For whatever reason, I've had a bad taste in my mouth about Houston for a long time. I'm not sure if it's the size of the city, the traffic, the left-lane exits on the highway (hate them), or the humidity - but I have not been a fan for a long time. With that being said, I have not really given Houston a chance other than driving through to get to Galveston or to hangout with friends in Kemah. Let's talk about why my weekend in Houston completely changed my perception of this massive Texas city.
First off, I could not believe how diverse Houston was and quickly found it to be a Mecca of various types of food and neat blends of cultures. In fact, despite it having nearly 3 million residents and growing fast, Houston is a city without a majority. Houston is a place where more than 140 different languages are spoken, with Spanish and Vietnamese among the most prominent. According to thecitywithnolimits.com, Houston is more diverse than the U.S., with a racial diversity that's 37 percent Anglo, 37 percent Hispanic, 17 percent black, and 8 percent Asian. This was definitely evident in the food choices as we ate our way through Houston. No wonder the residents of Houston eat out more times a week than any other city in America - they have so many amazing options!
Where to eat
Crawfish & Noodles I have heard of "Viet-cajun" food before, but had never eaten it until Crawfish & Noodles. Viet-cajun is a blend of traditional Vietnamese flavors and dishes combined with Cajun ingredients and spices. With options like pho, boiled crawfish, and fried rice - Crawfish & Noodles has something for everyone. It is located in an area known as "Asiatown" (or Chinatown) where there are many restaurants and stores with cultural influences from Vietnam, India, Pakistan, China, Korea, Malaysia and more. It was a little more pricey for 2lbs of crawfish that I am used to (about $30 with the fixin's), but it was well worth it to have those delicious mudbugs covered in the unique garlic, spicy, buttery sauce.
Khoi Barbecue Another great example of blending cultural flavors is Khoi Barbecue where they use their Vietnamese roots and love of BBQ to create a truly unique menu. They don't have a restaurant (yet), but we went to their pop-up at Baileson Brewing where we had options of brisket, pork ribs, Bò lá lốt links, brisket phở, and smoked beef rib panang curry. We stood for an hour and a half (luckily with beer in hand) and watched the menu slowly become less and less with meats running out, but we were lucky to get some of the last of what they offered. Like usual, our group shared our spoils and were all able to get a little bit of everything which made the waiting well worth it.
The Original Ninfa's The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation was created by “Mama” Ninfa Laurenzo in 1973. She started the national fajita craze by grilling skirt steak and serving it in tortillas from her family’s struggling tortilla factory. For great authentic tex-mex, you've got to check out this historic restaurant. I feel that you can always tell a good Mexican restaurant by their chips and salsa - I could have definitely just eaten a full meal of chips and salsa (and probably did). We went for brunch and there was an additional menu of options, but everything we had was great, but I'd highly recommend trying the skirt steak in your tacos, enchiladas, or fajitas.
Feges BBQ Although we didn't have the chance to check Feges out, I have heard (from multiple sources) how great their BBQ is. Just looking at their menu online, I'm salivating reading through their 10 meat choices including boudin, brisket, and whole hog and their nearly dozen side choices including elote, dirty rice, and kale salad. This will be a DEFINITE stop next time we make it to Houston.
The Hay Merchant With an extensive craft beer list and interesting food menu, Hay Merchant is worth stopping by. We started with beers and their "People's Choice Championship Queso" which is a queso blanco with smoked barbacoa and served with chicharrones (pork rinds) instead of chips. After a taste of greatness, we decided to dive into the menu and got PB&J wings, Gochujang wings, Korean braised goat dumplings, and the bacon sausage sandwich all to share. Everything was great, but I would highly recommend trying the PB&J wings and the dumplings - both of which were different, flavorful, and rich.
Penny Quarter We stumbled upon Penny Quarter and stopped in for a drink, but were impressed with both their drink and food choices. Unfortunately, their kitchen was closed (since we got their an hour before close), but they had a mouth-watering bar and brunch menu that we will be checking out next time we are in town.
Where to drink
Saint Arnold Brewing Dubbed as Texas' oldest craft brewery, Saint Arnold has a ginormous property with some inside seating and a huge patio with a view of Downtown Houston. They have a great tap list of their year-round and seasonal brews and a food menu that is one of the best I've seen for a brewery. We had some soft pretzels and a delicious crawfish roll (like a lobster roll) with fries. If beer isn't your thing, they also have old-fashioned root beer that is brewed in house that you can drink cold or have in an ice cream float.
Ingenious Brewing The first time that I had Ingenious beer was at a Big Texas Beer Fest in 2019 and I was blown away by how different and flavorful their beer was. Ingenious does not shy away from doing something different while still putting out solid beers. While we were at the brewery, they did a flight (which they don't always do) of four beers paired with Girl Scout cookies. In addition, we had a lager called Blueberry Clouds that was more of a thick smoothie with the massive amounts of blueberry that they added (yes, it was fantastic). Ingenious beers are hard to find outside of the brewery, so check it out while you are there.
Spindletap Brewery Spindletap cans a handful of beers that we can get here in North Texas, but the pale in comparison to the fresh hop flavors pouring off the breweries tap wall. Whether you are a fan of hazy boys or West Coast IPAs, Spindletap has more than just a few options for you.
Bravery Chef Hall Doing a bit of research online, I found a neat speakeasy called the Secret Garden behind a place called "Bravery Chef Hall". The fancy cocktails and ambiance at the Secret Garden were really cool, but we found another gem in the Bravery Chef Hall. Unfortunately, we did not stop to grab any food or drinks, but the hall has multiple food and drink choices including the Bravery Wine Bar, Lockwood STN (cocktail bar), KOKORO Sushi and Yakitori, The Blind Goat (Vietnamese gastropub), BOH Pasta & Pizza, and more. As we walked through, everything looked and smelled amazing and every customer seemed happy.
Kanaloa Tiki Bar While we were walking around Downtown Houston, we stumbled across the Kanaloa Tiki Bar. The ambiance and decor were great, and the tiki inspired cocktails were as you would expect from a good tiki bar. They also have large shareable drinks which I'd recommend for groups - we got the Mini Scorpion Bowl to share between the 4 of us.
Char Bar Ever though, "I really want a drink, but I also need to get this suit tailored"? Yeah, me neither, but the Char Bar is a neat place to get your clothes tailored in the day and grab a drink before you leave, or a cocktail bar at night. It's a neat spot to check out if you're in the area.
Anvil Bar and Refuge Just down the street from the Hay Merchant and next door to Penny Quarter, you will find a dark and fancy cocktail called Anvil. At Anvil, they make delicious cocktails with the highest quality spirits and ingredients they can find. Whether you get one of their original cocktails, or one of your favorites, it's worth stopping by. If you're in the area, I'd recommend the trifecta of Hay Merchant, Penny Quarter, and Anvil.
Under the Volcano When we were at Baileson Brewing enjoying beers and waiting in line for some Khoi BBQ, we saw this cool place across the street and decided to check it out afterwards. Under the Volcano has good happy hour specials, a large cocktail list, and Mexican inspired entrees, appetizers, and bar food. If you go, try one of the frozen cocktails - they claim to have the original frozen screwdriver and it was both strong and delicious.
What to do
Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Garden Park on the street near the sculpture garden and take 30 minutes or so to talk around. There are some really neat sculptures including the Cloud Column which is a stainless steel sculpture by artist Anish Kapoor who also created the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago. You can even enhance your visit by listening to their Spotify playlist specially selected for you to enjoy as you explore the campus spaces. I'd recommend climbing the stairs behind the Cloud Column to get a better view of the city.
James Turrell's "Twilight Epiphany" Skyspace On the Rice University campus, you can see the pyramidal structure that is acoustically engineered to host musical performances and to act as a lab for music students. If you go near dawn or at night, you will see that the structure includes a LED light sequence that makes it very picturesque.
Space Center Houston We didn't go this time around, but I went when to the Space Center when I was younger. Space Center Houston is a leading science and space exploration learning center. You can see rockets, multiple exhibits, go inside a shuttle replica, and learn all about space exploration at this huge museum.
Waugh Drive Bat Colony One of the lesser-known things about Houston is that their is a Mexican free-tailed bat colony at the Waugh Bridge at Buffalo Bayou Park. There is a bat observation deck that was installed in 2006 that makes for a great place to see the bats emerge at sundown.
The Wrap-Up Houston, I apologize - I had you all wrong and I look forward to my next visit! We had a great time eating all of the foods and drinking all of the drinks. I can't wait to see what else you have to offer.
What's your favorite place in Houston? Let me know in the comments.
Travelingo 3x3
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