It’s Not Just A Bridge, It’s A Living Bridge
You know what Memorial Park needs? A $4 million “living” bridge. That’s what city council thinks, at any rate — they’ve approved spending $3 million in city funds to build it, with the rest coming from the Memorial Park Conservancy. What’s a “living bridge,” you ask? And why does it…
Artist of the Week: Miss Mykie
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. Sometimes, just for fun (read: we’re total toads),…
Garbage In, Illegals Out
Republic Services, which collects some garbage for the City of Houston as a contractor, has agreed to pay $1 million to the feds and $2 million to the city over a double-billing investigation. They’ve also agreed, as part of the settlement, to rat on their illegal-alien workers. U.S. Attorney Don…
Ten People Not Picked to Throw Out the First Pitch for the Tampa Bay Rays
Some of you might know that the Tampa Bay Rays are playing their first-ever post-season game tomorrow. And surprisingly, the Rays had trouble figuring out who should throw out the first pitch. They ultimately decided on John Higgins, the team’s general counsel who was the very first man hired by…
Hunger for Hybridity at JJ Ichiban Steak & Sushi
John Chen, owner of the new JJ Ichiban Steak & Sushi (5700 Highway 6 North, 281-550-6688), says the name of his new restaurant is a hybrid. “My name is John Chen and my sister’s name is Jing, and that’s how we called it JJ. As for ichiban, in Japanese, it…
NASA At 50 — Five Of Their Weirdest Astronauts
Today is NASA’s 50th anniversary. It is also almost 40 years since the organization’s signature acheivement, but hey, Kurt Cobain peaked early too. Almost 500 people have been trained as astronauts in NASA’s lifetime. And they haven’t all been the clean-cut, strong-jawed John Glenn types. Here are five astronauts who…
All Hail “The Thunderbird”
Note Peacock stamp at the bottom. Eminent local blues scholar Dr. Roger Wood e-mailed Rocks Off this morning with an unexpected discovery he made while listening to the Never Ever Land International Artists compilation I wrote about last week: “Here’s the big surprise it yielded for me: On the third…
Author Ian Rankin On The Rolling Stones, Graphic Novels & Houston
At the time of this writing, Scottish novelist Ian Rankin has the #1 bestselling book in the UK with Doors Open. The title is ironic since his previous novel – the just published-in-the-U.S. Exit Music – actually closes the portal on the fictional career of his best-known creation, Edinburgh-based Detective…
Houston Courtroom Battle Over Rin Tin Tin
A woman from Crockett who says she owns the rights to the name Rin Tin Tin is suing a movie studio that recently released a film about the famous German Shepherd. She is asking the court not only for money in damages, but also that every single copy of the…
Tampa Bay Goes All the Way: John Royal’s MLB Postseason Picks
The baseball postseason starts today. Yes! Enough with watching the Astros play awful baseball. Enough already. Now we get to watch some good teams play baseball. As such I thought I would give my postseason picks. THE AMERICAN LEAGUE: The first series starts today with the wild card Boston Red…
Aftermath: The Black Keys at Meridian
Photos by Mark C. Austin Live-music fatigue is an awful thing, but it happens. It must be really bad for the people who only go to three or four concerts a year. But sometimes even us diehards have to say uncle. And so it was at the Black Keys last…
Always Look On The Bright Side Of Ike, Part 2: Fewer Billboards
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The other day I was researching the ongoing battle between Houston’s beautifiers and the billboard industry when I came across this article in the New York Times: Houston is a city of lovely green neighborhoods and magnificent buildings, but you…
Donut-Shaped Falafels
This may look like a miniature sesame seed bagel, or a tiny cake donut, but in fact it’s a Falafel Frenzy falafel. The odd little Mediterranean restaurant is located at 914 Prairie Street in what used to be a bar. There are still some liquor bottles lining the back wall…
Once An Adoption Scammer, Always An Adoption Scammer
Belinda Ramirez knows what all good football coaches do — if something works, stick with it. In her case, it was scamming couples who thought they were adopting her baby. Ramirez was sent to prison in 2007 for, as the FBUI puts it: Ramirez claimed to be pregnant, found and…
Incident In Scotland May Spur Lawsuit By Houstonian
You’ve probably never heard of a towboat called The Flying Phantom, but it’s big news in Scotland and it involves the death of a Houston man. The Phantom sunk in the River Clyde in December 2007, going under in a fog in less than 40 seconds and killing all but…
When Trees Attack: In Movies & Real Life
My house. Let me show you it: There are worse things than a tree to have in your house…mustard gas, for example, or Dane Cook, but a 90-foot pine is nothing to sneeze at. And yet, even as my wife and I were dealing with insurance adjusters and a certain…
Galveston Opera House Looks To January Opening
Galveston’s Grand 1894 Opera House announced today it’s hoping to re-open in January. The fall season has been postponed, and the staff offices have limited web access so the company’s web site has been unable to provide much info for subscribers and fans. Executive director Maureen Patton, however, updated matters…
Breaking News: CenterPoint Returns Phone Calls!
Ask – or in our case, pester – and you shall receive. After several days of unbridled neediness on our part, CenterPoint finally gave Hair Balls a call back to answer some of our questions about outside electricity repair crews being sent home last week when nearly half a million…
Houstonian Selling Hitler’s Desk
Houstonian Jack McConn has a desk set he wants to sell. It’s not just any old desk set, mind you. It’s the one Hitler used to sign the Munich Pact back on this day in 1938. (For those of you who skipped history class that day, the Munich Pact was…
Mail Call: Post-Ike/ACL Edition
As you might imagine, the past few weeks have been somewhat hectic for Rocks Off, meaning there’s been another heaping helping of yellow and brown envelopes piling up. Let’s do this. This time I’ve added brief quotes from the accompanying press release, provided there is one. Definitely Roy Orbison (Wink,…
Great Moments In Litigation, Starring Ike, Human Excrement & Used Condoms
Ike letters don’t get any better than this. Jeff Murphrey, an attorney with the Houston law firm of Tekell, Book, Matthews & Limmer, had a deposition scheduled in a case where the opposing counsel was a Dallas lawyer named Dale Markland. Murphrey tried to reschedule the depo but apparently got…
All Right, One More from ACL (But You’ll Like It)
I know, Rocks Off thought we were done with ACL too. But this clip of the stageside sign-language interpreter signing the lyrics to “Loser,” which Beck opened with Saturday night, was too good to pass up. Considering those lyrics, something tells me this lady is not getting paid nearly enough…
There’s Plenty Of Gas, As Long As You Don’t Need Premium
Unlike the gas shortage in Georgia and other southern states, fuel supplies here in Houston have pretty much returned to normal. Unless you’re looking for premium gas. Many stations have focused on getting as much regular gas as possible, leaving consumers who use premium gas scrambling…
NFL Review, Week Four: Cowboys Lose, and Bitch
Another NFL Sunday, another Houston Texans loss. Reading around the internets yesterday, I discover that the consensus bad play seems to have been the Jaguars’ first score. It came off the fake punt, the one where there wasn’t even a punter deep behind the center. The one where the punt…
Facebook Lawsuit Has A Houston Connection
A father wants Facebook to cough up any information the company has on an anonymous user who exploited the social networking site to torment his psychologically unstable teenaged daughter, who was treated in Houston. In a lawsuit, Fred Beuckman of St. Louis claims his 16-year-old daughter was receiving psychological out-patient…
Will Rappers Cost Obama the Election? Will Big & Rich Cost McCain the Election?
Young Jeezy’s brief flirtation with John McCain on the set of Saturday Night Live aside, it’s clear rappers favor Barack Obama by a wide margin in this election. (Check out this survey, for starters.) Though MC after MC has supported Obama with endorsement tracks, the big-ups at this point are…
Five Spot: New Kids Are Back, Bitches
[Since we were a little busy baking in Zilker Park Friday, Rocks Off didn’t get a chance to post last week’s Five Spot. Here ’tis – Ed.] Welcome back to Five Spot. Every week, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it’s either brilliant…
Always Look On The Bright Side Of Ike
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve heard ad nauseam about the painful effects of Hurricane Ike — the flooded homes and businesses, the damaged rooftops, the rampant power outages, the lingering failures of Comcast not only to provide cable and Internet but also to explain coherently why they are…
Saavedra Is Safe For Now, Spokesman Says
All bow before the power of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce!!!! After their press conference yesterday, after a two-hour closed-door board meeting, it appears for now that HISD superintendent Abe Saavedra’s job is safe for another year. At least it is according to a terse statement by district spokesman Norm…
ACLU Wants Galveston Jail Evacuated Next Time
After hearing horror stories from friends and family of inmates locked inside the Galveston County jail during and after Hurricane Ike, the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Jail Project are calling for county authorities to hammer together an evacuation plan. More than 1,000 inmates and correction officers did not…
The End of the Road for the Houston Astros
The Astros’ season is over, and I know I should be writing many great words on what is wrong with this team. But I’m just too tired of the Astros at this moment to do that. Besides, that is what the off-season is for. I do want to say this…
Turning the Screw: Fela Kuti, Jay-Z, Left Eye, Lil Wayne, Ed McMahon, Ciara, DMX and More
[Rocks Off now returns you to our regularly scheduled non-ACL coverage… – Ed.] Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: “Oh Slippin’,” Perseph One Wire To…
It’s Getting Testy With The Insurance Adjusters
Things are starting to get ugly between Ike victims and insurance adjusters. Anyone who’s listened to a radio in the past two weeks has heard the heartwarming commercials from insurance companies, full of comforting music and sympathetic voices consoling you and informing you that an army of adjusters is chomping…
The Pizza and Ranch Dressing Rebellion
Romano’s on West Gray has outlawed dipping pizza in ranch dressing. The pizzeria’s owners, two cousins named Frank and Vinny, were born in Calabria, Italy. They spent 15 years working in New York pizzerias before coming to Texas. The cousins pride themselves on making one of the best New York-style…
Galveston Beaches To Open, Whether You Want Them Or Not
The beaches of Galveston — at least those by the seawall — are expected to be open to swimmers tomorrow. Not without a bunch of warnings, though. Not only have the beaches been heavily eroded, but there are new riptides out there, sunken damage you can’t see and who knows…
There’s No Roof, But The Cock-Ring Sale Goes On!!
First, it was the historic Balinese Room. Then it was venerable Brennan’s. Now Ike has claimed a victim we’ll miss even more: the Erotic Cabaret Boutique at 6509 Westheimer, in the Galleria area. Seems Ike blew the store’s roof off, and it’s not reopening. Where in the world will the…
How They Stacked Up
The traffic still sucks at broken intersections, piles of debris are rotting on the curbs, the insurance-company hassles have only just begun. But most – not all, but most – CenterPoint customers have power. So it seems as good a time as any to take a look at how three…
ACL Notebook Dump, Pt. 5: Playlist for the Drive Home
Last one. Here are a few songs that rocked Rocks Off’s world this weekend. Sunny Sweeney, “Drink Myself Single” M. Ward, “Pieces of a Broken Heart” David Byrne, “Life During Wartime” Alejandro Escovedo, “Castanets (I Like Her Better When She Walks Away)”…
Hispanics Warn HISD Board Not To Fire Saavedra
Hispanic leaders have gone public — very public — with a pre-emptive move against the HISD board. Convinced the board is trying to dump superintendent Abe Saavedra instead of renew his contract, they held a press conference at HISD headquarters before a special board meeting today. “We are calling publicly…
ACL Notebook Dump, Pt. 4: Burning Taints, Celebrity Scorecard, Live Nation Taking Over ACL TV? and More
* Overheard on Barton Springs Road walking out of Zilker Park Saturday: “Dude, my taint is burning!” I did not investigate further. * Celebrity Scorecard: Chuck Woolery was milling around the media area Friday, as was Elijah Wood. Bill Murray was at Emo’s Saturday for Okkervil River – tipping the…
ACL Notebook Dump, Pt. 3: One Excited Fogerty Fan, Beck’s Math, Robert Plant’s Maracas and More
Photo by Mark C. Austin Anyone up for a little square-dancing? * When John Fogerty played “Proud Mary,” this shirtless bohunk a few feet in front of me started jumping up and down like he had just won a prizefight. He still had nothing on two enthusiastic Roky Erickson fans…
ACL Notebook Dump, Pt. 2: Measuring Time Mars Volta-Style, Led Zeppelin Rumors and More
Photo by Dawn Jones-Garcia Nope. No Page. Just Plant. * C3 and Capitol Metro have really improved their shuttle-bus efficiency. Granted, both the Mars Volta and Manu Chao were far from through when I left the park, but the line never stalled for more than about 30 seconds. In fact,…
That Crap On Your Sidewalk Will Likely Remain There For A Long Time
Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department has modified its clean-up schedule to target different parts of the city each day this week. Information, including a map of the areas, can be found here. The department expects to complete what it calls the first “pass” – hitting every street – by October…
College Football Review: Plenty of Upsetting (in a Good Way) Results
Okay folks. Here’s the deal. When I say there’s going to be an upset in college football, get on the phone to your bookie and make the bet. For instance, on Friday here is what I wrote about the Georgia/Alabama game coming on Saturday night: “This game will be a…
ACL Notebook Dump, Pt. 1: Gentrification, Acid, Obama Shirts and More
Photo by L.A. Reno Alejando Escovedo brought the DNC to ACL. Thursday, Noise requisitioned a standard-size (4X8 inches) reporter’s notebook from the Press supply cache. Sunday night, slumping his worn-out ass into the press camp as Foo Fighters took the “Long Road to Ruin,” he had more than 60 pages…
You Never Call, You Never Write
If you’re looking for a new career and happen upon a classified ad for a CenterPoint public information officer, you should be aware that, oddly enough, the position might require experience in ignoring reporters’ phone calls. This isn’t freshman year of college, CenterPoint, and you’re not our long-distance girlfriend. There’s…
Gillian Welch and Neko Case at ACL Fest: The Return of the Redheads
Gillian Welch must have read our earlier post about Friday’s redheads, Patty Griffin and Jenny Lewis. She and partner David Rawlings took the theme and ran with it in their cowboy boots. First there was “Red Clay Halo,” from their touchstone album Time (The Revelator), and later there was “Knuckleball…
What-A-Melon on the Side of the Road
It’s late in year for watermelons, but there are still some on the fruit stands. I saw a vendor with a pick-up truck full of nice-looking specimens parked along the side of FM 1960. The split open melons on the tailgate looked so red and juicy I had to pull…
Over the Weekend: City of Sin and ACL Fest
We were up in Austin this weekend, so we apologize if this version of Over the Weekend is a little heavy on the ATX. But first things first… The Best of Houston Party Lucky’s Pub was packed Thursday night for the launch party for this year’s Best of Houston issue…
He’s Guilty — Of Generating Good Quotes
If you’re a defendant in a federal criminal case alleging you scammed FEMA in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which of these two things would you least like to hear? a) Your own attorney describing your mental state: “He can function. I mean, he’s not like…a raving lunatic. He’s not…
Random Thoughts on ACL Fest
Sharon Jones, with a little help from a new friend (Dawn Jones-Garcia) The best fan-participation moment came during Sharon Jones’ set, when not one but two different random slobs got onstage to dance with the funky soul siren’s set. The first guy was a bearded, burly dude who came out…
Yawn: Foo Fighters at ACL Fest
Foo Fighters (Dawn Jones-Garcia) I want to like the Foo Fighters, I really do. Since Nirvana, Dave Grohl has always come off as a really likeable guy for a rock megastar with a gift for catchy hooks and big rock choruses. But about a half hour was all I needed…
Everybody’s Gay…Even Miss Pop Rocks
After two weeks with no power, can I just say damn, it feels good to care about bullshit again! Seriously. It does. Okay. That said, it turns out that while I was unhappily separated from the steady stream of pop culture news during the aftermath of Ike, everybody turned gay…
Photos: ACL Sunday Grab Bag
The Foo Fighters performed Sunday night at ACL. (Dawn Jones-Garcia) Don’t miss our slideshow of select shots from our entire photo team — but to delve a little deeper in to ACL’s last day, check out more work by the classically trained Dawn Jones-Garcia here after the jump…
Texans-Jaguars: The Moral of the Tale
I’m not a huge believer in moral victories. Either you win, or you lose. But though the Texans lost 30-27 to the Jaguars in overtime this weekend to go 0-3 on the season, if there’s such a thing as a moral victory, I guess this loss would be that. Things…
Death of A Bookstore
Midsummer Books was a great little bookstore, nestled in an old building, with comfortably worn chairs, shelves full of an eclectic selection, friendly staff. Unfortunately, it was located near the Strand in Galveston. “All those shops and restaurants on Strand, Mechanic and Postoffice were hit bad, and Midsummer Books got…
Photos: The Raconteurs at ACL
The Raconteurs performed Sunday night at ACL. (Dawn Jones-Garcia) Look for plenty more ACL coverage trickling in here this morning, as we continue posting photos and show recaps from the big finish at Zilker Park. More of the Raconteurs after the jump, and shots from other shows coming soon. Read…
Top Ten Reasons Roger Clemens Wasn’t Invited to the Final Game at Yankee Stadium
As some of you out there might know, the New York Yankees played the last game ever at Yankee Stadium last week. They had a big ceremony with lots and lots of ex players making an appearance. But there was one man who was not invited to be a part…
Zilker Park scenes from Sunday
It’s one thing to get a band tattoo. It’s quite another to appropriate as your own makeshift family crest…
Against Me! at ACL Fest
The closest the MySpace generation will get to its own Bruce Springsteen is Tom Gabel, lead singer/guitarist of Gainesville’s Against Me! And if by any chance you aren’t swayed by the comparisons to the Boss, then he and his band could also be the Clash, circa Give Em Enough Rope…
Astros-Braves: No Wild Card, But at Least Brandon Backe Gets the Record
The Houston Astros season officially ended on Friday night at just about the time Darin Erstad was hitting the first pitch of the ninth inning to win the game on his first walk-off home run since 2000. And the season ended at about this time because it was then that…
Erykah Badu at ACL Fest
Erykah Badu (Dawn Jones-Garcia) With all apologies to Beck and Sharon Jones, nobody I’ve seen has completely owned the crowd from beginning to end the way Erykah Badu did yesterday afternoon, from the raucous applause that greeted her as she slowly and confidently strode on stage during the funky soul…
Photos: Rounding out Saturday
The Black Keys performed Saturday night at ACL. (Mark C. Austin) Fogerty, Roky Erickson, Beck and more… photos after the jump…
Photos: The Octopus Project at ACL
The Octopus Project (Dawn Jones-Garcia) Austin-based electronic rockers The Octopus Project took the stage Sunday at ACL.More scenes from their show here…
ACL Day Three: Prone to Hallucination
As this guy can tell you, by the third day, it’s all about staying cool. (Dawn Jones-Garcia) As the final hours of ACL tick away, we salute all those still standing. It’s been a hot mess of a festival, and those in it for the long haul had to get…
Dispatch From the VIP Grove
What do you know? I’m feeling much more civilized, and all it took was a brief trip to the VIP Grove to see how the other half lives. The festival’s sponsors and other honored guests – as in people willing to shell out about 600 clams on top of the…
ACL Sunday: Octopus Project, The Kills and Questioning My Existence
Running on fumes, I’m pretty sure I’ve started hallucinating. I keep looking for tomorrow’s schedule and can’t seem to find it anywhere. Surely it has nothing to do with the Butthole Surfers scorched-earth reunion show at Stubb’s – they closed with “The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey’s Grave”; next month’s…
ACL Fest: More Scenes from Zilker Park
Remember when we had a beach in Galveston? That was awesome. Man, just take ’em off. All my repressed junior high football jock tendencies (fantasies?) started coming back and I wanted to steal his lunch money…
Coming Soon: Hockey Season
Fred Trask Hey kids, I’m here with a reminder that hockey season is just around the corner. That means training camp for the Houston Aeros will be starting this week, probably on Wednesday. And their training facility, once again, will be in Sugar Land. Kevin Constantine will be returning for…
ACL Fest: Drive-By Truckers, Man Man, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, and MGMT
Drive-By Truckers: Early voting suggests this is the set to beat. The afternoon’s first layer of grime was damn near inviting on opener “That Man I Shot,” from their most recent, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark. But we weren’t sure about Patterson Hood’s preacher-man monologue on “18 Wheels of Love.” Someone…
Beck at ACL Fest
Beck (L.A. Reno) Beck opened up his closing set on Saturday night with 1994 watershed hit “Loser,” the song that was his would-be one-hit wonder. That took some cojones, but when you have a catalog as maniacally diverse and innovative as his, it’s a moot point. As the oppressive sun…
Saturday night photo roundup
The Black Keys followed their night at the Granada with a set in the park/Dawn Jones-Garcia Our slideshow of ACL performances — the cream of our photo crop — is up here, and will be on our front page for a good long while. First, though, a run back through…
Spiritualized at ACL Fest
The last time I saw Spiritualized, five or six years ago at the Gypsy Tea Room, the light show was incredible. The choreographed strobes and beams of light cutting through the smoke were such an integral part of the experience that I wondered how a daytime set would be. Well,…
Bavu Blakes and the Extra Plairs at ACL Fest
Bavu Blakes/Dawn Jones-Garcia I got there just as a sample of R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” intro’d the Plairs’ funked up song of the same name. “Where’s Mayor Wynn?” Blakes asked, trying to get him on stage. It didn’t happen, but they gave a…
Coming soon: Best of ACL slideshow
M. Ward performs Friday/Mark C. Austin Be on the lookout in the coming hour or two for a slideshow compiling the best of our ACL photo team’s work from the first couple days. For now, enjoy more work from festival photographer extraordinaire Mark C. Austin, after the jump…
Old 97’s Sighted at ACL, All is Right with the Universe
Rhett Miller’s pants take the band’s “train wreck” motif to a whole new level (Dawn Jones-Garcia) It just wouldn’t be a Texas music festival without these guys. In case you missed it, read Jesse Hughey’s take on the show — otherwise, we’ve got more photos here…
Patty Griffin and Jenny Lewis: Goodness, Gracious, Great Balls of Fire
Jenny Lewis (Mark C. Austin) Blondes have more fun. Brunettes can read. Redheads, they sing. Friday afternoon of ACL saw two such enflamed songbirds. Sunday will feature two more, but until then… Local chanteuse Patty Griffin whipped up the fest’s first recorded breeze with opener “Heavenly Day,” from last year’s…
Soul Day at ACL: I Feel Good!
Sharon Jones (Dawn Jones-Garcia) To be honest, I thought today was going to suck, but it’s been the exact opposite. After some ridonkulous partying last night at Heartless Bastards’ ear-splitting basement blues party – hey, it was my first time at Emo’s in six months – I set a new…
The Old 97’s at ACL Fest
The last time I saw the Old 97’s was at The Argo in Denton sometime in the last century. A gutter-punk couple was square dancing, which felt perfectly appropriate to the twangy yet gritty music that night. As the group got poppier and poppier with each subsequent release, they gradually…
Intergalactic Dance Party
They may live around the corner. They may come from a tiny town in the Midwest. They may live out in East Dallas where he coaches Little League while she designs baby clothes. But more than likely though, they live inside an dry ice block on the planet WTF?! surrounded…
Current Events at ACL Fest: Democrats, Republicans and Washington Mutual
“I don’t give a fuck if you’re a Democrat or Republican, just vote,” Pharrell urged. Onstage and off, current events seem to be looming over ACL far more than any other festival I’ve been to. Bukue One, rocking a red Obama T-shirt, urged everyone to vote, Democrat or Republican. Hundreds…
ACL Fest, Day One: Delta Spirit, Jamie Liddell, Hot Chip, Gogol Bordello and Yes, Even Louis XIV
Delta Spirit (Mark C. Austin) So far for me, ACL has been all about dilemmas. They’re the good kind of conflicts, though, like whether to see N.E.R.D. or David Byrne; Gnarls Barkley or Raconteurs; John Fogerty or blow my head off. Click here for more…..
Day Two Fashion Fest
(Dawn Jones-Garcia) A few more looks around the crowd at ACL, with this fall’s hottest fashion trend after the jump. Click here for more…
A Little Morning Dancing to Put You in the Mood
Morning. We’ll have more reports from last night’s ACL Fest shows up in a little bit, but for now here’s some quick video from Craig Hlavaty of a dude dancing during Gogol Bordello’s set. The straw hat. The fancy water pouch. The khaki shorts. It’s all kind of mesmerizing, really…
ACL Day One: More band photos
Manu Chao (L.A. Reno) A treacherous wifi failure in Austin’s Zilker Park (somewhere near bad Red Rope licorice in the pantheon of festival disasters) kept the posting slow yesterday, but here’s hoping for clear signals ahead on day 2. As Saturday morning rises over the hill country, we give you…
How bout some band shots?
The crowd may be where it’s at, when it comes to giant novelty cowboy hats, hula hoop circles and Lone Star tall boys. But ACL kicked off Friday with a respectable start to its all-star lineup. Gogol Bordello (Dawn Jones-Garcia) More from Observer photographer Dawn Jones-Garcia after the jump. Click…
ACL Pix: More Scenes from Zilker
As the first night of ACL rolls on, a few more sightings from the festival crowds: He was from Scotland. Oddly enough. I was totally waiting to toss off some “Duh-Duh, what a loser” caption thing, but his being Scottish humbled me. Those guys are like Texans with brass balls…
ACL Dudefest: M. Ward, David Byrne, Bobby Bare Jr. and Ryan Bingham
Bobby Bare Jr / Photo by Chris Gray Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for Austin City Limits to put acoustic singer-songwriter M. Ward a few hundred yards away from boisterous gypsy-punks Gogol Bordello in the WaMu tent. (On a side not, I guess this year is the WaMu…
Seven Deadly Sins, Live! The Best Of Houston Party
Scantily clad women wielding whisks, scantily clad women modeling lingerie, fully clad band 80 Proof — the Best of Houston 2008 launch party had it all last night. Lucky’s Pub was filled as everyone tried hard to live up to the “Seven Deadly Sins” theme. We hope they all succeeded…
Rice Shuts Down Valhalla, Panic To Ensue Among Cheap-Beer Drinkers
Looking for a place to grab a cold with the kids this afternoon? Scratch Valhalla off your list of places to do so. Seems the Rice grad student pub and family-friendly haven for lovers of cheap beer and geeky conversation is at the very least a temporary casualty of Hurricane…
ACL: Sunny Sweeney Yes, Vampire Weekend No
I think ACL has managed to squeeze all its country between noon and 3 p.m. today. Luckily Sunny Sweeney, a Longview native now based out of Austin, was part of it. Sweeney, a former improv comedienne, has a winning stage presence and a wicked way with a lyric. After the…
It May Be Easier To Early-Vote In Montrose This Year
Early voting in Texas doesn’t start until October 20, but if you are one of the people who tried to early-vote at the West Gray Multi-Service Center in 2004, you’re probably thinking of getting on line now. Waits were long and tedious at the center, located near downtown close to…
Setting the Scene
Of course, a humongous outdoor festival like ACL is as much about the parade of sweat-soaked, under-dressed humanity as it is about the bands. With that in mind, here’s just a brief look around Austin’s Zilker Park this afternoon. This guy wanted me to chug my Lone Star tall boy…
Victoria Newspaper Letting Readers Pick The Stories
Internet commenters are some of the most eloquent and compassionate people around, especially when the story they’re commenting about involves illegal immigrants or alleged rape victims. The editors at the Victoria Advocate appreciate that input and are now letting you, the Internet reader, help produce the print version of the…
ACL Is Underway, Rootsy Early On
Paula Nelson / Photos by Chris Gray The hordes of shirtless (or soon-to-be shirtless) camp-chair toters are streaming into Zilker Park, and the Rocks Off team is up and running. Us media types got a nice surprise this afternoon; there’s a separate entrance from the rest of the behind-the-scenes goings-on…
Finally, Bellaire High Is Set To Re-Open
Bellaire High students, your vacation is over. HISD spokesman Norm Uhl tells Hair Balls that power was restored to the building “about 15 minutes ago.” School is set for Monday, much to the relief, no doubt, of Bellaire parents. A bunch of other schools are set to open on Monday,…
How Not To Blog About Ike
A Baytown-area teacher is in trouble for a blog she kept about her Ike experience. That “Ike experience” included, as the Baytown Sun reports: …her love of MREs, her habit of hitting up more than one Place Of Distribution (POD) in trips between Baytown and her Deer Park home, and…
Make That Ike Junk Into Art! Win Big Money!
The mounds of junk, broken furniture, chopped-up trees lying on your curb? It’s art, baby. And it’s art that might just be worth $2,000. Fresh Arts has announced a contest that’s looking for the best “Made From Ike” art. Fresh Arts is calling the Greater Houston community to become cultural…
Con Artists Head To The Red Cross Shelters
No self-respecting scam artist is going to let a little thing like a hurricane keep him from his career. In fact, a hurricane can become a hurri-can for a dedicated con artist. Of course, it also helps if you don’t get caught. Harris County DA Kenneth Magidson says two men…
Another Gig For Christoph Eschenbach
Christoph Eschenbach, who headed the Houston Symphony for most of the `90s, has got his own self a new, high-profile job — leader of the National Symphony in Washington. The Washington Post reports the decision was announced by the Kennedy Center last night. Eschenbach had recently been conducting the Philadelphia…
College Football Preview, Lisa Guerrero Edition
Let’s say that you’re among the 80 percent of the city that has power. And let’s say that you’re cable has just come back. I’m thinking that you’re probably going to want to stay inside and enjoy the A/C and the television for a bit. So in honor of the…
News from the Health Department: Brennan’s Was Clean to the Very End
We scanned the Houston Department of Health and Human Services reports from September 13 to September 25 and found the following: The late, great Brennan’s (formerly at 3300 Smith) was inspected on September 15 and, as usual, had no violations… We have to admit, we were expecting dozens of violations…
Astros-Reds: The Magic Number Goes Down to One
It doesn’t matter what the Houston Astros do if the teams in front of them win. And as the Astros were jumping off to a 6-1 lead in the seventh inning over the Cincinnati Reds, the drama was unfolding elsewhere. The Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers were tied 1-1 in…
The Hurricane Bear Is Getting The Most Out Of His 15 Minutes
Hurricane Bear’s introduction to the world came when Channel 11 news anchor Greg Hurst switched to a live shot along the Galveston seawall, hoping to get some information on the condition of a fishing pier. Instead, Hurst saw Hurricane Bear, not in the background, but as the focus of the…
Get Lit: Skydog: The Duane Allman Story, by Randy Poe
While the Allman Brothers Band will be celebrating their 40th anniversary next year with special projects and a tour, it’s hard to fathom that 37 of those years have gone by without one of the very siblings in the band’s name, lead guitarist Duane Allman. When he died in October…
So There’s This Little Festival In Austin This Weekend…
Photo by Craig Hlavaty …Which some of you may have heard of and some of you may even be attending. You can bet your boots Rocks Off will be all over Austin City Limits, which means lots of pictures like the lovely young lady above. Last year brought everything from…
UH’s President Acknowledges Pissing Off A Lot Of People
UH president Renu Khator took a lot of heat for her decision to open campus and hold classes beginning the Tuesday after Ike hit. Some faculty and staff loudly complained; students were confused about how flexible attendance requirements would be; communications, in terms of getting the word to the UH…
Some Relief From Those Booting A-Holes
If you’ve ever been booted downtown in a private parking lot, you know what a pain in the ass it can be. Booting companies in Houston had little regulation over them; if they determined you didn’t stick your money in the slot at an unmanned parking lot, they’d slap on…
Aftermath: Drive-By Truckers at Meridian
Brighter than creation’s dark: Shonna Tucker (left) and Mike Cooley Photos by Chris Gray For some reason, last night’s epic Drive-By Truckers show – two solid hours of soul-searing rock and roll, lump-in-the-throat-raising country and spine-cracking R&B – reminded me of when Prince’s Purple Rain character The Kid tells wide-eyed…
T-Minus Three Hours to the Best of Houston® Launch Party
Hurricane Ike be damned, the launch party must go on. In a little less than three hours, the fun begins at Lucky’s Pub (801 St. Emanuel) in the warehouse district. There’ll be food, cheap drinks and – perhaps most alluring – a naughty fashion show. You can either do whatever…
Local Comedian Hits The Big Screen
Next week a local comedian will get the big screen treatment. Mo Amer, a Houston-based, Kuwait native stars in Allah Made Me Funny alongside Azhar Usman and Preacher Moss. The Kings-of-Comedy-style film, which opens at the Angelika on October 3, features a live performance by three men as well as…
Tonight: Heartless Bastards at Last Concert Cafe
Heartless Bastards, “Brazen” How awesome would it be if Chrissie Hynde fronted the North Mississippi All-Stars? That’s right, pretty damn awesome. And as luck would have it, such a band actually exists under the moniker of Heartless Bastards, whose 2006 Fat Possum debut All This Time is as raw and…
Ike Spawns UFO Cover-Up, Exclusive Report Claims
The Houston Chronicle is no doubt hoping desperately for a Pulitzer nomination for its Ike coverage (every paper whose town gets hit by a hurricane does), but we’re afraid they have no chance. They have been beaten, like a rented mule, on the single biggest Ike story. It’s the utterly…
Emilio Just Can’t Catch a Break
Tejano superstar Emilio Navaira, who nearly died when the tour bus he was driving crashed into the concrete barrier on Loop 610 near the Southwest Freeway intersection, was involved in another motor-vehicle accident this week. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Navaira’s agent says the singer and wife Maria were…
Tonight: Back Door Slam at Warehouse Live
The Isle of Man – the sparsely populated “crown dependency” between Great Britain and Ireland – has given the world those adorable tailless Manx cats and the Bee Gees, who were born there before moving to Manchester and then Australia. Now you can add blues-rock power trio Back Door Slam…
It’s Boom Time For Trash Collectors
Post-hurricane business is booming for at least one company that’s hauling off trash that the city hasn’t picked up. Rob Watson, operations manager for 1-800-Got-Junk, told us that the company started showing up in random neighborhoods a couple days after Ike to work door to door, but business came easier…
Haunted Houses Laugh, Maniacally, At Ike
If Ike wasn’t enough to scare you, local Haunted Houses are up and running. We called up a couple of Houston’s more popular Halloween attractions to see if they survived the storm. The four longest-running houses made it through will little more than a couple of scratches. And all have…
Update on “Thank You, Houston” Event
Thank You, Houston has turned into How Can We Help You, Houston? The original Thank You, Houston event put together by the Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston documentation project was canceled because of, woops, Hurricane Ike. The festival has been rescheduled and restructured a bit, too. “The original Thank…
Now Dat’s Classy
If you’re going to be whoring yourself out, you might as well do it with style. The Lake Plaza project at Hermann Park is getting a $1 million donation to build what’s described as “an elegant, arched” bridge over the lake. The name of it? The Tiffany & Co. Foundation…
Gatemouth Brown Gets Hit By A Third Hurricane, Doesn’t RIP
Back in 2005, in one of the — if not quite the — last times he would set foot in a recording studio, Texas swing master Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown recorded the old Blind Lemon Jefferson Texas blues staple “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.” The Gulf of Mexico had…
Gatemouth Brown’s Grave Intact… Sort Of
Gatemouth Brown: Long live the king of Gulf Coast music Back in 2005, in one of the very last times he would set foot in a recording studio, Texas swing master Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown recorded the old Blind Lemon Jefferson Texas blues staple “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean.”…
The Tilman Tale, Continued
We’ve finally received the official statement from Galveston city manager Steve LeBlanc on whether Landry’s owner Timan Fertitta is a cold, heartless bitch who didn’t want to give up the Galveston Convention Center for use as a temporary shelter. It says he isn’t. Kinda. And the Galveston County Daily News…
The John Royal College Football Top 25, Week Four
It’s time for Week Four of my College Football Top 25 Rankings. You can find last week’s here, and you can find the major rankings here. So, let’s get on with it. 1. USC (1) (3-0): The Trojans had the bye last week, and tonight they’ll be thrusting deep into…
Astros-Reds: No Time for Mistakes
The Astros have five games left this season, and still, somehow, they’re in the playoff hunt. Lance Berkman emerged from his September slump to hit a two-run homer into the left field façade in the first inning – his first homer in 37 at bats. And behind Randy Wolf’s 6.2…
Slideshows: Best of Houston® 2008
We’ve loaded up some images from the city’s best bars, clubs, truck stop bathrooms, restaurants, bakeries, tackle shops, basketball courts, performance spaces, movie theaters, unofficial private clubs and plenty more. Click on each image below to get to a larger slideshow. Best of Houston® 2008: City Life, Good and Services,…
“Drifting Away”
Someone once said, “All art is political.” That’s apparent in photographer Erika Diettes’s “Drifting Away.” Her moving exhibit of life-size images, which are printed onto clear glass and then stood upright for display, takes the harsh, ugly truth of her Colombian homeland’s disappeared and manages to find some beauty in…
Best Club for Local Acts
Houston has an oddly schizophrenic relationship with its local bands, showering attention and affection on a select few and all but ignoring others until they give up and move on to greener pastures. Luckily, the Continental Club is one of the few rooms in town that is not only unafraid…
Best Coffeehouse
Catalina owner Max Gonzalez has a know-how you can taste. His passion for all things foamy and bean-born translates into his staff’s cups of joe. It doesn’t matter which of his always-friendly employees is preparing your latte, coffee or doppio, you’re guaranteed a killer caffeine boost. But don’t let all…
Best Place to Relive the ’90s
Despite the best efforts of VH-1, ’90s nostalgia has yet to take hold of the national consciousness with the same force of ’80s mania. In Houston, however, there is one hotbed of Clinton-era memories: the Richmond Strip, our forlorn “entertainment district of the future.” What few nightspots remain from the…
Best Midtown Club
Let Midtown get as gentrified as it can, certainly not a problem these days, but walking into the Big Top (“No phone, no pool, no pets”) will always feel like being transported back to 1976. A toy store once upon a time — supposedly the place that provided the inspiration…
Best Pool Hall
Cue & Cushion is a laid-back place to shoot some pool and have a drink, or watch some serious players shoot. Finding an open table usually isn’t a problem, and word is, the tables are the best in town. Cue & Cushion also caters heavily to the “industry” crowd, so…
Best Place to Forget the Guy/Gal Who Cheated on You
Nobody is ever sad at The Big Easy, at least not for long. So what if your ex got over you in like two seconds and is now engaged to a millionaire? You can’t be worried about that, there’s music to dance to and booze to drink. There’s live music…
Best Bureaucrat
Susanne Theis is the programming director for Discovery Green, the 12-acre, $122 million park opened in downtown Houston this year. As such, she’ll be responsible for getting people to the park. If her track record is any indication, she’ll succeed. Theis was with the Orange Show for 25 years, helping…
Best Chocolate Mousse
We suspect a young boy owns the establishment that makes this city’s best chocolate mousse — not because mousse is akin to pudding, and that’s what’s often packed in Lunchables. You’ll see why, once you visit this hideaway featuring Belgian cuisine. Festooning the cafe’s walls are dozens of pictures and…
Best Chicken-Fried Steak
The perfectly battered chicken-fried steak at Ouisie’s has been rated the best in the state by more than one chicken-fried critic. The awesome meat patty is covered with an undulating crust and served with black pepper milk gravy in a metal gravy boat on the side so that you can…
Best Mojito
Mash a bunch of mint in the bottom of a glass, pour rum over it and you have a mojito; do it right and you have magic. Reef’s 3rd Bar is doing it right. Making it the traditional way, the bartenders at 3rd Bar muddle the freshest mint with just…
Best Video Store
When you enter this neighborhood spot, owner and manager Rob Arcos greets you with a smile and a wave. You can walk in totally clueless about what to rent, and Rob will happily offer recommendations on anything from TV shows to indie and foreign flicks. He has a lot of…
Best Auto Parts Store
Space City Wheels is what you might call a high-end auto parts store. Not a lot of air filters and brake fluid, but a helluva lot of chrome. Space City Wheels strictly sells rims and tires, and the shop’s showroom alone is worth a visit. It looks like a strip…
Best Goodies for the House
This converted house in the Heights is full of richly renovated Mexican furniture and accoutrements. And an adjacent building on the same lot has even more decorative items, such as tasteful disco balls (is that an oxymoron?) that feature crystals, hold candles and come in five different colors. While those…
Best Barbecue Restaurant
Friendly, accommodating and spotlessly clean, this top-notch barbecue joint has recently opened in Acres Homes not far from the ashes of the late great William’s Smokehouse. Owner Clarence Pierson is a bear of a man who knows his smoked meats. He cooks on an honest-to-God, wood-fueled, Houston-made Klose barbecue pit…
Best Indian
Shri Balaji Bhavan serves up some excellent Southern Indian comfort food that has not been dumbed down for the masses. The staff is friendly and willing to help navigate the menu, if you’re not familiar with Indian food. Thali, or sampler platters of sorts, are a great way to try…
Best Liquor Store
Spec’s Liquor Warehouse is a booze mecca for Houston beer swillers and wine sippers alike. A drinker’s dream come true, the libation emporium is as large as most grocery stores in the city and has more selections than about anywhere we’ve ever been. The sheer amount of options is downright…
Best Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurant
Field of Greens’s mostly meat-free menu has a wide range of dishes, including a raw vegetable rainbow plate, green bean hummus wrap and six different kinds of veggie burgers. Feeling overwhelmed? The knowledgeable staff makes ordering easy and will happily explain the difference between tempeh and tofu or make substitutions…
Best Sports Talk Host
Erudition, calm conversation — these are generally not attributes associated with sports-talk radio. Mindless blather, yes; pathetic “guy talk,” sure; but intelligent, fact-based discourse, no. Unless you’re listening to Charlie Pallilo on 790-AM. He leaves the screaming to the other stations (and in Houston, there are plenty of other sports-talk…
Best Place to Watch Ultimate Fighting
Yes, there is a $10 cover, but it’s worth avoiding the usual unpleasantries — i.e., a lack of seating and uninterested company. Around town, your group’s chances of finding a seat at UF viewings are about as good as Chris Lebon’s against Rampage Jackson. (And don’t even pretend like Lebon…
Tron
For men of a certain age (okay, those of us pushing 40), the early ’80s were the golden era of video games. And what’s the only thing better than being joystick heroes and dropping endless quarters into Tempest, Defender, Robotron and Joust? Being in a video game, of course! Gameboys…
Best Club for Out-of-Town Acts
Very tough category to call this year — if you hadn’t noticed, Houston has been getting some grade-A road shows lately — but Warehouse Live gets the nod for its versatility (i.e., the 300-capacity studio and 1,500-capacity ballroom), world-class sound system and the fact that more often than not its…
Best Local Comedian
We’re giving Sarah Tollemache top honors this year despite her recent move to New York. The comedian spent a better part of the year here and was even featured on the Houston edition of Last Comic Standing’s season six. Tollemache amassed more laughs around town in less than a year…
Best Places to Score an Eight-Ball
Jeez, there are so many, and while we don’t wanna just spell this one out for you, we will give it to you tabloid blind item style. So here we go — four of the best places to find bat food inside the Loop: 1. Puff Daddy would like to…
Best Theater Company
Producing Artistic Director Kenn McLaughlin proved himself over and over at Stages Repertory Theatre last season. The season of powerful scripts moved easily from money-making musicals like Altar Boyz to thoughtful social commentaries such as The Unseen and Black Pearl Sings. Rich with political heft, hilarious jokes and emotional power,…
Best Stripper
Angelic is the best stripper in Houston because she’s smoking hot. She dances at The Colorado Bar & Grill, but she doesn’t blow fire or do back flips or twist her body into crazy stripper positions. Simply. Smoking. Hot. Brutha. “When I first started, I would just shake my ass…
Best Place to Look Like You’re ÂExercising When You’re Really ÂCruising
Historic Camp Logan, the WWI military camp, makes up much of the area that is now Memorial Park. These days, so many couples meet and date on its jogging trails, some call it Camp Romance. Memorial Park is one of the largest parks in the country and in addition to…
Best Civil Attorney
Is Lloyd Kelley the best civil attorney in Houston, home of some of the legendary giants of the courtroom? Probably not. But he is the best civil attorney this year, for no other reason than he gave us the vastly entertaining soap opera and career implosion of District Attorney Chuck…
Best Enchiladas
It’s hard to stand out from the crowd when it comes to enchiladas. They are, after all, just rolled-up corn tortillas filled with cheese or meat and topped with a sauce. The enchiladas at El Jardin follow the same formula, but it’s the variations that make them the best in…
Best Crawfish
If you like your mudbugs out on a patio with lots of beer and a Hawaiian Tex-Mex cover band, then Swampy’s is your kind of place. The rest of the Cajun menu is hit or miss. But the bar is always hopping, and the crawfish are a relative bargain. Last…
Best Pancakes
If you want to avoid the hyper-corporate flopcakes at places like International House of Crap or the House of Guys, head on over to one of these home-style grills. Buffalo Grille has good old-fashioned hotcakes the size of your head. There is no short-stack, or even a half-stack. Stacking these country…
Best Antique Store
Kuenhert’s Auction house is not quite a store, but there’s not a more exciting way in town to shop for fabulous French antiques, plush Persian rugs or even a palette full of kooky knick-knacks, old toys, or strange hats. Every Thursday night, the hearty souls who are game enough pick…
Best Garden Goodies
The Brookwood Community sits on a massive patch of farmland near Brookshire, and it serves more than 100 people with disabilities who produce high-quality home items and foods that are sold at three stores and online. It’s hard to visit the Westheimer location without loading up on inspirational gifts and…
Best Plumber
People have been raving about LEA Plumbing, so when a plumbing emergency hit one of our Best of Houston® correspondents, she called them right away and was crushed to learn LEA only serves Northeast Houston. But Sue Riddle, who handles the company’s dispatch, helpfully offered a couple reasons for the…
Best Burger Joint
Like many quintessential Texas burger joints, this place started out as a convenience store. The grocery opened in 1939, and when owner and head cook Eydie Prior was growing up, her parents really sold groceries. But it was the hamburgers that brought in the crowds, and so they took out…
Best Pakistani/Northern Indian
Encompassing Pakistani, North Indian and a bit of Southern Indian cuisine, Himalaya is a standout among the dozens of Indian restaurants that populate the area. However you describe it, the food is flavorful and satisfying. Presided over by the ever-present owner, Himalaya offers some of the best dishes from the…
Best Place to Buy a Gun
It’s a well-known fact around the world that we Texans love our guns. Actually, “love” may be putting it lightly; we not only use our right under the Second Amendment, we celebrate it as much as possible by buying, owning, talking about and, most importantly, shooting guns. That’s why it’s…
Best Greasy Spoon
From the outside, Lucky Burger looks more like a greasy bucket than a greasy spoon. You may even think that the food inside this dumpy little corner eatery isn’t safe, but inside are some really simple and tasty burgers. The short menu gets to the point with burgers and cheeseburgers,…
Best Texan
The Houston Texans’ defense has not always been a joyful thing to behold, unless you like suckage. But that could be quickly changing, in no small part thanks to aggressive, smart, talented players like linebacker DeMeco Ryans. NFL Rookie of the Year in 2006, he made the Pro Bowl the…
Best Coach
There’s something to be said for a team that moves to a different city and then wins two championships in its first two years. That’s what Dynamo Coach Dominic Kinnear helped achieve when his San Jose Earthquakes moved to Houston in 2006. Previously, Kinnear had led the Earthquakes to the…
Strega Nona
The children’s opera Strega Nona (Grandma Witch) has some pretty big lessons to teach, like respecting other people’s property, taking responsibility for your mistakes and forgiving your friends. Perfect for elementary and middle-school students, Strega Nona is based on the book of the same title by Tomie dePaola. In it,…
Best Lighting
Any one of Houston’s major music venues has a million-dollar lighting array to beat the band. That’s why we chose Meridian, because for the sprawling Chartres Street club, less is more. At June’s Peter Murphy show, for instance, the most striking moments — like his a cappella cover of Nine…
Best FotoFest Show
Michael Somoroff (the mastermind behind the Rothko Chapel installation Illumination I) took more than two dozen photographs from legendary German photographer August Sander’s collection “People of the Twentieth Century” and removed the people. His meticulous touch-ups made it look as if they were never there: In Pharmacist, all that was left…
Best Place to Smoke and Drink
Since the nicotine-loving set has been literally kicked to the curb, those who also enjoy a tipple with their tobacco have been on the lookout for prime public spots in which to indulge their twin vices. While many bars have simply roped off a couple of cheap picnic tables in…
Best Theater on a Shoestring Budget
Give a theater $100,000 and you expect something great, but the real test of a group of artists is what they can do with a next-to-nothing budget. We could all take a lesson from Mildred’s Umbrella, a company dedicated to the strangeness of theater that manages to keep its artistic…
Best Tattoo Artist
What do you get when a Vietnamese kid is raised and steeped in all things Texas while growing up in Pearland? An Asian tattoo artist with a serious Southern drawl who has an interest in tat’in kick-ass skulls and naked chicks onto your skin — and who can do it…
Best White Elephant
Whether it is known as the Tien Tao temple or the Chong Hua Sheng Mu Holy Palace, this edifice certainly stands out in Kingsbridge Park, its typical southwest-side suburban neighborhood. This five-story pyramid-esque, vaguely Mayan-looking structure is topped by a 40-foot golden geodesic dome which is flanked by two smaller…
Best Criminal Court Judge
In years past, Judge Mike McSpadden was regularly in the media, creating or joining an ongoing controversy. Nowadays the veteran isn’t in the limelight as much, but he still provides the fairest trial you’ll get at the hang-’em-high Harris County courthouse. He knows all the tricks, he knows when a…
Best Bread
The farmhouse loaf made by brothers Louis and Robert Wu is a dense loaf of bread, about 15 inches long, in the shape of an elongated football that is dusted with flour, which makes everything it comes into contact with white. And it is so crunchy that taking a bite…
Best Pizza
At Russo’s New York Coal-Fired Pizzeria near the intersection of the Northwest Freeway and Highway 6, Anthony Russo has re-created the old-fashioned coal-fired pizzeria experience in a suburban strip center. But the superhot oven is only part of what Russo is doing right. You don’t get a pizza crust with…
Best Fried Chicken
Just across from the University of Houston, Frenchy’s is the perfect place to avoid cafeteria food and even make those freshman 15 worth gaining. Get in line at the drive-thru, or get in your exercise by walking up to the stand to order fresh fried chicken with just enough grease…
Best Doggy Day Care
The Fido-friendly folks at Jester Plaza Veterinary Clinic will treat your best pal like he’s family. At their doggy day care, pooches of every size and shape hang around the place getting pets, pats and even occasional kisses. And if they need a round of shots, dear Dr. Stephen Burda…
Best Bait & Tackle
A beginning fisherman (or woman) could get lost in this sprawling tackle store in south Houston. But the staff can hook you up with all the equipment and knowledge you need to be on your way. Unlike other big-box outdoor stores, Fishing Tackle Unlimited is straight fishing. There’s plenty of…
Best All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
When it comes to stuff-your-face gluttony, no one does it better than the Asian-inspired all-you-can-eat buffet at V Star. Located in a strip mall just off of I-45, this place almost literally has it all. A fruit bar, salad makings, a soup station and a seafood bar overflowing with oysters…
Best Cajun Restaurant
Go eat some of Floyd’s fried oysters with hand-cut French fries or his wildly spicy crawfish or his awesome poor boys, and you will remember why Cajun food used to get us so excited. The boat-shaped bar on the southbound side of the Gulf Freeway is now one of two…
Best Chain Restaurant
When it comes to local chains, no one does burgers and steaks faster or better that the folks at Becks Prime. Originally only on Kirby Drive more than 20 years ago, the chain now has eight locations peppered throughout the Houston area, five of which sport the all-important, convenient drive-thru…
Best Place to Buy Music
When Cactus Music closed a few years ago, it was one of the saddest days Houston music has seen or ever will see. Cactus fostered quality local and international music across genres for generations, and carried albums by musicians available almost nowhere else. It was one of the last examples…
Best Chinese Restaurant
It’s huge, it’s inexpensive and it’s fun. Located in a towering building on Bellaire between Synott and Dairy Ashford, Jackie Tan Restaurant looks like a fortress along the Great Wall of China. It seats over 300. The menu is huge, and there are lots of gloppy brown sauce dishes lying…
Best Skatepark
Houston, it’s about damn time this happened. Though there’ve been other public skateparks, the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark is the very first City of Houston public skatepark, and people couldn’t be more excited. And by all accounts they should be. The new concrete beast that locals now get to…
Best Rocket
Okay, so Rafer Alston may be Houston’s contribution to the bad boys of the NBA after a pair of run-ins with the cops last August. He was charged with public intoxication and assault in Space City, and then charged with stabbing a man at a Manhattan nightspot. But in an…
The 12th Annual Houston Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival
Sir John Gielgud, Tab Hunter and Liberace all on the big screen together – where else but Q-Fest, the 12th Annual Houston Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival? Today’s opening-night feature is Save Me, with Chad Allen as a man struggling with drug addiction. When his family places him in…
Best Performance Space
“Performance space” feels a little highfalutin to describe the Mink’s Backroom — it’s a venue, plain and simple — except for a couple of points. First of all, there’s no stage per se; bands just set up at one end of the rectangular upstairs room. Second, no other place in…
Best Graffiti Artist
If you noticed a lack of Give Up wheat-paste posters around town earlier this year, it’s because the Give Up guy/gal had gone fishin’. Well, actually he (or she) was taking a vacation in the Pacific Northwest, collecting inspiration for his (or her) latest works. His (or her) return prompted…
Best Redneck Bar
Contrary to our image in the national mind’s eye, the redneck seems to be something of an endangered species in inside-the-Beltway Houston. But they didn’t get that memo at Robbie’s Lounge. At this Spring Branch-area strip mall bar, a Confederate flag hangs in one window, while a sign nailed to…
Best Ballet
Poor little Aurora. In Dominic Walsh Dance Theater’s version of Sleeping Beauty, she was a rebellious teen suffering from narcolepsy, drug abuse and, well, general sluttiness. Walsh turned the fairy tale on its head and created a splendid fast-footed, semi-comical, quasi-tragic tail of love, lust, teen angst and fantasy. The…
Best Unofficial Private Club
No, the Next Door is not an after-hours club per se; no secret knock or any of that Al Capone-type stuff. However, if you’re reasonably well acquainted with the staff and don’t piss them off (which is not exactly easy to do, but it does happen), they’re not always in…
Best Radio Station
Radio is still an art at this 56-year-old institution. The oldest black radio station in Texas has ignored the streamlining so rampant elsewhere in the industry, so the station is all-local, all-the-time. Weekday mornings, 26-year-vet Michael Harris helms current affairs show “Person to Person”; afternoons are given over to the…
Best Criminal Defense Attorney
Your client is an illegal immigrant who got drunk and killed a cop. He’s on trial in Harris County, which sends more convicts to Death Row than most hemispheres. And you somehow convince a jury to forsake the death penalty and give a sentence of life without parole? That is…
Best Breakfast Tacos
The meat used for the barbacoa de Borrego is lamb, and it’s lighter in color and slightly sweeter than the traditional beef used in most barbacoa found in the finest taco joints in Houston. It makes for a great taco, whatever the time of day. The lamb is slow-cooked in…
Best Dim Sum
The sesame balls filled with sweetened red bean paste are hot out of the fryer — they taste like Chinese jelly doughnuts. The regular dim sum items are all nicely done, but it’s the upscale exotica that catches your attention here. The cart with the shell-shaped metallic dishes of seaweed…
Best Sushi
It’s obvious after one bite that Sushi Jin has raised the bar for Houston’s raw fish lovers. Flown in from Japan, the mouthwatering pieces of salmon, tuna and yellow tail are sure to impress even the snobbiest connoisseurs. Wanna walk on the wild side? Jellyfish, sea cucumber and other exotics…
Best Hairdresser
Getting one’s hair cut can be a very dicey affair. In the first place, a decent cut is going to cost you, and after you’ve forked it over, you have to watch to make sure you get what you want. And then there’s all that attitude at some of the…
Best Vet
Dr. Danielle Rosser brings her golden retriever to work every day. Lucky dog. The homey atmosphere, friendly staff and fat cats lounging on the counter create an old-time ambience, but the new two-story, state-of-the-art, $1.5 million building next to the original clinic is nothing but high-tech animal health care. Need a…
Best Wine Bar Food
Go for the wine; keep going back for the food. Max’s Wine Dive has a first-rate wine list, but it’s this joint’s food that separates it from the growing number of wine bars stretched along Washington. From the Texas-size Kobe-beef burger topped with creamy brie to the fried-egg sandwich with…
Best Indonesian Restaurant
Houston ethnic food doesn’t get much more exotic than this. But even if you aren’t up to trying street foods like otak otak (tubular “fish cakes” grilled inside banana leaves and dipped in spicy peanut sauce), gado gado (watercress, long beans, cabbage, and fried tofu tossed in chili-spiked peanut sauce…
Best Breakfast
It’s a good thing this taqueria is a weekend-only breakfast spot. If not, we’d be sinking our teeth into the migas seven days a week. You might have to wait in line to place your order, but once you have, sit back and have some of Goode Company Taqueria’s fresh-squeezed…
Best Resale Shop
While you’re not too likely to find that vintage Van Halen T-shirt at The Guild Shop, it has plenty of other treasures within its walls. It’s a great place to find higher-end clothing and retro goods that you typically won’t find in the majority of thrift stores. The place is…
Best Dry Restaurant
There are a number of dry restaurants around, so what makes this one supreme? We could say that it’s the wonderfully inspired chicken-fried quail, the inventive wasabi and cucumber crusted red snapper or the toothsome trays of tiny pastries offered at brunch. But what truly catapults this dry restaurant in…
Best Basketball Court
The courts at the Downtown YMCA are a solid place to find a pickup game. Or, if you don’t have the stamina to physically run the length of a basketball court, there’s usually enough space to find an open hoop where you can just shoot around. There’s a group of…
Best Aero(s)
The saying is that a good defense will always beat a good offense. And last season the Houston Aeros didn’t have a good offense. The fact that the Aeros made the playoffs can be attributed to their good defense, led primarily by goalies Nolan Schaefer and Barry Brust. The two accounted for ten shutouts,…
Body of War
Tomas Young joined the Army after 9/11 to get revenge on the perpetrators of the attacks. He thought he would go to Afghanistan; he never wanted to fight in Iraq, which is where he was sent. It turned out that he was there for less than a week before getting…
Best Band to Break Up in the Last Year
UGK, short for Underground Kingz, were at the pinnacle of their craft, the highest point of their career. They had made songs with the biggest of rap stars and gained an international following unparalleled by other Houston MCs. But it all came crashing down in December when Pimp C suddenly…
Best Local Reading Series
Good writers? Check. Alcohol? Oh, check! The folks behind the Poison Pen Reading Series took their cue from greats like Dylan Thomas and Hunter S. Thompson and set up literary shop in a bar. Normally, the idea of poetry and bars sounds like a surefire way to get stuck at…
Best Song About Houston
“See the Chinese meditatin’ / smell the Dietrich’s coffee percolatin’ / hear the train whistle blow down at Main Street Station / when it’s springtime / down in the ‘Trose.” So runs our favorite verse of this lovely little Dixieland ditty. Too often, songs that mention Houston do so only…
Best Choreographer
It’s not easy running a major ballet company — you have to deal with daily headaches, budgets and dancer dilemmas, not to mention create groundbreaking choreography. Houston Ballet Artistic Director Stanton Welch handles it and still manages to create dances that dazzle. Whether he’s restaging classics and creating his own…
Best Benefit to Living Downtown
Let’s face it, in a day and age when paying five bucks or possibly more for a gallon of gas has become a reality, not driving is more than just nice. It’s great. Think of it: No hour-plus commutes each way with ridiculous amounts of traffic. Downtown, you can do…
Best Local TV Anchor
After almost 30 years in the news business, and more than 22 of those at Fox 26 News, anchorman Mike Barajas gives viewers a continuity that few others can. Barajas served as host of Hola Houston, a talk show that dealt with issues in the Hispanic community. He covered the…
Best Local Blog
Charles Kuffner is one prolific blogger. He posts volumes daily at www.offthekuff.com, which, by the way, is the oldest progressive-politics site in the state. He started in 2002 and has legions of fans and followers. The boy can crunch his numbers, often in mind-boggling detail, on political races from country…
Best Wings
There’s a sign near the register that says, “10 minutes to cook, 1 minute to shake on the sauce, 1 minute to serve, hot & fresh.” This is their way of letting you know that all their wings are made to order, so be patient. The wait is definitely worthwhile…
Best Cevaps/Kebabs
Cevapcici, or cevaps for short, are the Slavic version of kebabs. It’s also the Bosnian national dish and the signature item at Café Pita +, Houston’s favorite Bosnian restaurant. To make cevaps, ground beef and lamb are mixed with pureed onions, herbs and spices, formed into cylinders and grilled. The…
Best Vegetarian Dish
For those who want to live meat-free but still can’t shake that craving for the forbidden, Quan Yin Vegetarian is the place. The soy substitutes come in just about every shape, color and type of animal that you’ll find on a farm, and are as close to the real thing…
Best Place to Buy Sexy Lingerie
If you’re like us, buying sexy lingerie isn’t an everyday deal, which is why Erotic Cabaret is so appealing. The employees are well versed in the merchandise, but realize it’s a taboo experience for some shoppers. Want to know where that thing goes and how, and why your partner will…
Best Mechanic
Scooters are the rage. The little buggers get 85 to 100 miles per gallon and may even be a little hip. Matthew Creed, owner of Apollo Scooters, sold about 100 of them last year. He sold 85 last month. But if you buy, you’ll need a good scooter mechanic. Apollo…
Best Jamaican Restaurant
In a city with summers hot enough to cook an egg on your forehead, a place like Caribbean Jerk Cuisine is a cabana in the sun. No fusion crap at this spicy hole in the wall, just good down-home tropical specialties like curried goat, hot meat pies and jerk snapper…
Best Mexican Restaurant
The restaurant roasts its own cocoa beans and grinds them by hand in an old-fashioned stone mill that chef-owner Hugo Ortega brought back from Oaxaca. The fresh-ground cocoa paste is used to make its signature mole poblano, as well as the cup of hot chocolate that comes with some of…
Best Comfort Food
If Houston traffic leaves you needing some serious TLC, Cleburne Cafeteria is your place. Everything about this Houston staple whispers comfort. Drift through the line and pick up heaping bowls of mayo-filled salads, thick-sliced meatloaf, gooey chicken and dumplings and layer upon layer of luscious cake slices before sliding into…
Best Hip, Fun or Nostalgic Gifts
Hendley Market is the perfect place to buy ’60s-era toys and wax lips for kids, knitted catnip-filled toys for cats, old coins for house-sitting neighbors and embroidered linens for co-workers. There are antique oddities such as medical instruments, quirky old books, gift items that hark back to the Victorian Age…
Best Expense Account Restaurant
A throwback to steakhouses of generations past, Pappas Bros. has the old-school charm of a private club and is the perfect setting for a power dinner. Plush leather seating, grand marble columns and rich mahogany paneling make this the ideal place to chomp on a stogie and seal a deal…
Best Weekend Getaway
Whether you want to bird, hike or fish, you can do it at Matagorda Bay Nature Park. And while it’s definitely wilderness, the 1,600-acre park has plenty of amenities. Butterflies stop in Matagorda Bay from September through November, while the January and February skies are full of birds. (More than…
Best Seafood Restaurant
Best Seafood Restaurant Traditional Cajun crawfish bisque was the best starter at the old Jimmy Wilson’s on Westheimer. Fried green tomatoes topped with jumbo lump crabmeat is the signature appetizer of the upscale new Jimmy Wilson’s on San Felipe. The list of fresh fish written on a chalkboard at the…
“The Sounds I See: Photographs of Musicians”
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is hosting some of history’s greatest performers in concert…in pictures. “The Sounds I See: Photographs of Musicians” is a collection of notable singers, songwriters, guitarists, drummers and others captured on stage by notable lens-snappers such as Ralph Gibson, Emil Cadoo, Annie Leibovitz, Mark Seliger,…
Best Place to See Naked People
Based on all the hookups-in-progress on a typical Friday ’80s night at Numbers, maybe we should have called this category Place to See About-to-Be Naked People. And the stories we’ve heard about the people who couldn’t wait until they got home and get it on in the lower Westheimer synth-pop/goth…
Best New Bar
Yes, we know we gave them this award last year. But Pearl Bar has undergone major renovations since 2007, and you might say, well, it’s like a whole new bar. The place that started as an open-every-now-and-then patio bar is now up and running both indoors and out. The inside…
Best Jukebox
Those digital jukeboxes where a patron can download anything they want to listen to are the scourge of the Houston bar scene and a sign you should question the quality of an establishment. Imagine, letting some douche with appalling musical taste play whatever he can dream up. Nobody should ever…
Best Dancer
This Italian hunk with smoldering matinee looks is one tall drink of water. We knew he had great form and a brooding presence and that he could pull off princely ballet moves and blend seamlessly into contemporary choreography. But in Dominic Walsh Dance Theater’s Sleeping Beauty, he showed great comedic…
Best Not-So-Cheap Thrill
Do you like to impress people? Do you have a shitload of money? If you answered yes to both, then you might want to consider a stay in one (or all) of Hotel ZaZa’s “Magnificent Seven” theme rooms. These include the Rock Star, with “your own frosted-glass, private elevator access,”…
Best Local TV Talk Show
Along with reporter Cristina Terrill, Great Day Houston host Deborah Duncan makes Houston mornings fun, lively and informative. While other talk shows skim through headlines and sensationalized teasers, Duncan explores her topics thoroughly. During a recent show on jazz, she had several performers play samples of the different styles of…
Best Local Bathroom Reading
Published in Galveston and distributed throughout the region, The Police News (“Gulf Coast-Piney Woods Edition”) is a fascinating combination of tabloid, blotter and public service. One front-page headline in its June issue screamed “Toddler: ‘I Don’t Want to Die’…Then Mom Stabbed Her” — 23 times before cutting the four-year-old’s throat,…
Best Calamari
Perhaps it’s the flour, seasoned with Italian spices and parsley, used as the batter which makes them so incredibly crispy and greaseless; maybe it’s the homemade picante sauce Lomonte’s serves along with a terrific marinara sauce that you dip them in; then again, maybe it’s the tiny pieces of squid…
Best Mussels
The multicultural mussel appetizer at the Mockingbird Bistro in Montrose starts with perfectly cleaned, gritless Mediterranean mussels. The black-shelled, white-fleshed shellfish are stewed in a stout Asian-fusion coconut milk broth seasoned with garlic, lemongrass and spicy red curry. Then they’re presented in a big white bowl of the hearty red…
Best Onion Rings
When you try the onion rings at Raven grill, you suddenly realize that the prefab stuff you’ve been eating at Wendy’s isn’t so good. People actually still hand-make these things to order? Turns out there are still restaurants that create food with heart and soul, like they actually care what…
Best Bakery
Elizabeth Harrison and Peter Cooper may have gone Hollywood — the couple moved to L.A. to make films — but when it came time to open a bakery, they did it back home in H-Town. Their last flick, Love and Mary, was shot in Houston, and about a baker; also,…
Best Oil Change
CarSpa is a big lube shop/car wash in Midtown, but unlike similar places, CarSpa doesn’t have the mall-on-Christmas-Eve parking-lot atmosphere that might make you change your mind before pulling in for a quick oil change. The shop doesn’t do appointments, so it’s a first-come deal. But the wait shouldn’t be…
Best Tapas
Serving classic tapas and sangria, Rioja is a standard among Spanish restaurants in Houston. It is pretty much a no-brainer that when you go to Rioja, you’re going to get some pretty badass tapas, like the house-made chorizo or the fried shrimp with smoked paprika. Rioja serves good-size proportions of…
Best Pizzeria
Dolce Vita Pizzeria & Enoteca is owned by Marco Wiles, the chef-owner of Houston’s best Italian restaurant, Da Marco. Wiles says that Dolce Vita is a tribute to authentic Italian pizzerias. Heating up a brick oven takes a long time, which is why the great pizzerias in Italy are only…
Best Delivery
Don’t feel like going out? Microwave seem too complicated? The staff at Star Pizza will help. You won’t hear any groans if you want to switch around your toppings one last time, or cover only half the pie in olives. Then again, you can always kick it old school with…
Best Shoe Store
You ever see someone wearing the most incredible pair of sneakers you’ve ever seen and wonder where in the world they got them? The answer is, most likely, Premium Goods. The sleepy sneaker boutique in the heart of Rice Village specializes in incredible limited-edition and custom-made sneakers. You won’t find…
Best Family-Owned Restaurant
For more than 30 years, Niko Niko’s has been offering up authentic Greek food, many of the recipes coming from founder Eleni Fetokakis’s father’s restaurant in Athens. A converted gas station, Niko Niko’s is always bustling with diners eager to get their Greek on. Customers form a line at the…
Best Place to Canoe
The Armand Bayou Nature Center is a good place to be outside. Located in a suburban neighborhood in far south Houston, the center is not “off-the-beaten-path” cool, but it is a big area where you can experience a lot of nature-y things. One of those is a canoe trip down…
Best Place to Walk Your Dog
Although not an officially recognized dog park, this is one of the most popular spots for people and their pooches. It features tons of open, flat space for walking, running and playing fetch. There are woodsy areas for the more inquisitive canines, and its right on Buffalo Bayou, perfect for…
2nd Anniversary of the Poison Pen Reading Series
The 2nd Anniversary of the Poison Pen Reading Series features a longtime listener, first-time reader. Scott Repass emcees the monthly literary installment, which is hosted at Poison Girl, the bar he co-owns. But when he’s not running the bar, he’s writing. “I’m working on a novel, but who isn’t?” he…
Darryl Wimberley
Siamese twins, freaks, dwarfs, sword-swallowers, gangsters, giants and a sadistic killer all play a role in Darryl Wimberley’s Kaleidoscope. The author of A Rock and a Hard Place and an Austinite, Wimberley reads from his newest crime novel, which gives readers the down-and-out card hack and drunk Jack Romaine, today…
Best Steak Night
Sometimes it seems like there are as many steak nights around Houston as potholes, and they’ll all fill your belly up real good. But Under the Volcano gets the nod, because the Bissonnet shrine to Malcolm Lowry’s novel (and all things tropicalia) has the good sense to have its steak…
Best Piercing Shop
Taurian’s employees don’t poke around with any other body matters — they stick to piercing. This means customers can have their ears, eyebrows, nipples, bellybuttons and anything below the belt holed in an establishment where safety and knowledge of the procedure come first. (The place looks and smells like it’s…
Best Art Show
With works including everything from square-dance dresses to Pilgrim mannequins to shadow puppets committing antebellum sodomy, “The Old Weird America” presented a weirdly insightful take on America. CAMH senior curator Toby Kamps honed in on bizarre strains of American folk culture in contemporary art and came up with a provocative…
Best Dance Company
Most Houston arts companies would say that they want people of every color, size, age, gender, ethnicity and ability in their audience. Hope Stone goes one better and puts people of every color, size, age, gender, ethnicity and ability onstage, too. Choreographer/artistic director/resident janitor Jane Weiner (hey, that’s her joke,…
Best Radio Talk Host
This show is so obscure it’s not listed on KCOH’s Web site, and station representatives gave us the name of a different Dr. Watkins when we asked who hosted the show. In fact, they weren’t really sure of the show’s name, either, probably because it’s a mouthful. But if you…
Best Spanish Language Reporter
Pedro Rojas, weekend anchor for Univisión Channel 45, is more than just a pretty face. Yep, he’s tall, dark and handsome (with a seriously bright white smile), but he’s also a talented, experienced anchorman and reporter. Rojas has built a reputation as a caring and professional journalist, one who’s willing…
Best Hidden Neighborhood
For years, the area surrounding Stella Link between Bellaire Boulevard and North Braeswood was a fairly unremarkable part of town. The homes were the standard ranches from the ’60s or so, and there wasn’t much to set it apart. But recently Pershing Middle School opened a shining new building to…
Best Desserts
This is a place where, even if you have the utmost self-control, you’re likely to lose it once you see all they have to offer. As if the cakes, cupcakes, cookies and bars themselves were not enough, as you sit and enjoy your stash, you can even watch videos of…
Best Empanada
Owner Marcello Marini claims his are “the best empanadas in the world,” and while we can’t know if that’s true, we can certainly vouch that they’re the best in Houston. The Marini family has expanded its empanada empire, opening this location at the Carillon Shopping Center last year to go…
Best Fish and Chips
This is not your British Auntie’s fish & chips. At Soma, chef Robert Gadsby, formerly of Noe at the Omni Hotel, offers a Japanese-inspired twist on this traditional dish, serving up a whole fried bass, bones, skin, tail and all. The only thing not on the plate is the head,…
Best Dry Cleaner
Rosalind Campbell and Blanca Aguirre, intrepid employees of Drive Thru Cleaners (owned by Michael Kaufman), have seen it all. If you inadvertently leave a thong (okay, in our case, granny panties) in your slacks, they discreetly hand it back. Need a fast fix for soiled clothing after a careless barista…
Best Place to Buy Cigars
The Briar Shoppe is a Houston institution. The place, originally opened by the current owner’s mother, has been around for about 45 years. The store is an all-woman enterprise, but macho aficionados keep coming back. The walk-in humidor is great, with an easy-to-browse selection. All the favorites in the $5-to-$10…
Best Cuban Restaurant
Looking for a feast? Try Flor de Cuba’s parrillada cubana, a cornucopia of island delicacies including chuletas (pork chops), macitas (fried pork chunks), pechuga de pollo (grilled chicken breast), camarones al ajillo (shrimp in garlic) and vaca frita (fried beef). With all entrées, you get healthy servings of beans, rice,…
Best Restaurant
Reef is an intensely local restaurant that caters to our city’s culinary eccentricities. Chef-owner Bryan Caswell, who grew up in Houston, used to do a lot of fishing. Fishermen understand the treasures of the Gulf of Mexico in a way that non-fishermen never quite get. At Reef, the menu changes…
Best Gay-Friendly Restaurant
Don’t be fooled by the somewhat decrepit facade of this Montrose breakfast haven. It seems the owners of this gay-owned Montrose staple decided to forgo the manscaping and instead focus on the classic American cuisine, delicious fresh-squeezed juices, on-the-case staff and affordable prices. After all, it’s what’s inside that counts,…
Best Novelty Store
No, Sig’s didn’t win Best Novelty Store because it proudly sells vinyl — the entire upstairs balcony is devoted to that processed plastic — which is less and less a novelty every year in any case. It was more the book of illustrations that conveniently leaves a hole for the…
Best Taqueria
If it’s down-home comfort you seek, look no further than Laredo Taqueria. From the woman behind the counter hand-rolling the softest of tortillas to the Little League photos and ceramic tiles depicting the Virgin Mary on the walls, this cozy one-room joint on the north side of town just off…
Best Driving Range
Mulligan’s Golf is a laid-back place where you can have a good time and shank a few balls without being called a “trunk slammer.” The range is hidden along a stretch of FM 1960 filled with empty retail strips. But Mulligan’s has survived for close to 15 years. It’s a…
History and Memory
Long before the date September 11 became significant in the American collective memory, it was already well ensconced in that of the people of Chile as the date of the coup in which the brutal military dictator Augusto Pinochet took power from the democratically elected Salvador Allende. In a Cinematheque…
Mozart and Shostakovich
After performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, the Houston Symphony will fill Jones Hall with controversy. Mozart and Shostakovich ends with a performance of Shostakovich’s 1962 Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar. The five-part piece is based on the writings of Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, which denounced Stalin’s Soviet regime during…
Best Hotel Bar
Modern and warm, chic and cozy, The Black Swan is the perfect oasis whether you’re a guest at the Omni Hotel or a fashionable urbanite looking for a great night out. Just steps away from the highly praised restaurant Noe inside the hotel, marble black swans greet patrons as they…
Best Unsigned Band
The members of News on the March didn’t rush into the spotlight, but instead took the time to hone their craft. The result was a standout offering of first-time performances, featuring the most perfect three-part harmonies ever heard live from a start-up act. News on the March plays Nashville-style pop…
Best Art Space
There are no better artistic agents provocateurs than Jim and Ann Harithas and the Station Museum of Contemporary Art. The Station is privately funded and directed by the Harithases, which allows them to essentially do whatever the hell they want. A former director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston as…
Best Movie Theater
The River Oaks Theatre is one of a kind in Houston. Built in 1939 in ornate Art Deco style, it’s the only movie palace left in the city. Of course, the films shown now are slightly racier than the theater’s inaugural screening, Bachelor Mother with David Niven and Ginger Rogers…
Best Flack
We know Dana Mattice is supported by the entire Museum of Fine Arts, Houston public relations staff, but we hear her cheerful voice the most. She’s always on top of whatever request we can think of — answering dumb questions (which she assures us are never dumb), sending photos, interviews…
Best Weathercaster
You gotta love a guy who gets up in the middle of the night just so he can tell us Houston’s weather is going to be hot. That’s what KPRC-TV weatherman Anthony Yanez does: He wakes up at 2:30 a.m., is at work by 3 a.m. and is on the…
Best Local Magazine
OutSmart has been a consistent Best Of winner, and until they start putting out a crappy product, they’ll likely remain so. Instead of crap, however, they consistently provide insightful coverage of the city through a GLBT lens — politics, entertainment and history. The writing is as sharp as the design,…
Best Falafel
Hidden at the back of a convenience store is a food counter that turns out some mean Middle Eastern food and the best falafel in the city. Tiny pucks of bright green masa are hand-formed and flattened on each side until they’re the size of a half dollar. Then they’re…
Best Oysters
The oysters are expertly shucked and beautifully served on a tray full of ice with lemons and all the sauces. They’ll give you puny ones under two-and-a-half inches if you want, but they will also accommodate those who like their oysters big — ask for the sea monsters and you’ll…
Best Pork Chop
There should be a prize for eating Perry’s entire seven-finger pork chop by yourself in one sitting. Really, this is one big cut of meat. Stacked seven fingers thick (hence its name), this pork chop is carved tableside into three large pieces. Served with garlic butter on top and applesauce…
Best Dentist
Forget about that scene in Marathon Man — Dr. John Barras is a cutie pie with a sugar-sweet staff, high-tech tools and an ubër-cool office of hardwoods and distressed walls. If a dentist’s office can look like a boutique, this is the one. He specializes in “sedation dentistry” — as…
Best Storage Facility
If you’re an enterprising thief and want an easy score, look for a storage facility. Find one’s that open 24 hours, and then rent the cheapest unit available for access. Show up around midnight with a pair of bolt cutters and have your way. However, you won’t want to choose…
Best Soul Food
Family-owned since its beginning, This Is It Soul Food is all about big, hefty servings of done-right down-home cooking. Back when it opened in 1959, a meal cost 89 cents. It’s a bit more these days, but still more than reasonable. Now $10 will get you a plateful of fried…
Best Service
There was a time in Houston when the best tables were awarded to the wealthy and prominent and the rest of us had to wait. In those days, great service meant sucking up to socialites and fluffing napkins, not providing information about the menu and the wine list. Da Marco…
Best Beer Selection
If the downtown sausage-fest or the jock-stock in the village are not your cup of tea, the Stag’s Head and their quality-over-quantity beer selection can be a haven for hopheads. Rather than trying to carry as many beers as possible or using gimmicks, they put some thought into the beers…
Best Chocolatier
Packaged in a simple brown paper box, this chocolate cube may not look groundbreaking, but when it comes to chocolate, it’s taste that counts. Richard Kaplan, a former chef at trendy New York and Key West spots, hit the Houston chocolate scene in 2004 with a burst of flavor combos…
Best New Astro
Erstad isn’t new in the rookie sense of the word, he’s just another new guy on a team full of other new guys. Besides just being an all-around badass (he’s been to the MLB All-Star Game twice and has won a Gold Glove three times), he’s just a good, old…
Best Stadium Announcer
One runs out of words to describe the voice of Bob Ford. Deep and booming are just too cliché. But it’s fair to say that the Minute Maid Park sound system isn’t needed to hear Ford in the deepest of center-field seats. He doesn’t cheer. He doesn’t shout. He just uses his majestic voice to…
Shylock, The Jew of Venice
The play Shylock, The Jew of Venice sets Shakespeare’s alleged anti-Semitism in a concentration camp. Classical Theatre Company’s director and co-writer, John Johnston, takes the words from The Merchant of Venice, strips them down and puts them into the mouths of Holocaust sufferers. “We sheared away the love story and…
BEST OF HOUSTON® 2008
Greed, Gluttony, Lust, Pride, Anger, Sloth and Envy: These are the Seven Deadly Sins. And we’re celebrating each and every one of them with the Houston Press Best of Houston® 2008 edition. Look below for the best Goods and Services, City Life, Arts and Entertainment, Sports and Recreation, Restaurants, and…
Best Cigar Bar
This one’s a natural. It has the dark wood, the leather sofas and chairs, the black-clad waitresses — all the class, none of the snobbishness. Here’s what you do: Walk in and head to the 400-square-foot humidor. If you don’t have a favorite, or if the last cigar you had…
Best Wine Bar
Tucked away in a corner of Midtown, 13 Celsius is housed in a cozy, window-filled, 1930s Spanish-style building. This sets the stage for a laid-back atmosphere complemented by a staff ready to give you as much or as little attention as you need. Want to know what the folks behind…
Best Curator
Franklin Sirmans left New York for Houston, and NY’s loss is Houston’s gain. With his exhibition, “NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith,” Sirmans, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at The Menil Collection, has brought the de Menils’ legacy of spirituality in art into the 21st century. No staid, meditative…
Best Festival
The Bayou City Art Festival isn’t just the best in Houston — it’s among the best events of its kind in the country, frequently ranking among the top five festivals in Sunshine Artist magazine, the result of a vote by participating artists. BCAF is actually two festivals, or rather one…
Best Place to Meet Single Men
Here’s what you do: Take your wallet out of your purse before walking into this Midtown corporate coffee haven. Once inside, order your drink and dig through your purse. “I think I forgot my wallet,” you cry, a damsel in distress. Most likely one of the many good-looking, suited types…
Best Local TV News
Classy, aggressive and informative without being sensationalistic. Just your average local news show, right? Sadly, not so much anymore. But KHOU is the Houston station that comes consistently close to that standard. “Defenders” Jeremy Rogalski and Mark Greenblatt are some of the best investigative reporters in town; it even looks…
Best Move by an Appellate Lawyer
The murder trial of Ashley Paige Benton fascinated Houston — a teen girl involved in a gang fight in Montrose, where she stabbed another teen to death. Her first trial ended in a hung jury; as the retrial process began, the trial judge entered a gag order. That kept Benton’s…
Best Guacamole
There’s nothing quite like the flavor of freshly made guacamole. Once you’ve tasted it, it’s almost impossible to eat the stuff that was made earlier or, worse still, the pre-packaged stuff many places try to pass for guacamole, which has either a nasty, preservative taste or a stale taste that…
Best Campechana
Pan y Agua is a new and already packed upscale cantina where the elite meet to pay a premium for Latin food. If you’re not up for an expensive steak, there are some real standouts on the appetizer menu. One such standout is the campechana. Beautifully presented, well-flavored and full…
Best Martini
Anybody can make a martini: Shake the booze and ice till it’s so cold you can’t taste it or feel it going down your throat, making it easy to drink three in an hour and get so shit-canned you’re wearing your necktie like a headband and telling your boss at…
Best Bookstore
There are sometimes as many as six author appearances a week at Murder by the Book. That’s reason enough to love it. Add that the store specializing in mysteries has an extensive range of titles and an incredibly knowledgeable staff, and it’s easy to see why it wins our Best…
Best Tobacco Shop
This store could win on name alone. Genius. But Tobacco Habana is a serious smoke shop. There’s a good selection of pipe and rolling tobacco and papers and pipes and lighters and cutters. There’s also those cigarette brands you can’t find at the typical corner store. The cigar selection stands…
Best Brasserie
Owners Laurence and Chris Paul of Café Rabelais fame have managed to create an authentic brasserie experience in the heart of Montrose with their Brasserie Max & Julie. With not too much imagination, you’ll be transported to Paris in an instant, and not just by the decor. They have Kronenbourg…
Best Atmosphere
Sure, the food is good, but at The Grove, it’s all about ambience. Patrons walk through the entrance and face a soaring wall of windows that look out onto the oak trees and lawns in Discovery Green Park. The dark wood floors and ceiling add a homey touch to this…
Best Sangria
The best part about Open City’s wine-and-fruit concoction is that they make their sangria with bourbon. Before you scream, “Spanish booze sacrilege,” taste it! Better yet, have a pitcher on the rooftop with its view of the city skyline while you’re surrounded by scores of hot women and quick bartenders…
Best Spice Shop
Christopher Columbus and Vasco da Gama would surely weep tears of joy upon walking through the door to Penzeys spice shop. Located on the fringe of the Height’s über-hip West 19th Street, this cute boutique is a sumptuous ode to the senses. Cinnamons, curries and chilies galore — this place…
Best Astro
Hunter Pence hit the big leagues like a man on fire last season. Any ball that came close to him, he hit. And any ball that came close to him in center field, he fielded. Not even an injury slowed him down. This season, Pence has become Mr. Indispensible to manager Cecil Cooper. He…
Best Beach
If your idea of paradise is a long, secluded beach with gently rolling waves and miles of sand to dig in, you won’t find a better place than this. Besides sunning and swimming, fishing is popular at Crystal Beach — both surf (wade out into waist-deep water on the second…
Bright Men of Learning
“A novice guitar player could play our songs, and I know that because I am a novice guitar player,” says Bright Men of Learning front man Marshall Preddy. But it’s not always about technical guitar skills or metronome-busting time signatures. Bright Men of Learning has the ability to write hook-heavy,…
Best Band Name
The group had such a great name that some band from Oregon threatened to sue the pants off these youngsters for using it. Well, the Oregon band apparently did have the name first, unbeknownst to Houston’s The Dimes, now called Young Mammals. The indie group collected 2007’s Best New Band…
Best Patio
Gotta be honest: Last time we went to El Pueblito, they only had one credit-card machine, which meant we had to wait a fortnight for them to run the cards for a large party who closed out ahead of us. Essentially, we were hostages. But what a damn fine patio to…
Best Concert Series
These shows are all about hidden treasures. First, there’s the venue: Shady Tavern is a 69-year-old icehouse that’s every bit as nice as the Alabama Ice House, if one-tenth as popular or overcrowded. Then there are the bills at the Secret Saturday shows: Since the talent is never announced beforehand,…
Best Local Artist
In the early morning hours of May 11, Houston lost a dear friend. Fifty-one-year-old Tom Jones, curator and spokesperson for the Art Car Museum, was basking in the glow of another successful Art Car Parade, chatting with friends outside the museum after the traditional Illuminated Cruise, when a drunk driver…
Best Houston Book
Robert Leleux’s grandmother told him, “Sad lives make funny people.” If that’s true, Leleux must have had a very, very sad life. His book, The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy, is a giddy, sometimes hysterical (in both the funny and the not-funny way) coming-of-age story. The young Leleux didn’t know…
Best Place to Meet Single Women
They’re cute, dolled up and in cowboy boots — what else could you ask for in Texas? Leon’s Lounge’s monthly country music installment, Vinyl Ranch, gets all the ladies in a Southern mood. Not only do you get to hear the straight-from-the-phonograph hits of Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash,…
Best Local TV Reporter
Discerning viewers often cringe when a local news station’s investigative team airs another hyped report, knowing they’ll likely be subjected to a three-part, hidden-camera series on some government bureaucrat using too many paper clips. KHOU’s Defenders (ya gotta have a catchy name, of course) are different. Mark Greenblatt and Jeremy…
Best Piece of Aviation History
There was a time when air travel was not a giant pain in the ass. When you went to sleek terminals that reeked of the romantic adventure of flying, where you walked out to your plane and up one of those stairway ramps past the propellers, where there wasn’t a…
Best Ice Cream/Gelato
The 75 varieties of gelato available here are all made by hand, and they should keep even the worst ice-cream-aholic satisfied for quite a while. All of the gelatos are extremely dense with intense flavors. There’s also sorbetto, made with virtually nothing but fruit. It’s hard to pick just one…
Best Drink Special
The Mezzanine Lounge is a little unsettling in that its general vibe defies description, but it has some seriously good drink specials, so who cares? You can land there any day of the week and find yourself overcome with joy about how cheap the drinks are. And good news for…
Best Newsstand
Half the fun of this place is just taking stock of all the bizarre and esoteric titles out there. Seems like there’s a magazine for just about every lifestyle, interest, hobby, career, country and sport you can come up with, and then some. Issues boasts more than 3,000 titles. Of…
Best Florist
The family-owned Fannin Flowers, Inc. is open 24 hours a day, just in case you need chrysanthemums at three in the morning or a hibiscus at dawn. They have rows and rows of cut flowers in bulk or arrangements, along with tropical and bedding pants. There’s so much on display…
Best Farmers Market
If you go to 3000 Richmond, you won’t see much besides an ordinary office building. But if you go behind that building — on a weekend morning, of course — you’ll find a thriving, eclectic, Green-with-a-capital-G farmers market. Everything from grass-fed meat to coffee to veggies is there; local gardeners…
Best Brunch
Apart from the fabulous food served here every Sunday, it’s also the best bargain in Houston with a sumptuous buffet priced at an incredible $12.99 per person. And as if that weren’t enough, bottomless mimosas go for $7.99 and bottomless sangria for $8.99. Start out with a warming bowl of…
Best Late-Night Restaurant
Low-key doesn’t begin to describe this Upper Kirby institution, where the wait staff has seen it all and won’t bat an eyelash if you come in from your job still in uniform or from that costume party still dressed as Catwoman. Although the pies are certainly the pièce de résistance…
Best Architectural Antiques
Want to add a distinct look to your bedroom furniture? You could always pick up one of the many tree-killing catalogues from your recycling pile, or head to Adkins in Midtown for antique glass drawer pulls. Try those great Grecian urns to flank your apartment’s porch, or Art Deco tiles…
Best Candy Store
All right, so, “Best Candy Store,” let’s see…mmm…chocolate-covered popcorn…Whoops, sorry. Got distracted. Anyway, Chocolate Bar has served delicious homemade goodies for years now…mmm…chocolate cream truffles and s’mores chocolate cheesecake…Whoa — did it again! Sorry about that. Now where were we? Oh yes, Chocolate Bar has excellent ice cream, cakes and…
Best Dynamo
Pat Onstad is the best goalie in Major League Soccer. Period. That’s why we’re glad he plays for us. Nobody tops the keeper’s ability at dashing a shooter’s hopes of getting a goooooaaaaal! Sure, scoring helps in the winning department, but those points would mean jack if the other team…
Best Radio Talk
There’s one thing that sets John Granato and Lance Zierlein apart from every other sports-talk show in Houston: They’re freaking funny. Hilarious, even. Zierlein is a master at voices (ESPN’s Lou Holtz and “SEC Guy” are highlights), and Granato is the loud guy at the bar you don’t mind so…
Jose Miguel Yamal Latin Jazz Quartet
Da Camera kicks off A Little Day Music, its annual series of free lunchtime concerts, with a performance by the José-Miguel Yamal Latin Jazz Quartet, a Houston favorite. The Chilean-American pianist was studying classical guitar at HSPVA when he made the jump to jazz and keys. Later, a few trips…
Best Alternative Club
Curious who might be on the Warped Tour next year? Chances are they’ll play this nearly 4,000-square-foot, all-ages room way up in Spring first — or that they already have. Since JavaJazz relocated from Old Town Spring to its much more spacious FM 1960 quarters in 2006, several of the…
Best New Gallery
Artstorm took the city by, well, storm. Houston was hit with a wealth of paintings, sculpture, photography and more from some of the city’s and the country’s most exciting up-and-coming artists. This is thanks to the brainchildren behind the gallery — a mix of young artists and art enthusiasts who…
Best Hip-Hop Producer
When it comes to music, there’s seldom the chance to correctly use the word pioneer in describing an artist. However, when it comes to Mike Dean, nobody would argue the validity of those two words being used in one sentence. He’s singlehandedly shaped Houston’s hip-hop sound for some time, and…
Best Local Actor
Justin Doran has been so busy performing around the city this year that it’s hard to pin down just one role that makes his work so outstanding. He was hilarious as a long-limbed Little League dad in Rounding Third at Stages and disturbing as the scary fantasy man of a…
Best Music Festival
The mega-size International Festival is held annually over two weekends in April. From mariachis to Hugh Masekela, if it’s music, it’s there. Ten stages feature music from around the world — and some from around the neighborhood — and include Latin music, world music, pop, blues, country and jazz. The…
Best Act of Larceny
It was like a scene out of Grand Theft Auto IV: While vice cops were sorting out the detritus of a predawn raid on downtown’s Pink Monkey nightclub, still more hell broke loose. A stolen ambulance with an (allegedly) intoxicated driver behind the wheel came careening down Franklin Street and smashed…
Best Abandoned Building
We have no idea when, or why, the big “Fear Factory” sign came to rest on the side of the abandoned house at Travis and Rosalie near the big HCC high-rise in Midtown, but it’s hard to imagine a more appropriate sign or a spookier-looking building. A Google search for…
Best Renovation
It took two years and $17 million, but Houston finally has its downtown library back. Was it worth the wait? Not for some purists, maybe, who have carped that the place no longer seems as book-centric as a library should be. But the rest of us can revel in the…
Best Pho
What sets one pho apart from another? Quite simply, the broth. The longer it’s cooked, the more profound the flavor, and here they start the broths early so that by lunch, they’ve been simmering for quite a while. Thien An has all of the traditional cuts of beef, steak, brisket,…
Best Dumplings
Tucked into one of the endless strip centers of Bellaire Chinatown, this tiny cafe offers some delicious traditional Chinese fare. And what Xiong’s lacks in size, it makes up for in dumplings. Steamed, boiled and pan-fried varieties are handmade, and show up at the table in generous portions. The spicy…
Best Pawnshop
Selling your personal property to stall an eviction or buy that extra rock of crack can be a depressing, bewildering decision. There are a million pawnshops in Houston, and most of them emanate an aura of bleakness that makes your whole transaction feel hopeless, whether you’re buying or pawning. But…
Best Grocery Store
At Central Market, the grocery store that’s more a lifestyle than a retailer, there’s “all-natural” everything. Meats have “no antibiotics or hormones ever,” fish selections are farm-raised and flown in for the freshest taste, and the vegetables are hand-selected. But there’s more than just great food and a friendly staff…
Best Maid Service
You go to all the trouble of coming up with a catchy business name like “Two Girls and a Broom,” and the next thing you know everyone’s talking about some hideous YouTube video that sounds very, very similar. You could change, or you could take to heart the words of…
Best Family Restaurant
The bar at Tony’s Mexican Restaurant stays busy serving up margaritas and mojitos, but its clientele is mainly families. It has the three main requirements for a happy family dinner: good food, low prices and a kid-friendly staff. Tony’s offers kid’s plates including quesadillas, tacos, hamburgers, enchiladas and fried shrimp…
Best South American Restaurant
After a few bites of the borrego al pebre at Inka South American Cuisine, you may find yourself wondering where in South America the recipe for this rack of lamb crusted with spices and served with a battered and deep-fried avocado quarter came from exactly. Yes, the menu also features…
Best OB-GYN
Dr. Meltzer has a wonderful bedside manner. He respects patients’ wishes, treating them like humans in charge of their own bodies, which is an amazing thing for a doctor to do. And he does it well, providing emotional and educational support, whether during a time of ladybit crisis or on…
Best Hardware Store
The thing about this store is that it seems so out-of-place, sandwiched between the oh-so-hip Montrose bars/tat parlors/dildo-supply outlets and the posh River Oaks boutiques. But there it is: a freakin’ hardware store. Established in 1953, this maze-like mother is crammed floor-to-ceiling with tools, lawn supplies, paint, fertilizer, propane…and they…
Best Cheap Seats
Hockey is a wonderful sport to watch live. It’s even better to watch up close. And there’s no better or cheaper place to do both than at a Houston Aeros game at Toyota Center. You can sit center ice, just a few rows back, for $31 — the same seats the…
Best Sports Moment
Todd Graham did the miraculous in 2006: He led the Rice Owl football team to its first bowl game in 45 years. He got a raise and a contract extension, and then he split the beautiful Rice campus for the University of Tulsa’s Golden Hurricane football team. Last season, Graham returned to…
Sideshow Tramps and News on the March
A Sideshow Tramps-News on the March match-up is a no-doubt, sure-fire, worth-every-penny bill. News on the March is a group of local up-and-comers who continue to impress crowds with spot-on barbershop quartet vocals. These are backed by a countrified rock sound that pays homage to past cowboys and cowgirls rather…
Best Bar Bathroom
We have no idea who a certain local character we’ll charitably refer to as “T.B.” may be, and that puts us in the definite minority among those who use Rudyard’s downstairs men’s room — or at least write on its walls. There we learned T.B. (allegedly) “licks ass (…and does…
Best Bachelorette Party ÂEntertainment
Houston’s self-proclaimed “Misfit of R&B” is equal parts sex, soul and hilarity. You(genious) is known on the local music scene for his ability to lay down sultry vocals while busting plenty of moves with his well-dressed, more-to-love torso. For him, every show is a chance to woo unsuspecting female audience…
Best Dive
The drinks are cold and cheap, the jukebox will make you weep, and the shuffleboard is slick and true at this strip-mall tavern just off South Post Oak. The owner — Ms. Crowe herself—is a former Chronicle printer and has a lifetime of stories to tell, and occasional stragglers from…
Best Local Actress
She’s only just arrived in Houston, but Mikelle Johnson is already making a name for herself. The Yale graduate first starred as a disenfranchised teenager in Big Death, Little Death, Catastrophic Theatre’s opening show. Then she moved on to darker subject matter in Stages’s Mr. Marmalade, the cautionary tale about…
Best Sports Bar
We’ll tell you right here off the bat, this isn’t some giant spot with 10,000 TVs where you can watch the Romanian Curling Championships. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a locally owned neighborhood sports bar. Chain sports bars are like McDonalds for sports fans. Jonny’s is the spot with the…
Best Cemetery
No, it doesn’t have the most verdant grounds or the prettiest headstones, but there is something utterly Houston about this 1,100-square-foot family graveyard in Spring Branch. Could it be that it is tucked in the corner of the parking lot of a tire store on the corner of two strip-mall-ridden…
Best Architect
Houston architect Brett Zamore was featured in Best of Houston® 2002, after he rehabbed a house as an architecture student at Rice University. The house won “Best Shotgun Shack.” Zamore now runs his own company, and his designs are creating a buzz. Perhaps most notable are Zamore’s “kit houses.” The…
Best 15 Minutes of Fame
This one is just waiting to be turned into a movie: In May, a Houston police officer pulled over Roland Carnaby for speeding. Carnaby presented some sort of ID with “Central Intelligence Agency” stamped on it, plus a concealed handgun permit. The officer also reported that Carnaby was acting nervously…
Best Bloody Mary
Sure, Houston’s is part of a national chain, but boy do they know how to mix one hell of a Bloody. Located on Kirby just south of 59, the upscale eatery doesn’t hammer its customers with too much pepper and heat, opting for a less spicy and more flavorful approach…
Best Fish Tacos
Berryhill Baja Grill is a Houston-based chain that’s vegetarian-friendly. They’ve been serving up their famous fish tacos since 1993 and know how it’s done. Both the grilled and tempura varieties come out fast, with crunchy cabbage and a generous dollop of Baja-style sauce on top. On Mondays and Fridays, these…
Best Chiropractor
This category really should be “Best Chiropractor and Former Movie Actor.” Brian Cesak was one of the stars of Kevin Reynolds’s first feature film, the 1985 road movie cult classic Fandango, with one spoken line (hilarious though it may be). A poster from the movie hangs in his Memorial-area office…
Best Jewelry Store
When you want diamonds, you want I W Marks. The largest independent jeweler in Houston, this family-run business generates more than $10 million a year in sales. But while great service and an unbeatable selection earned I W Marks our Best Jewelry Store nod, the company’s also high on our list of…
Best Pool Service
You pay enough for a pool these days, you don’t want to get ripped off on the upkeep of it. So you should turn to David’s Pools & Spas, on the corner of Hillcroft and South Braeswood. These guys know their stuff and are eager to help you solve all…
Best Italian Restaurant
Flawless is the only word to describe the service at this exclusive place with only seven tables in the Hotel Granduca. However, it’s not just the traditional European-style service and unmistakable attention to detail that make Ristorante Cavour what it is; it’s the fabulous, authentic, traditional Italian food that puts…
Best Taco Truck
This stately white and stainless steel taco truck can be found at the corner of Hillcroft and Jessamine on the same block as Droubi’s Middle Eastern grocery and bakery. The cooking is top-notch, and the garnishes are unusually elaborate. Try the quesadillas al pastor, lovingly topped off with sour cream, avocado…
Best Metaphysical Bookstore
At Body, Mind & Soul you’ll find prayer bowls, plush unicorns, aromatherapy products and elegant gewgaws for the home. Check out their psychic fairs, held regularly. Metaphysicians and lay people both rave about some of the readers, such as Kevin Casey, who works in the bookstore and casts a mean…
Best Toy Store
Are you a parent who feels like you’re going to snap if you see that freaking Geoffrey the Giraffe one more time? Well, there is a surefire way to avoid stepping into that developmentally delayed mutant of a mammal’s lair ever again: Fundamentally Toys. First of all, they have a…
Best Commentator
Jim Deshaies had some tough shoes to fill when he took over the Astros analyst spot from Larry Dierker. But let’s just say, as J.D. settles into his second decade as the Astros TV analyst, that he has not only surpassed Dierker, he has perhaps surpassed every other analyst in…
Best Day Trip
Yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard dozens of Aggie jokes — but the joke might be on us. Aggies call Bryan/College Station home, and the area is a lovely corner of open spaces, bluebonnets and historic buildings. Just two hours northwest of Houston, Bryan/College Station offers great restaurants, a restored downtown,…
Living Room Art: “Brown in the Third Ward”
Voices Breaking Boundaries wants to slip into something a little more comfortable. For Living Room Art: “Brown in the Third Ward,” the local art collective is inviting patrons to the home of showcasing artist Ivette Roman. “The whole idea is to change the way people experience art,” says Sehba Sarwar,…
Best Blues Club
Along with the blues themselves, the old-fashioned juke joints that acted as hothouses incubating the music have been on the endangered species list for a while now, but they’re not quite gone completely. Located in the Foster Place subdivision about as far south as you can get and still be…
Best Bar
Poison Girl (PG if you’re texting) gets a nod from us for its diverse clientele, entertaining decor and alcohol-heavy drinks. You’re as likely to see a local musician enjoying a cheap drink on the patio with a one-legged Cabbage Patch Kid as you are a lawyer playing vintage pinball and…
Best Hidden Bar
We really mean what we say when we call this place hidden — it’s on the side of a crumbling strip mall on an obscure side street off Willowbend Boulevard, which is never one of the first streets you think of when you think Houston nightlife. And then there are…
Best Director
Mark Adams is not one of the glittering directors who amazes his audiences with flash-in-the-pan pyrotechnics. His work is most striking for the fact that it is quiet, strong and practically invisible. All the work and rehearsals disappear in his shows and allow the actors and the script to take…
Best Place to See Good Jazz
At Tommy’s Seafood, some of the best local musicians perform four nights a week. Pianist Matt Lemmler, originally from New Orleans (sorry, Big Easy, he’s ours now), anchors what is a stellar lineup of live music. Trumpet player Dennis Dotson, saxophonist Warren Sneed, drummers Joel Fulgham and Sebastian Whittaker, guitarist…
Best Contribution to ÂDowntown Development
Let’s say it was any year up until 2008, and you were a tourist in Houston, staying downtown, and it was Saturday afternoon, and you had got your kids with you. (Bear with us here, we’re on a roll.) What was there for you to do? The tunnels are closed…
Best Demolition
A nice little urban legend was born during a few days in November. The Crowne Plaza Hotel, a 1970s relic near the Medical Center, was rigged with explosives and brought down. The trouble started when a video of the demolition showed a shadowy figure that resembled a person running through…
Best Crime
Probably everyone knows the apple trick, and we had a high school friend who once MacGyvered a crude bong out of a half-deflated basketball, but this one takes the cake: In May, Houston police arrested three teenagers for digging up the skeleton of an 11-year-old boy buried in 1921 and…
Best Pita Bread
Abdallah’s sells its pita bread not only at the store but also to many of the Middle Eastern restaurants and supermarkets in town. The bread here is large, about 12 inches in diameter. Six come in a package for the incredible price of $1.25. A whole-wheat version is available for…
Best French Fries
Armadillo Palace serves up some great Texas bistro fries. Thin cut with skins on and sprinkled with just enough seasoned salt, these fries are perfectly paired with a side of Goode Company’s famous BBQ sauce. The secret here is frying them twice, so they’re crispy on the outside and tender…
Best Psychic
Clairvoyants come in all forms and fashions. You’ve got your palm-reading, spell-weaving mystical madams; your potion-brewing, crystal-gazing priestesses; and your all-out crazies. And that’s just a slight sampling. Kim O’Neill doesn’t fall into any of those categories, though. For one thing, she comes from a corporate background and says she…
Best Specialty Boutique
Really into all things organic? Well, don’t forget about your clothes. At Green by Adeline, we’re not talking just cotton. No, no. We mean bamboo, beach wood tree and wood pulp. Of course, the trees have been beaten and processed into thread, which is then woven into soft, scrumptious fabrics…
Best Vintage Record Store
Sound Exchange has been slanging rare and collectible records to Houston’s stone-cold junkies for years now. And those junkies have good reason to be repeat customers; the incredibly fresh selection and well-priced bins of ’60s psychedelic music and soul are hard to beat. And the two owners are courteous enough…
Best Middle Eastern Restaurant
This place is modern, clean and unpretentious. Order at the counter, and minutes later you’ll be enjoying some terrific homemade Middle Eastern food from favorite family recipes. The hummus is as smooth as can be, and the baba ghanoush has a really smoky flavor, typical of this dish. The falafel…
Best Tex-Mex Restaurant
When Los Dos Amigos first opened 32 years ago, the sign above the building was red. The color has washed away over the years, and now you can barely read the name of the place. Los Dos Amigos is one of many restaurants on Washington Avenue that were built to…
Best Printer
This full-service printing shop, housed in the first floor of the Millie Esperson Building, is a downtown business with a hometown attitude toward its clients. They treat every customer like a big ol’ corporate client, keeping customers’ proofs on file for future jobs. Service Inc. has also been known to…
Best Hobby Shop
Whether you’re a kid or just a kid at heart, we’re pretty sure you’re going to like Rick’s. For 34 years, the shop has provided a plethora of games and toys to keep just about every hobbyist smiling. Besides the eponymous darts, Rick’s has kites, cards, dominoes, go, chess, billiards…
Best City Park
Where can you meet Inda the Orangutan, see Shakespeare under the stars or learn how to play the bongos? Where can you play on one of the first desegregated public golf courses in the U.S., meet a butterfly up close or ride a pedal boat? All while enjoying the great…
Best Public Pool
It’s official: The current downtown YMCA building, a ten-story Renaissance Revival structure designed by Kenneth Franzheim in 1941, is coming down, and a new (and reportedly smaller) Y will be built near the current location. Some members might be dreaming of the new, shiny, state-of-the-art facilities, but we’re going to…
“Dr. Seuss Wants You!”
It’s hard to imagine that the same mind that created the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax and Yertle the Turtle spent time contemplating war and genocide, but it turns out that Dr. Seuss drew many cartoons about some real-life super-grinches: the Nazis. Theodor Seuss Geisel was the head political…
Best CD by a Local Artist
There’s something inherently oceanic about Indian Jewelry’s Free Gold, the densely layered second disc from the (mostly) Houston-based musical collective headed up by ex-Japanic/Swarm of Angels provocateur Tex Kerschen and wife Erika Thrasher. The rolling, tribal rhythms of several songs create an effect similar to being tossed to and fro…
Best Bar Atmosphere/Decor
On the outskirts of Midtown is a time warp to a Vietnam-era dive bar. Okay, so it’s actually the Lone Star Saloon, but anyone who has moseyed (purposely or accidentally) into this shotgun-style drunken haven might believe the aforementioned scenario. The clientele ranges from talkative veterans to homeless crazies to…
Best Local Rapper
There’s nothing fake about K-Rino — all of this Southside rapper’s street tales positively peal with hard-earned authenticity. Although he has been in the game longer than almost everybody else in Houston, K-Rino has never seen fit to coast or ride on his own coattails. His lyrical ability and flow…
Best Musical
Okay, we admit it, one of the best things about Love, Janis was that the show about the life and times of Janis Joplin, the Texas queen of rock, was so, well, unmusical-like. The setup was simple: Two actors played Joplin. One sang the great singer’s amazing songs while the…
Best Gambling Room
There may be some high-dollar underground poker rooms in the city, but Maxwell’s Carwash ain’t one of them. Located on the far north side of Houston, in a bright blue, wood-paneled building, the car wash isn’t a large-scale operation, but there’s an open lot and cleaning supplies out front. And…
Best Lawsuit
Walter’s owner Pam Robinson had been through this before — new neighbors buy in near her previously existing nightspot and start phoning in noise complaints to the police. In fact, she had even been run off a previous location on Durham. This time around, at her nightspot on Washington, she…
Best Interstate Church
Lakewood Church and its guru Joel Osteen are easy targets. Osteen has a cheesy grin, his wife fights with flight attendants and even Harris County prosecutors take issue with the Lakewood “screwballs and nuts.” What seems to irk people the most is the gazillion dollars Osteen makes by talking and…
Best TV Commercial
We generally don’t see a lot of soul-food restaurant commercials. You’ve got the freakin’ Mandola’s every two seconds, but soul-food joints generally earn their rep through word-of-mouth, not blitzkrieg broadcasting. But owner Kenneth Washington’s commercial is pretty much what you’d expect a soul-food commercial to be: a dude talking about…
Best Tamales
There are two kinds of tamales to be found here: the machine-made kind, which aren’t bad, and the handmade kind, which are unbelievable. Either way, you’ll be given a paper bag containing your booty, since there’s nowhere to eat them. Pick up a dozen handmade chicken or beef tamales or,…
Best Margarita
Few things can bring you sheer joy like a margarita the size of your head — just as nothing can bring about sheer agony like two margaritas the size of your head. Pico’s momentous 48-ounce margarita is a good balance of sweet and tart and an excellent deal. If you’re…
Best Used Furniture
If you’re looking to give the ol’ pad a modern makeover, then be sure you’re free on Saturday. That’s the only day this little shop near Texas Southern University is open. Luckily, it’s stocked with plenty of modern-design sofas, chairs, bed frames, lamps, dishware, artwork and other furnishings. In other…
Best Therapist
Psychotherapist Denise O’Doherty has all the right credentials: She’s a licensed marriage and family therapist, a licensed drug and alcohol counselor. Oh, and she’s also a registered psychiatric nurse. She has a supportive, empowering approach. Have a problem with boundaries? Or maybe your self-esteem is low. No worries. O’Doherty has…
Best Asian Supermarket
Viet Hoa is the Fiesta of Asian supermarkets and a pure delight for seekers of groceries and colorful oddities alike. It’s big, it’s clean and on any given day, you can find silk flowers, flip-flops and thousand-year-old eggs within a few steps of each other. The back wall is covered…
Best Pre-/Post-Theater Dining
With her ever-changing seasonal menus and inspired take on traditional fare, talented award-winning Executive Chef Jamie Zelko has revitalized Bistro Lancaster, once again making it the best spot to grab a bite before a show or a drink right after. Located inside The Lancaster Hotel in the Theater District, the…
Best Vietnamese
Vietnamese Americans visiting Houston from the East and West coasts tell us there is nothing like Que Huong (pronounced WAY HONG) where they come from. They are blown away by the quality of the food and the cheap prices. Don’t miss the hot Vietnamese egg rolls with cold lettuce leaf…
Best Convenience Store
The residents of Montrose have had a deep rivalry for years. Like Republicans and Democrats, they hold arguments at bars that evoke the silliness of Dr. Seuss’s The Butter Battle Book. All the fuss is over which is the better convenience store, Hollywood or Pak’s. Well, the final answer is…
Best Greek Restaurant
The beat-up decor of this all-night establishment might be a little off-putting at first, but as with most things Greek, personality is key. While working through plates of light and flaky spanakopita, dense moussaka and classic Greek salad, the in-your-face staff will make you feel cozy enough to sink into…
Best Comet
Now in her 11th year in the WNBA, the six-foot-two Thompson was the first-ever player selected in the inaugural league draft. Back then, she was in the shadow of teammates Cynthia Copper and Sheryl Swoopes, but no longer. She’s the undeniable leader of the team (and the only original member…
Best Bowling Alley
They’re not only a bowling palace but also a pleasure palace, depending on your vice. Complete with all the basics, including digital scoring and a full snack bar and grill, they open up at 8 a.m. daily so you can get your roll on first thing in the morning. However,…
David Handler
Have lunch with David Handler during the midday reading of his sixth Desiree Mitry title, The Sour Cherry Surpise. As the book opens, Sour Cherry Lane has gone crazy. Usually well-behaved high school students are suddenly having wild sex parties. A history professor is missing. His wife, a children’s book…
Best New Club
When Boondocks celebrated its first anniversary in July, it was kind of a shock. Somehow, it seemed that the split-level bar had been around a lot longer. But in that short time, Boondocks has evolved into an impressive cross-section of the Houston music scene. Its DJ nights feature everything from…
Best Bartender
Jon King has mastered the most important skill in bartending — attitude. He’s not all smiles or cheery salutations; rather, he possesses that charming, old-man sass (even though he’s barely 40) that’s no doubt born of years of serving drunks. You want to earn King’s respect, but first you’ll have…
Best Place to Drink on Your Way to Work
Outside of Katz’s Deli, taquerias with breakfast menus and Mary’s, spots to get your a.m. drink on are few and far between. Those who want or need to get primed before that 10 o’clock sales meeting without the distraction of families eating migas or perhaps overly amorous patrons are S.O.L., unless…
Best Ensemble Production
The Alley Theatre’s production of Theresa Rebeck’s The Scene was one of the most deliciously disturbing productions of the season. Focusing on an out-of-work actor who spirals out of control, the story managed to make many wonderfully wry observations about the current human condition. Everything from television to overeating to…
Best Drag Queen
Kofi is a perennial favorite, and winner, of Best of Houston®. In fact, you might think there’s not another drag queen in town, but Tuesday nights at JR’s Bar & Grill prove differently. The show starts at 11 p.m. as Kofi dances and lip-synchs to songs from the diva collection…
Best Place to Read About Naked Greed
The business of Houston has always been business, and while the world knows us as an oil town, real estate is where it’s at. Ever since Houston’s founding by the Allen Brothers, this city has been all about the art of the deal, Donald Trump style. What we’ve been lacking…
Best Truck Stop Bathroom
In John McPhee’s story about truckers, driver Don Ainsworth talks about truck-stop bathrooms: “You can take a prom date to a Petro.” You probably shouldn’t take a prom date to the bathroom at the Texas Truck Stop, but for a lot lizzard, it’s just about right. The bathroom is tucked…
Best TV Personality
Charlie Rose isn’t the only PBS-head who can conduct intelligent, one-on-one, no-frills interviews with a variety of interesting personalities. Houston’s Ernie Manouse, host of InnerVIEWS, has been doing just that for years. His diverse guests have included Molly Ivins, Calvin Trillin, k.d. lang, Isaac Hayes, Jamie Foxx and Anne Rice…
Best Burger
The 105 Grocery & Deli is located in the rural hamlet of Washington, not far from Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. Inside, there are a lot of cold drink cases and about six tables scattered around the interior. The burgers are made on a griddle behind the cash register. They come wrapped…
Best Korean Pancake
As the name promises, Tofu Village has all kinds of tofu (most of which are not vegetarian) and a village of two-dimensional Korean glitterati whose eyes follow your every move. It also has all kinds of pancakes, and they are quite delicious. What sets Tofu Village apart is that its…
Best Vintage Clothing
Retropolis is a little overstuffed with goods from the ’30s to the ’80s, but any true vintage buyer knows it’s all about the hunt. The place is known for its well-stocked (and fairly priced) selection of vintage dresses, pearl-snap cowboy shirts and jewelry, but there’s always a wide range of…
Best Hispanic Supermarket
Visiting Mi Tienda is like taking a quick trip to Mexico. When H-E-B decided to open the store, they wanted to create the most authentic Mexican grocery in Houston. They surpassed this goal. If you make it past the self-selection bakery, where you’ll find tons of Mexican sweetbreads, you’ll stumble…
Best Bike Shop
Can’t fix your bike? Yes, you can. Workshop Houston gives you the tools and the knowledge to mend clicking cranks, hard-to-handle handlebars, flat tires and more — all for free (unless you need new parts, but those are practically free). They’ll even teach you how to build your own bike…
Best New Restaurant
They call the food at Feast “rustic European fare,” and there’s nothing else like it in Houston. Situated in a charming old house with a very relaxed and homey atmosphere, Brits Richard Knight (the chef) and James Silk (the butcher) are taking Houston tastebuds on a journey back in time,…
Best Wine List
Antonio Gianola is the sommelier at Catalan, and his passion for wine is scary. Gianola demonstrated his encyclopedic knowledge of Italian wines while he served as the wine steward at Da Marco. While composing the wine list at Catalan, he began reaching out to the world’s most forward-thinking winemakers. When…
Best Reflexologist
Annette Baker, the house reflexologist at Metaphysical Matrix, wants to work on infants and babies, but neither is great at paying for services rendered, so she’s stuck with the rest of us — whiny adults with grimy, gnarly feet. The Minnesota transplant is not daunted by the hellish Houston weather…
Best Jewish Deli
Would it kill you to eat a little something, or do you enjoy breaking your mother’s heart? If that sounds familiar, you’ll be right at home at Kenny & Ziggy’s, where authentic New York deli food is done up right. Dig into a gargantuan Reuben or corned beef sandwich. Get…
Best Gun Range
If you own a pistol/rifle/weapon, chances are you have a favorite place to shoot — and Top Gun should be that place, with its spacious indoor range and cheap fees. Monday is seniors’ day, and anyone older than 62 can shoot for free. Women get the same deal on Wednesdays…
Best Place for an After-Work Jog
As long as you’re there before dark, Eleanor Tinsley offers a pleasant tour of Buffalo Bayou with plenty of pleasant scenery and shade. The trail follows the bayou below the theater district, through Buffalo Bayou Art Park, past the new public skatepark and through plenty of tree-filled openings, all with…
“Art and Power in the Central African Savannah”
The African savannah, as nearly everyone who’s ever seen a nature documentary knows, is loaded with amazing wildlife. But it’s also home to some fascinating human cultures, among them the various African tribes who created the sculptures now on display at The Menil Collection’s “Art and Power in the Central…
Best Strip Club
Most people think strip clubs are all the same: parasitic businesses featuring emotionally damaged young women with fake boobs and daddy issues, clinically gyrating for the prurient pleasure of sad, gold-chain-wearing chodes whose frigid wives and fears of intimacy are enough to make them buy shockingly overpriced watered-down booze and…
Best DJ
Way too few DJs manage to do anything original; many just seem to play the same records and never dare to venture outside the box. There’s no room for mediocrity in a good DJ, and we’re glad Squincy Jones figured this one out. As co-founder of the genre-splitting night Speakerboxx…
Best Place to Lie Around Drinking Beer
If there is a more serene pleasure to be had in this hustling, bustling megalopolis than lolling around on a blanket outside this Rice grad students’ bar, watching the clouds rearrange into more and more fantastic shapes high overhead, a cup of some of the cheapest and coldest beer close…
Best Original Show
Created by Catastrophic Theatre company member (and Houston Press contributor) Troy Schulze, The Splasher focuses on a real-life guy who ran around New York City vandalizing graffiti as a political statement against art. The Splasher hated the fact that when the artists moved into any neighborhood and made their presence…
Best Lotto Ticket
Scratch-off lottery tickets can be a great gambling fix. There’s something about the physical act of furiously scratching that makes you feel like you’re gambling real hard. Taking that to the next level is the Texas Hold ‘Em Poker scratch-off, which allows a double fix: poker and lotto. For $5,…
Best Place to People Watch
If you’ve ever been within a two-block radius of the downtown Greyhound Bus Station, you already know just how interesting this place can be. Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it’s where you can always get your people-watching fix. Cultural foreigners and foreigners in the literal sense…
Best Start By a New Boss
Being the president of UH, and chancellor of the UH System, ain’t easy. There are lots and lots of different constituencies demanding time, attention and money. But ever since she took on the task in January, Renu Khator has been getting effusive praise from students, faculty and other Cougars for…
Best New Ordinance
No one likes The Man telling them when they can and can’t have groundbreaking intellectual discussions about genocide in Darfur or the subprime mortgage meltdown, which, face it, are the kinds of things most people talk about on their cells while driving. But here’s one instance where The Man is…
Best Cheeseburger
J’s Special at The Hill Bar & Grill in Waller is a cheeseburger served on Texas toast. Swapping out a bun for two double-thick slices of toasted white bread sounds like a pretty minor change. But the effect that aggressively griddled Texas toast has on this cheeseburger is quite remarkable…
Best Milkshake
For burger aficionados and inhabitants of the Third Ward, Sparkles Hamburger Spot is a true haven. If you don’t mind waiting, the gals at Sparkles will mix you up one tasty shake. They’re the best because they use full-flavor ice cream and milk, mixing it the old-fashioned way, by hand…
Best Place to Buy a Squeezebox and Catholic Bling
Ever wake up with twin hankerings for a new top-of-the-line accordion and a St. Christopher medallion? Or maybe you just need a replacement bellows for your squeezebox and some rosary beads. Either way, Gabbannelli has you covered. This Westbury store offers world-famous accordions, multicolored, finely detailed creations fresh from their…
Best Middle Eastern Grocery Store
To call this place a mere grocery store would be to do it a severe injustice. It’s a 60,000-square-foot food emporium that sells products you simply cannot find elsewhere. There are fresh dates and fresh almonds, as well as dried nuts and fruits of all kinds. The deli has many…
Best Glass Company
So, you need to replace a pane of glass from a cheap but cute little Zen lantern from an out-of-the-way shop in Carlsbad, or maybe you want a glass top for a birdbath you mosaicked to make a unique patio table. Bobbitt Glass is happy to custom-cut whichever size, thickness…
Best Steakhouse
Sure, this is the place to see and be seen, and it’s been so ever since it opened its doors. Sure, the decor is superb (it was the most expensive build-out in the city’s history). Sure, it’s one of the largest restaurants in the city (it seats 400). Sure, it…
Best Cheap Seafood
Across the street from the Heights farmers market, this kid-friendly seafood spot has a myriad of fresh offerings at very reasonable prices. The menu provides many choices in preparation and serving size, so even the pickiest eater will be satisfied. The calamari and campechana are fantastic, and the fried-seafood platter…
Best Flea Market
Flea Markets are always a fun way to kill your Saturday, if you find the right one. There are the wrong ones with nothing but bootleg CDs, guys selling car stereos and, inexplicably, that weird D&D dude hocking all the swords and knives. Sunny Flea Market isn’t that. This place…
Best Thai Restaurant
Vieng Thai’s dynamic dishes are a welcome change or addition to the ordinary just-home-from-work quick dinner out. As you enter the modest dining area, remind yourself that it’s the food at Vieng Thai that’s bringing you here. Random karaoke videos in the background may or may not add to the…
Best Play-by-Play Announcer
Listening to Bill Brown do the Astros has always been great, but it’s gotten better and better the longer he’s been working with Jim Deshaies. The famously goofy former pitcher brings out Brown’s usually hidden puckish side. Still very much the straight man, he’s now managing to land a few…
Best Place to See Real Fake Wrestling
We wouldn’t be surprised if Doomsday sent one of its “wrestlers” to our door to fake beat us up for this award. We tested fate last year by naming the athletic-comedy-acting troupe as Best Comedy Show. But we’ll take our chances once again in order to tip our hat to…
Welcome to Never Ever Land
What a weird, weird week — a week that’s convinced me Houston has to be the coolest big city that bestrides this North American continent. Hurricane Ike knocked us on our ass, no doubt. Thick shards of blown-out glass still litter some downtown sidewalks and parking lots, most of the…
Sex Crime: Choke
There’s a whole lotta fucking going on in Choke, Clark Gregg’s adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s first-person novel about a sex addict named Victor Mancini with severe mommy issues — fucking in a cramped airplane bathroom, on a barnyard’s itchy haystack, in a grimy toilet stall, in a hospital chapel even…
Royally Screwed: The Duchess
The Duchess is the best women’s movie of the summer. Don’t get too excited: Sex and the City, Mamma Mia! and The Women set the bar so dismally low that almost any film with a dame in it who doesn’t channel her identity only through buying, boogieing or bedding is…
Spore Isn’t the Leap You’ve Been Led to Believe
After years of development and nearly as many years of hype, Spore has arrived — an event made so big by the association of Will Wright (SimCity, The Sims) and EA’s impressive marketing efforts, even the non-gaming press was reporting it, happily parroting bits and pieces of press releases that…
RIP, Some of Our Best Of Houston® Winners
Hurricane Ike managed to strike Houston and Galveston just as we were putting the final touches on our annual Best Of Houston® issue. It made for a few fun-packed days, working without a/c and sharing the few computers the generators could power. Sadly, though, some of our winners are probably not…
Jimmy LaFave
After all the nights without power, the gas lines and the ice shortages, Jimmy LaFave is a perfect musical palliative. One of the smoothest vocalists around, LaFave can make listeners happy singing even the saddest of ballads. LaFave, a former drummer, works both sides of the musical street, mixing up…
Kristine Mills: Playing with the Big Boys — Live!
Vocalist Kristine Mills is doing something almost no one else in Houston is doing these days: singing jazz. Not watered-down jazz lite, but real, actual jazz — with nuance, improvisation, interplay between her and her musicians, and respect for the art form. Mills’s new CD, Playing with the Big Boys…
The Clash: Live at Shea Stadium
Ever since the Beatles took over the Shea Stadium pitcher’s mound in 1965, rockers like Grand Funk Railroad, the Police and, most recently, Billy Joel have made playing the Mets’ home a career apex. At the height of its commercial success, the Clash made it to the center diamond for…
The Black Keys Doggy-Paddle from Akron to Stardom
It’s a skin-singeing 95 degrees in Chicago, but Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are cooler than a couple of Fonzies in a cryogenic freeze. Their contorted faces are part of the city skyline, projected on JumboTrons and looking out across a sea of 20,000 shirtless worshippers. This is Lollapalooza, and…
Rex “Wrecks” Bell Is Just Playing
Foreword: Much of the reporting of this feature took place before Hurricane Ike. On the eve of the storm, Rex Bell sent the following e-mail out to his mailing list: “Well, I’m a Gulf Coast boy, when I get scared, everyone should, I’m scared. The Shows are canceled this Fri…
Metallica: Death Magnetic
Metallica didn’t commit its biggest sin when it exposed its dirty laundry in gory, self-indulgent detail in the 2003 film Some Kind of Monster. No — Metallica disgraced itself 12 years earlier on the wretched “Black Album” (Metallica), when the Bay Area quartet abandoned the thrash-metal art form it helped…
From Ninfa’s to Benny’s Mexican Cafe & Bar
Jose Bernardo Gomez, originally from Colombia, used to live in New York City, until his kids got tired of the cold weather. He and his family moved to Houston in 1976, and he spent many years at Ninfa’s. Now Benny, as he is known, has opened an enormous restaurant in…
Atmosphere: When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
The characters given life by MC Slug on Atmosphere’s new album have unenviable situations, but they’re not all painting that shit gold (whatever that means). Vagrants, single parents and dope-addled fiends, they all work, fuck and wallow in their misery, giving the emotional indie rapper a chance to traffic in…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Heroes Alter Egos,” “Houston Collects: African American Art,” “Joe Mancuso: Still Still Life,” “(Re)Vision: A Preservation of Houston’s Inner Loop,” “Transcendental Smoothie”
“Heroes Alter Egos” Utilizing images of Nixon, Reagan and both Bushes to represent the dark side of American culture has become an artistic cliché, just like JFK’s visage gets used to symbolize good. Now that Shepard Fairey’s ubiquitous Barack Obama poster has proclaimed open season on the presidential candidate’s face…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Broadway Bound, Electile Dysfunction, Unbeatable: A Bold New Musical
Broadway Bound — It takes only a few minutes into Neil Simon’s 1986 Tony Award-winning comedy/drama to realize that we are in the presence of greatness. It’s not playwright Simon — who writes a very good, albeit atypical, Simon play — but actor Lisa Schofield. This wonderful Houston actress has…
Hurricane Relief
To Our Readers, Hurricane Ike has come and gone and left us with an aftermath of gnarly life extending far beyond what I would say most of us ever imagined. We steeled ourselves for possible death and massive destruction. We got very little of the first in the Houston area…
ASK A MEXICAN
Dear Mexican, What is an anchor baby? I am a 45-year-old male born in the USA. My mother was born in ex-Yugoslavia (now Serbia), and my father was also born in ex-Yugoslavia (now Croatia). My father arrived to this country via a green card about four years before I was…
Spiritualized
Jason Pierce had a rough 2005. Hospitalized and nearly dying, the British musician spent a lot of time tethered to machines and IVs (which decorate his latest release, Songs in A&E). Even though Pierce wrote the songs before his illness, the album follows a similarly depressing theme. Whether it’s love,…
Ben Kweller
About this time in 2006, Ben Kweller — Brooklyn’s greatest fake classic rocker not counting the Hold Steady — was shoving tampons up his nose trying to stop the bleeding, one of the more macabre scenes at that year’s brutally hot Austin City Limits Festival. This week, when Kweller ventures…
Girl in a Coma
For everyone who digs Morrissey’s sensitivity but wishes he had a little more sex appeal: Meet Nina Diaz. Occasionally referred to as the “female Morrissey,” this spark plug of a singer fronts all-girl San Antonio trio Girl in a Coma after being recruited by big sister, drummer Phanie D, at…
Memories of Brennan’s
Turtle soup and gospel music are the co-stars in my fondest memory of Brennan’s. It was a gorgeous sunny Sunday afternoon. We sat outside on a brick patio surrounded by so many palms and ferns that we felt like we were sitting in a French Quarter courtyard. I had a…
Very Minor: Miracle at St. Anna
On some level, you’ve got to hand it to Spike Lee. There are probably less than a handful of directors working in Hollywood today who could put together the financing for a three-hour war movie lacking any marquee names and performed largely in Italian and German with English subtitles. Spielberg…
