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Ask the Pack: Houston?

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johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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Have a work trip to Houston coming up. Never been and it’s never really been on my list of places to go. Have two nights and two days there, and will basically do nothing but work those days but get to have two nice dinners.
Question 1: Is it worth scheduling on either s Monday Tuesday or Thursday Friday so I can add a weekend before or after the trip? If I do, should I bring kids for the weekend?
 
msudawg12

msudawg12

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Dec 9, 2008
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I love visiting Houston. Quick question: where are you staying? Are you downtown? North toward the Woodlands?
 
J

johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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msudawg12 said:
I love visiting Houston. Quick question: where are you staying? Are you downtown? North toward the Woodlands?
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We'll be downtown for business and will stay at a marriot property downtown, so could use recommendations on which one of those is best also.
 
Lawdawg.sixpack

Lawdawg.sixpack

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Jul 22, 2012
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One of the downtown Marriotts has a Texas-shaped rooftop lazy river, if you take the fam.
 
E

eckie1

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Jun 23, 2007
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It’s a sauna down there…

johnson86-1 said:
Have a work trip to Houston coming up. Never been and it’s never really been on my list of places to go. Have two nights and two days there, and will basically do nothing but work those days but get to have two nice dinners.
Question 1: Is it worth scheduling on either s Monday Tuesday or Thursday Friday so I can add a weekend before or after the trip? If I do, should I bring kids for the weekend?
Click to expand...

More so than usual this year. But, you’re near NASA, Minute Maid Park, etc. And you’re only about a 30 minute drive from Galveston, which has some cool stuff. I’d highly recommend Moody Gardens and the amusement park on the pier was fun. Should be able to find plenty of things to do with the kids.
 
PBDog

PBDog

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Oct 1, 2021
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downtown sucks - it’ll be just you and the homeless after 5. Stay on westhiemer and Uber in/out. Stay near galleria - will give your family something to do during the day without bursting into flames outside. Best tourist attractions are different places to eat.
 
vhdawg

vhdawg

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Sep 29, 2004
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House of Pies on Kirby Drive is terrific. Get the Bayou Goo pie. It's the best pie I've ever had.
 
PapaDawg

PapaDawg

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Nov 19, 2014
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Lots of stuff to do in Houston and lots of great food. Pappasito’s for Tex-Mex. The Hilton Americas has a Papsito’s on the ground floor. Just across Discovery Green from the Marriott.
Being downtown you near Minute Maid. The Astros are good this year. Grab a steak at Vic & Anthony’s and walk across the street to the ballpark if the team is in town.
 
Lawdawg.sixpack

Lawdawg.sixpack

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Jul 22, 2012
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Stay on westhiemer and Uber in/out. Stay near galleria
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Maybe the first time ever that someone has recommended dealing with Houston traffic...

If downtown, you can take the light rail to the park/zoo. Also hit up Rice Village.
 
PapaDawg

PapaDawg

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Nov 19, 2014
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Probably a 1000 Mexican restaurants in downtown Houston area. I recommend what I prefer and have had good experiences at. To each his own.
 
57stratdawg

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,473
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I was in Houston a few weeks ago. Sat up at the raw bar of Bludorn. It's solid; lived up to the hype especially if you like seafood. $$$$. I thought it was better than Guard and Grace.

Plenty of food up in the Heights. Loro was decent at a lower price point; it's an Asian Smoke mashup from Aaron Franklin and some sushi chef. Pinkerton's BBQ is damn good too.

Catch an Astro's game. Plenty of bars and stuff around Minute Maid. You can easily kill an evening up there.

I stay at the C. Baldwin when i'm in downtown Houston. It's nice if your Marriot falls through.
 
ckDOG

ckDOG

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Dec 11, 2007
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Kids stuff

Ignore the downtown sucks post. It's fine and likely very convenient for you if you bring the kids. It's no Chicago or NYC on the weekends, but you are still in a decent spot to be entertained and not have to drive around the giant metropolis all weekend.

Discovery Green is downtown. Plenty to eat and lots going on, especially if the Astro's are in town.

Museum of Natural Science, Children's Museum, Houston Zoo are all near each other and easily accessible from downtown via light rail or Uber.

Rice Village is a cool part of town worth checking out that's also easy to get in and out of from downtown. Plenty of restaurants, shops, bars, and of course Rice.

Food wise - my only $0.02 is that when I had folks visiting and wanted Tex-Mex we either went to El Tiempo (if you want fajitas, you can't go wrong there) or the Original Ninfa's on Navigation. Both of those places are good for kids and the food is outstanding. If you are into any particular type of cuisine, Houston has it. If you want to narrow it down to something specific, I'm happy to share my thoughts...

ETA: if you need a break and want a couple beers, there are probably a hundred bars/icehouses/patios that have great drinks/solid food and are also kid friendly with tailgate games and such.
 
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dawgman42

dawgman42

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Jul 24, 2007
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Lupe Tortilla is much better. Pappasito's is good Mexican + $10 surcharge to every dish.
 
missouridawg

missouridawg

Junior
Oct 6, 2009
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horshack said:
Fair enough. I don't dislike Papasito's, just surprised that a local recommended it.
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I'm a local and recommend this place too. Consistently the best mexican meal I eat here.

I've had Ninfa's on Navigation numerous times and it's always very mediocre to me.
 
missouridawg

missouridawg

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Oct 6, 2009
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ckDOG said:
Ignore the downtown sucks post. It's fine and likely very convenient for you if you bring the kids. It's no Chicago or NYC on the weekends, but you are still in a decent spot to be entertained and not have to drive around the giant metropolis all weekend.

Discovery Green is downtown. Plenty to eat and lots going on, especially if the Astro's are in town.

Museum of Natural Science, Children's Museum, Houston Zoo are all near each other and easily accessible from downtown via light rail or Uber.

Rice Village is a cool part of town worth checking out that's also easy to get in and out of from downtown. Plenty of restaurants, shops, bars, and of course Rice.

Food wise - my only $0.02 is that when I had folks visiting and wanted Tex-Mex we either went to El Tiempo (if you want fajitas, you can't go wrong there) or the Original Ninfa's on Navigation. Both of those places are good for kids and the food is outstanding. If you are into any particular type of cuisine, Houston has it. If you want to narrow it down to something specific, I'm happy to share my thoughts...

ETA: if you need a break and want a couple beers, there are probably a hundred bars/icehouses/patios that have great drinks/solid food and are also kid friendly with tailgate games and such.
Click to expand...

The Aquarium on the north side of downtown is also a decent visit that kids would likely enjoy.
 
D

Dawgzilla

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Mar 3, 2008
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I lived in Houston for a decade or so....I never really considered it a getaway destination, or a place to take the kids unless you have some reason to go there. But there are some kid friendly attractions.

For food...Houston has an incredible amount of high quality restaurants. Its hard to go wrong. Houstonians eat out a lot, and if your restaurant does not meet the quality standards, then you will quickly be out of business.

The Papps Bros. chain of restaurants are very good, despite their proliferation around the country, and they technically ARE local. They are a bit overpriced, but you will eat well and you won't have to worry bout being disappointed.

But I would check around before making dinner plans. Decide what you want to eat. Houston has a few extremely high quality Italian restaurants, and of course great steak houses. Some really good seafood, too. Tex-Mex and Mex-Mex are available everywhere. I even hit up Taco Cabana when I'm in town, just because that used to be my favorite post-hangover joint. (Really, I preferred Two Pesos, but Taco Caban put them out of business).

I would be so fat if I still lived in Houston.
 
J

johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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Dawgzilla said:
I lived in Houston for a decade or so....I never really considered it a getaway destination, or a place to take the kids unless you have some reason to go there. But there are some kid friendly attractions.
Click to expand...
That was kind of my thought about it. Kind of consider it like Dallas and Atlanta. Big places that have stuff to do, but kind of generic and interchangeable with each other for the most part. I know my wife and I can go there just for the food scene (which I have heard is extremely underrated; basically have all the ethnic influences and large population that makes for great food scene, but with cheaper rents so broader range of options close in), but not sure I want to do that for four days. Know we can find plenty of stuff for the kids, but was looking at say children's museum, aquarium, zoo, restaurants, maybe professional sports, etc, and started to think it looked a lot like a trip to Atlanta, and wondering whether to do that or just tell the kids we'll take them to the beach for an extra weekend or something.
 
ckDOG

ckDOG

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Dec 11, 2007
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Not a touristy city at all

johnson86-1 said:
That was kind of my thought about it. Kind of consider it like Dallas and Atlanta. Big places that have stuff to do, but kind of generic and interchangeable with each other for the most part. I know my wife and I can go there just for the food scene (which I have heard is extremely underrated; basically have all the ethnic influences and large population that makes for great food scene, but with cheaper rents so broader range of options close in), but not sure I want to do that for four days. Know we can find plenty of stuff for the kids, but was looking at say children's museum, aquarium, zoo, restaurants, maybe professional sports, etc, and started to think it looked a lot like a trip to Atlanta, and wondering whether to do that or just tell the kids we'll take them to the beach for an extra weekend or something.
Click to expand...

Very much like Atlanta. Good places to live, but when recommending stuff do to, it's museums
and food. If my choices were taking the kids to Houston for the weekend or the beach, I'd vote beach.
 
PapaDawg

PapaDawg

Senior
Nov 19, 2014
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Lupe's does have the best tortilla's and the stuffed poblano pepper is outstanding.
 
A

Arnold Babar.sixpack

Redshirt
Aug 24, 2012
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Native Houstonian here. Still live here. Since it's so freaking hot here lately focus on stuff to do inside. NASA is great, great museum district, catch an Astros game if they are in town. DO NOT go to the Galleria mall. Galveston is dump. If you want to go outside the newly redone Memorial Park is nice and a stroll around Rice University campus in the Med center is an option. It's a beautiful campus. Crime has gotten out of control. As far as restaurant's there are so many it's hard to say but I like

Steak: Pappas Bro's downtown or Galleria & Vic & Anthony's
TexMex: El Tiempo,
Interior Mexican: Hugos, 100% Taquito
Coastal Mexican: Caracol
French: Etoile
Italian: Original Carrabba's on Voss or Kirby, Vincent's, Nino's, Amalfi
American: Houston's, Merus
Seafood: Goode Co., Willie G's
Sushi: MF Sushi, Azuma and a million others
Veitnamese: There are ton and most are great but Le Colonial is the best
BBQ: Truth, Pizzatola's, Pinkertons, Gatlins, Roegels, The Pit Room, Blood Bro's
And for the kicker: Our favorite place sans kids is Fuads. Dark bar / restaurant, quite, don't have a menu, just tell them what you want and they will make it. Ask for JR...................................
 
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