—————————————————— Best Bartender 2017 | Monique Hernandez, Field & Tides | Best of Houston® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Houston | Houston Press
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Best Bartender

Monique Hernandez, Field & Tides

Photo by Troy Fields

With more than 17 years of bartending experience in her back pocket, Monique Hernandez runs a tight ship at Field & Tides, the go-to Heights eatery for pimento balls, scallops and more Gulf Coast delights, with a cocktail list that's incredibly food- and user-friendly. While offering hospitality with panache and grace, Hernandez is the type of bartender that epitomizes what the job is all about: making customers happy and crafting complex flavors into refreshing, approachable quaffs. Her spicy, snappy play on a margarita is worth the trip alone, but you'll also want to sample the showstopping El Vaquero, a frothy mezcal sour with the restaurant's logo, FT, stenciled across the top.

Best Head Shop

Burn Smoke Shop #2

Photo by Ecig Click via CC

This homegrown beauty of a shop has now won three years in a row, and no, it's not because we suffer from memory loss. Rather, it's because we simply haven't had a better customer experience since. Plus, the selection is astounding — whether you're looking for ornate, locally crafted, hand-blown glass or just a basic vaping accessory, chances are you've come to the right place. But really, what keeps us coming back is the super-knowledgeable, amazingly courteous staff. They'll make you an instant, loyal customer. Now, where'd we put those Cheetos...

Best Amusement Center

Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier

Photo by Brittanie Shey

If Clark Griswold could have a do-over, and we all know he could have used it, we bet he'd haul the family and station wagon to the Pleasure Pier right here in our own bay. What's better than a boardwalk attraction that has its own roller coaster — 100-foot drop included — a Texas-size fried Oreo and a Ferris wheel that's picture-perfect come sundown, plus rides for even the smallest thrill seekers? If you don't have time to visit this summer, Pleasure Pier has got you covered there too. It is open year-round, including weekends during the fall, and the opportunity is always there for you to make memories at the Houston area's best amusement center.

Best Specialty Store

iBurn

Photo by John Kiely

Hot sauce isn't for everyone, and those with feeble palates have no business anywhere near iBurn. They don't know what they're missing; hot sauce is now an estimated $1.37 billion-per-year industry (per USA Today), and in Houston this cozy shop off Bellaire Boulevard is Ground Zero for those who are happiest with tongues aflame. Next to a gun range and a mural as fiery as anything in one of the hundreds of glass bottles inside, iBurn specializes in taste-bud destroyers that make the offerings at Kroger and H-E-B seem like Pace Picante Sauce. Among the many salsas, sauces, powders, rubs and marinades — a wealth of bacon-flavored items — many products bear names like "American Bad Ass," "Powder Keg," "Mad Dog," "Creamator" and "Reaper." All of this heat, however, pales in comparison to the seclusion of iBurn's closet-size "Chuck Norris Room," whose shelves proffer condiments so piquant children under 18 are forbidden.

Best Wedding Venue

AvantGarden

Photo courtesy of AvantGarden

Aside from everything a bride can think to demand for her dream day, what really makes a wedding is the venue. The space for the reception is crucial to providing a loving ambience and a feeling for the newlyweds that will truly last forever, as well as making guests feel welcome. Mariana Lemesoff, owner of AvantGarden, began dedicating the venue in recent years to weddings and has transformed the patio into a luxe, cool backdrop that any bride- and groom-to-be would swoon over.


Best Hospital

Texas Children's Hospital

The staff at Texas Children's Hospital are very aware that being sick is hard, but not only do they do their best to make sick kids better; they also make sure they do everything possible to make it easier on families, too. From the moment the first patient arrived in 1954, Texas Children's has been at the forefront in how it handles and treats its young patients. The first physician-in-chief, Dr. Russell Blatner, established the policy, groundbreaking at the time, that a parent can stay with a child continuously while the kid is in the hospital. Since then, Texas Children's has made a point of being on the cutting edge of medical technology — the hospital has excelled at treating everything from pediatric HIV/AIDS to childhood cancer, and it still funds a prodigious amount of charity and medical research — while never forgetting that most of its patients are still kids. Thus, red wagons are often used to transport the children, as per tradition, but the hospital also has a kid-focused radio station, age-appropriate playrooms, a classroom and even a hair salon that is open to all.

Best Camera Store

Houston Camera Exchange

Put people who love something in a store that sells items related to that something and you get a combination of outward nerdiness and downright obsession with detail. Houston Camera Exchange is the definition of such places. Filled with more camera gear than logically possible and expert salespeople who are shutterbugs themselves, this is the place to get a new lens or camera body or just some assistance with how real cameras work in the age of the cell-phone selfie.

Best Doggie Day Care

Bed & Biscuits Pet Spa

Photo by David Locke via CC

There are tons of choices when it comes to doggie day care in Houston, but Bed & Biscuits Pet Spa is truly a notch above the rest. When your dogs come out of a busy day at Bed & Biscuits, they will be socialized, exercised and ready to go home and take a leisurely approach to life alongside their chosen human. The place is set up with large indoor and outdoor play areas so that dogs can play, rain or shine, no matter how hot it gets outside. On top of that, each new dog is evaluated when he or she gets to Bed & Biscuits so the attendants can figure out whether the dog will do best with the big canines or the small ones or with more walks, cuddles and general hangout time with people.

Best Pedestrian Mall

City Centre

Photo by Barry Sigman

City Centre, west of Houston at the Beltway and I-10, is like a miniature city within a city, with its sprawling campus of shops, restaurants, hotels and entertainment. The pedestrian mall could easily fill a full day or whole weekend of action. After a morning of shopping, spend the afternoon browsing Muir's Fine Art Gallery or even getting the spa treatment at Life Time Athletic Club's LifeSpa. For dinner, find seafood at Eddie V's, a fat Brazilian steak at Texas de Brazil or Mexican and margaritas at Cyclone Anaya's. And afterward, kick back with some wine tasting and live music at The Tasting Room or maybe a movie and cocktails at Studio Movie Grill.

Best Bookstore

Brazos Bookstore

Brazos Bookstore was established by Karl Killian in 1974 to encourage the nascent Houston literary scene at the time and has been a city institution ever since. Brazos is smart in its approach; the independent bookstore can't possibly compete with the big-box stores or the online sellers for sheer selection, and it doesn't try. Instead, it's lovingly stocked with books that are carefully curated to offer unusual copies of the classics nestled among great books you've never heard of. This results in a bookstore with remarkable depth of selection. Go in for a new copy of Melville, and you'll walk out with exactly what you were after along with an armful of new discoveries. As if that weren't enough, the store is involved with all things literary in Houston, from holding in-store book signings to supporting creative writing programs and readings by famed authors.

Best Of Houston®

2017 Best of Houston

Best Of

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