My Houston
 Michael Bublewicz, Class of 2011

A small sampling of what Houston has to offer to eat and drink. Houston has one of the premier restaurant cultures in the country and there is not a cultural cuisine that unrepresented in this city of 4 million people. Most of my favorites are within the center of Houston mainly in the Montrose/Midtown/Heights area, but there is also plenty in the periphery. There are a lot of my favorites that I just did not have the time to put on this list. This is a great start though.

Night-Life

Cool list of happy Hours by day and location. http://houston.happyhour-girl.com/

Houston Press is the source for live entertainment and great new eats in the Houston area. The Best of… section is a great and relatively unbiased evaluation of everything from mechanics to pet sitters. http://www.houstonpress.com/bestof

Food

Brasil
This place is a cool coffee house that serves great food as well. Nicely priced and they play movies on the 15 foot outdoor screen at night almost everyday. Inside they have nightly live entertainment.
Address: 2604 Dunlavy St Houston, TX 77006


Red Lion Pub This place was on the Food Network, which put it on the map, making the place crowded now. But still a great place for Curry and a Pint night every Wednesday. Website: http://www.redlionhouston.com/


La Mexicana Close to the Med Center in the hip neighborhood of Montrose. You’ll find doctors, nurses and other people just off of a night shift pounding down breakfast tacos and margaritas at 7:00am. You will definitely get invited to this place at one time or another by your co-workers. Website: http://www.lamexicanarestaurant.com/

Sushi There are plenty of great sushi restaurants in town. Everyone has a favorite. Most offer some sort of great happy hour specials. One worth mentioning is a hole-in-the-wall near greenway plaza called Oishii Japanese Restaurant. Daily happy hour with $1 sake and great prices on rolls. Website: http://www.oishiihouston.com/

Café Rabelais Classic French cuisine, Max and Julie has great outdoor seating. Bone marrow anyone? Website: http://www.caferabelais.com/

Glass Wall One of my favorite places. Situated in one of Houston’s most famous and historic neighborhoods, the Heights. This award winning restaurant is affordable and has great wine pairings with every dish. Website: http://www.glasswalltherestaurant.com/

Cyclone Anaya’s This is an old Houston restaurant that is now pretty commercialized and has several locations around town. In spite of that the food is solid and for Sunday brunch they have bottomless mimosas. Website: http://www.cycloneanaya.com/

Lupe Tortilla Hands down the best fajitas in town. Period. Website: http://www.lupetortilla.com/

Benjy’s A couple locations in town. The Washington Ave location is super trendy, complete with that type of crowd. Happy hour 7 days a week (that’s right…7), with great drink specials on premium liquor and half-priced appetizers. Website: http://www.benjys.com/

Onion Creek Café Another Heights classic. A great patio on a cool night. Great beer specials and Wednesday is night Steak. Website: http://www.onioncreekcafe.com/

Tiny Boxwoods If you want to impress an out of town visitor or your significant other this place is clutch. A great brunch that is higher priced but not outrageous and definitely worth it. It is set in the indoor/outdoor café of one of Houston’s high-end landscape design companies. Bottomless mimosas here as well. Get there early or expect to wait in line. Family friendly for those with well behaved kids. Website: http://www.thompsonhanson.com/

Steak Houses
 There are plenty to choose from. A lot of chains, but still solid food. Here is a short list of some places I recommend:
 Trulucks: Date night every day of the week with an affordable prix fixe menu. All you can eat crab on Monday nights. http://trulucks.com/

Vic and Anthony’s: across from the ballpark, so great guys night out place after an Astro’s game. Sit at the bar and chose from a great selection of California bigs. http://www.vicandanthonys.com

Capital Grille: Check this place out during Houston Restaurant Week , every year in August. Otherwise bring the expense account. http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/

Once a year Houston Restaurant Week comes to town. This is a great way to checkout some of the finest eateries in Houston for an affordable $35/pp for a three course meal. Happens every year during the first 3 weeks of August. Website: http://www.houstonrestaurantweek.com/

Coffee
 There are a lot of these around. I find myself at these the most.

Inversion Cool Montrose coffee house connected to the Art League of Houston. http://inversioncoffee.com/

Kraftsmen Baking Located next door to the Montrose branch of the Houston Public Library. Very cool setting. Fresh breakfast and lunch and free internet. You can hop next door to The Black Labrador for a pint and classic English food as well. Website: http://www.kraftsmenbaking.com/retail-home.htm

Wine Bars
 Again, plenty to choose from. But I want to mention my absolute favorite.

13 Celsius The owner is there almost every night and is very knowledgeable. Sunday they have half off by-the-glass wine left over from over the weekend. Your chance to get the good stuff at a great price. The really good stuff goes quickly though, so get there early. Website: http://www.13celsius.com/