Thanks, God! The weather this week has been more hospitable than the past five months of hell you put us through, making it easier to drink and smoke outside without our sweat putting out our cigarettes. It's always nice to know you got our backs, except for the whole dead-family-dog thing, and taking away our favorite drunken comic, Greg Giraldo, last week was kinda harsh.
With the better weather, patio and outdoor drinking has skyrocketed all over town. People are even wearing hoodies to bars, for your sake. Our friend Danni was rocking one the other night and it was only 70 degrees. We have been told that once it's hoodie weather, it's time to put the jorts up, but that's just an old hipster's tale, like how you can't wear trucker hats anymore unless you have a huge metalhead beard.
Anyhow, this we week we visited a few new bars and got a chance to catch up with a few oldies while we were at it.
Jackson's Watering Hole: This place is housed in what formerly used to be long-running gay hang Decades. The bar has been completely renovated and now has a pronounced Americana vibe to it, with wood planks on the walls and a stellar Wilco-laced jukebox up front (above).
We caught up with the owner, Buck, the first night we visited, and he went over all the renovations he had been doing to the place. It now has a sizable bar in the middle of the room. We followed the transformation for the past few weeks on the bar's new Facebook page.
There's a fenced-in patio facing the street with canopies and picnic tables scattered around. With the huge lot just next door, parking isn't an issue. We like being able to see our car when we drink in Montrose. For the quick-getaway factor, and it's nice to know you won't be hitching a ride to Lyons or Brittmoore Avenue to pick up your car from the tow yard.
Moon Tower Inn: Sunday night, we drove out to Canal Street in EaDo to sample Moon Tower Inn. Once Houston's foodie mafia finds out about this place, it's going to start popping all the time. Owner Brandon Young cooks wild game meats like pheasant, buffalo, wild boar and rabbit on the grill outside. Oh, and there is beer.
Moon Tower serves craft beers from around the region, as far away as Louisiana, so you can get your Abita fix. Lone Star drafts are $1 all the time. It's a BYOB joint, so you can bring your liquor bottles for swilling in the backyard, which is spacious and reminds us of a house party in the suburbs. It's relaxed, the Houston skyline is in the back view, and you can eat and drink like a Renaissance warrior.
As the Moon Tower progresses, live music will come into the picture, along with a liquor license some time in the future, according to Young.
Randoms
- Has anyone been to Sanctuary Lounge off Washington. We read a few blurbs on Yelp saying that if you are a dude and you walk up, you need to have women with you. What if we are meeting women there (yeah, right), but they are already inside? Clue us in on what the deal is. We plan on going soon and scaring the natives. Maybe we can get mistaken as a valet. What? He gave us the keys.
- Speaking of valet attendants, why would you punch someone who parked your car for you? According to one of House of Blues' security guards, this happened Friday night outside the Cult's sold-out show. (Houston audiences have been acting so horribly lately Rocks Off has started keeping a tally of bad behavior whenever we cover concerts.) Did he change your radio station, move your seat or monkey with your air conditioning? Why, sir or madam, did you fight the valet? Also, is using a valet service supposed to make you look rich?
