Ricky Craig

The 10 Best Downtown Restaurants

More than tunnels and tourist traps.

Top 10 Restaurants in Downtown Houston

New restaurants and bars are opening in downtown Houston faster than we can keep up, thanks to a renaissance around the Market Square Park area that's bringing new life to downtown's north side. But that's not the only part of downtown that's blossoming -- nor are those new restaurants the only game ... More >>

Here, Eat This

A beginner's guide to Nigerian cuisine.

Openings & Closings: Manly Cupcakes Can't Cut It

How many Malaysian restaurants does it take to feed Houston? If you guessed two, you're correct. Proving that Houstonians like their Malaysian food in one single flavor -- Banana Leaf flavor -- newcomer Asam Laksa Malaysian closed this week in Chinatown. It could have also had something to do with t ... More >>

Sitting Pretty

Houston's 10 Best Patios

Openings & Closings: The Big Sleep for The Big Mamou

Earlier this week, Eating...Our Words got the scoop on a few upcoming openings to keep an eye on, starting with the new Fat Cat Creamery ice cream parlor opening this summer in the Heights. Owners Jarvis and Sarah Johnston plan to sell eight flavors of their popular hand-packed ice cream, mixing fiv ... More >>

13 Houston Chefs Who Have Celebrity Doppelgangers

Check out which local chef sure looks a lot like a Spice Girl, who might be hosting a game show in his spare time, and who we think is a long-lost triplet: See also: - 12 Celebrity Chefs Who Have Cartoon Doppelgangers - 13 Celebrity Chef Doppelgangers 13. Kaz Edwards vs. Joshua Jackson We could s ... More >>

Are We There Yet? Restaurants We're Excited About for 2013

Last year -- at the tail-end of 2011 -- it seemed as if half the restaurants we were excited about in 2010 for the upcoming year still hadn't opened yet: Uchi, Triniti, Underbelly and The Hay Merchant were all a very long time in the making, but finally opened this past year to great acclaim all aro ... More >>

Philly Poutine

A first look at the new Pappa Geno's in Bellaire.

Openings & Closings: Block 7 on the Chopping Block and Birdwell Flies the Coop

The big news this week was word from Ronnie Killen of Killen's Steakhouse and Ricky Craig of Hubcap Grill that the two are combining their magical meat skills to open CK's Steakhouse in the Heights. The new steakhouse serves, in a way, to replace the plans that Killen had to open an outpost of his ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Steakhouses

With this week's news that meat magnates Ronnie Killen of Killen's Steakhouse and Ricky Craig of Hubcap Grill are teaming up to create a mega-steakhouse, Wonder Twins-style, it seems as good a time as any to examine the steakhouse scene here in Houston. (It should also serve as succor for those carn ... More >>

This Week in Food Blogs: Masters of Meat and the Problem with Corn Smut

Eater Houston: I love useful maps, and Eater Houston's recent "heat map" of the city's best brunch destinations is just that. Old favorites such as Fountain View Cafe and Hugo's mingle with newer hot spots like Boomtown Coffee. CultureMap: Equally useful is Sarah Rufca's map at CultureMap of the 10 ... More >>

Where the Chefs Eat

Grant Gordon, Matt Marcus and Kevin Naderi

This Week in Deliciousness: How the Hell Did We All Become Allergic to Food?

Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating...Our Words, where we're lobbying for Texas to move to a mimosa-based economy. Basically, 50 mimosas would be worth a dollar. Somebody better lock down this public transportation thing and soon. We started the week off right with a look at Oxheart, ... More >>

Speculations about Ricky Craig of Hubcap Grill's New Concept

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of the two-location, critically acclaimed Hubcap Grill burger joint and its bold, outspoken owner, Ricky Craig. It's commonly accepted, both in Houston and out, that Hubcap Grill serves up some of the best (if not the best) burgers in the city. I ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Crawfish Across Houston

It's high crawfish season in Houston, with a slew of different boils coming up to satisfy all your head-sucking pursuits. But first, you don't want to miss this weekend's big charity event: Kicking Cancer's Ass. The fundraiser dinner will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 25 at Ralph Smi ... More >>

Hubcap Grill's Ricky Craig on Twitter Outbursts and Axl Rose Rants

This past Tuesday around 10 p.m., anyone who follows Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig on Twitter could tell that he was having a bad night. Craig is well-known for voicing his opinions -- often stridently -- on Twitter, but Tuesday was different. "Ewan MacDonald get out of Houston and GO BACK TO DALL ... More >>

Hospitality Reigned Over Hate at Hubcap Grill's Yuck Felp Party

Hubcap Grill's Anti-Yelp party, held this past Sunday, had everything a stellar party should have: delicious food, a fantastic beer selection, beautiful people, excellent music, gorgeous weather, and a couple of visits by the police. Hipsters, foodies, and fun-loving adults traveled from far and nea ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Beer, [Crawfish] Boils and Burgers

It's shaping up to be a busy couple of weeks around here as "Spring" "comes" to Houston. God, shoot me now. I can't make it to August like this. Ahem. Tomorrow, get your hands dirty at the 2012 Crawfish Festival in the Heights. Admission is free and Dr. Gleem Car Wash -- you know, the one that hou ... More >>

The Rest of the Best: Houston's Top 10 Burgers

For the next 20 weeks, we'll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year's winner is no easy task. We'll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the winner had hefty competition from other Houston bars and restaurants. Houston ... More >>

DEFCON Dining: Hubcap Grill

Photo by Nicholas HallHubcap Grill​I'm not really sure how Hubcap Grill owner Ricky Craig will feel about his DEFCON designation. Despite my feelings on the subject, I'm fairly certain that Hubcap isn't meant to be kid friendly. Not that it's meant to be unfriendly, but something about a grave ... More >>

Keep on Truckin: Flaming Patties

​One of my favorite lunch destinations these days is the parking lot at Inversion on Montrose. I usually check Twitter to see which food truck is there, and it's often one of my favorites: Bernie's Burger Bus or H-Town StrEATs are commonly found tucked into the shade from Inversion's massive c ... More >>

First Look at Hubcap Grill and Beer Garden in the Heights

Photo by John SuhThe cheeseburger: how I judge a burger joint​I'd never had a taste of Hubcap Grill before, so when they opened up their new grill and beer garden in the Heights last week, it moved to the top of my list of places to try. A few days ago, the temperature was over one hundred, a ... More >>

Openings & Closings: Familiar Faces Edition

Hubcap Grill's new fence outside its soon-to-be-open restaurant on 19th Street.​Some familiar faces will soon be popping up around town, from the Heights to Montrose and back again, starting with the news that Olivier Ciesielski -- the former executive chef at Tony's -- will be opening his ver ... More >>

Masters of Cyberspace

The Press hands out its first Houston Web Awards.

Jonathan's the Rub Sweeps the 2011 Burger Bracket

Photos by Dawn McGeeRicky Craig, owner of Hubcap Grill, constructed one of 32 burgers.​Virginia Commonwealth University may not have advanced to play in last night's national championship NCAA game, but another underdog team ended up sweeping a Final Four at yesterday's 2011 Burger Bracket Cha ... More >>

Openings & Closings

​Continuing last week's busy schedule, there's a flotilla of new restaurants on the horizon in Houston. Although it's Lower Westheimer that's been getting a lot of buzz lately (with another new restaurant, Mexico's Deli, recently announced), downtown's getting an influx of new restaurants as ... More >>

First Look at Royal Oak Bar & Grill

This did not take place at Royal Oak. I did not do this on Friday night (and never would), but you have to admire the creativity in some small way.​When a friend wanted to meet for a late-evening bite to eat and some beers in the neighborhood last Friday night, I immediately suggested Royal Oa ... More >>

What Are Houston Chefs Cooking This Thanksgiving?

Photo by Carbon NYC​Thanksgiving: A day to gather with your loved ones and give thanks? Or a day to display your culinary prowess to friends and family? Increasingly, the emphasis has been on the latter in the past few years, as people try to dress up the traditional Thanksgiving spread and im ... 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. Robb Walsh: Walsh has been documenting a variety of very interesting, very time ... More >>

Royally Food at the Queen Vic Pub

If you like rum and falernum, you'll like the Jewel in the Crown.​Let's get a few things straight first. The Queen Vic Pub (2712 Richmond), which opened on September 3, is nothing like The Red Lion. Yes, they're both pubs. Yes, they both serve a mixture of British and Indian food on their menu ... More >>

Openings & Closings

David Luna at Flora & Muse, his new restaurant.​Add another unlikely mobile food vendor to the list of food trucks now rolling through Houston's streets: Hubcap Grill's fire engine-red truck had its grand unveiling last night in the parking lot of Christy's Donuts at West Gray and Montrose. Th ... More >>

Houston's Hottest Chefs: Eric Aldis

Tam Vo​This past week, we've highlighted the winners in the second round of Houston's Hottest Chefs: the men. We've taken a good, long look at Justin Basye, Ricky Craig, L.J. Wiley and Bryan Caswell. But the moment of truth has come. The people of Houston have spoken. Eric Aldis of Mo's: A Pla ... More >>

Houston's Hottest Chefs: Ricky Craig

Tam Vo​Every day this week we'll be highlighting the male winners from our poll on Houston's Hottest Chefs. On Friday we'll reveal the hottest chef of all. Ricky Craig makes some of the best burgers in town over at Hubcap Grill. When we did a Q&A with him about his Hot Chef nomination, we c ... More >>

Houston's Hottest Chef: Voting Is Now Open

Thankfully, none of our nominees look like this.​We've carefully combed through the 100 plus comments from last week's post and compiled the top five male and top five female chefs you nominated as Houston's hottest chef. We combed through our own photo archives and -- occasionally -- the che ... More >>

May Is National Hamburger Month

Smashburger.​May is National Burger Month, that special time when you can channel your inner Hamburglar. Burgerphiles can sample their way through the specials around town, while the ne'er-branch-outs can perhaps be tempted to try something new. Here are a few Houston restaurants spreading the ... More >>

Robb Walsh's 100 Favorite Houston Dishes #73 Greek Burger at the Hubcap Grill, 1111 Prairie

​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 >>

New Burgers at Hubcap Grill

Photos by J.C. ReidRicky CraigIn a previous post about taco burgers, I mentioned I had struck up a conversation with Ricky Craig, owner of Hubcap Grill, and offered my services as a taste-tester for any new burgers he might be working on. This week I got the call. Craig invited me and several other ... More >>

Hungry for Hubcap

Mastering the muffaletta

Muffuletta Burger at Hubcap Grill

Triple Decker Burger at Hubcap Grill