New Year's

Salads: Not Your Diet's Best Friend

Whenever someone says they are on a diet, look for them to eat more salads. With the base of every salad being a leafy green, it's understandable why dieters migrate to the salad bar or choose a salad on a menu when dining out. But dieters, be warned -- the salad bar is not your diet's best friend. ... More >>

Houston's Top 5 Punk Bars

5. LOLA'S DEPOT It it possible for a place to look run-down -- in a good way? Some who wax nostalgic about Lola's wasteland preeminence as the place to score drugs in the '80s now joke of it as a "neighborhood bar," offering such high-class amenities as ATM machines. Remnants of the old Lola's exi ... More >>

Getting In Shape for 2013: Eating Healthy Is Easy (or "a Snap," If You're Into Puns) at Snap Kitchen

Not to get all TMI on you, guys, but I need to lose some serious weight. Here's the long and short of it: I am only a little over five feet tall, but I weigh close to 200 pounds. That's venturing into Weeble territory, aesthetically speaking, not to mention the strain that it's putting on my health. ... More >>

Happy New Year: Rocks Off's Personal Resolutions for 2013

Recently Rocks Off challenged our writers to make a personal New Year's resolution as a music fan for 2013. These brave souls actually did. Alexa Crenshaw: I should build a solid record collection, and not just let the few albums I own remain in decoration collecting dust. I also should cut back on ... More >>

New Year's Eve 2012 Guide

Upcoming Events: New Year's Dining Options Outside the Loop

It's nothing but New Year's right now, as Houston restaurants and bars throw elbows to get you to spend that special night with them and them alone. The Four Seasons Hotel is offering one of our favorite packages this year in case you want to get all glammed up to ring in the 2013. Starting with di ... More >>

This Week In Food Blogs: There's Someone Out There for Everyone, Maggie Rita's

29-95: It's a New Year's Day must to indulge in a restorative brunch after a night of festivities. 29-95's Syd Kearney has an excellent list of places to do so, including plenty of favorites in and out of the Loop. Eater Houston: Speaking of...here's another very handy list, this one for all the ho ... More >>

Houston Scores Big-Time In Latest Edition Of Encyclopedia Of Country Music: Part 6

Mickey Newbury paved the road from Houston to Nashville for a Hells Angels-ish, hard-drinking, hard-drugging gaggle of songwriters who, like Newbury, would go on to make a serious mark on Music City. Ornery, belligerent, cocky, literary, opinionated, and super-talented, this group of Houston transp ... More >>

Top 5 Mullet-Rock Bands You Might Not Expect

Last Sunday, HBO aired the Season 3 finale of Eastbound & Down, the series about down-on-his-luck minor-league relief pitcher and morally bankrupt human being Kenny Powers. Besides a certain unvarnished wisdom ("death is for pussies") and a peculiar way with the ladies, Powers has one of the most sp ... More >>

Chase Budinger's Painfully Awkward Dialogue with P-Diddy at the NBA Slam Dunk Contest (w/ VIDEO)

The logical evolution of most things brings about positive change. This is especially true in the world of sports and entertainment. Think about anything in either of those realms which you consume, and ask yourself, "Is this experience better now than it was 25 years ago?" For almost everything, be ... More >>

An Auspicious Dinner at Nardino Ristorante

I am usually not one to predict the future. When it comes to prognostication, I am far too conservative and neurotic to articulate publicly my thoughts on upcoming fads, fashions, movements, etc. Seriously, identifying the Big Cupcake as a 2012 food trend was really going out on a limb for me. But ... More >>

Do You Know Who Killed Edlyn Villegas?

Police and Crime Stoppers are looking for the people behind the brutal murder of a 36-year-old woman whose nude and badly beaten body was found near a Pasadena bayou New Year's Day. Edlyn Villegas had gotten into a verbal altercation at a nightclub late the night before, police say. Her body was f ... More >>

Top 5 Ways to Clean Out Your Colon: Detoxing Debunked

By now you have either disregarded your New Year's resolutions with a long list of very convincing reasons (I actually enjoy being unemployed) or you haven't even started them yet. If cutting back on the excess was on your list of things to do in 2012, it's certainly not too late to start. When we s ... More >>

A New Year's Sunday Brunch at Hugo's

Photos by Mai PhamVery inviting: a gorgeous shrimp and avocado salad ​It's rare that I have the opportunity to eat brunch on Sundays. I'm usually one of those up-till-the-wee-hour-of-the-morning types, so getting up early on a Sunday is just not part of my regular agenda. But this last Sunda ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

J. C. Reid, Texas: Chicken fried steak is one of Chris's areas of expertise, which he puts to good use in this Food Fight-style battle between two of the great CFS joints in town: Barbecue Inn and Triple A. I was just happy to see that my favorite won. Chili Bob's Houston Eats: P.J. Stoops's Total ... More >>

Where Are We Drinking?

Our New Year's resolution was to learn how to bartend like Tom Cruise in Cocktail. What was yours? ​Leave us alone. We're still working on it. Just guess the bar in the comments section below.

Ta-ta, 2011

Kiss the year goodbye at a hot New Year's Eve party.

Your Bus & Rail Is Free on New Year's Eve

If your New Year's Eve plans include drinking past the point where it'd be wise to get behind the wheel, Metro's got your back. All buses and light rail are free from 6 p.m. New Year's Eve until 6 a.m. New Year's Day, the agency announced. Metro says it "wants to help individuals celebrating the a ... More >>

OH HAI 2012: Ten Indie Tunes To Ring In Your New Year

Nothin' like a brand-spankin', shiny new year. It's a time to reflect on the past twelve months and for the next twelve, make ridiculous resolutions (drink and drive less, limit walks of shame to two per week, pay child support, stop cutting own bangs, eat more fruit...snacks) we know we won't keep. ... More >>

The Year in Aeros Hockey: To the Top and Back

To wrap up my year in review of the teams I cover, here's a look back at the 25 most significant moments with the Houston Aeros for the year 2011. 1. The Aeros added veterans Jed Ortmeyer and Patrick O'Sullivan to the team just as the New Year hit. From that point on, a team which had been strugg ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Not Too Late for New Year's Plans

Ring in the new year at one of our three top choices.​Next week, we'll have a complete round-up of New Year's Eve dinners and dining events. But this week, we're spotlighting three favorites to include in Upcoming Events -- make your reservations now! Jasper's in The Woodlands is hosting a pr ... More >>

Ta-ta, 2011

Kiss the year goodbye at a hot New Year's Eve party.

Why We Love to Hate the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission

Image via Westerville Public Libary (Westerville, Ohio).To understand our state's peculiar relationship with alcohol, we need to look back to the early post-Prohibition era when the TABC was founded (1935).​In the wake of a recent post on the absurdity of wine shipping regulation in Texas, a c ... More >>

Top 5 Champagnes Under $60 for the Holidays

Photos by Jeremy Parzen.Remember: Champagne doesn't have to be white. Rosé Champagne is often considered the more "muscular" expression of the appellation. Look for Bollinger Rosé, Ruinart Rosé, and our favorite, Billecart Salmon Rosé.​Okay, folks. There's good news and there's bad news. ... More >>

30 Seconds With Dahvie Vanity of Blood on the Dance Floor

After taking a moment to mop the bodily fluid from our lap top, we fired off an email to Dahvie Vanity of the morbid electronica masters Blood on the Dance Floor to see what we could bleed out of him in 30 seconds. ​Rocks Off: What is the worst song in the world? Dahvie Vanity: My opinion on ... More >>

Bayou Country

Mike Stinson has a thing for his adopted hometown.

Jed Ortmeyer: The Houston Aeros' Medical Miracle Man

John RoyalAeros right wing Jed Ortmeyer watches the aciton unfold on the ice​Right wing Jed Ortmeyer joined the Houston Aeros on New Year's Day. The team had already started showing signs of life right after Christmas, but when Ortmeyer came on board, the team soared, going on a January spree ... More >>

LaTasha Stauts: Lady Gangsta from Southwest Side Faces Three Aggravated Assault Charges

LaTasha Stauts: Sounds like she's a member​LaTasha Danyelle Stauts is back behind bars, and at least three women are breathing a sigh of relief. Stauts, 23, is accused of punching two of them in the face with a pair of brass knuckles and menacing the third with a knife. Court documents imply ... More >>

Jason Bourque and Daniel McAllister: East Texas Church Arsonists Sentenced to Life

Courtesy Smith County SO Daniel George McAllister and Jason Robert Bourque​The crimes that East Texans Jason Robert Bourque and Daniel George McAllister were convicted of last month were disgusting indeed. The two young men, sometimes working together and other times apart, admitted to torchin ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Philippe Schmit of Philippe

​Very soon, masses of curious and hungry Houstonians will get what they've been patiently waiting for. Next week, Philippe Schmit will unveil his debut restaurant, Philippe, in the Galleria area after two-and-a-half years of meticulous planning. Philippe, otherwise known as the French Cowboy, ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Blue Jean Gourmet: Former EOW blogger Nishta Mehra's first post of 2011 on her ... More >>

Hudson Lounge: Still No Agreement On What Happened

Photo by Roy OdomThe HPD car that showed up as the Hudson Lounge party broke up​Hudson Lounge. Again. Yesterday on Hair Balls and on the music blog, Rocks Off, we summarized the Hudson Lounge ordeal that has gripped Houston nightlife patrons, with accusations of racism and exclusionary pract ... More >>

Who Needs An Entrée? I'll Just Take the Bread

garyrwiseThe bread is also used on the sliders at Reef. ​On New Year's Eve, I ate an early dinner at Reef with my husband. We enjoyed a ginormous raw platter, two plump, flavorful crab cakes, generous portions of red snapper and swordfish, and a massive block of fried macaroni and cheese. We ... More >>

Hudson Lounge Situation Still Clear As Mud

​The fallout from the December 28 "Hydeout at the Hudson" party continues to fester. As you probably know by now, the party organizers say Hudson Lounge's owner threw them out and shut down the chichi Rice Village club because they were black, while the staff contends it was because too many p ... More >>

Escolar and Uni at Aka Sushi

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttSea snail up front, uni in the back.​Every time I mention enjoying a particular sushi restaurant, a commenter or two will chime in to tell me that I'm a blithering idiot for not enjoying Aka Sushi more. (Sometimes that's an exaggeration, but not usually.) This also ... More >>

It's the Final Countdown

2011 is almost here — how will you ring it in?

Chime In: We Want Your New Year's Resolutions for Us

​Earlier this month, commenter Eric left the following comment on a post about chicken pho: These are my favorite type of posts on this blog. Introduce me to an outstanding dish at an out of the way restaurant I never would have heard of otherwise. More like this in 2011, please! And that go ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Great Food Houston: Former EOW blogger Ruthie Johnson posts on her personal foo ... More >>

Houston Aeros Prove That Stars Don't Always Shine Over Texas

The Aeros know how Steve Martin felt​It's probably safe to say that the AHL hates the Houston Aeros. Or rather, the schedule-makers hate the Aeros. Along with playing a frightening number of three-games-in-three-nights, the Aeros have also had to deal with the month of December, in which the ... More >>

Bun B Resolves To Really Grind In 2011

Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday that isn't a national holiday, Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. Photo illustration by John Seaborn Gray​This Week's Panel: Bun B, Lil Flip, Killa Kyleon, K-Rino, H-Kane, Ky ... More >>

It's The Final Countdown

2011 is almost here — how will you ring it in?

Top 5 Kwanzaa Dishes

soulchristmas​Kwanzaa was established in 1966 as an alternative to Christmas, Hanukkah and other winter holidays of the season. The festival was founded on seven principles designed to strengthen the African-American community and is celebrated from December 26 to January 1, with the Karamu f ... More >>

Johnette Duff Knows About The Ups And Downs Of The Film Business

Up & Down: Life in an elevator​Screenwriter/producer Johnette Duff has been dreaming about the premiere of her new film Up & Down -- literally."I dreamt that nobody woke me up in time for the premiere and so I got there late," she laughingly tells Hair Balls. "Then there were all these sce ... More >>

Happy New Year!

Photos by Groovehouse / Click here for a slideshow​What's that? New Year's has already passed? Not if you're from China, Japan, Vietnam or a number of other countries that celebrate the new year based on the lunar calendar. And to celebrate the passing of the old year, the Chinese Community Ce ... More >>

Where Are We Eating?

If you haven't eaten your black eyed peas yet to celebrate New Year's (and God knows we've tried to encourage you here...), it's not too late. Provided, of course, you can guess where we're eating this week. ​Leave your best guess in the comments section below.

Your New Year's Weekend Sports-Viewing Guide

​So you stayed up a bit late last night doing the whole celebrating the New Year thing. Now your head's aching, the room's spinning, and you just want to flop on the couch and watch some sports. But you don't want to have to think about what sports to watch. That's where I come in. Here's a little ... More >>

Five Pieces Of New Year's Weirdness

As you recover from your New Year's Eve party, rest assured that no matter how weird it got, it could have gotten weirder. The changing of the year seems to bring out some odd stuff.Here are just five examples of New Year's Weirdness.This clip features Father Time getting blasted by rayguns, a whole ... More >>

A Digital Bathroom Wall for Pat Lykos

Disgruntled prosecutors scribble their complaints about the new boss on a blog

Forget the Food

Go to La Strada for Sunday brunch, and the fiesta will leave you wanting more

Okra Worship

Pearl's serves up real food for the soul; Fusion Café brings a little soul to Rice Village