Montrose

Get Your Caffeine Fix Without the Heat

I've always hated the phrase "movers and shakers", but if applied literally, it's an accurate description of our city right now. With locals running around town implacably, outpacing frequent mentions from national publications (which have taken to calling us the new "it" city), it's easy to forget ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Clean Ruchi's, Dirty Whataburger and a Place Called Ernie's

We had a TB skin test a couple days ago, and as we approach the 48-hour minimum for a visual reading with no ominous red bump, it feels strangely like the Texans entering the fourth quarter with a two-touchdown lead on whatever ungulate team Peyton Manning is leading. Either way, we'll be keeping an ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Renovated Restaurants and Born-Again Bars

It was a busy week for openings, so we'll kick things off this Friday with some happy news. Eleven XI, the new restaurant helmed by chef Kevin Bryant, opened this past Tuesday night...and it already has three Yelp reviews. The location at 607 West Gray had to be extensively renovated to turn the f ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Haute Wheels Checked, and Mostly Good News In Montrose

This weekend, the city once again hit the Press-organized Haute Wheels food truck festival. Like last year, the trucks that inspectors visited did pretty well. Chilantro BBQ got hit with two violations: potentially hazardous food held at improper temperature (corrected on site), and no shatter-pro ... More >>

Cuchara: Montrose Mexican

Even though the food is a bit uneven, Cuchara's drinks are spectacular and its dining room filled with energy.

VIDEO: Happy Halloween! See the Freaks at the 6th Annual Montrose Crawl

See more pics of the 6th annual Montrose Crawl in our slideshow. The Montrose Crawl is but a distant memory for the several hundred revelers who took part in the multi-bar block party on Saturday. But Halloween week ain't over yet. And to help us remember what a great time we had, we just checked o ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Montrose Edition

Inspectors really picked over 77006 last week. This part of town is known as Neartown, Montrose, the Montrose (kind of annoying, but technically okay), or "the 'Trose" if you're into efficiency. By swapping a single syllable for another single syllable, you avoid having to say the entire sentence: " ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: BB's, Ragin Cajun, the Montrose Valero and More

Let's start with something fun: The Valero at the nexus of the universe, also known as the intersection of Montrose and Westheimer, was cited and closed thanks to a river of shame that threatened to back up the plumbing and flood the sort of nice Cibolo coffee stand they've got going there. Actuall ... More >>

Strong Roots

This veggie-centric restaurant could become a Montrose mainstay after working out some kinks.

Top 5 Acts to Catch at Pride Weekend

See many more events this weekend in the Houston Press' 2012 Pride Guide. This Saturday, the streets around Westheimer and Montrose will be swamped with people for the 34th annual Houston LGBT Pride Celebration, one of the oldest and largest events of its kind in the South. Started to commemorate t ... 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 >>

“Larry Bob Phillips: Salon Style”

Where Are We Eating? Clue: Hangout Steak

At this Montrose watering hole, "steak night" means something more than just a piece of skirt steak thrown on a charcoal pit. These are prime cuts of meat -- for not much money -- and you can get your steak topped with extras like blue cheese, local onions or fresh leeks. Not to mention it comes wit ... More >>

Cover Story: Houston's Controversial Noise Ordinance

In this week's cover story, Houston Press examined the effects of the citywide sound ordinance, which Houston City Council passed on October 10. While a Houston Police Department officer is confident that the noise ordinance task force (whose members aren't required to carry decibel meters) is doi ... More >>

Where Are We Drinking?

If there's a perfect bar in Montrose for catching up on a little light German reading, it's this place. Can you tell where someone was getting in touch with his inner wolf of the steppes while downing a beer? Leave your best guess below.

Comment of the Day: No "LoWe," But No "The" Montrose Either, Please

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 involving wit ... More >>

Where Are We Drinking?

This popular Montrose bar recently hosted a crawfish boil. The picnic tables on its rear patio already bore marks like these from crawfish boils past, and I'm sure at least a few more Sharpie drawings were added that day. Look familiar? Think you know where we're drinking this week? Leave your best ... More >>

Eatsie Boys Moving Into Montrose; Kraftsmen Cafe to Close

After much speculation as to the eventual the brick-and-mortar location of popular food truck Eatsie Boys, it was announced this morning that the food truck team will be moving into a space at 4100 Montrose. Fans of Kraftsmen Cafe will recognize that address as the bakery's ivy-covered location bet ... More >>

Health Department Roundup

We're kind of disappointed there's not a flash-point restaurant or bar in this week's crop of inspection reports - the kind of place that usually brings out the worst in bitchy internet commenters. No one gets worked up about the food-service area of the Hampton Inn on I-10. It's spotless, by the wa ... More >>

Big Changes For Montrose? Block With That Half-Price Books Strip Center Is For Sale

The real-estate gurus at Swamplot took note of an interesting listing among commercial real estate properties: The block of land at Montrose and Westheimer that contains the strip center with Half-Price Books.. The listing by HFF says the 2.86-acre plot, which includes the entire block, "represents ... More >>

Openings and Closings: The Non-Montrose Edition

We had a few comments last week bemoaning the fact that the week's restaurant news was all out of Montrose. "Montrose - within a 10 minute drive for only 14% of the Greater Houston Metropolitan area, and yet it gets a least a third of the restaurant coverage in the Houston Press," wrote one commente ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Christopher of The Flat

This week, I paid a visit to The Flat, and no, not your European friend's apartment. I'm talking about the cozy hidden gem in Montrose. I grabbed a spot at the bar and was immediately greeted by the friendly barman, Christopher. We talked about music, some of the great veggie restaurants around tow ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Holly of Catbirds

It was so warm and beautiful this week that I decided to dust off the Schwinn and ride over to Catbirds...because what's a bike ride if there's no "beereward"? There was a raven-haired lady named Holly behind the bar whipping up strawberry basil mojitos so I grabbed a stool, ordered one, and got to ... More >>

Openings & Closings: The All-Montrose Edition

It's all Montrose, all the time this week: Nearly every bit of restaurant scoop for the past several days has come out of the Montrose, starting with an announcement last night from the owners of the Eatsie Boys food truck: "EBOY BREAKING NEWS: We have signed a lease in Mmmontrose. Eboy 3.0 storefro ... More >>

Michael Berry: 5 Places Worse Than A Gay Bar That He Could Have Been Seen At

As much of the nation knows by now, Michael Berry attended a drag show in Montrose and allegedly got involved in a hit-and-run. Berry is a minor-league version of Rush and Hannity, ranting on the radio with truthiness to disparage anything that isn't Tea Party Republican. A Montrose gay bar is pro ... More >>

David Berkeley

Scott Ellis Childress, 46, Bayou Body Count No. 9

A man was beaten to death in Montrose around noon Friday. Media reports say an altercation occurred at the Scott Childress Studio salon in the 1700 block of Welch. Police say they received a call for medical help, and found a man severely beaten who soon died. KHOU reports a second man went into ... More >>

Frame Dance Production at The Photobooth

Friday night, Art Attack swung by The Photobooth on Montrose for the first of a four-part series of installation dance pieces entitled "Framed!" by Frame Dance Productions. A small crowd formed outside the door, anxiously awaiting the removal of a large, white wall that blocked the entranceway. When ... More >>

Where Are We Drinking?

The thyme-sprigged cocktail below was a mere $5 during this new Montrose restaurant's nightly happy hour, and it features an ingredient not usually seen in cocktails: sake. And with that clue, you should be able to easily guess this week's Where Are We Drinking? by now. Leave your best guess in the ... More >>

Staying Sane at Owl Bar

​The best thing about Owl Bar is that it doesn't feel like it belongs. A couple of years ago, when Mugsy's occupied the same space, it would have been a little more at home in its neighborhood. Upper Kirby has since come up in the world, though. Standing on Owl Bar's narrow patio on a Tuesday ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Flying Saucers and Farmers Markets

H-E-B's Montrose Market will be open in less than a week.​In big grocery news this week, Trader Joe's has set its sights on The Woodlands as its first Houston-area store, Phoenicia has finally opened downtown and H-E-B's Montrose Market is close to opening at 1701 West Alabama. Stay tuned next ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Trying to Comprehend Infant Porn

​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 >>

Peter Kingman Lindsley: Infant Porn, for When Child Porn Isn't Sick Enough

Prison time is coming for Montrose man.​A Montrose man has entered a guilty plea to possession of child pornography, and he's taken the "child" part of it to extremes. Peter Kingman Lindsley, 49, was found to have on his computer "3,805 digital images and 860 video files that depicted childre ... More >>

Health Department Roundup

Those walls aren't dirty, they're actually dripping with class.​You never know where a job as a city health inspector is going to take you - a fine-dining restaurant, a seedy game room, a family-run taqueria or maybe a strip club. It's a tough job. Except for the strip club part. The most re ... More >>

Hostel In Montrose's Lovett Inn Opens This Month

The Lovett Inn, now a hostel​In January the group Hostelling International announced plans to buy the famed Lovett Inn in Montrose and turn it into youth hostel. There were some neighborhood concerns about parking and traffic, but those have apparently been dealt with: the hostel is having a ... More >>

Fast Times: Sushi Counter at Disco Kroger

​Sure, drive-thru windows are fast, but the fastest fast food in town is pre-made anything from the grocery store. Enter: the sushi counter at the new and improved Disco Kroger on Montrose. I haven't had time to explore the store beyond the produce section (so much better!), cheese shop, and s ... More >>

Capsule Art Reviews: "Collections: Annual HSPVA Juried Show," "Crafting Live(s): 10 Years of Artists-In-Residence," "Hayden Fosdick: Paper Compounds," Marc Swanson: The Second Story, "Mitch Dobrowner: New Work," "R.W. Northcutt: Indigenous Genius"

Capsule Art Reviews: "Collections: Annual HSPVA Juried Show" "Crafting Live(s): 10 Years of Artists-In-Residence" "Hayden Fosdick: Paper Compounds" Marc Swanson: The Second Story "Mitch Dobrowner: New Work" "R.W. Northcutt: Indigenous Genius" "Use Your Il

Comment of the Day: Gayness Is Not a Zero-Sum Game

​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 >>

RIP Gay Montrose? Community Members Say Yes, No and Maybe So

According to some, Montrose is seeing fewer rainbows these days.​Montrose's "gayborhood" status is officially over. Or it's just like it has been for the past five to ten years. It depends on who you ask. Hair Balls recently spoke with various movers and shakers of the neighborhood's GLBT co ... More >>

Blacksmith Opening This Spring: Mary's Goes Mocha

Photo by Robb Walsh​Coffeesmiths David Buehrer and Ecky Prabanto are moving on up -- literally and figuratively -- from their current digs at Greenway Coffee & Tea, located in the subterranean Greenway Plaza food court, into a new space in Montrose. Blacksmith, the pair's new coffee shop, is s ... More >>

GLBT Hate Crime Victims Memorialized on Charles Armstrong's Property

Montrose residents lit a candle for hate crime victims.​Last night, throngs of people bearing candles filled an empty parking lot in Montrose, just off the main gay bar drag of Pacific Street. A block or two from here, Paul Broussard was murdered in 1991. Aaron Scheerhoorn was stabbed to death ... 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 >>

Where Are We Drinking?

This one should be a no-brainer: Where else in town can you find a Montrose coffee blend than this hot spot? Think you know where we're buying our beans this week? ​Leave your best guess in the comments section below.

Comment of the Day: Fire at an Adult Bookstore

​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 >>

Montrose's Creepiest Adult Bookstore Burns Down, Man Killed

Google mapsA Montrose landmark of sorts, gone.​For years, the Talk of the Town adult bookstore on Richmond just west of Montrose has been a creepy oddity -- from the outside, it looked like a shabby, about-to-fall-down barn, its fading red paint, lack of windows and seeming claustrophobic cond ... More >>

Pride Houston Parade and Festival

Whole Foods Joins the Party in Montrose, Brings Booze

The 32 foot beer cooler at the new Whole Foods Market in Montrose​I live in Montrose, and I am a big fan of Disco Kroger. The infatuation began almost four years ago, on the very first night I moved into the area. It was after 1 a.m. on a Saturday and I had an apartment full of boxes and only ... More >>

Openings & Closings

​The Heights and its surrounding areas have seen some big changes over the last week, starting with the big news that 11th Street Cafe is finally closing to make room for a bigger and better restaurant on the corner of 11th and Studewood. The food at 11th Street hadn't been good in a very long ... More >>