Queens County

Health Department Roundup

"That doesn't look like 20-foot candles of light 30 inches from where food is provided to the consumer, dude." (Note: Jeff Spicoli is not actually a City of Houston health inspector.)​City health inspectors checked out nearly 100 facilities last week, yet issued only one citation and required ... More >>

Unidentified Male, 15, Bayou Body Count No. 31

Murder on Bellaire Boulevard​A teenaged boy was sitting on the steps outside a southwest side apartment last night when a man came up and shot him several times, killing him. Another boy who had been sitting next to the victim was not shot. The name of the victim has not been released. The k ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup

​City health inspectors finished the year on a somewhat light note, slapping a few moderate offenders and a clump of lesser foes. At Big A Food Mart (903 El Dorado Blvd.), a December 22 routine inspection found 13 violations, including plumbing and paperwork troubles and some equipment that ... More >>

Five Items to Avoid -- Even Though They Sound Good

lucianvenutian​5. Tamales Many times, I have wanted a tamale and then not wanted it a couple bites in (except maybe after that pub crawl when the little lady brought some into the bar, I don't really remember what I thought before or after that). Almost every single one ends up being drier t ... More >>

Sergio Corona: Owner Of Sea Shell Store Put In Fake $28K Claim Over Gulf Spill, Feds Say

That's gotta be a coupla thousand bucks' worth right there​Sergio Corona sells sea shells down by the sea shore -- or so he'd have the federal government believe. Corona is the first person indicted in the Southern District of Texas for fraud in connection with the Deepwater Horizon spill. Pr ... More >>

Health Dept. Roundup

​Health inspectors found some truly big-ticket offenders this week, and we bring them to you now on Health Department Roundup. At Pho 21 (11005 Fuqua), a complaint led to an October 25 visit that found a hearty 14 violations, among them that some food was not safe for human consumption or was ... More >>

Umami at Umai

Photos by Troy FieldsThe clean and modern interior at Umai. Check out our slideshow for more photos.​Umai Japanese Restaurant (8400 Bellaire) may be located along Bellaire Boulevard, but the restaurant is mostly removed from the hurly-burly tumble and flow of Chinatown, being closer to Sharpst ... More >>

Tobi Oyedeji: Tragedy Hits Bellaire High

Photo courtesy FacebookOyedeji had a good academic record at Bellaire​A kid with a shining future, one who worked hard in class, who seemed to have everything before him, died this weekend, and Bellaire High is grieving.Tobi Oyedeji, 17, was set to play basketball for Texas A&M next year, but ... More >>

Tobi Oyedeji's After-Prom Accident: Sleep Deprivation Can Be As Bad As Drinking For Teens

Bellaire High's Tobi Oyedeji​Houston police are still investigating Sunday's early-morning crash caused by a Bellaire teen coming home from the school's official after-prom party, and the school itself is still in shock at the death of a popular, hard-working basketball star.(The family of the 50- ... More >>

Sole Of Houston: UH Architecture Professor Graphs Bellaire Boulevard

Ray Davies never sang about seeing stars on Bellaire Boulevard​Three years ago this month, David Beebe and I trekked Bellaire Boulevard from west of Highway 6 to the Little Woodrow's on the train tracks at the West U / Bellaire border. We didn't continue any further because the prosperous stretch ... More >>

Robb Walsh's 100 Favorite Houston Dishes: #42 Banh Mi Xiu Mai at Don Cafe at 9300 Bellaire

​Over the course of the next few months, I'm counting down 100 of my favorite Houston dishes. I chose some because they are such quintessential Houston creations, others for their cultural or historical significance, and others because they are just so damn tasty. Share your own nominations in ... More >>

Game Time: The Caballo Chronicles, Volume 2: A Look at MLB's 20 Biggest Contracts Ever

​This is my second go round living in Houston. Prior to moving back here in the summer of 2007, the last time I was an H-town resident was between 1994 and 2001. As an Astro fan, that means I was here when the Bagwell/Biggio nucleus finally broke through in 1997 and made the playoffs, I was he ... More >>

Dean Denies (Knowledge Of) TAKS Cheating At Key Middle School

​In today's latest revelations concerning the alleged standardized cheating, employee theft, and other massive problems at Key Middle School (and involving Kashmere High),  Dean of Instruction, Dolores Westmoreland insists she didn't know of any cheating going on involving the TAKS test at K ... More >>

Stay The Hell Away From The South Loop If You Know What's Good For You

The West Loop is a disaster area right now. An 18-wheeler has shut it down.From TxDot: EMERGENCY CLOSURE OF IH 610 WEST LOOPAt the request of the City of Bellaire, the Texas Department of Transportation has closed IH 610 West Loop southbound mainlanes and frontage road at Bellaire and is in the proc ... More >>

Bellaire High Students Take First Steps On Road To Godless Communism, Possibly

Photo courtesy HISD​We guess they didn't get the memo out at Bellaire High that the USSR is an enemy devoted to selling us the rope with which we'll hang oursel -- wait, what? The Berlin War fell? We won the Cold War? It must not have made TMZ.com, because we don't remember reading about it. At a ... More >>

Coyotes And Bobcats Invade Area Yuppie Enclaves

​Back in 2004, we covered the battle of man vs. coyote in League City. Now it appears the wily canines have moved the battlefront closer to town.WestUInstantNews picks up the, um, tail: Coyotes and bobcats have recently been spotted prowling the border of Bellaire and West University Place, prom ... More >>

Houston 101: The End Of Gaslight Video Spells The Final Demise Of The West U. Tenderloin

​With the recent verdict against Eugene Etheridge and the permanent closure of his infamous Gaslight Video on Bellaire Boulevard in the West University area, an era has drawn to a close. No longer can the 3500 block of Bellaire be accurately described as the Red Light District of West University P ... More >>

Pupusas at La Pupusa Alegre

​Pupusas are like Salvadorian quesadillas, only the edges of the "quesadilla" are sealed shut, creating a positively awesome hot pocket of goodness within. Some people liken them to stuffed corn tortillas or thinner versions of the Mexican gordita, but we think they're more like envelopes of m ... More >>

Jungle Café and Patisserie Re-Opens

​Jungle Café and Patisserie recently made the move from the 9100 block of Bellaire and is now located in a new strip center just east of Beltway 8 on Bellaire. The new location is primed to set the standard for new cafes entering the Asian market, seizing on a modern and simple build-out -- t ... More >>

Umai Japanese Restaurant

Late Night Scene: Sinh Sinh

​After a long day of hitting bars I was on my way home and decided to stop in Chinatown for a quick bite. I wanted to try something new, and there were several places still open with their large neon signs beckoning to me like I was a lost sailor. I saw Sinh Sinh (9788 Bellaire), which I've wa ... More >>

There's Hope Yet For The Former Teas Nursery In Bellaire

​When the historic Teas Nursery in Bellaire put its property up for sale earlier this year, the plan was to build single-family homes on the five acres.For "single-family homes," read "McMansions," of which Bellaire has an absolute glut.But now comes word via Swamplot that all may not be lost.The ... More >>

OMG 4 Rlz, No Texting While Driving In Bellaire Or West U

​Feel free to re-tweet while you're running over slow grandmas crossing the Bellaire Triangle, because next month you won't be able to do so -- the cities of Bellaire and West U have banned texting and web browsing while driving.In a double-header of government activity unmatched since Germany and ... More >>

Trying the Bellaire Broiler Burger

Photo by kaoru-h​After reading a few dozen passionate online reviews about the Bellaire Broiler Burger, a local legend, we decided to swing by Bellaire and Bissonnet, where BBB is tucked away in a time capsule out of the '70s. Smoking was allowed there until not too long ago, but now, only the ... More >>

Openings and Closings

​November has been a good month for Houston restaurants so far, with notably few closings. Among them in the past week were two casualties of Spanish cuisine: Tio Pepe (5213 Cedar) in Bellaire and the adjoining Garnaxas Tapas Bar. In better news, a spate of openings around the city -- and esp ... More >>

Donut Patrol: You Tiao at Classic Kitchen

​Dip your you tiao (Chinese doughnuts) in your dou jiang (warm, sweetened soy milk) at Classic Kitchen in the 9888 Bellaire shopping center near Beltway 8. This is probably the most popular place in the city for a Taiwanese-style breakfast. It's also a great place to eat dumplings, tofu soup a ... More >>

The Postmarks, Brookville

Health Department Roundup: We Are Chinese If You Please Edition

​There are always plenty of Chinese joints on the Health Department's online hit list. The reason: Like Mexican restaurants, Chinese restaurants are ubiquitous. The imaginatively named Chinese Cuisine (9888 Bellaire) was cited for general uncleanliness/disorder, dirty floors, and problems wi ... More >>

Back to School with Miss Pop Rocks!

​For most kids in the Houston area, this week signals the return to reading, writing, and random drug searches of their lockers. Ah, modern times. The bell ringing us back to class got Miss Pop Rocks thinking of all the pop culture schools she wishes she could have attended.Bayside High (Saved by ... More >>

Railroad Wins Important "Toxic Town" Suit

Photo by Daniel KramerDennis DavisIn 2007, our Todd Spivak did a feature on  the "Toxic Town" of Somerville, 90 miles southnorthwest of Houston and home to a Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway plant.Residents there have much higher cancer rates than normal, a fact some traced to the arsenic, ... More >>

Former Anchor Sues KPRC For Defamation

Photo courtesy of KPRCWendy CoronaFormer KPRC Channel 2 anchorwoman Wendy Corona is suing her former news station, alleging breach of contract and defamation. According to the lawsuit recently filed in Harris County District Court, Corona signed a four-year contract with KPRC starting in April 2006. ... More >>

Tolan Family Sues Bellaire And Brings The Fireworks

Robbie Tolan and his family have finally filed the long-awaited civil suit against the city of Bellaire and the cop who shot him in a high-profile incident that's brought national attention to the affluent suburb.The federal suit -- which contains explosive allegations of racist incidents by Bellair ... More >>

They're Still Arresting People Who Curse In Galveston County, Gosh Darn It

Photo by Joe ShlabotnikLast year Kristi Fridge garnered nationwide publicity after being arrested in a La Marque Wal-Mart for cursing. Reasonable people thought that if a vengeful God had somehow decided to mess with you enough to place you in a Wal-Mart in LaMarque, then cursing would be a viable r ... More >>

Shabu Chic at Shabu House

Toxic Runoff : Somerville Mayor Tommy Thompson Discusses the Public Health Situation

Greek Heros

The Hot Rod Grandma is cooking up some fabulous Greek food and stunning sandwiches over in Bellaire

Funky Pizza

Lemongrass Cafe

Crispy Muc, Tender Bo

There's a thrilling new Vietnamese restaurant on Bellaire with a menu that reads like a mystery

Steak and Peanut Butter

Lemongrass Cafe: A hip Bellaire spot with a hit-or-miss menu

Best Neighborhood Spot in Bellaire

Playbill

Bonding with the Community

A Sixth Ward lesson in adapting to a changing environment

Best Noodles

Lucky Pot

Truth Hurts

Two University of Texas graduate students record small-town Texas life in Truth I Ever Told

Best Chinese Restaurant

Canton Seafood Restaurant

Best Neighborhood Spot in Bellaire

Bellaire Coffee Shop

Best Cheeseburger

Bellaire Broiler Burger

The Best Dim Sum in Guangzhouston

A new champion is crowned

Best Chinese Restaurant

Hunan's

Hot Plate

May's Ice Cream