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PeregrineA1
03-08-2018, 09:30 AM
We are going to a wedding in Houston in early April. Staying in the museum district.

Any recommendations for a nice dinner. We like funky, we like local food and beverage. Hope to be walking, but Lyft is good too.

Many thanks.
texbike
03-08-2018, 09:43 AM
Houston is a food Mecca! There's a fantastic concentration of good restaurants in the area that you're going to be in. It's close to Montrose, MidTown, and Rice U. Plenty of choices. What kind of food do you like?

Make sure to hit Valhalla on the Rice campus while you're there. Great Banh Mi sandwiches and a great selection of beers on one of the coolest campus bars in Texas.

Texbike
cinco
03-08-2018, 12:08 PM
Yep. Tons of good stuff! There's a place called, actually, Local Foods. Great lunch spot with seasonal, locally-sourced menu.
Concentrations of great restaurants near where you will be would be the Village area, near Rice U or along West Gray between Shepherd and downtown. Fantastic real Mexican food at Hugo's on Westheimer. Hugo Ortega is a veritable star! Enjoy!

Andy
donevwil
03-08-2018, 12:12 PM
No specific recommendations as there are way too many options specific to desired cuisine or experience, but I'll ditto what's been shared already. Houston is an absolute foodie mecca. Do yourself a favor and hit some of the diverse ethnic options.
srcarter
03-08-2018, 01:30 PM
I've always enjoyed Churrasco's and its related (more upscale) restaurant Americas. Both are South American. There is a lot of great Vietnamese food in Houston (though focused a bit away from where you are). I also am partial to TX BBQ - not exactly "nice dinner" but great food (check out The Pit Room).
azrider
03-08-2018, 01:36 PM
This is what I thought when i saw this thread

http://www.aventurausa.com/abj/images/houstonsinaventura.jpg
apple
03-08-2018, 03:48 PM
Houston is a food mecca, it's true. You'll have a good, kinda funky experience in the Museum District/Montrose at, in order of distance but all pretty walkable: Pax Americana, Cafe Azur, Dolce Vita, Baba Yega, and Boheme (my top recommendation). Also You can walk to Grand Prize Bar from the first two easily if you want a dive bar. Also in the area is Brookstreet BBQ, which is the best BBQ inside of Houston city limits (best in the metro area, and the world, is Killens in Pearland), but that's not really a "funky" spot.

My favorite overall funky drinking spot in the area-ish is Axelrad Beer Garden. It's walking distance, but I don't recommend actually walking as the area in between is a little rough. Under the Volcano is where many of the good bartenders in Houston learn to make drinks, and is also qualified as "in the area."

If you want to go a little further, Okra Charity Saloon in Downtown is one of my favorites for drinks and some food, and plenty of places to eat around there. The other direction in Museum District is Dak & Bop, who regularly win awards for their korean double-fried chicken wings. There are really lots of places, these are just some of my favorites in the Museum District/Montrose and you can walk to all of them except the Downtown ones.

Avoid anything Barnabys or Niko Nikos.

Ideal night for me if I were trying to stay a little low-key and funky and in the general area would be dinner/drinks at Boheme and then off to Under the Volcano for great cocktails, or swap Volcano for Okra/Axelrad depending on your taste after reading the reviews.

To the comment above: Valhalla is good, I met my wife there, but they don't make any food there. The food that they do have (like occasionally bahn mi) is ordered to go in bulk and put in the fridge for the day. So I wouldn't really count on any particular type of food. Ultra cheap drinks though, cash only.
alexstar
03-08-2018, 03:52 PM
Ninfa's for Mexican food.
Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland for steak. There's your nice dinner.
La Carafe - wine bar in the oldest building in downtown Houston.
Captain Benny's for fried shrimp (and everything else) served in a festive boat-shaped atmosphere.
R3awak3n
03-08-2018, 03:53 PM
Funny people mention Houston as a food mecca, that is basically what they just said on that new David Chang food show on netflix.
acoffin
03-08-2018, 04:39 PM
Ninfa's for Mexican food.
Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland for steak. There's your nice dinner.
La Carafe - wine bar in the oldest building in downtown Houston.
Captain Benny's for fried shrimp (and everything else) served in a festive boat-shaped atmosphere.

Speaking of Killen's. Killen's Barbecue in Pearland is really unbeleivable. I stopped eating meat since I was there last summer, but if I am back there anytime soon I would have to get some brisket. Highly recommend for truely great Texas bbq.
PeregrineA1
03-09-2018, 12:38 PM
Thank you all. Great stuff. We are looking forward to checking some these places out.


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MadRocketSci
03-09-2018, 03:27 PM
I thought every restaurant in Houston started with "Pappa-" ;)
bikinchris
03-09-2018, 06:01 PM
I thought every restaurant in Houston started with "Pappa-" ;)

I love Pappasito's. My wife and I go whenever we drive to Houston. They really do have good Tex-Mex. A LOT better than Ninfa's IMO. Our local Ninfas closed even here in Louisiana. Not good enough to keep it busy.
Do NOT order fajitas for two at Pappasito's. Unless you are at least 4 people.
Pappas BBQ is passable. Pappadeaux's is to be avoided, unless you like bad versions of Cajun/Creole food.
I've never been to their burger or Greek food places,
The Pappas family must own hundreds of restaurants. Their service is always very good, the prices pretty reasonable and every place is busy.
donevwil
03-09-2018, 06:09 PM
I developed an unhealthy affection for Hickory Hollow. Not suited to the OP's quest, but a stop I have to make every visit to Houston. I have chicken fried steak and fried okra running through my veins.
Hellgate
03-09-2018, 06:38 PM
You MUST go to the Empire Cafe for breakfast. On Westheimer. Trust me, really...

Pappa anything is mass produced, expensive chain food. Avoid.

If you want chain Messican, go to Chuys... Cheap, much less grease, and Elvis Fried Chicken, with Hatch green chilli.

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PeregrineA1
03-09-2018, 06:42 PM
No chain and probably no Tex Mex. I’ve had a lot of Tex Mex in Austin and I just can’t get excited about. I’m spoiled by the Mexican food here in So Cal and, oddly enough, Mexico.


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bikinchris
03-09-2018, 06:44 PM
You MUST go to the Empire Cafe for breakfast. On Westheimer. Trust me, really...

Pappa anything is mass produced, expensive chain food. Avoid.

If you want chain Messican, go to Chuys... Cheap, much less grease, and Elvis Fried Chicken, with Hatch green chilli.

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We have a Chuy's here now and it is far more expensive and not quite as good as Pappasito's.
Hellgate
03-09-2018, 06:46 PM
We have a Chuy's here now and it is far more expensive and not quite as good as Pappasito's.Oh hardly. Pappas is about 20% more.

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bikinchris
03-09-2018, 06:50 PM
Oh hardly. Pappas is about 20% more.

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Maybe in Texas. Their place here is on some prime real estate. I have been to the original Chuy's in Austin and it was better.
We also share an order the fajitas for one at Pappas and an extra charro bean serving and always have another meal left over.
steelbikerider
03-09-2018, 10:45 PM
I will second the Killen's restuarants although it is a 30-40 min drive to Pearland from where you will be. Both the steak house and the BBQ place usually rank in the top 5 in TX and the BBQ won a top prize at the recent Houston Rodeo cook off in the commercial division. I prefer the BBQ beef ribs to the brisket. Get reservations for the steak house and come early in the morning for the BBQ. They open at 11 and the line forms at 10, Expect to wait for an hour or longer.