Ra Sushi

We love sushi. We love trying new sushi places. And we love Ra.

The space itself is cool. We stopped in on a Sunday afternoon, when business was slow and service was fast. However, I'm sure that this place is very busy (and probably very fun) on a Saturday night. I could see this being an awesome place for a party or an after-party.

We started with edamame and some very good sashimi. Everything was fresh and well-prepared.

The real standout, however, was the crispy spicy tuna. These tasty little babies took a while to cook, but the wait was worth it.



It's a spicy tuna mix served over fried rice balls with a spicy-sweet chili soy sauce. Everything on the plate worked well together and had a purpose. They tasted like sesame, hot chilis, fish and deep-fried wonderful. I could honestly eat these all day, but they (thankfully) limit the portion sizes so that you leave feeling satisfied and not over-full. Otherwise I could easily see myself rolling out of there.

Vida

When I made my reservation for Vida, I received an email from the manager asking if it was our first time at the restaurant, and offering us a free queso. Super-nice first impression, and things only went up from there.

Vida is located in River Oaks, near the world's best Target (seriously, I love it). The decor is beautiful: jewel tone walls, nude art, and an absolutely gorgeous bar. This is the "sexy" part in "sexy Tex-Mex."

We started with very good/strong margaritas. Us ladies got orchids in ours. Gimmick? Yes. Pretty? Yes.



Our queso, though free, was bland, but my tempura shrimp tacos were very good. The shrimp was crispy and not at all greasy, and served with a nice cool slaw and a cute little mound of brown rice. Pretty to look at too.



The most remarkable thing about Vida is how low the prices are. My tacos were $14, and I got a LOT of very good food in a very nice setting for that money.

So let's see ... beautiful decor, friendly staff, good food, low prices ... and yet Vida was practically empty. It was a Saturday night and only 4 other tables were occupied. I don't get it.

Please, please eat at Vida. I do NOT want to see this place go under. There are plenty of places to get good Tex Mex in Houston, and plenty of places to get upscale Spanish food in Houston, but Vida is filling a unique need: upscale Tex Mex. And they're filling it well. GO!

Hunan Garden

I'm tired. It's a Monday, it's cold, and I'm trying (mostly unsuccessfully) to talk myself out of eating every candied pecan that I made for my husband. With all that in mind, I'm going to keep my review of Hunan Garden simple.

Pros: The website is VERY nice. Online ordering is extremely easy, and the food arrives quickly. Our delivery person was very nice and had no problem getting through the gate or letting us pay with a credit card. These are things we actually worry about, after a lifetime of bad delivery experiences.

Cons: The food is very basic. I know that I also described Yao's as basic, but the difference is that you can taste the quality of the ingredients at Yao's. Simple, traditional Chinese food is good if it's well made, but this sadly wasn't. Everything was pretty bland and tasted the same. Worse, we paid the same amount of money for take-out from Hunan Garden as we did for a sit-down meal (with drinks) at Yao's. For the price you can do a lot better.

Oishii

And the greater Houston sushi tour continues ...

Two Saturdays ago, the husband and I stopped into Oishii for one of their (very inexpensive) lunch specials, 9 pieces of sashimi for $8.95. Seriously. Nine pieces, for under $9.

Remarkable.

The sashimi is exactly what you would expect for $9: basic selections of tuna and whitefish chosen by the chef, not every piece is perfectly cut, and some pieces are better than others. Nothing was terrible, and a few of these little bites were actually very tasty. It was all served by friendly and efficient staff in a clean, well-decorated space.

I've always said that there are some things that you shouldn't buy on sale: condoms, LASIK and sushi. I take that back (at least for the sushi). You should probably still pay full price for the other two.

Special Out of Town Edition: In N Out Burger (Dallas)

Those are good burgers, dude.

The Tasting Room

Ah, wine bars. At some point my husband and I must have grown up, because we stopped doing this and started doing this instead. Cool with me, as long as we end up at a friendly and accommodating wine bar. Unfortunately, we didn't find The Tasting Room to be exactly what we were looking for.

It all starts and ends with the service. We were seated in the back of the bar, near the private wine storage lockers. Not exactly an ideal spot, as the waiters had to ask us to move every time a patron requested a bottle from their locker. When our (first) waiter approached, he immediately asked "How long have you been here?", which leads me to believe that sometimes customers seated in this area get ignored or forgotten. We did.

At some point our waiter left and we got another one. Not that anyone introduced him to us. He just showed up and started taking our orders. Eventually he disappeared too, and we had to flag down a busboy to get our check. During the brief period that we had a waiter, he wasn't a good one. He kept removing the wine list from our table, which makes no sense if he wanted us to continue to order. At one point he forgot to bring one of our friends his drink. When we asked for it, he snapped "I thought you said no!! Alright alright!"

Bizarre.

One good thing did come out of this strange situation: the very sweet manager saw us being forced to move for the umpteenth time, and provided us with a complimentary glass of wine and a nice cheese platter.



This tiny act of charity is the only reason why we would return to Tasting Room. After that kind of service, you really need a shot.

RDG + Bar Annie

We went to RDG+Bar Annie with a large group of my coworkers. One of them recently started a new job, and this place was his choice. I have to say, it wasn't a bad one. RDG is great for celebrations, with its luxe interior and very large drinks menu. But, as should be obvious from the website, it's a nice place. It lends itself to a quiet, adult type of celebration only -- something we understood, but some other patrons did not (more on that later).

We started with the Bar Annie nachos with red chile beef. These nachos looked a lot prettier than your standard bar fare, but they still offered all the meaty satisfaction of regular nachos. They were fun to eat and there were plenty for everyone at the table to enjoy. Recommended.

For dinner, I had the chef's special snapper. This was also a very pretty and satisfying dish. The fish was perfectly cooked and arrived with very good mashed potatoes and green beans. No complaints here.



Service was standout. Our waiter was polite, friendly and extremely professional. He had lots of helpful suggestions and obviously knew his menu well. Check-plus-smiley-face for that.

So with good food, nice decor and impeccable service, you might wonder why I'm not more excited about RDG+Bar Annie. The truth is, it's not really the restaurant's fault. It's that the people at the table next to us were EXTREMELY intoxicated. I'm talking loud speeches, ladies-falling-out-of-their-shirts, men-yelling-curse-words intoxicated ... and they arrived that way. The problem was, no one at the restaurant seemed to want to do anything about that, and there's where they lost me.

RDG+Bar Annie is decorated and staffed like a fine dining restaurant. Their prices certainly are on-par with other fine dining restaurants. So, I think, patrons have the right to expect a fine dining atmosphere. A fine dining atmosphere usually doesn't include loud drunk people making announcements to the entire dining room. If RDG wants to be a "fun" bar and allow people to act like that, that's fine, but they should market themselves that way (and drop the prices considerably). If they want to be "The Best Steakhouse in Houston" then this kind of behavior should not be tolerated.

Convivio

Last year around this time I blogged about Table Seven. It's gone now. I'm not surprised; the food just wasn't fabulous. While I hate to see a local restaurant go under, I'm glad that we got the chance to experience its replacement, Convivio.

Tapas is one of our favorite concepts, and the menu at Convivio did not disappoint. We ended up trying quite a few of these little dishes: braised oxtail montatido (which was served on bread); prime sirloin with beer sauce (also a montadito, served on bread); chorizo croquettes (pictured above); foie gras (pictured below); and the meatballs. To wash all that down we had a bottle of Spanish red wine, chosen off the enormous wine list which is cleverly presented pasted to an empty bottle.

Both the food and drink menu are so large that there really is something for everyone. Because we sampled so many dishes, I'll break it down as quickly and succinctly as I can:

Braised oxtail: a little stringy but very flavorful. The portion was much larger than expected; what arrived was more akin to an open-faced sandwich than a canape.

Prime Sirloin: by far the best dish of the night. Sweet and savory, nice sized portion, very tender meat.

Croquette: nothing to write home about. Not enough chorizo flavor, oddly sweet filling, and I couldn't really tell what went into the dipping sauce, but I didn't love it. Skip.

Foie: not the best foie we have ever had (that was August), but still tasty. Probably because foie is ALWAYS tasty. Worth a shot, if you know and like foie and want an inexpensive fix.

Meatballs: our waiter recommend them. Good standard fare. Tasty sauce and arrived very quickly. I could see this being popular with a large variety of people.

Our server was sweet, competent, and happy to offer suggestions (particularly in choosing the wine). Unlike its predecessor, Convivio had a healthy crowd, and I have a good feeling that it's going to make it.

Skyline Deli

The Skyline Deli is located in the bottom of my building, but I have avoided eating there, as I heard a nasty rumor that the manager refused to let an employee take food home at the end of the night, but forced her to watch the manager throw it out instead. That kind of waste and spitefulness was enough to make me lose my appetite. However, I forgot my lunch on Tuesday, and I was desperate. It was Skyline or the Burger King across the street, and I went to Skyline for convenience. Poor choice.

The workers at Skyline can best be described as surly. They wanted nothing to do with me; I had to ask for my diet coke three times, and was never once met with a smile or a thank-you. Oh well. Maybe being forced to throw out leftovers does that to people.

However, after sampling the food, I'm not sure why anyone would want to take it home. I got two pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes and white gravy. The potatoes and gravy were fine, which is good, since they were all I ended up eating. The chicken was so greasy it was practically inedible. Add to that the fact that I asked for -- and paid extra for -- white meat and ended up with a thigh and a leg (NOT white meat) and I was not a happy camper.

I didn't take a picture, but trust me, the internet's not missing out on much.

There are a lot of things about my job that I don't understand. I don't understand why people leave the disposable toilet seat covers on the seat after they use them. I don't understand why the difference between "reply" and "reply all" is so confusing to some people. But more than anything, I don't understand how ANYONE manages to choke down a lunch from Skyline Deli every day -- but some people do.

If you're ever on Bissonnet and you're hungry, go to Burger King. Or there's some gum stuck to the ground in our parking lot. Seriously, you're better off -- and you won't have to pay extra for any particular color of gum.

Soma

I'm not going to lie: we wanted to try Soma because we liked the name. Say it aloud: SOOOOMAA. It's fun, and guess what: so is the restaurant.

The menu at Soma is HUGE and very creative. We started with some fun custom cocktails and two pieces of yellowtail with foie gras and Asian pear jam.



Unfortunately, these little pieces weren't particularly easy to eat. The fish was so tender that a chopstick easily cut through it, leaving us with small pieces of fish and large pieces of foie to eat separately. A great idea, but the execution just wasn't perfect.

Another fun idea was the Crazy Irish Man roll. I wish I could remember what was in this little baby; the menu on the website said it has shrimp, but I know that's not true, because my husband is allergic to shrimp and he shared it with me. All I know is that it's green, it's nowhere near traditional sushi, and it's one of the most delicious fried foods I've ever had. And I love fried food.



We also had some yellowtail sashimi. It was fresh, clean, and a good balance to the otherwise insane meal.



Oh, and we had sake. Lots of sake.

Service at Soma was friendly (with the exception of the hostess, who may have been having a bad ... life) and accommodating. Our waitress happily split the bill and gave us plenty of time to examine the massive menu. And although the decor is chic and the food is delicious, the prices aren't too bad either -- this is truly upscale dining that anyone could (and should) enjoy.

Because you can't eat out ALL the time ...

I'm hosting a Tastefully Simple party tomorrow night. What is Tastefully Simple? It's a company that sells delicious,SUPER easy-to-prepare drink, dip, cake and snack mixes through the mail. Everything is very inexpensive and shipping is actually pretty fast. Plus a lot of the items would make great holiday, wedding or housewarming gifts.

If you're interested in ordering online, go to their website, click on "Shop Our Products" and use the Host Lookup to search for my party. Let me or my consultant, Denice Eliades, know if you have any questions. And act fast -- Denice will keep the party "open" for a while, but I don't know how long, so I recommend ordering before the end of the weekend.

And tell your friends!

360 Sports Lounge

FOOTBALL SEASON!! My husband lives for it, and I live with it. Thankfully there are cool places like 360 Sports Lounge to watch football. 360 has everything you could ask for in a sports bar: lots of (big) TVs, friendly staff, plenty of beer, and of course good food.

My husband, some friends and I stopped in to watch the Cowboys play on a Sunday afternoon. The place was packed, as there was also a Texans game on, but the doorman let us have a "reserved" table by the door. We ordered a round of beers and some classic football snacks: sliders, onion rings and the above-pictured buffalo wings. Nothing was amazing in a this-is-where-I-want-to-have-my-last-meal way, but nothing was bad either. I did think that the onion slaw on the sliders was a little too sweet, but I really liked the breading on the onion wings, and the wings were perfectly spicy and very large.

I think I can best "review" 360 by saying this: we're going back this Sunday to watch whatever game is on. If it's too crowded, we'll go somewhere else, and no one will complain. But if we can fit, then we'll eat at 360 -- and we'll have a good time.

Blue Fish

My husband recently got the amazing news that he is no longer allergic to scaled fish. We have spent the past few weeks celebrating by eating as much fish as physically possible. One stand-out find from this quest for fish is Blue Fish, an upscale sushi place a few blocks from his office.

Blue Fish
has plenty of parking, but requires that customers use their (free) valet service, which seems a little silly and unnecessary to me. Once inside, patrons are greeted by a very calming and elegant atmosphere: a neon-blue bar area, taxidermied schools of fish on the walls, and cool music on the sound system. We felt a little under-dressed in our tee shirts and jeans, but our friendly and extremely efficient waitress didn't seem to mind.

We decided to do some sashimi and a couple of appetizers, along with martinis from the bar. The small plates menu is impressive, but we eventually settled on kobe beef potstickers, Peking duck cigars, and edamame. It seemed like a lot of food, but the service was stand-out fast; we had a table full of dishes within 10 minutes of ordering. Everything was good, but the real standout was the tuna.



This tuna was perfect. Just ... perfect. Simple, clean, and incredibly fresh, this was the type of dish that immediately sells you on the entire restaurant. There was nothing to complain about otherwise, but even if there had been, it would have been forgiven and forgotten once the sashimi arrived. Amazing.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention dessert. Usually desserts at Asian restaurants are very simple and not particularly good, but we were (somehow) still hungry at the end of the meal and decided to go for it. Our waitress suggested we try this beautiful concoction of fried wontons, custard, ice-cream (we went with cinnamon) and fresh fruit. I think the picture says it all:



This dish was exuberant and fun, and tasted like the delicious love-child of fried ice-cream and creme brulee. Try it -- it will change your mind about Asian restaurant desserts!

The Yardhouse

We've been to The Yardhouse in San Antonio and we really enjoyed it, so we decided to give the one in Houston's City Centre a try. We were with a relatively large group (7 people -- one less than we needed for Yardhouse to accept a reservation) on a beautiful Saturday night, so I was surprised at how short the wait was for an outdoor table. I was also pleasantly surprised that our waitress immediately offered to split the check for us. So far, so good.

Our table started with a round of beers from the huge and ecclectic list and a serving of truffle fries. There were enough of these crispy little shoestrings for everyone to get a try, and they really tasted like truffles. That's great if you like truffles, but I don't.* Everyone else seemed to enjoy them though.

For dinner I got a house favorite, the Mac and Cheese (squared).



A HUGE dish of campanelli pasta arrived, smothered in cheese, mushrooms, chicked and bacon. The menu also claimed that the dish includes truffle oil, but luckily for me, I couldn't taste that.* What I did taste was the tangy cheese blend and the smoky bacon. It was dressed-up comfort food at its very best and there was enough to take home for lunch on Monday.

The atmoshpere could not have been more pleasant. The football game was on the outdoor TV, but the sound was off and the company was interesting enough that we didn't completely lose the men in our group. Our waitress did a good job managing all of us without being over-bearing, and as far as I know, everyone left happy. In my book that's enough to earn Yardhouse a recommendation from me.


*No, I don't know why I don't like truffles. Yes, I know they're a delicacy and everyone with half a palate loves them. No, I don't think my disliking truffles makes me unfit to write about food.

Out of Town Special: Butcher Boys

My husband had to take a deposition in Nacogdoches and I went along for the ride. His coworker Fred really likes Butcher Boys, so I thought I would give it a shot.



What I got was a delicious hand-formed patty of fresh (they grind it in-house) ground beef served on a warm and crusty bun with lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayo. The meat was perfectly cooked, with just enough "ooze", and the fries on the side were well-seasoned and more-than-serviceable. It was inexpensive, accessible and filling -- a delicious meal to fill up with before we headed back to Houston.

Butcher Boys offers a ton of other meals, from rib-eye steak to hot links, but I can't comment on those. All I can say is that Butcher Boys is a great addition to my already long list of great Texas burger dives. Nom!

Special Out of Town Edition: Garrett's

I want to preface this post by saying that I love Waco Texas. It's where I went to law school, where I met my husband, and where some of my best friends (the folks we ate with at Garrett's) live. I love the idea of a "Waco Renaissance" and I love supporting new businesses -- especially small businesses -- that move to Downtown Waco.

All that said, I didn't love Garrett's.

Garrett's motto is that "fine dining is finally affordable." And Garrett's was affordable. It's whether it was truly "fine dining" that's disputable.

Our table started with a plate of hummus. What arrived was a very, very orange scoop of dip with pita chips. It tasted fine, but it didn't look like any kind of hummus that I've ever seen before. It wasn't enough to make discourage me (yet), and I ordered the seared ahi tuna for dinner.



That is where things got bad. Look, I understand that Waco is nowhere near the ocean, and that therefore fish has to be shipped in frozen sometimes. That's fine. Unfortunately, this fish did not taste like it had been properly defrosted, probably because it was sliced so thickly. That's not fine. The texture of the tuna was completely off. It was hard to cut and even harder to eat. The rice served with the tuna had a wonderful flavor, but was overwhelmed by the slightly-odd sauce beneath it. Overall, I just can't say that I enjoyed this dish.


For dessert we tried the "chocolate peanut butter lasagna" (really just a chocolate-peanut butter layer cake), which was similarly unbalanced. The flavors were good, but the layers were stacked so high that it was hard to eat it without tipping it onto it's side, and the peanut butter filling was so rich that it would be impossible to finish. In this instance a smaller portion would have actually been better.



Service was friendly, but green. Our server accidentally removed our knives after the appetizer and didn't replace them, leaving us to steal knives from the empty table behind us. There were many employees gathered around the bar area with seemingly nothing to do, and they could -- and should -- have helped our server to ensure those kind of minor snafus didn't happen. Oh, and there was a fruit fly in my water. Not exactly the kind of fine dining experience I was hoping for.

The real pity here is that downtown Waco is in desperate need of cool new gathering spots. Garrett's might come around in time, but if it doesn't improve, I just can't see it lasting long. Until and unless it gets better, I suggest trying a less-fancy but delicious alternative while in Waco: get yourself a burger.

Gravitas

Like last week, this week's restaurant can be summed up in one word, but it's not disappointing. For Gravitas, I'm going to have to go with cool. The decor is cool. Our server was cool. And the menu is most certainly very cool.

We started with the goat cheese tart with red onion jam and fennel slaw. What arrived was akin to a little pizza filled with a warm and savory goat cheese mixture. When eaten together, the three elements combined to create something crispy, satisfying and fun to eat. Highly recommended.



For dinner I had the mussels cooked in Stella Artois. These babies were quality, meaty and fresh. It was a very simple meal, but simple is good, as long as it's done well. And this was done very well.



On the side I had a HUGE bowl of fries (nothing special) served with a variety of dipping sauces (fun, though overwhelming). Obviously portion control is not a priority at Gravitas. You get a lot for your money -- bring friends who like to share.



I also have to mention the talented staff at the bar. I had a signature cocktail, the blood orange whiskey smash. Though it was a little pricey, this drink was just about perfect. The bartender at Gravitas is giving the staff at TQLA a run for their money, and that's saying a lot.

Overall, Gravitas is a sophisticated, hip little place with a creative chef and fabulous mixed drinks. This is the perfect place for date night, girls night, or a mommy-and-daddy-need-grown-up-time night. Try it -- you won't be disappointed, and you won't leave hungry.

Special Out of Town Edition: 901 Postoffice

One word for 901 Postoffice: disappointment. I had heard and read so many good things about this place. Maybe we caught it on an off night. Or maybe it's just ... not that good.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't terrible. The building (an old house) was kind of neat but half-empty. When I told the hostess that we had a reservation, she gave me a look that can only be described as nasty. Right off the bat I knew that she didn't like me, I didn't like her, and I wasn't sure why.

We tried an appetizer of smoked Texas sausage with quail egg. This was actually pretty yummy. The sausage was slightly crispy and paired well with the warm, soft egg yolk. We finished it easily.



For dinner, I had grilled gulf snapper with crab wontons. The snapper was fine, but the wontons were too heavy and the filling too sweet. It coated by palate and made it difficult to taste the fish. I only ate half of it.



Dinner for 4, with two bottles of wine and one dessert, came to a little over $300. I guess that's a good value for fine dining, but I wouldn't spend it on this again. Our server was very friendly and competent, but it was so dark in there that we never did get a good look at him -- one more little peculiarity about 901 Postoffice that did not add to the experience.

PS: the next morning we had breakfast at a little dive on the seawall. For just a couple of bucks, I got an amazing breakfast, a HUGE mimosa, and to watch dolphins swim in the ocean, all in a laid-back (and well-lit) atmosphere. My point? When you're at the beach, embrace your inner beach bum. Let fine dining wait until you're back in the city.

Yao's

A friend of mine once said, "If there's one thing professional athletes know, it's food." Obviously he was being completely facetious. Let's face it -- celebrity restaurants aren't always the best places to eat (Kenny Roger's Roasters, anyone?). However Yao's (owned by basketball player Yao Ming)was recently featured on Huffington Post's 25 Best Celebrity-Owned Restaurants List, so I thought I would give it a shot.

From the outside Yao's doesn't look like much. Don't let that dissuade you, because the inside is very spacious and actually quite elegant. The menu is very large, but seeing as how my husband is out of town this week and I can openly eat shellfish, I went directly for the shrimp chow mein (on the right in the picture below).



As you can see, portions at Yao's are quite generous. My chow mein was pretty basic: noodles, shrimp, some green onions and carrots. The shrimp were perfectly cooked (not always a given) and everything was tasty, but it was ... basic. My friend/stand-in husband, Grady, had a similar opinion of his pork dish. It was big, inexpensive, well cooked, but nothing special. BUT it was served by very nice people in a very nice space, and that does count for something.

Is Yao's the best restaurant I've ever been to? Heck no. Is it the best celebrity restaurant? Sure ... but the only other celebrity cuisine I've ever sampled is the aforementioned Roasters. My suggestion is to forget the celebrity connection and enjoy Yao's for what it is: tasty and accessible low-cost food. And nothing more.

Dolce Vita

My friend Adnan (the only person who seems to eat out more than I do) recommended Dolci Vita, so my husband and I hit it up on a hot Saturday afternoon. All the sane people were eating inside, so we decided to take a table outside to make our wait shorter.

It was quite warm on the otherwise lovely patio, so to cool down, my husband had a Peroni and I ordered a diet Coke. Unfortunately, the soda machine was broken, so our sweet and accommodating waitress brought me an imported regular Coke in a glass bottle. So far things were not going so well.

Everything began to look up when our appetizers arrived. We had two: anchovies with peppers and scallions and a special off-menu artichoke stuffed with salami and bread crumbs.



Both of these dishes were real treats. The anchovies were delightfully salty and savory, especially when paired with roasted red peppers and capers. It was kind of like taking a bite out of the ocean (but not in a gross way). The stuffed artichoke was warm, crusty and very filling -- something that should definitely be added to the menu full-time, or at least for the fall and winter. For the summer, however, it might be a bit too heavy to be called an appetizer. It's really big and hearty enough to serve as a meal.

We could (and probably should) have stopped with the apps, but since it is a pizzeria, we caved and ordered the Margarita Pizza, their most popular pie.



Overall this was a successful pizza. Tomato, basil and mozzarella are obviously a crowd-pleasing flavor combination. My husband thought that the crust was too thin and therefore got soggy. I really like a thin crust, however; it's reminiscent of what I grew up with in New York. My only complaint was that the pieces of basil were too big and too few. I think that this dish would be better if the basil was chopped into slightly-smaller pieces, so that you never end up eating a bite of pizza without all three flavors (or end up eating a bite of just basil).

Dolce Vita is a nice little find in the Montrose area. The staff are hardworking and friendly and the food is made with fresh ingredients and authentic recipes. At a place like this, the enjoyability of the experience really comes down to the guest --the more adventurous you are, the more likely you are to have a memorable meal. So go ahead and order a plain old pizza, but get some anchovies too. You'll find that the anchovies probably make the meal.

PS: parking in this area can be tricky, and cars are frequently ticketed/booted/towed. Your best bet is to utilize the low-cost valet service at the restaurant, or to park on Whitney Street, next to the restaurant. Pay very close attention to parking signs, where other cars are parked, and the advice of the restaurant staff. And remember not to block anyone's driveway!

Rio Ranch

Remember when I wrote my little rant about "voting" for restaurants with your business, and how you shouldn't frequent restaurants out of habit when they're not very good? Well, that principle works both ways. The only thing that bothers me more than seeing a really bad restaurant remain open is watching a really good one close. And I'm worried that is exactly what will happen to Rio Ranch if something doesn't change soon.

My family and I visited on a Saturday night and were surprised to find that we were one of only two tables of patrons. Since they were visiting from NY, I wanted to choose a restaurant that really said "Texas", and I couldn't have done a better job. Rio Ranch is decorated with steer heads, a large stone fireplace, and (friendly and professional) waiters wearing bolo ties.

The special that night was filet mignon with cream sauce, a baked potato and a skewer of shrimp and veggies. Quite an impressive plate of food!



And not a bite of it was bad. Every single one of us had a perfectly cooked piece of meat and shrimp. We were also treated to very good margaritas and large beers. It wasn't cheap or fast, but it wasn't overly expensive or fancy either -- the meal was comparable in price and the restaurant in atmosphere to Outback. Only the food was a lot better than at Outback.

So I'll end this review with a plea: please, please go to Rio Ranch. I hate seeing local places go under, particularly really good places. And Rio Ranch is really good.

Greatfull Taco

What do you get when you cross a Deadhead, some really good tacos, and a cooler full of beer? You get Greatfull Taco, and you're pretty happy with your results.

My husband and I started with a bowl of queso and chips. The queso was spicier than I thought it would be, but in a refreshing way. In a city full of bland queso it's nice to get one with a little kick to wake your taste buds up. It's probably nice for the restaurant too, since it likely helps them sell beer and wine -- and they have quite a selection! I had an Ace Pear, which I absolutely recommend with everything.

I had one taco, and my husband had two. I honestly can't remember what he got. I had The Wharf, which is a crispy cod taco with jalapeno mayo, slaw and lime on a corn tortilla. The fish was well cooked and crispy, but honestly there was just too much slaw for me. The jalapeno mayo was good, very spicy, but after the queso my mouth felt a little burned out. Although I guess I should know better than to buy fish tacos. I've already had the best. Anything else is going to be a disappointment.

I tried a bite of one of my husband's tacos (I think it was the brisket) and I really enjoyed that. What's impressive about Greatfull T
aco is the sheer creativity and diversity of the menu. You want an eggplant taco? You got it. How about chicken strips? OK. Mystery meat? Well, I don't know why you want that, but they got it (and all they can promise is it isn't beaver). And none of it will run you more than $3 to $5.

Service at Greatfull Taco is basic. You order at the counter and your food is delivered pretty quickly to your table. I was surprised at how big the inside of the place actually was. Usually places with a fun concept like this are tiny holes-in-the-wall, but Greatfull Taco has plenty of room to accommodate you and all of your hip friends. Try it -- and let me know what you think of the mystery meat!

Red Robin with Special Guest Blogger Greg

Hi all! Sorry it's been so long since the last review ... it's been a heck of a summer. First I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed. Then I had to travel to Connecticut for a wedding. And now Greg, my nine year old brother, is in Houston to visit Cody and I for the week. Last night we took him to Red Robin for dinner, where he greatly enjoyed the Mile High Chocolate Pie. He asked to do a review, and how could I say no? So, without further ado, here it is ...



hello bloggers everywhere!this my second food review. my first review was on pizza blooger.but no buddy cares right now. i am reviewing the RED ROBIN'S mud pie. it starts with whip cream,2 layers of choclate ice cream and 2 layers of OREOS. yum!(you should have a few people to help you finish)

peace
love
and
care

Recipe: Rana's Sausage Spread

This recipe is from my mother-in-law, Rana Ball. Rana lives in Deep East Texas (near the Arkansas border) and subscribes to a VERY Southern kind of cooking. There is nothing low-fat or high-maintenance about this recipe, but it's GOOD.

You'll Need: a pound of fresh ground sausage (try turkey)
2 jars of Old English cheese
2 sticks of butter
Salt, pepper, and a little Cajun seasoning (if you want to kick it up)
English muffins

To Do: Cook the sausage and drain. Add the butter, cheese and spices to the pan and cook on medium until everything is melted and mixed together. Spread mixture onto English muffins. Cook the muffins on 400 degrees for ten minutes, or until muffins are warm and crispy. You can also freeze the uncooked muffins to cook later.

Enjoy!

Absolve Wine Lounge

My husband and I had a Groupon for Absolve Wine Lounge, so we stopped in on a Saturday afternoon. We like Spanish reds, so we went with a mid-priced bottled from Rioja. The bartender approached our table and told us that he enjoyed another red wine (bugger--I didn't get the name!) more, and offered to give it to us for the same price as our Spanish red. We took him up on his offer and ordered some appetizers.

We started with a customer favorite, meatballs with marinara sauce.



These meatballs were pretty good -- moist and flavorful with a slightly spicy marinara sauce. They weren't as good as my meatballs (as my husband reminded me, I have a terrific meatball recipe, which I never use), but they were inexpensive, paired well with the wine, and certainly beat your typical bar fare.

We had the bruschetta at the same time as the meatballs. To be honest, it was a little bland. Skip it.



We were still a little hungry after the meatballs and bruschetta, so we decided to have some cheese. You get to choose three cheeses off of a pretty impressive list, which are paired with crackers, bread, assorted nuts, grapes and honey. We went with cheddar, cambozola (a blue cheese/brie hybrid) and something called the "Drunken Goat" (a goat cheese cured in red wine). Almost everything on the plate was lovely, although the Drunken Goat didn't have the red wine flavor I was hoping for. Choosing the cheeses and trying something new was fun.



The staff at Absolve could not have been more friendly or accommodating. There was one waitress and one bartender, and except for a dishwasher, who made a brief cameo in the restaurant, they seemed like the only staff on site. I don't know if they have an ownership interest in the place, but they certainly work like they do.

Absolve Wine Lounge is a great place to bring friends or a date. The atmosphere is very quiet and soothing, the wine list is impressive, and the food and the service complete the package. Even without a Groupon, we'll be going back. And that is quite a compliment from a family that loves its Groupons.

Ragin' Cajun

I ate at Ragin' Cajun several weeks ago. I didn't have my camera on me, so our friend snapped a pic with his iPhone, and he didn't send the picture until recently. I'll try to remember as much as I can.

We went on a Sunday afternoon and were a little surprised to find a healthy party crowd. It wasn't super-crowded or rowdy, but there were plenty of people drinking plenty of beer. Seemed like my kind of place.

I had the fried oysters. It was the very end of oyster season -- but I'm pretty sure that Ragin' Cajun serves oysters many ways year-round. My fried oysters were served with a spicy cocktail sauce, fries and hushpuppies. I can't really remember more about them, except that I liked them (as much as I generally like all fried oysters).

Here's what they looked like:



In hindsight, I probably should have ordered something a little more ethnically Cajun. I probably should have also blogged about this while I still had some semblance of a memory of the place. I apologize. I can say this: if you like to drink on a Sunday, Ragin' Cajun is the place for you. And that's enough for me.

El Taco Tote

One thing I've discovered since moving to Houston is my deep and abiding love for breakfast tacos. We didn't really have them in NY, and in Waco I was too busy or tired for breakfast most days. My husband and I have tried a few different places for tacos in Houston, and I can easily say that the best, by far, is El Taco Tote.

(Sorry about the music on their website).**

ETT's breakfast tacos are only $1 apiece and are prepared very quickly using fresh, quality ingredients. You have your choice of a wide variety of fillings: potatoes, eggs, chorizo, beans ... you can pretty much name it. I am not a huge fan of eggs, so my favorite is potatoes and chorizo. The chorizo is stand-out; it's not greasy, too spice, or too bland. Perfect for the morning after a rough night (perhaps at Red Lion). So at the end of the day, my review boils down to this: if you're in the mood for breakfast and you have a dollar and a hangover*, definitely try El Taco Tote.

* Note: Hangover not necessary, but helpful.

** Particularly if you have a hangover.

Capital Grille

How's this for romantic? My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary last Sunday. On Saturday night we ate dinner at The Capital Grille in Houston, the same restaurant that we ate at in Washington DC the night after our wedding. I know, I know, I'll give you a second to do it.

AWWW!

Ok, now that we have that out of the way, let's get to the food.

We started with the carpaccio, a starter we enjoyed last year in DC. This is really one of the most delicious appetizers I've had anywhere. You can taste every flavor clearly: the delicate Waygu beef, the tart lemon vinaigrette, and the spicy arugula salad. The best thing about this carpaccio is that it tasted EXACTLY like the one we had a year ago, so that brought back some great memories. And it's pretty too!



I tried something new for dinner this year: bone-in Kona crusted sirloin with a caramelized shallot butter. The waited recommended it because it is very popular, and the dehydrated shallots in the butter remind him of McDonald's burgers (um...OK.). I didn't let that dissuade me, and I actually really enjoyed this steak.



The meat was cooked PERFECTLY and the Kona crust added a nice smoky flavor and slightly crispy finish. The sauce tasted nothing like a McDonald's burger, but was salty, savory and just a little bit sweet. My only complaint was that the meat had a bit more gristle than I like. Oh, and my husband's order (the porcini rubbed Delmonico) was better. But he ALWAYS orders something better than me, so I wasn't surprised.

We had two side dishes (mashed potatoes and creamed spinach) and a bottle of wine (a 2007 Spanish red, I believe), all of which were predictably wonderful. We also had the berries and cream for dessert, which was a light, fresh, perfect-for-summer finish to our delightful meal.

As for service: our waiter was friendly and accommodating, but he was a large step down from the server we worked with last year in DC. Part of it may just be that we were on our honeymoon last year, and there are lots of good feelings associated with that. Another part of it is that we asked our waiter to check on something for us (whether they had a particular side-dish that we really enjoyed in DC) and he failed to follow through. It may be because we looked pretty young compared to other patrons that night; I feel like servers sometime think younger people can't or won't tip well, or don't know the difference between good service and bad. That may be true of many young people, but it's not true of my husband and I. We were there on a special night, we spent a lot of money, and we expected really good service. That we didn't quite get that is the only (minor) complaint I have about an otherwise really good meal.



Oh, and by the way, hi Davis.

Mama's Cafe

Mama's Cafe is housed in a funky little building on Westheimer Avenue. Outside, an old-fashioned Coke sign advertises steak and beer. The cement floor and walkway is speckled with a dog's footprints. The place has a great ambiance, but unfortunately there's a strange sewage/sulfur smell that hangs around the front door, which is probably no fault of the restaurant but doesn't exactly inspire you to eat much.

Inside, the building is much larger than it looks from the street, and thankfully smells better too. The menu is comprised of simple, Southern-inspired foods. I went with a chicken fried steak salad, which was served with very good homemade cornbread and butter.



I'm not going to lie, the salad wasn't anything special. That's probably because of what I ordered. As my husband pointed out, there's not much you can do to mess up some greens with fried chicken on top -- and there's not much you can do to make it great either. It was fresh, filling, tasty and cheap. There's not much more I can say besides that.

Service was friendly and competent. I would -- and will -- definitely go back to Mama's, if only because it's a fun, casual place that wasn't too crowded on a Saturday. If you're looking to eat at a local joint with a great atmosphere, give Mama's a try -- but maybe hold your breath for a second on the way in.

Raising Cane's

Back in law school, Ross made me drive from Waco to College Station to get Raising Cane's. I don't remember much about the chicken, except that I wasn't sure it was worth the almost two-hour drive. I thought I would give it another try now that I have one right down the street.

We went through the drive through, which was staffed by one of the nicest employees I've ever encountered. She won me over when she said she liked my car ("the plodder"). I went with the Three Finger combo (Cane's sells its chicken almost exclusively in combo meals), which includes three chicken fingers, fries, toast, a small container of Cane's sauce, and a drink.

The chicken at Cane's is actually pretty good: all white meat, crispy breading, nice portion sizes. It holds up well against all the other fast-food chicken out there. It's the sauce which is supposed to be the selling point, however, and it's just not for me. It tastes a little bit like a mixture of Thousand Islands dressing and cajun seasoning, and it doesn't really do much for me.

As for everything else: the fries were typical, the toast was cold, and overall I'd give the entire meal a B. Still not worth an hour plus drive under any circumstances, but for 5 minutes of driving and just a couple bucks, this isn't the worst fast-food meal in the world.

Recipe: Asian Inspired Lettuce Wraps

You'll Need:

About 2 cups of cooked chicken (white and dark meat)
1 cup roasted peanuts
1 can of water chestnuts
Juice from one lime
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 small, whole roasted hot pepper, ground up
Several large leafs of lettuce for wrapping (HEB sells them ready to go)
1-2 cups soy sauce

To Do:

Place all ingredients except lettuce into food processor and process until well blended. The texture will be similar to kitty litter (I know, appetizing, but that's the best analogy I can think of).

Heat the mixture in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, stirring once during cooking.

Scoop spoonfuls of the mixture into the lettuce leafs.

NOM!

This recipe is super simple and provides a filling meal for two or three people. Feel free to add or substitute other Asian inspired ingredients you have on hand. A little sriracha on top adds a little spice and extra moisture as well.

Fuzzy's Pizza

One of Cody's coworkers recommended Fuzzy's. I have to say, I was a little turned off by the name. If there's one thing I probably don't want my pizza to be, it's fuzzy. But I love pizza, and it's close to the house, so we took our chances and ordered a small (12") pizza with Canadian bacon to go.

The pizza was smaller than I expected. I guess I just couldn't picture what a 12" crust looks like. Two people ate it comfortably, but if you're feeding more than two (or the two you're feeding are big eaters), then you'll need to go with a large or get more than one.

The Canadian bacon topping was delicious. It was sliced very thin, which allowed the meat to get a nice crisp on the edges without burning the cheese or crust. My only complaint about the whole thing, other than it being too small, was that the sauce was too sweet. This is a common complaint I've had about Texas pizzas, and my husband (a native Texan) liked the sauce, so maybe it's a cultural thing. Or maybe I'm just too picky.

Will I get Fuzzy's pizza again? Sure. It's close and they have some interesting specials I would like to try. Is it the best pizza I've ever had? Hardly (but I'm from NY, the home of good pizza). Do I think it's the best pizza in Houston? That's hard to say. I think for now the search continues -- but Fuzzy's will be a serviceable stand-in until I find it.

Sasaki

Our friend Petey was down helping us move, so we let him choose the restaurant for dinner. He chose Sasaki. We were all a little unimpressed when we first pulled up to the store-front restaurant on Westheimer. However, the interior was nicely decorated and surprisingly spacious, and we noticed a lot of Asian people dining there, so those were both good signs. We decided to stay.

I ordered the tempura dinner. Wow, what a huge amount of food!



The tempura shrimp and vegetables were well cooked, if a little bland. I especially liked the fried potatoes and eggplant. The sauce helped a lot to beef up the flavor, and the pieces weren't greasy, the way they are at some Japanese restaurants. The miso soup was very good; salty, savory, and everything I want in a bowl of miso. I got the eggroll instead of the sashimi, which was probably a poor choice. The eggroll was fine, but my friend's sashimi looked better-than-fine.

Prices were a tad high. My meal cost $24.95, which was a little steep for fried vegetables, particularly when compared to extremely low-cost meal I had at Tony Thai. Our server was sweet and competent even though English wasn't her first language. Like Asian customers, Asian servers at an Asian restaurant are a good thing!

The Houston restaurant scene is full of surprises. Although we have some great big restaurants, there are plenty of smaller places that deserve a second glance. Some of them might look kind of low-rent, most of them offer amazing and authentic food at very affordable prices. Step out of your comfort zone and try one of them -- you might be very pleasantly surprised by what you find! And if you're not, there are plenty of other choices out there!

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Special Out of Town Edition: August

My husband is doing a training in New Orleans this week, and I decided to tag along. I'm a huge John Besh fan from Top Chef, so going to Restaurant August felt natural. It turned out to be an excellent choice.

August is housed in a neat little building that was built in the 1860s. I got to check the place out while I wandered around looking for the bathroom (word to the wise: it's on the second floor. If you reach a point where the air conditioning shuts off, you've missed the bathroom and you're in the attic). It's a cool place, and serves as a perfect backdrop for the food.

The meal started with an amuse that consisted of some kind of fishy-egg custard, served with caviar inside an egg shell. Of course, the waiter explained it in much more detail, but too quickly for me to comprehend anything but "don't let your husband eat this, since he's allergic to seafood." I had to eat both of them (darn!) and although they were pretty to look at, I found them to be a little salty, and not necessarily something I'd want to try again.

Our appetizer was foie gras three ways. What a nice presentation!



The striped one is foie with oxtail (the least successful of the three), the middle is served with sausage and champagne gelee (YUM) and the last, and best, was plain old foie with a wonderful raspberry jam. All three were great, but they paled in comparison to the best foie of the night, which was still to come ...

For dinner, I ordered my favorite fish, red snapper, with Meyer lemon aioli and a warm salad of artichoke, potatoes and tomato. I like how Chef Besh treats his fish like a protein, and the seasoning on the potatoes was wonderful. Another pretty and delicious dish.



However, the best thing I ate all night was actually on my husband's plate. He ordered the sugar-and-spice-rub duckling with grits and foie, served with fresh strawberry jam. I don't like duck, but I LOVED his foie. He was kind enough to allow me two small bites, which is actually quite generous, considering it was probably the best thing either of us has ever eaten (and no, I'm not exaggerating). Paired with the jam, this foie managed to be savory, meaty, and sweet. It literally melted in my mouth.

For dessert we had a very good banana and rum cake with white chocolate icing and coffee. My husband mentioned that it was the first time his meal has ever been richer than dessert. It was still tasty though.

Service was exemplary, which is exactly what you would expect at a restaurant like this. Several servers worked with us, and all of them seemed very knowledgeable about and proud of the products they were serving. It was nice to see so many people working together as a team.

Everything at August was predictably wonderful, with one exception: the foie gras on my husband's plate. That was ridiculously wonderful. Like the creamed corn at Capital Grille or the creme brulee at Pappa's, that foie is something we'll be talking about and trying to replicate for years.

Tony Thai

I went out with a group of girls from work to celebrate a coworker's leaving the office. The guest of honor got to choose the place, and she wanted to try Tony Thai. This place wouldn't have probably been my first choice, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

From the outside, Tony Thai looks like a typical strip mall joint, but inside it's very nice: working fountains, cloth napkins, and an attentive and friendly wait staff. For all of this ambiance, I was shocked at the low prices, particularly for lunch. I had the shrimp rolls and Pad Thai lunch box, and for $6.95 I got a LOT of food.



The soup was chicken and coconut milk, which had an amazing flavor but was too hot (both in temperature and seasoning) for me to eat. The shrimp rolls were whole shrimp, rolled in a wrapper and fried; nothing fancy, but different from other rolls I've tried, and fun to eat.

The pad thai was a real standout. Another girl commented (and I agree) that the noodles were perfectly cooked; they weren't gloppy, overly sauced or underdone, which can be common problems with low cost Asian food. The other winner on the plate was the fried sweet potato slices. I don't even LIKE sweet potatoes, and I ate both of mine. They were a perfect combination of flavors and textures, and they should be sold in big batches at every fair and movie theater in the country.

I didn't try to rice or salad, because neither seemed very interesting to me, and there was a LOT of food to try.

Service at Tony Thai was relatively fast and competent. There were some delays with some of our food, but it was a large group and that's not totally unexpected. English is not the first language for most of the staff, but they were certainly friendly and did their best.

I would absolutely recommend Tony Thai. The atmosphere and food were both exemplary, and the prices were unusually low. Give it a shot; if my lunch experience was the norm, you won't be disappointed at all.

Crave Cupcakes

I love desserts as much as the next girl, but I've never fully understood the cupcakes thing. I'll never be the one standing in line for an hour outside of sprinkles, or the one ordering a trendy wedding cake made entirely out of cupcakes. That said, when a friend of mine brought Crave cupcakes into work, I couldn't let the opportunity for an on-the-fly review to pass me by. So purely in the interest of research, I had one.

Mine was the dark chocolate one with all the sprinkles. When I first bit into the cake alone, I didn't think I would like it. It was a little dry, a little bitter, and not chocolaty enough for my taste. But then I took a bite of it with the icing, and I realized that all of those characteristics helped it balance the terrifically sweet, thick chocolate frosting and sprinkles. It was good. Was it worth waiting on a line or paying an exorbitant amount of money? No. Do I understand the cupcake obsession better having had it? Not really. Was it a nice little treat and a good pick-me-up at work? Absolutely.

By the way, I read in Newsweek that the cupcake trend is going to end soon, but that "pie will have a moment." I know at least one local business that would appreciate that!

Giacomo's

I wanted to try Giacomo's before we move out of the River Oaks area in a few weeks. When I overheard one of my coworkers singing it's praises, I decided it was time. We got seats on the patio on a warm Saturday evening. The sky was threatening rain, but it held out, and the atmosphere couldn't have been more welcoming or comfortable.

Our waiter looked young, but he knew his stuff, including the history of the restaurant, the best dishes on the menu, and how to politely deal with the rude and demanding couple sitting at the other end of our long table. Check plus smiley-face for service.

We started out with a reasonably priced bottle of "pink" wine from the extensive list and a bread basket. Bread costs three dollars at Giacomo's, which seemed odd at an Italian restaurant. Half of the bread (focaccia) was good, and the other half seemed like store-bought sandwich rolls. Unless they change their policy and make it free, skip it.

My husband had a house salad with the green goddess dressing, as well as the pork butt with cannellini beans that my coworker so enjoyed. His pork was "aggressively seasoned" with fennel and served over a warm, rustic stew of beans and tomato. The meat was very tender and the seasoning, though bold, was tamed by the meat and the beans. He described his meal as "scrumptious."

I had gnocchi with cream sauce and mushrooms. These gnocchi were light as air, and the sauce was comforting without being too heavy for a summer evening. I ate every bite on my plate and even broke down and sopped some of the sauce up with the bread (which still probably didn't make it worth the $3).

For dessert we tried the hazelnut mocha cream. All I can say is this: real whipped cream. LOTS of it, on top of the thick, cold, creamy, amazingly chocolaty love-child of mousse and pudding. Get it.

Giacomo is a lovely little place that serves authentic Italian comfort food in a cozy atmosphere. My husband didn't think he liked Italian food before we ate here, having spent his life believing that all Italy had to offer was pasta, tomatoes and mozzarella. He was surprised by the variety and quality of Giacomo's offerings, and he left feeling like maybe, just maybe, he liked Italian cuisine. That alone is a huge compliment to the chef, and a good reason why you should try this place.

El Rey

My husband works very close to the El Rey on Washington Avenue, and he loves their Cuban tacos. Not being a huge fan of plantains, I had him bring me a fajita beef taco to work. At first glance, this looked like a pretty good taco, and my only complaint was that it needed a little dairy (cheese and/or sour cream).




Until I found the piece of plastic.



Holy taco ... what is that?!

Judging from the thickness and size of the sheet of plastic that I pulled out of the bottom of my taco, I am guessing it was part of a plastic glove. Hey, at least we know the kitchen staff is wearing them, although this is not how I wanted to find out. When I first encountered it I thought it might be the skin from a tomato, but clearly it's not edible. I'm just happy I didn't eat it. This was one of the more horrifying things I've encountered since starting this blog, and needless to say I won't be visiting El Rey again.

Here's the thing I don't understand about Houston. In my short time here, I've encountered some really wonderful food. I've also encountered some truly awful things: the service at the Avalon Diner, the food at Taco Milagro, the, um, plastic gloves at El Rey. Yet these places not only stay in business, they seem to be BUSY most of the time. I truly don't get it. Do people simply get caught in a rut, eating at the same places because that's where they ate growing up? Are people truly too busy/loyal/afraid to try something new that they don't see how bad some of these places are? Or am I just catching a fair number of local restaurants on off days?

Whatever it is, keep this in mind: every time you frequent a restaurant, you're "voting" for it with your money. You're voting to keep that place open for another day, and you're voting against every other place you could have gone. Don't take that for granted. Vote wisely.

Niko Niko

My husband, some friends and I popped into Niko Niko's on Montrose for lunch on one of the first really warm Saturdays of the year. I ordered a falafel platter and some baklava, two of my all-time favorite foods. We had the good luck to get a table outside, although the inside of the restaurant was a bit crowded.

I immediately dropped one of my falafel patties onto the floor, which left my sandwich a little unbalanced but still good. The patties were crispy and all of the ingredients were fresh, but it could have used just a little more Tahini sauce. The baklava was not as successful. It was much too dry and the slices themselves were too big to comfortably eat; every time I bit into one it collapsed into sticky little bits. The experience of eating outside on such a nice day was lovely, but otherwise this meal was only fair-to-middling. And the garbage cans were overflowing, which was both inconvenient and made me wonder about the cleanliness and/or understaffing of the kitchen.

On a completely unrelated note, there was a gentleman with a backpack in the ladies bathroom. This has nothing to do with the restaurant, since the only employee who noticed him (a cleaning woman) immediately acted appropriately (by kicking him out). It was just a very odd experience, and I thought I would mention it.

Shameless Plug #2

This Saturday. Houston. Let's do this.