Why go to Houston? Go to Houston because the last time anyone remembered there was a Houston was when Ike hit and gas prices went up. As far as this nation is concerned Houston is no more critical to our culinary make up than an uninhabited volcanic island. This is a sore misconception. Since no one cares about Houston in the nation, Houston is free to do what it wants. We are the city that does not care what everyone else thinks. Chop a pigs head off and place it on a platter, call it high food and eat it? Yes we will. Put a bus on jackstands, paint it green, get drunk and eat there? Why not! Eat out more than any other city even though our suburban kitchens can store a 747? Of course! No one said we were rational; hell, the only reason our city exists is because some goofball invented the air conditioner and Galveston was practically wiped out in 1900. Houston is a city that was started on the lie by the Allen brothers, grown by a bunch of nut ball bankers and wildcatters and thrives on being different. Not that annoying 'our culture is the sub-culture' different. I mean real, confused, harsh and down right enjoyable different. We would rather pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get kicked by a mule than admit defeat. If someone wanted to figure out the psyche of a city, Houston would be their doctoral thesis. In Houston you can still dawn a uniform, get to work and 30 years later be running a company. Because Houston does not register on the national radar, because we don't care what other people think, because we enjoy being different and because we know what hard work is, there is no better city for opportunity. Now I could have gone on and on about all these fabulous restaurants we have here (Lankford Grocery, Feast, Anvil Bar, The Green Bus, House of Pies, Voice, Reef, etc.) but it is the city that creates the restaurants, not the restaurants that create the city. If one wanted to find a city where restaurants have the opportunity to be whatever they want and prosper, then Houston is the town for them. This confused, bustling, growing, fast, sharp, tasty and all around frantically friendly city is worth at least a visit.

Rambing, nothing but rambling is really all this is.


I'll agree with Lankford's(burger is fantastic), Voice, Reef(possibly the best seafood place in town), but House of Pies? Come on man.

Indika, Benjy's, Mockingbird Bistro, Hugo's, Cafe Annie, Mark's, Tony's, Christian's Totem(best burger in town, possibly the state), Dolce Vita, Rainbow Lodge, The Lemon Tree...not to mention the various taquerias around town and the abundance of Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thai options we have in town.

houston is a fun town. it's hot, polluted, well air conditioned, poorly planned, and most definatly excellent. i probably would never live in another city. i tried living in austin for about a year and it turns out i'm allergic to...well austin. a huge melting pot of all kinds of goodness i'll bet you'll like.

if you came here's some places i most definatly recommend.

rudi lechner's
http://rudilechners.com/

rudi lechner's is a great german food place. german immigrants started coming to texas and settling in the 1830's. the town this is most evident in is new braunfels in central texas and it's world famous water park, the schlitterbahn. regardless, germany can be found all over texas (thus explaining our deep love of beer) and in houston the place to look is rudi lechner's. with it's traditional german fair and some tex-german infusion type dishes, beer by the liter (brilliant...) and live german bands you really can't loose at this place.

nelore churrascaria
http://www.nelorechurrascaria.com/

the brazillian churrascaria scene here in houston has been gaining in popularity in the past several years. and why not? perfectly cooked meat on swords brought to your table by dudes in neat outfits. as much as you want. what's a texan not to love about this plan? nelore has two locations, one here in houston and one in orlando florida with a third coming soon in winter park florida. i would have recommended fogo de chao but that place is everywhere... it's a rad place. good wine and awesome salad bar (in so far as you can fill a plate with great food and not actually have any salad...) and dude... meat on swords. totally win.

the hobbit cafe
no website... sorry...
this place was originally built in the 60's when the lord of the rings books were published. as such it doesn't play into peter jackson's super epic too much. just a cool place to get some good sandwiches and beer and kinda just geek out. (note: houston is full of geeky people. it's fun)

star cinema
http://www.starcinemagrill.net/

ok so what's more fun than watching heath ledger as the joker on the big screen? watching him as the joker while getting good and plastered on jack and coke. the star cinema grill is a restaurant and a movie theater. i'll grant you the food is on par with say chili's or bennigan's. it's the idea of the thing though. go to the movies and get some buffalo chicken strips and a pitcher of shiner. it almost makes michael bay worth it...

feast
www.feasthouston.com

this one is one of my favorites. i used to be under the screwy impression that british food was supposed to be boring till i found this place. anything but. critter hearts on toast. tongues and marrows. knuckles and noses. pig and rabbit (honestly i don't know where they find all the damn rabbits). and hey the place is very decently priced and feels like an old british farmhouse. comfortable homey and welcoming. run by two very cool british guys who like to change the menu every day according to what they can find in the big wide city, richard knight and james and megan silk are starting something really excellent in this town. i hope i hope i hope to see more of them. hey! fun factoid: mr. silk used to work under fergus henderson at st. john. according to your book, a chef's tour (and the feast website) you really dig that place and the mentality. and come on man, the feast site name dropped you. you gotta come see what's up now!

some other things to check out.

houston has the 3rd largest vietnamese population in this country. many originally from vietnam itself, in more recent years coming in droves from california (it's supposed to sink into the ocean you know...). the result is the development of a new "vietnam town" if you will (as opposed to china town) on the southwest side. there are markets, restaurants, and dentists all over the place. come and see!

houston is also doing the wine bar thing for the hoity toity. (i admit i like get get all nose in the air sometimes too...) a particularly neat one is 13 celsius. i think it may have been a speakeasy in the 20's... not entirly sure though. even so the place is rustic and old and really cool.
http://www.13celsius.com/

if you prefer beer there is also the flying saucer
http://www.beerknurd.com/
there are several across the southeast us. their selection of beers is dizzying. i never know where to begin... do they just have red stripe?

anyway. you can see it would be a good thing to come here. one of my best pals is h.p.d. as such he knows downtown incredibly well. he knows many a hole in the wall excellence. also the taquerias and taco/tamale trucks that can be found everywhere are always worth a look. also if you care to, me and my band mates like to make mead (that's why we started a band actually. waiting for mead to ferment is kind of a long deal...). we aren't too bad at it and it's a fun way to spend a day what with your friends and bbq and the booze makin. that's good t.v. right there. feel free to ask if there are any questions or you know... arrangments to be made...