Bar Beat

Best Of Houston® 2021: Gay Bar

Best Of Houston® 2021: Gay Bar

A Day Devoted to Dining Out In Houston

A Day Devoted to Dining Out In Houston

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Beat The Heat With Punks And Pints Fest At SpindleTap Brewery

By Gladys Fuentes
Jun 24, 2021

Houston’s notoriously hot days of summer have definitely arrived and there's no better way to beat the heat than with a cold beer and some good music. SpindleTap Brewery is hosting just the event to celebrate summer with their first ever Punks and Pints Fest, a full day of local...
Putting The L In LGBT: Julie Mabry's Pearl Bar Is A True Gem

By Sam Byrd
Jun 16, 2021

For Julie Mabry, owner of Pearl Bar, the struggle has been real. She runs one of less than two dozen lesbian bars still in operation in the United States. The pandemic did her no favors either. She fought - and won - to keep her rare bar open despite tremendous odds stacked against her business.
Openings and Closings: Uli's Kitchen Opens, One Fifth Pivots Again

By Lorretta Ruggiero
May 28, 2021

Uli's Kitchen, 8021 Research Forest, softly opened May 19 and celebrated its grand opening May 25 in The Woodlands. This is the first concept for Luna Hospitality owned by husband and wife Bonnie and David "Ulises" Alcaraz. Bonnie will serve as the general manager while David (Uli) will lead the...
Dub Miller Heads to Houston from the Hill Country

By Bob Ruggiero
May 20, 2021

When it’s time to place a call to Texas singer/songwriter/guitarist Dub Miller at the appointed interview time, a recording says that the number is unavailable. He quickly calls back about 30 seconds later, but wonders aloud if others calling him get the same message. “It could be Willie Nelson calling...
Openings and Closings: The Lymbar by David Cordua, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Arrives

By Lorretta Ruggiero
May 7, 2021

The Lymbar, 4201 Main, is coming to The Ion this fall. The craft cocktail bar and restaurant is bringing Latin and Mediterranean flavors from chef David Cordua, currently executive chef and owner of David + Michael Cordua Events. Cordua is also the former executive chef/owner of Americas and Churrascos. Cordua...
Happy Hour by the Bay: Pier 6 and Bayview Duck

By Lorretta Ruggiero
Apr 13, 2021

In April 2020, we were all still reeling from the daily bombardment of bad news about the coronavirus epidemic with no idea the actual toll it would take on us over the next year. Most of us did not expect that hundreds of thousands of lives would be lost to...
Best Crawfish in Houston: We Guar-an-tee

By Lorretta Ruggiero
Feb 10, 2021

It's crawfish season and whether you call them crawfish, crawdads or mudbugs, we call them delicious. Some like them with Vietnamese flavors, garlic butter or coated in Cajun seasonings. Some pinch, twist and suck the juicy heads, others just pull out the tender tails and dip them in butter. Whatever...
Three Houston Nightclubs Get Liquor Licenses Suspended For Breaking COVID-19 Rules

By Schaefer Edwards
Jan 20, 2021

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced Tuesday that it has suspended the liquor licenses for three Houston nightclubs — Spire at 1720 Main, Clé at 2301 Main and Grooves at 2300 Pierce — after all three were caught flouting Gov. Greg Abbott’s COVID-19 regulations by ignoring occupancy limits this weekend...
Turner Reluctant To Issue Local Curfew Despite High Case Counts, Calling It A Nuclear Option

By Schaefer Edwards
Dec 8, 2020

In a Monday afternoon press conference, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner once again said that city lawyers have assured him he has the authority to issue a local curfew order to keep Houstonians homebound in the evenings if restaurants, re-tooled bars and other businesses don’t do a better job of keeping...
Turner Warns He Might Order Curfew If "Restaurants" Don’t Enforce Masks & Distancing

By Schaefer Edwards
Nov 30, 2020

In a Monday afternoon press conference, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said he hasn’t ruled out issuing a citywide curfew order if local businesses can’t keep crowds under control. Turner said his staff is in the process of scheduling pop-in visits for the mayor to local bars and clubs — many...
Openings and Closings: The Sporting Club Debuts, Better Luck Tomorrow Reopens

By Lorretta Ruggiero
Oct 23, 2020

The Sporting Club, 5102 Washington, opened its doors and debuted its retractable roof October 22. The high energy restaurant and bar comes from SoClutch Group and is on the same block as another recent concept from the group, Sugar Room. Its 8,000 square feet includes 5,000 square feet of dining...
Openings and Closings: King Ranch, Shoot the Moon Soon, Treebeards Memorial Now

By Lorretta Ruggiero
Oct 16, 2020

King Ranch Texas Kitchen, 1605 Post Oak Boulevard, is slated to open before the holidays. The rustic, Western-style restaurant is a collaboration between prolific restaurateur and businessman Tilman Fertitta and family and King Ranch, Inc., the privately-held agricultural production and resource management company which also owns the historic King Ranch...
Openings and Closings: East End Backyard Opens,The Union Kitchen Bellaire Closes

By Lorretta Ruggiero
Oct 9, 2020

East End Backyard, 1105 Sampson, opens October 9. The spacious outdoor venue from owner and Houston Dynamo legend Brian Ching offers a bar with a 16,000 square foot dog-friendly patio with a 3,500-square-foot dog park. The massive outdoor space offers plenty of social distancing room for lawn games, relaxing with pod...
Abbott Says Bars Can Open Next Week At 50 Percent, If County Judges Approve [UPDATED]

By Schaefer Edwards
Oct 7, 2020

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Wednesday afternoon that starting October 14, bars in most Texas counties can open at 50 percent capacity — as long as local county judges approve. Like his last round of opening Texas businesses more widely back on September 17, Abbott said that the new allowances for bar...
To-Go Brews Allow Flying Saucer’s UFO Club Members to Soar Once More

By Jesse Sendejas Jr.
Oct 7, 2020

COVID-19 put lots of personal goals on hold. Some of those plans were grand and some might have seemed frivolous, but they were our goals, mountains and molehills the pandemic forced us to stop scaling. Now, months later with no foreseeable end to our changed lives in sight, being able...
Abbott Winks At Reopening Bars, 18 Days After Calling Them "COVID-Spreading Locations"

By Schaefer Edwards
Oct 6, 2020

In his latest coy pandemic policy tweet, Greg Abbott Monday afternoon strongly hinted that he might soon relax restrictions on state bars due to Texans’ alleged success in slowing the spread of COVID-19. “Texans have continued to keep COVID under control,” he wrote. “The hospitalizations, number of new positive cases,...
Turner Reveals Wall of Shame and Asks Abbott for His Tools Back

By Schaefer Edwards
Jun 30, 2020

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner once again asked Gov. Abbott to give back the ability for local officials to make sweeping orders to help corral the spread of the coronavirus after revealing the first inductees to the city’s wall of shame for COVID-19 rulebreakers in a Monday afternoon press conference. Turner...
Abbott Throws Lifeline to Bars After Closing Down Inside Seating Again

By Houston Press
Jun 29, 2020

On Saturday Gov. Greg Abbott wrote another in a long line of executive orders lately, this one allowing restaurants and some bars to sell to-go, pre-mixed drinks. This action follows his decision to once again close bars in Texas for in-person guests after the spike in COVID-19 cases. In previous...
Openings and Closings: Indigo's Final Year, Petrol Station Closes

By Lorretta Ruggiero
Jun 26, 2020

Indigo, 517 Berry, will reopen July 23. However, the acclaimed "neo-soul" restaurant from rising star Chef Jonny Rhodes will only remain open for another year, as Rhodes announced in an Instagram post on June 21. The post read: "I write this with tears in my eyes. This all started with...
Openings and Closings: The Union Kitchen Katy Opens, Lucky's Pub East Closes

By Lorretta Ruggiero
Jun 19, 2020

This week has some surprising new openings and some sad closings, some permanent, some just temporary. As Texas sees a second spike in COVID-19, it's inevitable that it would affect the restaurant industry. Staff are on the front lines serving guests and while most employees are wearing masks, many customers...