Be-Wiched Bistro

This is a first dear friends: I actually ate at a place on my list of places I want to eat!  And listen, I don't want to brag, but I know how to pick restaurants.  

The best part of the meal was the pumpkin lobster bisque.  I know you think I'm just making this up to make me sound like  I'm really great at picking restaurants, but I'm not.  This was probably the best soup I've ever had.  Bright in color, creamy but with a texture.  I've always thought that lobster just tastes like butter, but this bisque taught me that no, lobster tastes like heavy cream.

The sandwich was actually pretty sub-par, but you know, with carbs and all, no one should really be eating sandwiches anymore anyways.  Do the soup with a salad and you have a $9 lunch that is worth every penny.

Cons: no dessert options, at all.

Pros: when you order iced tea, you get your own personal french style glass bottle.  I don't know if french-style is what you call it, but its the one where you clamp down the seal.  Katie, what do you call that?

House of Blues

For post-election Wednesday, my coworkers and I had lunch at the brand new House of Blues in downtown Houston.  This place has kinda been a thorn in my side lately because there's loads of latenight traffic flowing into my parking garage as I'm trying to leave work in the late evenings, but it has also brought a great deal of excitement into my life, like when Jay-Z came the opening weekend and I imagined him hanging out in his wife's hometown with his wife, just doing their thing.

Anyways, that was all to say that this place has a lot of hype surrounding it (traffic, Beyonce, etc) so I was preparing myself to be let down by the culinary experience.  But let down I was not!  This food was right.  I had a crab/corn soup that was served with a sweet cornbread muffin.  It was sweet, you guys!  Then I had a shrimp po'boy that was served on super-soft bread (oh Holland...sigh) with salty fried shrimp, relatively dry but colorful coleslaw, and I subbed sweet potato fries for regular fries.  This shit was off the hook.

People around me were having catfish nuggets (like chicken nuggets), mac 'n cheese,  shrimp etouffe and pulled pork sandwiches.  All of these had nice and some adorable presentations.

The only bad part of the meal was the bill, about $30.  But don't hold it against this restaurant.  As a bunch of rowdy Obamamamas celebrating the election, someone mentioned a pitcher of margaritas to the waitress and no one shot it down.  So this is definitely an affordable lunch spot as long as you aren't celebrating the greatest election of your lifetime and one of America's proudest moments.  

YES WE CAN!

Berripop

Katie once asked me: "Have you ever been to Pinkberry?" and I responded "No, but there is something just like it in Austin."

This exchange has been the source of many a laugh since then, some at my expense, some at Katie's, but mostly at Austin's.  However, this is a story about Houston's version of Pinkberry: it's called Berripop.  

Located on Richmond near the movie theater that everyone loves to hate, this little fro-yo stop is unassuming in its strip-mall parking lot, but it is bold and bright inside.

The yogurt was cold, as was the A/C, but I didn't mind because the probiotics kept me warm.  Check out these toppings, ladies!

So the next time some snobby New Yorker wants to get up in yo' business about living in Houston, you can tell them to suck it: we have our own Pinkberry, our own Thanksgiving Day Parade AND a Kolache Factory.