict warm-up regimen for the big raceIt was to be the ultimate contest between man and machine. Hair Balls announced in earnest at this afternoon's staff meeting its plans to sample the new 402 Quickline Bellaire, which was unveiled by Metro on Friday. The so-called "signature" bus -- the first of its kind in Houston -- runs along the standard Number 2 Bellaire route during rush hour, making far fewer stops in order to travel at a heretofore unima

  June 2, 2009

• From Homelessness to Wine Snobbery

  Weighing In Across the Board

  April 9, 2009

• $7 at Blodgett's Fish Market

  Photos by Mike GiglioPac Man and chicken reign supreme at Blodgett's Fish MarketWhere: Blodgett's Fish Market, 2603 Blodgett St., 713-526-1222 What $7 will get you: Anything on the menu, and then some. Don't be confused by the fish in the name--most people come here for the chicken, not the batch of catfish on ice behind a small glass window at the counter. The staple is three hefty wings and a heap of fried rice. The chicken is satisfactory, and the rice might be mediocre if it weren't a lit

  April 30, 2009

• Bring Back the Babes and Bitches

  May 7, 2009

• UH Gets the Brush-Off from Nike

  Highlights from the Blog at HOUSTONPRESS.COM

  April 30, 2009

• There Will Be Blood:

  May 14, 2009

• This Week In Deliciousness

  Photo by Robb WalshI can't write this column on an empty stomach. It's difficult to maintain your trademark acerbic wit when all you can think is, "I would literally murder somebody for that hamburger / pizza / pastry / whatever insane but incredible dish from Feast we've featured this week." Having taken a sandwich break, we can now move on. The week started with a review of Bluebell's three new ice cream flavors - damn it, now I need to find some ice cream -- followed by Mike Giglio's

  June 5, 2009

• Mack Brown vs. Iraq & John Lomax vs. a Metro bus

  June 11, 2009

• This Week In Deliciousness

  The proper presentation for mat kimchee should mirror as closely as possible the appearance of an exploded chicken.Welcome back once again to the weekly round-up at Eating Our Words, where we've found a way to put gravy on pretty much everything (you just have to tell people it's "some kinda sauce"). We like to keep things nice and informal around here, like Mike Giglio did when he ate at Hank's and gushed all over it like he'd just eaten a bunch of really good ice cream or something. Just to

  June 19, 2009

• Outed on the Internet: A Houston professor's plight becomes a web phenomenon

  June 25, 2009

• $13 at Reggae Hut

  Photo by Mike GiglioWhere: Reggae Hut, 4814 Almeda Rd., 713-520-7171What $13 gets you: Any main course or seafood dish, which will be more than enough. Favorites include the jerk chicken and garlic shrimp, along with a Jamaican take on oxtail. We tried that, mainly because we weren't quite sure what it meant. Instead of the standard soul-food gravy normally featured in these-here parts, the four large tails (chunks of tail-bone surrounded by juicy meat) were soaked in a bright brown

  July 7, 2009

• Texas Traveler: Admitting Defeat To The BBQ In Salt Lick

  Photos by Mike Giglio It started with 24 ounces of Icehouse. Texas Traveler was headed to Austin Friday morning with a couple of friends. We'd already stopped at the overflowing Buc-ee's along the way, and managed to secure some fudge samples -- peanut butter, rocky road and cookies and cream, all equally great -- to hold us over. Next up was Salt Lick, the famed BBQ haven in Driftwood with the option for all-you-can-eat brisket, sausage and ribs. And at Salt Lick, you can bring your own b

  July 8, 2009

• Texas Traveler: Admitting Defeat To The BBQ In Salt Lick

  Photos by Mike GiglioIt started with 24 ounces of Icehouse.Texas Traveler was headed to Austin Friday morning with a couple of friends. We'd already stopped at the overflowing Bucky's along the way, and managed to secure some fudge samples -- peanut butter, rocky road and cookies and cream, all equally great -- to hold us over. Next up was Salt Lick, the famed BBQ haven in Driftwood with the option for all-you-can-eat brisket, sausage and ribs. And at Salt Lick, you can bring your own beer.The

  July 8, 2009

• New Way To Help The Homeless In Houston

  Photo by Mike GiglioThe "After Dark" shelter program at St. John's Bread of Life is up and running, giving Houston a small push toward the method of dealing with homelessness that has been embraced for years in much of the country. The conversion of the former day center -- located on corner of Gray and Jackson under the Pierce Elevated bridge, where many of the city's chronic homeless congregate to take advantage of its popular services -- has been in the works for some time. It provides a se

  July 20, 2009

• Texas Traveler: Luvianos in Kyle

  Photos by Mike GiglioOn a recent tail-between-legs retreat from a rough weekend in Austin -- sunburnt from a long float down the river, broke and dehydrated -- the Texas Traveler wanted only two things: free water and cheap sustenance.Luvianos in Kyle had plenty of both. Water-filled bags hung around the comfortable patio, supposedly to keep the flies away, and the glasses were both tall and wide, and constantly refilled despite the Sunday-brunch crowd.One regular described the fare as "real Mex

  July 23, 2009

• Flashing Back to the Heyday of DJ Screw

  Ed. Note: To go along with this week's feature on Mike Jones, Mike Giglio takes a look at the origins of Houston rap's once and future calling card, "screw music." Photos by Mike GiglioScrew: The Next Generation (l-r): Randy, Big Bubb, Bird Wearing corn rows, a wife beater and green courdoroys, and holding a bottle of windex, Bird washes the glass doors at the Missouri City's massive Kingdom Builders church. "Your hair looks nice today," he says to a woman in a dress and high heels, as he h

  July 23, 2009

• This Week In Deliciousness

  Ray's Franks' Freddy Krueger will haunt your dreams. But in a good way. Welcome back to the weekly round-up here at Eating Our Words, where we have gravy on tap. To start off with, Mike Giglio out-spent Robb Walsh $13 to $7, because Mike is a fancy man of top-shelf tastes. He seemed impressed by the food, ambience, and air conditioning at Fadi's Mediterranean Grill, but not as impressed as Robb was with his bowl of "Houston's best noodles" from Tan Tan. Sarah Rufka took in the sad state o

  July 24, 2009

• Catfish Reef: The Rise of Swishahouse

  [Note: this is the second in a series on the origins of Houston rap, to go along with this week's feature on wayward star Mike Jones.]Mike Giglio​As a local hip-hop writer and radio host, Matt Sonzala (also a former Houston Press Music Listings Editor) did what he could to promote Houston rap to a larger audience. Within the city, though, that part was always easy. Thanks to the success of acts such as the Geto Boys and Lil' Troy, who also had their turns in the national spotlight, and the DJ

  July 29, 2009

• $13 at Asia Market

  Photo by Mike Giglio​ Where: Asia Market, 1010 W Cavalcade St., 713-863-7074 What $13 gets you: Thai food should leave you full, refreshed and feeling like you got way more than you paid for. Thirteen bucks at Asia Market gets you clear sinuses and more than enough food for two. Best served from tiny roll-carts and enjoyed from flimsy plastic tables along crowded, smoggy streets, in our opinion at least, Thai food never seems right at fancy restaurants. Thankfully, at Asia Market, the sm

  August 3, 2009

• This Week In Deliciousness

  Empanadas are fried pouches filled with dreams. Cardiologists call them "Heaven's Little Artery Grenades".​Welcome back to Eating Our Words' weekly round-up, where we're seriously considering camping out for tickets to that new Julia Child movie. Look, it can't possibly be worse than Episode 1, and we've been told there are far fewer Gungans. We'd like to point out that, yes, we can be snarky sometimes, but when it comes right down to it, everybody here at Eating Our Words is absolutely

  August 7, 2009

• $13 at Pavani Indian Cuisine

  Photo by Mike Giglio​ Where: Pavani Indian Cuisine, 10554 Southwest Fwy., 713-272-8259 What $13 gets you: As many circuits through the buffet line as you need. Plan to make at least a few. We walked in at 5:30 sharp, right when the place opens for dinner, which meant it was just us and the chef -- a burly man in a white smock who stood over the buffet like a watchful father -- for the extent of the meal. This made things slightly awkward, as it was painfully obvious where all the food wa

  August 10, 2009

• Trying to feed the homeless? Not so fast! Meanwhile, METRO blows $80K congratulating itself.

  August 13, 2009

• This Week In Deliciousness

  In the mythical land of Awesomevania, burritos are used as currency, and having two or more stents in your heart is a sign of great personal wealth.​Welcome back to Eating Our Words' weekly roundup, where we use meat loaf as the bread in our sandwiches. Hey, if we're not supposed to do that, they never should have started calling it a "loaf". This week got off to an irritable start with J.C. Reid posing the question: how often does your restaurant bill get inflated? If you're in It

  August 14, 2009

• Trying To Connect With Houston's Burmese Community, Via John Glenn

  Photo by Mike Giglio​I threw a football at a refugee and demanded to know where she lived.Her voice wavered, and her answer was hard to hear. So I leaned over and cupped my hand to my ear, waving the hand in a circle first, like Hulk Hogan trying to rile a crowd. Apartment 1212, I finally made out.I made the class repeat after me: "I live in apartment 1-2-1-2."On a July night in an apartment complex in southwest Houston, the makeshift classroom was full of Burmese. It was the first of a new a

  September 2, 2009

• On Being Watched in Burma

  Photos by Mike Giglio​I remember his nose. Thick gray hair spouted from each nostril, all the way down to the old monk's lip, like smoke from the snout of a dragon. He sat on some steps inside the gold and glittering Sule Pagoda in central Rangoon. The monk was bald and missing teeth, and a cinnamon robe hung around his tiny frame. His eyebrows perfectly matched the hair in his nose. He raised them toward the sun and motioned for me to sit beside him in the shade. This was December of 2006,

  September 2, 2009

• We Call Bull

  September 10, 2009

• This Week in Deliciousness

  Golden-brown is the proper tone for any loaf of sourdough / Hollywood starlet.​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where today we're bitterly sniffling at the fact that everyone else from the office is at the Austin City Limits festival. It's cool! There's lots of fun stuff to do in Houston, too, you know! Bastards. We hope you've been following along all week, and got to experience first-hand the epic sourdough odyssey begun on Monday by Robb Walsh. It started wi

  October 2, 2009

• Getting Lucky, Or Trying To, At The Lucky Strike

  Photo by Paul Knight​Hair Balls was prepared for an evening of stale beer and possibly mullets at this weekend's opening party for the new Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in the Houston Pavilion. Then we noticed a small warning at the bottom of the invitation: "dress code enforced."Our confusion mounted as we climbed to the Pavilion's third floor to find a mile-long line of overly groomed folks dressed in things like suits and sultry dresses, along with an unsettling amount of chest hair poppi

  October 12, 2009

• The H-Town Countdown, No. 15: Chamillionaire's Original Mixtape Messiah, or 20-Plus Ways to Dis Mike Jones

  Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. "You drop one track, he's still alive." - Chamillionaire, on why he aimed an entire dis album at Mike Jones rather than just one track Chamillionaire Mixtape Messiah (self-released - it's a mixtape, duh - 2005) For the most part, we've tried to avoid including mixtapes

  October 15, 2009

• Free Rice-Cookers Help Out Burmese Refugees Here

  Photo by Mike Giglio​A crowd of Burmese refugees gathered in the parking lot Sunday afternoon at the Sun Blossom Mountain apartment complex on Ranchester Drive -- which was the subject of our recent cover story on Houston's refugees -- and waited for John Glenn to shout their names.A local company, Roguescene Houston, had the previous weekend hosted a charity event on behalf of the 150 Burmese families who live there in order to raise enough money to buy each of them a rice cooker. And a truck

  October 21, 2009

• Boosted Booze and Marvin's Angels

  October 22, 2009

• The Halloween Drunk Tank

  Photos by Mike Giglio​Beneath an almost full moon on Halloween night the (probably) drunk man tried to follow the tip of the officer's pen with his eyes. Behind him a parade of costumed yuppies shuffled between Washington Avenue's trendy bars: sexy school girls, sexy devils, mobsters, Facebook. Officer Don Egdorf waved his pen from side to side. Egdorf is one of 14 members of a local task force dedicated to finding and arresting drunk drivers. And he had a Halloween-worthy persona of his own

  November 2, 2009

• Election Night Parties So Far Are As Scintillating As The Campaign

  Photo by Mike Giglio​Things are very quiet at the vote-watch "parties" tonight, as the candidates and their supporters settle in for what's likely to be a long night of seeing who ends up being the odd person out.This description, of the Annise Parker bash, is pretty much true of the others. Except for the music, possibly.Parker has decided to do the evening in style, holding her party at the Hilton Americas on the Avenida de Americas and Lamar; fancy trees decked in lights a la South Beach ou

  November 3, 2009

• MasterMind Awards

  November 19, 2009