Super .... Houston?

[blm14]

I iz visiting houston texas the first week of feb (2-6 to be exact) for a work conference - $71 per diem BOOYAH!

So I need to know good/fun stuff to do in houston, as I've never even set foot in texas. Do I need any special shots to visit there? A visa?

In particular am looking for something fun to do tuesday the 2nd and friday the 5th as those are the nights that I wont specifically be beholden to the stupid NIH conference that I am attending.

Anyone?

[renski]

isnt jimmyc from houston..

[blm14]

is he? should I send him a PM?

[jimmyc]

Jimmyc is from Dallas but now lives a couple of hours above Houston.

I'll do some checking and see what is going in the city that weekend.

blm14, I got your PM and I'll post whatever I can find here.

[blm14]

I wont be in town during the weekend Feb 2 - 6 is like tuesday to saturday. My flight leaves at like 4pm on saturday which means I have to leave for the airport saturday morning

[jimmyc]

Great live music venue...

http://www.warehouselive.com/

http://www.continentalclub.com/Houston.html

http://www.numbersnightclub.com/

http://www.meridianhouston.com/

Great for movies....

http://angelikafilmcenter.com/angelika_index.asp?hID=3854

and

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/

(River Oaks)

Great for BarBQ...

http://www.goodecompany.com/goodeRestaurantBBQKirby.aspx

(actually all the Goode Co. restaurants are good

Great Mexican Food

http://www.chuys.com/#/houston

(Chuey's is just a Texas chain restaurant but it's good and near the airport)

Sushi...

http://www.rasushi.com/

Vietnamese...

http://www.maisrestauranttx.com/

Houston Rockets play Golden State on the second...

http://www.nba.com/rockets/schedule/

Houston Aeros (minor league hockey)

http://www.aeros.com/schedule/games/

Great Music Store...

http://digital.thinkindie.com/stores.php?playlist_id=20&ref=3

Douchebag Wine Bar...

http://www.tastingroomwines.com/index.php

Pies, Pies, Pies...

http://www.houseofpies.com/

Shopping...

http://www.ricevillageonline.com/

http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=805

(Houston Galleria)

http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?id=1253

(Katy Mills Mall)

Great Beer Spots...

http://houston.gingermanpub.com/

no website but...

Valhalla

6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas; Tel. 713.348.3258

The cheapest beer in Houston can be found at Valhalla, located in an old chemistry building at Rice University. College kids into serious reflection rather than serious boozing rub elbows with grad students and professors conversing intelligently over $1 beers—seriously the bartenders work on a volunteer basis and the bar is non-profit so, yeah, $1 beers. So if you missed out on your college years or just don't exactly remember them too clearly, pop into Valhalla, a truly unique Houston neighborhood bar.

West Alabama Ice House

1919 W. Alabama St., Houston, Texas; Tel. 713.528.6874

The West Alabama Ice House has been serving its particular Houston neighborhood ice cold beer and good times for over 75 years, never succumbing to either frills or fads. This is a true Houston neighborhood bar classic that plays out more like a daily backyard barbecue than anything else, you'll likely see the same regulars day in and day out, but the West Alabama Ice House's down home country vibe really makes it incredibly easy for newcomers to fit right in.

That should be some good stuff to start with. I don't spend near as

much time in Houston as I used to so some info may be dated. If anyone else has any input on any of this info please let us know

Wish i could remember this great Indian Food spot but the name escapes me.

[mydenvermax]

There's a House/Dubstep mixed event the last day you're in town.

http://www.connektedevents.com/397/mark-farina-saturday-feb-6th-wired-live/

Every city has an -ist site. I check this for live music events sometimes:

http://houstonist.com/

If you want pretentious top40 clubs, go to ei8ht on Washington Ave. No cover, get there before 10:30 or you won't get in. It is what it is.

I echo what Jimmyc said for some of the food, and have some suggestions of my own:

TexMex- Chuys

BBQ - Goode Co. or Rudi's

Sandwiches - Cafe Brasil, Central Market (a grocery store with really good food)

Coffee, tea, places to chill - Agora, Antidote, Empire Cafe, Te house of Tea, Teahouse on shepherd and westheimer (boba)

Vietnamese - Thien An Sandwiches

Indian - Khyber, Madras Pavilion

Turkish - Pasha

Chinese - Fufu Cafe, San Dong Noodle House (both in chinatown)

Dessert - Hank's Ice Cream, Cake at Empire Cafe, Crave Cupcakes

Houston "experiences":

Eat at "The Breakfast Klub" one morning. It's famous for its strange ethnic breakfasts, you may see a Houston rapper while you're there, especially on the weekend.

Houston has an underground tunnel system downtown that is kinda interesting around lunchtime. If your conference is downtown, go explore down there and see how we cut ourselves out a tunnel so we never have to leave the air conditioning in the summer.

Yeah, there's pretty much nothing to do in houston besides eat. But the food is good. We have more restaurants per capita than any city in the US

[blm14]

Oh wow it blows that I'm flying out on saturday - I would have loved to see mark farina again

[geneticdrifter]

first and foremost. rental car good.

Food:

tex/mex - la tapatia on richmond. or http://www.escalantes.net/. the latter is not as authentic "mexican" but it is great tex/mex. queso blanco. need i say more. The "Houston" choice would be Pappasitos.

vietnamese - pho is everywhere. i don't eat it too often but i will post my fav place name when i get the correct spelling. But its a block form the George R. Brown and maybe four from Minute Maid. For things other than pho, Kim Son is great. huge menu. House special is half a fried chicken with sticky rice and a honey type of sauce. made to order (takes likr 15min) but oh so worth it. Late night, as in all night, Vietnamese is Mai's. famous in houston for after the club food.

other- Melting Pot (fondue), Gravitas(great food., and for sushi Azuma (best in town). steak houses are too numerous to mention. You can find one for any budget. breakfast: kolaches. try a shipleys. they are all over the city. oh and amy's ice cream.

drinking: I recommend the Davenport. Huge selection of nice liqour. chill atmosphere and if you tip well they fill it up. STIFF drinks. Downtown drinking is good at Dean's. On main st right in the middle of everything.

Houston has great art. Our Museums of Natural History, Fine and Contemporary Arts are world class. if you do one art related thing, go to the Rothko Chapel or see the Menil Collection. Rothko would be a great place to clear your mind of business things. I won't attempt to describe The Rothko, just take twenty minutes and go. Menil is world class modern art, an extensive collection.

note on museums: they are in a "district" of sorts. all relatively close together which is good. and you have the light rail nearby. convenient. Zoo is around these parts too.

Wednesday Night - Potroast@Last Concert Cafe. Live music. Good Mexican Food. Always smells like someone forgot to do their shirt laundry. Drum circle at midnight. Doobies.

Montrose and Westheimer. Houston's gay/counterculture "district." has some history to it, but i won't bore you. Nice shopping. Antique shops down Westheimer more.

gotta rep my bookstore. DOMY http://www.domystore.com/ on westheimer in between montrose and the antique block. good walk.

ummm if you are looking for anything more specific holler. but thats a good start.

[mydenvermax]

Good article just came out about some decent restaurants in Htown:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/travel/07choice.html?pagewanted=1&ref=style

I can vouch for Reef. It's good. I got the amberjack that the journalist talks about.

[islandboi8204]

bump. heading to houston later this month for a wedding. any other suggestions?

reef looks good, but i dunno if i wanna be eating the gulf's seafood at the moment... heh

[geneticdrifter]

what part of houston? its giant.

[islandboi8204]

downtown? we're staying at the magnolia hotel, 1100 texas ave. only plan so far is watching an astros game. do i need to rent a car to get the most out of the city?

[ChiTownHustla]

Born and raised in Houston. Magnolia is a nice hotel downtown. As far as food goes, I'd say it's the most worthwhile thing for tourists to do. Houston isn't a tourist town, and I wouldn't waste your time going to NASA (far north and really boring), or even Galveston (beach).

IMO Houston is the definitely a top restaurant city in America. Try Goode Company for BBQ (it's near Rice Univ), and Lupe Tortilla for beef fajitas. Chicken & waffles at the Breakfast Klub for brunch downtown. Go to Ruggles Bakery for their white chocolate bread pudding...it's very legit.

Shopping in Houston mainly revolves around the Galleria (as far as malls go, it's probably the best shopping mall in America). Houston doesn't have a downtown outdoor shopping street (ie: 5th Ave, Michigan Ave, etc), so the Galleria is pretty much our version of that.

If you're into sneakers, check out Premium Goods (it's really close to Goode Company BBQ, so you can hit up one after the other). There's also A-Front on Washington Ave. None of the other sneaker stores in Houston are even

worth checking out IMO.

And yes, you definitely need to rent a car (think Los Angles, but somehow even more spread out).

[Lab]

what it do houston

[cheezedoodles]

Htown blows says me.

I live here.

[Lab]

well thats great news

[psycfunk]

Heading to Dallas today. Anybody have any advice? Here's my thread: http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showthread.php?t=240945

[Disco Nap!]

Htown blows says me.

I live here.

truth. close thread.