Hank's Ice Cream

My co-worker and friend introduced me to this small-batch ice creamery near Reliant Stadium.  

It is a small, family-owned business that has a lot of character.  There's about six small tables with plenty of extra chairs sprawled around an ice cream freezer, which displays over a dozen flavors, each label card scribbled in marker.  The walls are draped from top to bottom in pictures and posters signed by the celebrities themselves, including well wishes and endorsements.  You'll understand why after the first bite: the ice cream is as fresh as it gets.  I sampled several flavors before deciding on Sweet Potato Pie, and it tasted like the real thing (mostly because of the spices).  Other hits are oreo, butter pecan, banana pudding (with nilla wafers!), and some special versions of vanilla.  The ice cream is served in full size styrofoam cups with plastic spoons, so there's no skimping. 

Finding places like these makes me feel great about this city.

Whataburger

This is a special New Year's Austin edition of Cheeseboomboom.  Happy 2009!

I have often asked my friends and acquaintances to compare Whataburger and In-N-Out Burger, and I have gotten a decidedly mixed response.  Personally, I think Whataburger trumps In-N-Out for a number of reasons, and anyone who has ever gone to Whataburger with a drunk girl from Corpus Christi (the home of Whataburger by the Bay) will have to agree with me.

We (three hot drunk-ass girls) rolled (on a pedicab) into this restaurant at 2 am on New Year's Day.  We ordered:

• Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit
  
• Breakfast Biscuit (fried egg and cheese biscuit sandwich)
  
• Plain biscuit
  
• Hashbrowns (4 sticks to the order)
  

All that cost deliciousness cost $5.25.  Choke on that cost of living, California.

The Fish

The Fish is a sushi restaurant in Midtown that I believe people just call "Fish."  In fact, I'm not sure why I'm so committed to using the article, but I've chosen a course of action.

The sushi here is good, but my memories of this dinner are more fond because of the company I was with.  We ate and ordered and then we wanted to order more and then Lauren said just wait, the rice will expand and then you will feel full.  And she was right, that rice is so predictable.

I don't really have a review of this place.  The thing about restaurants in Midtown is that they are like steak houses for lawyers, you just go there because you don't want to think about it too hard. 

That review is a little harsh, this place is a pretty good deal, and while I was waiting for the rest of my party to arrive I played Wheel of Fortune with Matt Johnson and the tv contestants, which was fun.

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.

Potbelly Sandwich Works

If you like your sandwiches hot and drippy, you will like Potbelly.  

A Potbelly sandwich consists of soft warm wheat bread, a load of meat, a little bit of cheese, and then a veritable shmear of assorted olives and peppers.  The first time I went to this place, I thought, wow, that little bit of heat from the peppers is nice, a fresh take on a sandwich.  But this week!  Good Lord!  Those peppers were hot.  My lips were burning so hot after finishing that baby off it looked like I was wearing ball-buster-red lipstick.  It really made my day.

Google lets me know that my readers in DC and Minnesota will have no trouble finding a location near them, but my loved ones in NYC are going to have to venture out into the greater Tri-State area.  I'm not going to say its worth a 45 minute train ride, as only few things are, but, if you find yourself in the neighborhood and work up an appetite (knocking on doors, perhaps) you might find one in Philly and chow down.