Staten Island

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook: Inspired Recipes for Hard-to-Inspire Cooks (That's Me)

Molly Dunn really needs to stop writing about cookbooks, because I'm going broke and gaining weight. That goes for you, too, Patrice Shuttlesworth! I was browsing the shelves at Brazos Bookstore less than two weeks ago, and mentioned to manager Jeremy Ellis how much I had enjoyed the cookbook Plen ... More >>

Houston's Top 10 Dance Clubs

10. CLUB TROPICANA If the word alone makes you thirsty, you can quench that parched palate at Tropicana every weekend. Now's your chance to try out those dance moves you learned in Zumba class, or coax your quiet friend into shaking her "bum bum." Tropicana is known for its great Latin music, and Sa ... More >>

RZA

7 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: Joe "King" Carrasco, Praia Urbana, Etc.

One of the buzziest bands in Houston's brimming folk-rock/alt.country scene, The Wheel Workers, celebrate the release of their latest vinyl single, "Right Way to Go," tonight at Fitzgerald's with Alkari, Sunward and Boy Kite. Get some bass, more bass, and then still more bass at the dubstep part ... More >>

Pride Weekend Special! Matty Harr of South Beach: Dancer, Drink-slinger, Martini-lover, Mosquito-hater

See the Houston Press Pride Guide. This week, in anticipation of the festivities taking place for Pride Houston, I paid my first visit to a Montrose staple for more than a decade, South Beach. The club is known for its outrageous, dance-all-night parties and they'll use any excuse to party. From CD ... More >>

Ten Other Gum-Themed Gang Names to Rival the "Big Red Gangstas"

According to reports, there was a spate of vandalism over the weekend out in the Willowbrook area. Car windows were smashed, things were spray-painted and general breaking of things happened. And, apparently it was the work of the Big Red Gangstas. No one yet knows if this is an actual gang or just ... More >>

Hammered Miami Heat Fan Strips To Bra & Panties To Celebrate A Win (VIDEO Analysis)

I realize that, unless you're a member of LeBron James' or Dwyane Wade's immediate family, it's awfully tough to find a reason to root for the Miami Heat. While they're not the lightning rod for vitriol that they were coming off of LeBron's "Decision" in the summer of 2010, the Heat are still quit ... More >>

Beer Bandwagoneering Ain't So Bad: Kulmbacher Brauerei's EKU 28

I make some "discoveries" all on my own, stumbling on a great bottle through some combination of a passable knowledge of styles and breweries, interesting bottle design and dumb luck. Most of the time, though, I rely on a sophisticated intelligence network of forward scouts, market analysts and "Non ... More >>

Michael Ray Cooper, 28, Bayou Body Count No. 8

Shot to death by a visitor​A man was shot to death in his Sunnyside home Sunday evening, police say. Michael Ray Cooper, 28, had a visitor to his home in the 3600 block of Bloomfield about noon Sunday. "At some point during the visit, the suspect shot and killed Cooper," HPD says. "After the ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Stay Outside The Loop, Noise-Ordinance Lovers

​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 >>

Manischewitz, a Kiddush Cup Full of Memories

It had been years since I'd tasted Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine: Last week, at my cousins's Rosh Hashanah celebration, we passed around a kiddush cup of Manischewitz and said the traditional blessing as we welcomed the Jewish New Year. When we sat down for our luncheon of Russian-style braised b ... More >>

Wu-Tang, Fishbone, Trae Top Village Voice/Frank 151 SXSW Party

Marco TorresMethod Man returns to Texas to smoke our SXSW party this year.​We finally have the full lineup for the 2011 Village Voice Media/Frank 151 SXSW party, and it's a doozy. Heading up the bill are Staten Island Shao-Lin spitters the Wu Tang clan, still coasting on their late 2010 reunio ... More >>

Loreal Bronte Castro, 17, Bayou Body Count No. 263

Teen killed in southeast side drive-by​A drive-by shooting after a Halloween party on the southeast side left a 17-year-old woman dead early Saturday morning, Houston police said.Loreal Bronte Castro, 17, was sitting in the back of a pickup truck with friends in the 8200 block of Concord when a ca ... More >>

The Great Food Truck Race: Finale

​Well, here we are--at the end of the food truck race, where the truth will be decided and destinies met and justice will fall down like rain...okay, maybe not, but still. It's been kind of fun getting a glimpse into what makes a good food truck run, even if every episode has made me hungrier ... More >>

Healthy Eating Is a Snap (Forgive the Pun) at Snap Kitchen

​Snap Kitchen (3600 Richmond, 713-526-5700) was my first experience with the fast-healthy concept that's mushroomed in Houston lately, which is predicated on the [not uncorrect] idea that most people do want to eat healthier these days, but don't have the time or skill level necessary to make ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 2: Justin Strang of Bistro Catron

Courtesy Bistro CatronJustin Strang of Bistro Catron​ We continue our chat with Chef Strang to learn about his most memorable disaster food experiment and the obstacles he has faced as a self-taught chef. EOW: What was your biggest disaster from trying new things with food? Strang: Experimen ... More >>

Summer Swoon

Proudly independent, recent Grammy nominees Silversun Pickups aren't ready to hit the "Panic Switch."

Top Five Under-Appreciated Candy Bars

​This post is a not-so-solemn plea for those candy bars that -- most of the time -- sit woefully ignored on drugstore racks across the country. I enjoy Snickers, Kit Kats, and Three Musketeers as much as the next sugar freak, but their combined monopoly on the American candy market is, I conte ... More >>

Local Natives

Bayou Beat: HOB's "Blues Schoolhouse" Band Seeks Musicians, Discovery Green Announces Spring Lineup, etc.

[Ed. Note: We are not trying to encroach on Ms. Magnolia City Mixtape's territory, but once in a while the news piles up too fast to wait an entire week.] It's our party and we'll pimp if we want to: Perhaps you may have heard about this "Washington Shore" soiree Rocks Off is throwing at 8 p.m. t ... More >>

Capsule Stage Reviews: Rent, Thunder Rock

Thunder Rock

Keeping the faith at Company OnStage

Duck Fat: the New Butter

Is the theme of the awesome Branch Water Tavern "fatty foods for lean times"?

The New American Whiskeys

​Branch Water Tavern, the subject of this week's Café review, has a collection of rare American whiskeys behind the bar that really widened my horizons. St. George single-malt tastes like it was made in Scotland. It starts out as dark-brown ale and is distilled in a tiny copper pot still. It' ... More >>

R.I.P., Legendary Laff Stop: Saturday Was The Day The Laffter Died

Photo by Dianne Cupps​The Laff Stop is closed ...  forever. On Saturday, the legendary club -- that gave rise to national names such as Sean Rouse, Brett Butler and Ralphie May -- ended it's nearly-three-decade run of comedy in Houston. In other words, it's now The Laff Stopped. (What? Too so ... More >>

As If Getting Stomped By Kansas State Wasn't Bad Enough

Oh, Aggies. You lost to Kansas State 62-14. What could be more embarrassing?Maybe the Internet blowing up with this video of four yell leaders on their way to the game, doing -- with no observable irony -- what seems to be their best impression of frolicking as the drugs kick in on the dance floo ... More >>

Dancing With the Stars: Things Ain't The Same Without Delay

Someone needs to find this guy a hobby...​I'll be honest: I didn't know if I'd be able to find the strength to soldier on now that Tom "Dazzle Me Dreamy" DeLay had left Dancing With the Stars. What light be light if Tommy be not seen? Now I finally knew what Jesse and Slater meant when they sa ... More >>

No Reservations: Outer Boroughs

Photo by duluoz_cats​Regretting having spent almost his entire life in Manhattan with nary a trip to the four outer boroughs, Anthony Bourdain took on the robust culinary scenes of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island in this week's episode of No Reservations. It seemed like a familia ... More >>

Health Department Roundup: Hyperlink Edition

This week's hall of health-code-violating shame includes restaurants previously reviewed, mentioned, discussed or otherwise examined in the Houston Press. Back in September 2004, Press food critic Robb Walsh said to forget about the then-ubiquitous South Beach bitch of a diet and eat up at The Sac ... More >>

Big, Loud & Live! 6

Web exclusive!

Texas Traveler: Livingston Trade Days

Photos by Brittanie SheyGood eats: armadillo eggs and homemade banana pudding If the span of time between the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo in spring and the State Fair of Texas in fall is just too long for you, you can satisfy your lust for the unnecessary consumption of crap at least once a mont ... More >>

Mediterranean Harvest

Martha Rose Shulman shares recipes from the cross-section of Europe, Asia and Africa

DJ Cubanito loves Beethoven but mixes salsa

The 'Ism of Rhythm

Mix and Madge

My Darlin' New Orleans

What hath God wrought?

Applause Time

Houston Press writers are finalists in two journalism contests

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Basket Cases

The Harlem Globetrotters bounce into town for some hoops high jinks

Puke Fest '04!

Houston revelers spill their guts to The Nightfly

Best Atkins Chic

Best Dance Club

Want Fries with That?

It's not ice cream that's getting whipped into a froth at "Milkshake"

Best Place to Water-Ski

Lake McQueeney

Cheating the Reaper

Vic Chesnutt died 20 years ago. Catch him live this week.

Club Directory

Livingston's Trade Days

Friday, February 14 through Sunday, February 16

War Dance

Alabama-Coushatta Indians are shedding their passive ways in big bets on land claims and casinos. But some fear they could be gambling away their great tribal heritage.

Wet Nighthawks Cry Foul

They're deluge-ional, say accused Fitz's and South Beach proprietors

Knowing Right from Wrong

Did Johnny Penry's abusive childhood prevent him from developing a moral compass that might have stopped him from murdering Pam Carpenter? Or is he just another cold, calculating killer?