Ten Things to Do in Houston for $10 or Less (Seven Free), April 20-26
Seven of them are free.
HGO Puts Singers on a Train for Mozart’s The Abduction from the Seraglio
The maestro’s 1782 comic opera about a noblewoman taken hostage, and her lover’s attempted rescue, has been transplanted to the 1920s.
Skip the Pho, Order These Eight Vietnamese Dishes Instead
I get asked all the time about where to find the best Vietnamese food in Houston. How do I pick just one place? As of the 2010 Census, Houston is home to over 35,000 Vietnamese Americans, making it the fourth largest Vietnamese community in the country. A quick Yelp search…
The Monkees’ Resident Texan Plays an Autobiographical Riff
An honest tale about faith, creativity, and coming together with the right partners (and a few wrong ones).
Corrupt Businessmen Looted Venezuela, and Now Many Live Quietly in Houston and Miami
Valentina Villafane was sitting in her second-grade classroom when the tear gas canister exploded. The principal of her private school outside Barquisimeto, Venezuela, saw it first — an errant volley from a national guardsman that flew between the bars of the school’s gate and rolled to the front door. The…
Forget Houston’s Hustle and Bustle: Head West With Paintings by Mary Baxter
Now on display through April 29, this exhibition could easily inspire a road trip to Big Bend Country.
First Look at Yauatcha
No doubt by now you’ve heard about the new upscale (read $$$$) dim sum place that’s opened up in the Galleria. Perhaps you’ve heard about the Michelin star awarded to its original London locale, or that this location marks only its second in the U.S. (the first was in Honolulu)…
MST3K‘s Return Is Good Enough That You Should Really Just Relax
First things first. The new Mystery Science Theater 3000, that basic-cable and UHF puppet show that was above all else a treatise about what it was like to grow up on basic cable and UHF, is a cheery, companionable continuation, an almost business-as-usual new season Kickstarted and Netflixed that Febreezes…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Eat All the Mac’ and Cheese You Please
Here’s a look at this weekend’s best culinary happenings, from the debut of a cheesy festival to an egg hunt with a side of brew: Good Friday Fish Fry at Good Dog Houston – Heights Friday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. 903 Studewood All day, the Heights location of Good…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Get Easter and Passover Sweets
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary happenings, from holiday sweets to a charity pop-up featuring two acclaimed chefs: Three Brothers Bakery, 4606 Washington, 4036 South Braeswood, 12393 Kingsride, is celebrating Passover and Easter with festive homemade desserts. The bakery offers kosher for Passover style desserts…
Reviews For the Easily Distracted: The Fate of the Furious
F8 won’t win any awards, but it sure is loud and distracting.
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Roller Derby and Dance Salad
Houston’s performance scene if front and center this weekend. Comedy leads the weekend with a show this Friday night at smart Financial Center in Sugar Land this Friday night. Next on Houston’s set list is closing performance of Dreamgirls at Theatre Under the Stars this Sunday night. Check out Houston Press‘s best bets for your…
Openings & Closings: Louie Mueller Barbecue Picks a New Spot
CultureMap Houston’s Eric Sandler caught up with Wayne Mueller about his plans for Louie Mueller Barbecue in Houston. Mueller told Sandler that he is now looking at locations a bit further west, like the Energy Corridor, rather than the original plans to open somewhere near EaDo. Houstonians have been anxiously…
2017 NBA Playoffs: Rockets vs. Thunder — 4 Things to Watch For
Man, what a difference a year makes. A year ago, the city of Houston was split on whether we even wanted the Rockets to make the playoffs at all, remember? The choices were a) miss the playoffs and keep a late lottery-protected first round pick they dealt in the Ty…
Middlelands Wants Its VIPs to Party Like Royalty
Being a VIP doesn’t mean you are better than anyone else, just that you have access to more bullion.
Morrissey Show Moved to Sugar Land’s Smart Financial Centre
It’s been a long time coming, for sure. One more twist won’t hurt.
2017 NFL Draft: Will There Be a Worthy QB Left for the Texans?
In the National Football League, when you finish 9-7 three years in a row, there is upside and there is downside. Let’s start with the good stuff. In the AFC South, finishing 9-7 probably means you won the division title, which means you get to interrupt the media’s questions and…
Innovative Jazz Organist Amina Claudine Myers Returns for Rare Texas Concerts
The innovative jazz organist hasn’t been back to her native Texas since 1957.
Charlie Murphy Was a Comedic Unicorn
Charlie Murphy was never “the guy,” but he was always “that guy.”
5 New Houston Restaurants for the Weekend
The weekend is here, and in Houston, that means lots of new eateries to scope out in your free time. This spring has seen no shortage of restaurant debuts ranging from high end to low key, and this weekend’s newest crop reflects just that. Here are five spots to put…
Forget the Budget — Texas Legislators Mull Official State Gun
Texas has an official style of boot (cowboy) breed of bird (Northern Mockingbird), cooking implement (the Dutch oven) and myriad other symbols, but now state lawmakers convened for the 85th Biennial Texas Legislative Session are aiming to make a few more things recognized Texas-specific symbols, including cannons, the 1847 Colt…
It’s Now a Crime in Houston to Sleep in Tents, Leaving Some Homeless in Lurch
The City of Houston has now made it a misdemeanor to sleep in a tent or box, to carry around personal belongings that take up more than three cubic feet, to block sidewalks or doorways or stand in the median of a roadway. Such are the new rules for homeless…
The Worst Easter Candy, 2017 Edition
Break out the baskets and fake plastic grass that will likely one day make its way to the Great Pacific garbage patch, kids. It’s time to review the worst—and we do mean absolute worst— candy that’s hit the shelves for Easter 2017. While pastel hasn’t looked so good since Miami…
Five Questions About the Supreme/Rap-A-Lot Collaboration
Thanks to the NYC street-fashion label’s alliance with the iconic Houston rap label, some English people think “Slab” means cocaine.
The Beginnings of Endmaker: A New Houston Band Emerges
It took the ‘new’ local grindcore trio months of work before ever playing a note in public.
I Think I’m Being Catfished. Help!
What’s on your mind? What isn’t? Ask Willie D!
Moody’s Warns of Houston Credit Downgrade if Austin Nixes Pension Plan
Mayor Sylvester Turner on Tuesday warned that Houston’s credit rating could drop if the Texas Legislature fails to approve the city’s proposed pension plan. Moody’s Investors Service currently rates Houston as Aa3 with a negative outlook, noting that despite having a large and growing regional economy, the city has one…
HPD Investigator Makes 65 Careless Errors Affecting Untold Number of Cases
A Houston police officer working in the Crime Scene Unit is under fire after making 65 careless errors while investigating a host of crimes, including murders and officer-involved shootings. The Houston Forensic Science Center announced Tuesday morning that it had booted the officer from crime scene investigations and he has…
Reliving Tony Romo’s Embarrassing Night as a Dallas Maverick
Since they were purchased by Mark Cuban back in 2000, for a vast majority of the last decade and a half, the Dallas Mavericks have been a relevant, playoff bound NBA franchise. They broke through in 2006 with an NBA Finals appearance, and broke through all the way in 2011…
Buona Pasqua, Y’all: Five Tips for Making Easter Dinner Easier on Yourself
Because my husband was transplanted to Houston from New Haven, Connecticut at the age of seven, he misses out on the Easter traditions that abound in the Italian-American community from which he hails. After losing both his parents and his grandmother, the traditions, primarily culinary, have fallen to me, a…
Harris County Jailers Forgot About Two Inmates Locked in Van for 10 Hours
Somehow, two Harris County Jail detention officers left two inmates trapped in the back of a van for 10 hours, without food or water earlier this month. That’s according to a brief report from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, which slapped Harris County on the wrist for being out…
Wagner’s Ring Cycle Gets a Twangy Texas Twist in Das Barbecü
A campy, Texas-style take on Wagner that – of course – includes a barbecue dinner.
Harris County to Hire Friend of Jeff Sessions to Help with Bail Lawsuit
Before a federal judge has even handed down her decision in the high-stakes lawsuit accusing Harris County’s bail system of being unconstitutional, the county has already begun preparing for appeals. Mainly: By hiring a swanky Washington, D.C. lawyer who had been a controversial contender for President Donald Trump’s solicitor general…
First Look at Pinch Seafood & Bar
Off the beaten path near the turn on Dacoma and Highway 290, where the roads seem to be stuck in construction-purgatory, is a pretty typical shopping center complete with a massage parlor, print shop and a couple of restaurants. Back towards the end of January, Pinch Seafood & Bar opened…
Martha Redbone’s Music Explores Her Deep Appalachian Roots
“It’s what it means to be from the foundation of America.”
NASA Has a New and Improved Plan for the Journey to Mars
NASA officials have released a new and improved plan for how the federal space agency will get astronauts to deep space and Mars by the 2030s — and no one seemed to notice. The details were unveiled during two presentations Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA, gave for the NASA…
Bama Lama Bama Loo: An Interview With Soul Clap’s Jonathan Toubin
Ideal music for a contemporary short-attention span, post-LP, subterranean music sensibility.
Ten Years Later: BioShock Is Not a Good Game, But I Love It
Without this one, a lot of later titles might never have existed.
Fat Tony Talks Being Racially Profiled on the Road
The exasperating circumstances behind the popular Houston rapper’s brand-new song, “Don’t Know When 2 Stop.”
Jon Dee Graham Makes Himself at Home at Natachee’s
The veteran Austin singer-songwriter settles into a new Mid-Main residency.
Defending Buzzfest: A Festival Perfectly in Tune With Its Audience
Like Creed and Nickelback, it was fun for a while. But the criticism has gotten stale.
As Civilization Crashes in The Lost City of Z, an Explorer Discovers Something More
“I’ve been trained for this.” Those words — or some variation — come up several times throughout James Gray’s The Lost City of Z, and they serve as one key to this strange, sprawling, majestic film. In adapting the 2009 nonfiction book about the search for a fabled city in…
Director James Gray on Working With Robert Pattinson in The Lost City of Z
“Rob has this ridiculous beard and it’s such great, self-effacing, wonderful work he’s doing,” James Gray says about his film recounting the life of a British explorer who disappeared while pursuing his lifelong obsession with a mythical city in the Amazon.
The Falcon, Hershel Greene to Appear at Comicpalooza
A Falcon and another Walking Dead alum sign on for next month’s convention.
Chef Richard Knight Hopped in Peli Peli’s Kitchen Last Night
On April 10, Peli Peli hosted its first ever Chef Collaboration Pop-up Dinner with chefs Paul Friedman (of Peli Peli) and Richard Knight (formerly of Hunky Dory and Feast) at the Galleria location. A portion of the proceeds are committed to Heifer International, an International organization that works with communities to…
George Strait’s Tequila Is as Smooth and Regal as He Is
If you’re looking for superior tequila options, check “yes” for Codigo 1530.
As Badly-Behaving-Old-Dude Comedies Go, Going in Style Ain’t Bad
Somebody at Warners must’ve seen Going in Style, the 1979 film about old men robbing a bank, and decided that a happier, peppier version could be profitable. The original has no less than George Burns, Jackie Gleason sidekick Art Carney and method-acting legend Lee Strasberg as old fogies who decide…
Sebastian Maniscalco Laughs at the Serious Stuff
The 43-year-old comedian gives his takes on stand-up, TV, Hollywood and fatherhood.
Houston Texans Announce Their 2017 Preseason Opponents
So I leave for one week to go on vacation, and all of my hopes and dreams (namely, Tony Romo as the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2017) go up in smoke. I mean, when I left last Saturday for Florida, Jerry Jones was on the cusp of…
Federal Judge Again Rules Texas’s Voter ID Law Is Intentionally Discriminatory
For a second time, a federal judge is not buying Texas’s claims that its restrictive 2011 voter ID law was passed to stop voter fraud. Instead, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has again ruled that Texas lawmakers passed the bill with discriminatory intent. In her 10-page ruling, Ramos called…
Announcing New Violent Crime Crackdown in Houston, Governor Abbott Stretches Facts
There’s no denying it: In recent weeks and months, Houston has seen some pretty gruesome crimes. There was the time last month members of the MS-13 gang kidnapped, drugged, raped and killed a teenage girl for insulting their satanic god. The time two men hopped out of a car and…
The New KFC: Lim’s Delivers the Spice in Its Korean Fried Chicken
Five pieces of fried chicken, glistening with a spicy red glaze and sprinkled with sesame seeds, arrive piping hot with cubes of pickled daikon and a side of french fries. At Lim’s Chicken, the chicken is dipped in a bath of hot oil twice, which locks in the natural juices…
Upcoming: Blue Oyster Cult, Brandy Clark, Erykah Badu, Hank Williams Jr., Maria Chavez, Redd Kross, Tycho, etc.
A constantly updated guide to upcoming concerts in the Greater Houston area.
The 100 Things to Do in Houston Before You Die (Our Revised List!)
A lot can change in four years. In 2013 we created the first Houston Bucket List covering the surprisingly numerous events, attractions and curiosities that make up our city. In the intervening years, there have been vast and sometimes radical changes to the landscape, the culture and even the personality…
The Best Low Alcohol Wines for Easter
G-d bless America, home of the brave, with its high-alcohol, oaky fruit-bombs bursting in air. For more than a generation, we Americans have embraced a “big” and “bold” wine style and tasting profile that lean toward intense and concentrated fruit flavors, oakiness, high alcohol levels, and low acidity. That’s because…
What Might a Coachella in Texas Be Like?
We got to wondering how America’s preeminent music fest might be different if organizers moved it here.
Cynthia Nixon Reaches for the Truth of Emily Dickinson’s Mysterious Life
Both the poet’s body and soul are made ineradicable in Davies’ lovely film.
Graduation Lays Bare the Cost of Thriving in a Corrupt Society
Romanian director Cristian Mungiu’s Graduation is one of the best films I’ve ever seen about corruption. That’s true despite the fact that Mungiu underplays the typical elements found in tales about this subject: You won’t find many fast-talking crooks, sinister cops or elaborate sting operations here. Or a looming sense…
The Fate of the Furious Is Like Mario Kart on Speed
Holy motors! How will they top this one? This is perhaps the fastest and, if not, certainly the most furious of the Fast & Furious movies. The beauty of the Fast & Furious movies is that no car stunt is ever too nonsensical.
Well, That Was Fast…Helen In The Heights Opens Tuesday, April 11
After a quick renovation and rebranding following the shutter of its shortlived restaurant Arthur Ave Italian American, the masterminds behind Helen Greek Food and Wine are opening the doors to a casual and potentially more welcome Greek taverna Helen in the Heights on Tuesday, April 11. Sommelier/Oenophile Evan Turner and partners…
Suspect in Deputy Greenwood’s Murder Committed Suicide, Police Say
The suspect in the ambush-style murder of a longtime lawman last week has been identified — but police say he has committed suicide. Baytown police believe 64-year-old William Francis Kenny opened fire on Assistant Chief Deputy Clint Greenwood of the Harris County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office while Greenwood was arriving…
The Beers You’ll Be Drinking at BrewFest 2017, Early Bird Pricing Ends This Week
The Houston Press and Lucky’s Pub are teaming up on Saturday, May 20, at Silver Street Station for the 6th Annual BrewFest. It’s one of the hottest beer events of the year, folks, and you’ll want to get tickets this week. That’s because there’s a price increase on Friday, April…
Wichita State Joins the AAC, But Is That Really a Big Deal?
The American Athletic Conference sees itself as one of the major power conferences of college sports. It’s not, of course. There are only five power conferences. But a conference has to dream. And dreaming of being a power conference is not a bad thing. Especially for the American, whichis the…
Dish of the Week: Matzo Ball Soup
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. With Passover beginning this evening, we’re sharing a recipe for matzo ball soup. Matzo (also written as matza, matzah or matzoh) is flat, unleavened bread…
Katy ISD Could’ve Stopped Creepy Art Teacher from Having Sex With Student, Suit Claims
A lawsuit filed against Katy ISD by a former Katy High School student asks this one basic question: Why did the district keep around an art teacher accused in the past of being a creep to female students just long enough so that he could get arrested for having sex…
Dance Salad Festival 2017: There’s Something About Finland
Lil Buck brings Memphis Jookin to classical music; Paris Opéra Ballet étoile Marie-Agnès Gillot brings je ne sais quoi to Rothko; and Parisian Kuchipudi dancer Shantala Shivalingappa brings Indian classical dance to Dance Salad Festival 2017.
This Week in Houston Food Events: Austin-born Tacodeli Arrives
Here’s a look at this week’s hottest culinary happenings: All week long Anniversary Specials at Peli Peli Peli Peli, which opened its first location at Vintage Park in 2009 and has now added three more locations (Galleria, Spring Branch, Downtown), is celebrating its eighth birthday with rotating weekly specials all…
The Five Best Dishes at 2017 Sugar Land Wine and Food Affair Grand Tasting
The 14th Annual Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair (SLWineFood) took place this past weekend, featuring a series of events fit for every kind of foodie. Thursday brought a celebrity chef-hosted seafood boil and a master sommelier-hosted Italian wine dinner. Friday’s main event, The Grand Tasting, attracted more than 1,000…
David Spade Is Having More Fun than Ever
David Spade has teamed up with old friends Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider for the Here Comes the Funny Tour.
Bucket List 2017: Cars, Canoes and Christmas Traditions
For the final installment before our top 10 in the 2017 Houston Bucket List, we round out the bottom 90 with art cars, oysters, Christmas traditions and one of the biggest and most lucrative ditches ever dug.
The 10 Best Steak Frites in Houston
In a recent episode of Ludo à la Maison, the online cooking show by Los Angeles-based celebrity chef Ludo LeFebvre, he teaches the home cook how to make classic steak frites. “Who doesn’t like steak frites?” he ponders. “A vegetarian?” He goes on to talk about how he sought to…
A Modest Proposal for Even More Festivals in Houston
There ought to be festivals which happen early in the mornings on work days in strip malls and industrial parks with bands playing everywhere.
Shows of the Week: An American Band Whose Patriotism Is Critical
The livest live music in the Bayou City for the second full week of April 2016.
Spring Cleaning: 11 Houston Acts That Should Be On Your Radar
It’s springtime again, but really, that’s just a coincidence.
Snow White at Catastropic Is a Sexed-Up Romp
Let’s start at the beginning, which is not often the place master short story author Donald Barthelme often begins. Snow White is not your childhood’s beloved fairy tale. A surreal sexed up romp through a fantasyland of the mind, this world premiere from Catastrophic Theatre, who knows better than most…
The Barber of Seville Sings With Music-Free Comedy
The set up: This ain’t your parents’ production of insert show name here. We’ve all seen a review start out like this. The cliché ridden shortcut method of telling readers that the show about to be discussed has somehow been updated or tweaked (usually with edgy flourish) and now only…
John Coltrane Documentary Chasing Trane Is a Flub Supreme
“You can’t describe music with words,” the great Sonny Rollins observes in John Scheinfeld’s survey-course-brisk docu-dip into the art and life of John Coltrane. As if seeking to prove Rollins right, Scheinfeld’s interviewees hold themselves to generalities: “His sound is stunning,” observes appreciator-in-chief Bill Clinton, who adds, unilluminatingly, that it…
Woman Suspected of Killing Three People Across Houston Before Suicide
Four people are dead and another is critically injured at three crime scenes across the Houston metro area after a woman is believed to have shot four people, including at least three family members, before turning the gun on herself. The Houston police and fire departments responded to a welfare…
In Houston, Clinton Talks Syria and Promises a Blue Texas
Hillary Clinton realized there is no easy to segue between Syria and women running for office in Texas. So she wisely did not try, and began her speech at the Annie’s List luncheon at the downtown Marriott Marquis with an aside. In her first public remarks since President Donald Trump…
Neil Gorsuch Confirmed to Supreme Court With Help From Cruz and Cornyn
After a Senate fight and a Democratic filibuster that led the Republicans to go with the “nuclear option” Judge Neil Gorsuch has been confirmed as the 113th U.S. Supreme Court justice, taking the seat that has been vacant for more than a year since esteemed conservative Justice Antonin Scalia died…
Bastille’s Arena-Size Pop-Rock Strikes a Chord at Smart Centre
Touring in support of their sophomore record, Bastille wore NASA shirts onstage.
5 Highlights From the 15-Hour Debate Over the Lege’s $218 Billion Budget
It took more than 15 hours for the Texas House of Representatives to pass a $218 billion budget, by a vote of 131 to 16 — but not until after lawmakers debated nearly 400 amendments They argued about funding for the arts (and didn’t vote to slash it by $13…
Dreamgirls Sweeps Through the History of Black Pop Music
“We’re not the girls we used to be,” the gal trio with their own trio of dreams sings at the start of Act II. No kidding. In their dazzling gowns, slick choreography, and No. 1 hit records, success is theirs, although, naturally, because this is a “show biz” story, happiness,…
Don’t Panic! The Astros Are Off to a Great Start
What can be said about the Astros after four games? The pitching has been excellent. George Springer is a hell of a leadoff hitter. The defense has been good. The team has been resilient, particularly Wednesday night when Springer hit a homer in the 13th inning for the come-from-behind win…
Bucket List 2017: Folkies, Fish and Football
In the eighth installment of the 2017 Houston Bucket List is a conglomeration of stuff that is so wildly different, it could only find itself in Houston. Celebrating diversity, getting into the outdoors, listening to some history (in a tiny club or a century-old hotel)…it’s all part of the H-town adventure.
Testament’s Chuck Billy on Life After the Death of Thrash
Testament’s Chuck Billy ruminates on thrash’s rise, fall, and resurrection.
Better Call Saul Finds Its Hero Striving to Break Free of Breaking Bad
It’s a good thing Jonathan Banks has such an interesting face. At the beginning of the third season of Better Call Saul, we spend a lot of quiet time with Banks’ surly, crooked-nosed cop-turned-criminal Mike Ehrmantraut of Breaking Bad fame, watching as he dismantles his own car and works out…
