This Week in Houston Food Events: Crawfish Season Is Upon Us

Here's a look at this week's hottest culinary happenings:

Monday, March 8

Dress for Success Benefit at Postino Wine Cafe

In celebration of International Women's Day, Postino, 642 Yale, 805 Pacific, will be donating $5 for every glass of Espiritu Malbec sold to the local Houston chapter of Dress For Success — a nonprofit advocating for the advancement and empowerment of women in the workplace. In addition, the wine bar will be rocking an all-female vocalist playlist throughout the day.

Tuesday-Thursday

Creole Surf & Turf Dinner for Two + Wine at Brennan’s of Houston

During the month of March from Tuesdays through Thursdays at dinner, Brennan’s, 3300 Smith, is offering a three-course filet and crawfish Creole Surf & Turf Dinner for Two ($99), including wine selections from wine guy Marcus Gausepohl (one bottle or four glasses). Seatings run from 5 to 9 p.m. Make reservations online or at 713-522-9711 (mention promotion when booking).

Wednesday, March 10

Courtyard Social: Crawfish Boil at Brennan’s of Houston

Brennan’s, 3300 Smith, is hosting a Texas-Creole Crawfish Boil to welcome back its Courtyard Socials. Tickets to the rain-or-shine event are $40 per person (plus tax and gratuity) and include all-you-can-eat crawfish and sides. The event runs from 3 to 5 p.m.

Fridays

Lenten Fridays

Check out our Lenten Fridays Dining Guide to find a list of Houston restaurants offering seafood, meat-free and vegetarian dishes on Fridays during Lent.

Saturday, March 13

Grand Opening at Abu Omar Halal

Abu Omar Halal will host a grand opening celebration for its new signature brick and mortar restaurant at 6377 Westheimer from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The location will feature a new signature menu that honors traditional cuisine of Jordan, as well as a new line of fresh juices, smoothies and salads. Guests who join the Grand Opening celebration will enjoy a complimentary dessert, fresh juice or fruit salad with any purchase.

Chris Shepherd’s Virtual Cookbook Club

Chris Shepherd will host the fourth class in his cookbook series, featuring Pull Up a Chair: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Tiffani Thiessen. The virtual class begins at 6 p.m. with a recorded message from Thiessen, followed by a menu including whiskey glazed spice nuts, lemon feta with warm bread, spicy pork tenderloin, cream cheese pie and more. Class kits are $150 include all ingredients to cook along during the live class and a copy of the book (and $20 from each class sold will be donated to Southern Smoke, Shepherd's foundation that supports food and beverage industry workers in crisis). Kits can be picked up at Friday, March 12 at the commissary kitchen location, 2520 Airline, from noon to 5 p.m.

All month long

‘H-Town Originals’ at Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys

Antone’s Famous Po’ Boys, 4520 San Felipe; 2724 West TC Jester, 6618 Fannin, continues its ‘H-Town Originals’ campaign by partnering with Dr. Peter J. Hotez for the month of March. “The Dr. Hotez One World” Banh Mi ($8.95) — thinly sliced marinated beef on house-baked French bread served with pickled carrots, cucumber, daikon radish, papaya with a roasted garlic-sambal aioli and fresh jalapeño — will be available at all three Antone’s locations and with 50-percent of its proceeds will go to Texas Children’s Hospital to support the hospital’s Center for Vaccine Development.

March Charity Prix Fixe at Etoile Cuisine et Bar

Chef Philippe Verpiand has created two special prix-fixe menus, one for dinner ($65, four courses) and one for weekend brunch ($36, three courses) at Etoile, 1101-11 Uptown Park; and from each sale, a portion will go to local nonprofit Abandoned Little Angels, which gifts food, clothing, medicine, medical equipment, and financial support to orphans and disabled children in Vietnam and other countries.

Houston Food Bank Rescue Menu at Rainbow Lodge

Raises funds for the Houston Food Bank, Rainbow Lodge, 2011 Ella, has unveiled a Food Bank Rescue Menu,a multi-choice, three-course menu with wine for one person for $75 ($5 for each meal sold will go to the charity). The menu is available in-house and to-go from through March 31 and features dishes such as fried Texas quail bites with white cheddar grits and bourbon bacon gravy, pan-seared snapper with English pea and carrot risotto, and croissant bread pudding.

“Taco Tuesday Team-Up” at Tacos A Go Go

Up next in the Tacos A Go Go “Taco Tuesday Team-Up” program is chef Chris Williams of Lucille's. Williams and Tacos A Go Go chef-owner Maribel Gomez have created the Holy Mole Taco — featuring braised oxtail, sweet potato and cabbage slaw in a corn tortilla topped with oxtail gravy, available at all Tacos A Go Go locations on every Taco Tuesday throughout the month of March. A portion of proceeds from each taco sold will benefit Williams' non-profit, Lucille's 1913, which has donated more than 190,000 meals to people in need since the start of COVID-19.

Torchy’s Taco of the Month

Torchy’s Tacos has brought back its fan-favorite Roscoe Taco as March’s Taco of the Month. The savory-sweet creation features a crispy waffle, fried chicken, bacon and a fried cage-free egg nestled into a flour tortilla and drizzled with maple syrup, and it is available through March 31 for $5.95.

Boba Tea Fundraiser with OCA Greater Houston

OCA-Greater Houston has launched a boba tea fundraiser, BobaFANatic, to celebrate Asian culture and the fan favorite tapioca drink. Now through to March 31, guests can purchase a digital voucher ($35) featuring eight QR codes redeemable at the participating boba tea shops, including including DingTea Sugar Land, The BEP Teahouse, Muse Tea, YumCha, Hella Bubble, Presotea, JTEA, and TeaTalk. Each QR code corresponds to one curated drink from one of eight spots, from Rose Milk Tea with Honey Boba to Green Milk Tea with Milk Jello.

Katy Taste Crawl

Now through the end of March, the Katy Taste Crawl will showcase Katy area eateries and support local charities, with each participating restaurant offering free appetizers to ticket holders. The lineup of restaurants includes Chuckwagon BBQ and Burgers, Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen, Phat Eatery, Thai Spice, Tiger Noodle and more. To participate, purchase a $30 ticket, download the Katy Taste Crawl app and visit participating restaurants to redeem coupons.

New and ongoing specials

Crawfish Season

This crawfish season, Brennan’s, 3300 Smith, offers crawfish specials from baked crawfish pie and crawfish boudin stuffed quail to crawfish enchiladas.

Over at Phat Eatery, 23119 Colonial Parkway, guests can enjoy chef Alex Au-Yeung Malaysian Curry Crawfish, which he promises will be even tastier this season. Locally sourced from Lafitte’s Seafood, the Malaysian curry crawfish will be making a comeback at the beginning of March, offered at $7.99 per pound.

New Menu Items at JINYA

JINYA will feature Tonkotsu Curry Tsukemen ­­­– dipping Noodles-pork curry broth with chopped onion, served with thick noodles, pork chashu, seasoned egg, green onion and bok choy; and a Lettuce Wrap – Soboro (sauteed ground pork) with umami miso sauce, served with iceberg lettuce and cilantro, to the menu, available at participating restaurants while supplies last.

Passover Box at Kenny & Ziggy’s

Kenny & Ziggy’s, 2327 Post Oak, will be including the brand new The Express Haggadah with its seder meals, including local orders picked up at the deli and the Passover in a Box kits shipped nationwide via Goldbelly.com. The first day of Passover in 2021 is Sunday, March 28. The Express Haggadah is a modern and slick seder service guide, created to streamline the service in order to carry on the custom of retelling the beautiful story in its entirety. Included in Kenny & Ziggy’s Passover in a Box is two pounds of dinner-cut brisket, matzo balls, two quarts of chicken soup, five stuffed cabbages, five pieces of gefilte fish, carrot soufflé, potato kugel, one pint of tzimmis, one pint of charoset, horseradish, macaroons and brownies.

Happy Hour at The Nash

The Nash, 1111 Rusk, offers happy hour every Monday through Friday from 5 to 6:30 p.m., with highlights including “The Nash Combo,” your choice of Margherita or Bianco Pizza, and a bottle of house red or white wine for $25; $5-10 bites from Tater Tots and Wild Mushroom Toast to Tequeños, Beef Sliders and Lamb Lollipops; and drink specials including $3 draft beers, $7 craft cocktails, and $5 glasses of wine.

Limited-Time Burger at Rodeo Goat Ice House

Rodeo Goat Ice House, 2105 Dallas, has launched an epic new burger created by The Ticket's “Hardline” host Bob Sturm. Available for a limited time, “The Sturminator” ($13.50) features a Wisconsin brat in burger form, Deer Creek cheddar, Porter onions, red pepper chutney, sweet and hot pickles, Bibb lettuce, whole grain mustard on a pretzel bun with a kiss of Wisconsin Grassland butter. From each burger purchased, $1 will be donated to Drop Your Pants/ Cornerstone Clothes Closet, an organization providing clothes to homeless men.

Southern Smoke’s Texas Winter Storm Relief Fund

After havoc wreaked by Winter Storm Uri, Southern Smoke has launched a Texas Winter Storm Relief Fund to support food and beverage industry workers affected, from frozen crops and damaged homes to restaurants being shut down again. Those who were affected can apply for financial assistance online, and those who want to help can donate directly to the newly setup fund.

Carne Asado Taco at Tacodeli

Tacodeli, 1902 Washington, will offer the Carne Asada at all locations in Texas for the next two-three weeks (while supplies last). Made with grilled Black Angus Beef Coulotte Steak from 44 Farms, the Carne Asada taco is topped with fresh diced cilantro, onion and avocado and served with a lime on the side.