When I moved to Houston two years ago, I was expecting little in the way of Hispanic culture. Who knew it was such a good city for Latinosbetter, even, than San Antonio?
We wanted to see what the real lives of real people looked like, so we knocked on doors at random from Pasadena to Sharpstown. We said, "Please." They said, "Cheese." Here's what we came back with.
OVER AT THE HOUSTON ARBORETUM and Nature Center, in Memorial Park, I asked Ruth Milburn, the center’s executive director, what she liked best about the place. She looked at me indulgently and said, “Why, I’m here for the trees.” As I navigated the well-marked trails and boardwalks that weave through
THANKS TO A LIGHT-RAIL PROJECT scheduled for completion in 2004, much of downtown’s historic district appears to have been rooted up by a monster armadillo. Still, with its shady parks, outdoor sculptures, busy theater district, chic restaurants and clubs, and seven miles of air-conditioned tunnels (in essence, food courts for
WILLIAMS TOWER (FORMERLY TRANSCO TOWER), a 64-story office building designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee that soars above the Galleria area, is impossible to miss even when you’re zipping down Loop 610. But you need to get out of your car to appreciate the architects’ splashiest touch, the freestanding
OKAY, SO THE HOUSTON ZOO isn’t exactly an unknown attraction, but how can I ignore this warm and fuzzy institution, especially its newest addition, the John P. McGovern Children’s Zoo? Most of the munchkins I saw scurrying around there were more interested in scaling the giant sculptures of frogs and
Bank of America Center, 700 Louisiana; closed weekends; Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet, 713-523-0701; Chocolate Bar, 1835 W. Alabama, 713-520-8599; Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary, 440 Wilchester Boulevard, 713-464-4900; Etta’s Lounge, 5120 Scott, 713-528-2611; Fred Hartman Bridge, Texas Highway 146 between La Porte and Baytown; Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, 4501
EVERY SUNDAY THE FAITHFUL PACK Etta’s Lounge, south of the University of Houston, to worship with sax legend Grady Gaines and the Texas Upsetters. The longnecks, the coldest in the city, are served on ice in mop buckets; the decor runs to aged Christmas decorations; and everyone, from the nattily
So says Rusty Hardin, Houston’s defense attorney of the moment—the latest in a long line of courtroom heroes guilty of premeditated flamboyance and charisma in the first degree.
I’D BEMOAN THE LOSS OF the Baytown Tunnel, an icon of my childhood (on the drive through it, my sister and I kept our eyes shut and our feet off the floorboards to avoid misfortune), if its replacement, the Fred Hartman Bridge, weren’t such a marvel of engineering. A cable-span
And not just any mall. The Marq*E Entertainment Center is a marvel of marketing: a teen-friendly hangout where kids from all over the city flock to shop, flirt, skateboard, and otherwise act their age.
Evan Smith is the cofounder of the Texas Tribune, a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, and the former editor in chief and president of Texas Monthly.
Evan Smith is the cofounder of the Texas Tribune, a senior adviser at Emerson Collective, and the former editor in chief and president of Texas Monthly.
Some people look at Houston and see only rough edges. Peter Marzio, the director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, sees a brash upstart that should be proud of its cultural riches.
SAY “AMEN!” Our quest for the quintessential roadside cafe ended happily on a rural stretch of Texas Highway 21, four miles west of the hamlet of Lincoln. So many times before, we had been led astray in similar surroundings by a sign with the words “country kitchen,” “home cooking,” or
TRAIL MIX Ah, the mythical cowboy—he squandered not a second of daylight on the range. But after darkness fell, our archetype unwound in front of a glowing campfire, chowing down on beans and biscuits and slugging down coffee as black as the skies above. Now, a new cookbook—Bill Cauble and
YOU GO, HUGO For two solid months, every time I checked on the much-anticipated opening of Hugo’s in Houston, I got variations on the same answer: “Oh, we’re so sorry, but there’s going to be a wait; we’ve run into more construction problems.” I sniffed disaster lurking. Finally, in July,
DO, RE, Sí San Antonio loves a fiesta. And during the Diez y Seis de Septiembre holiday, which celebrates Mexico’s independence from Spain on September 16, 1810, there is plenty of evidence of that. On September 14 the streets of the Alamo City will be filled with music and dancing
THE GUY CAN’T HELP IT Little Richard, arguably one of the greatest performers in rock and roll history, is playing in Texas this month at Galveston’s Grand 1894 Opera House on September 28 and 29. So you’re coming to Galveston. Have you ever been to that part of Texas before?
WORD FOR WORD Ogden Nash once wrote, “I’m so full/Of Holy Texas/I’ll be hallowed ground/When they annex us.” Nash never lived in Texas, but his papers are permanent residents at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at UT-Austin. You can examine the comic poet’s original manuscripts, letters, drawings, and photographs
DIVERSIONS OF GRANDEUR Trashy romance novels may be perfect for summertime escapism, but fall calls for more enlightened pastimes. Houston delivers with an artistically packed weekend September 27-29, one built for cultural indulgence. Begin Friday evening, when the Houston Ballet performs Madame Butterfly, an adaptation of the operatic favorite. On
