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Midtown Restaurant And Bar Scene - More Coming


WestGrayGuy

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never been to Whisky Creek

or the Roof..

A38 is poketed in a shopping center off louisiana and has one of the best soundsystems in town (bassmax by david lee), the crowd depends on the evening's promoter

a buddy of mine is the barmaster of XO & has been trying to get me to go for more than a month now, eh houston is nebulous like that

Status is another new club opening early next year across the street from Rich's

Rich's is under new management, so look for some programming changes

now if some of these clubs would actually have decent tastes in music (like Zimms) than I might feel justified spending my money there, but i have zero tolerance for talentless local dj's.

It would be nice if midtown had more established venues like Dallas' lower greenville's Zubar or expositon's Minc.

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  • 2 weeks later...
never been to Whisky Creek

or the Roof..

A38 is poketed in a shopping center off louisiana and has one of the best soundsystems in town (bassmax by david lee), the crowd depends on the evening's promoter

a buddy of mine is the barmaster of XO & has been trying to get me to go for more than a month now, eh houston is nebulous like that

Status is another new club opening early next year across the street from Rich's

Rich's is under new management, so look for some programming changes

now if some of these clubs would actually have decent tastes in music (like Zimms) than I might feel justified spending my money there, but i have zero tolerance for talentless local dj's.

It would be nice if midtown had more established venues like Dallas' lower greenville's Zubar or expositon's Minc.

What music would you like to hear? There are several local dj's with talent around town but sometimes they are constrained by the club owner on what they can/can't play based on the crowd or other reasons.

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Guess I'll have to stay clear. not into teenybopper places.

for me there's almost no real "music" made today. people can't read nor play music. Most can't sing either. People with bad taste buy the crap and that is why they keep producing the same stuff.

There is plenty of good music made today, you're just not going to find it on the radio or MTV. But you know that.

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  • 4 weeks later...
What music would you like to hear? There are several local dj's with talent around town but sometimes they are constrained by the club owner on what they can/can't play based on the crowd or other reasons.

I would like to hear more dj's with passion that transcribes onto the dancefloor

and the club owner excuse, seriously get outta town man

& as far as the crowd, they rule.

eh, mediocrity runs this town, but not for long..

edit@michael day

hey man! welcome to houstonarchitecture.info, nice score on the Pat Nice show in feb, us house heads gotta stick together ;)

p.s. i gotta new monthly w/ open tables, more info at HB

Edited by infinite_jim
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There was an article in the Chronicle today outlining some new developments in the Midtown area that sound incredible... Houston Chronicle

In short:

1. Big white mansion at Elgin @ Austin will be renovated ($3 million cost) into a new upscale restaurant, lounge, and event center

2. Old Boy Scouts of America building at Bagby and Victor: Work on the Boy Scouts building will begin in February. The $20 million project will include Moor's Restaurant and Tapas Lounge, serving mainly Moroccan and Spanish cuisine and be leased and operated by Hicham Naffaa and Ali Bendella, owners of Coco's Crepes, Cava American Bistro and Cielo Mexican Bistro. The building, scheduled to open in October, will also have banquet space and Chopra's offices.

3. Parking garage w/ retail: Across the street, Chopra owns land on which he plans to build a seven-story public garage with street-level retail. (NOTE: I believe this is the lot at Bagby and Victor across the street from Christian's Tailgate)

Here's a Google view of the areas being talked about:

Old Mansion

Boy Scout building and new garage w/ retail across street

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3. Parking garage w/ retail: Across the street, Chopra owns land on which he plans to build a seven-story public garage with street-level retail. (NOTE: I believe this is the lot at Bagby and Victor across the street from Christian's Tailgate)

I guess I now know what my view will be - I live in the EDGE overlooking that lot....since the beach-club-bar fell through (although the sign is still there) I wondered what would be built there....

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There was an article in the Chronicle today outlining some new developments in the Midtown area that sound incredible... Houston Chronicle

In short:

1. Big white mansion at Elgin @ Austin will be renovated ($3 million cost) into a new upscale restaurant, lounge, and event center

street

It's great to hear that that nearly 100-year-old mansion will be saved. Kudos to Atul ChopraI for finding creative ways to save old Houston buildings.

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The building at Austin and Elgin was much better looking before it was painted white some time between 1999 and 2002 (I don't remember exactly when that travesty occurred). It will be interesting to see just what the new owner does for renovations.

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Speaking of new development. I noticed that a rendering of a new mixed retail/office building was posted on the corner of Austin and McGowen this weekend. It looks nice. This will be very exciting if it happens.

That's awesome news! If it's the lot I'm thinking of (along McGowen between La Branch and Austin)... I met the developer (http://parradesigngroup.com/) for this last year who said he was going to build it in 2010. He said it would have retail on the bottom w/ residential and office on the second floor w/ balconies looking down onto McGowen. The sidewalk was widened along there during the McGowen rebuild to work with the development so it will look really nice once it's built. I'll have to go check out the rendering today. Here's the old meeting on it (La Plaza de Midtown, first thing talked about in section D)... HTV

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That's awesome news! If it's the lot I'm thinking of (along McGowen between La Branch and Austin)... I met the developer (http://parradesigngroup.com/) for this last year who said he was going to build it in 2010. He said it would have retail on the bottom w/ residential and office on the second floor w/ balconies looking down onto McGowen. The sidewalk was widened along there during the McGowen rebuild to work with the development so it will look really nice once it's built. I'll have to go check out the rendering today. Here's the old meeting on it (La Plaza de Midtown, first thing talked about in section D)... HTV

The sign actually says it will be retail with office above........nothing about residential. Parra did say last year it would include residential but that must have fallen through the cracks....I think it needs residential in order to keep the homeless off the property after hours. More eyes on site the better....

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More info on La Plaza de Midtown, today.

Parra Design Group hopes to break ground on La Plaza de Midtown, a mixed-use project on the corner of McGowen and Austin, this year.
...waiting for the retail sector to pick up before building.
Camilo tells us Houston's transit corridor ordinance has a problem: It lacks a comprehensive parking plan. A city committee is working on one, and he thinks the city might need to erect a garage along the rail line.
Camilo says he originally planned to use the land for residential purposes, but as Midtown developed, he realized it had more commercial potential, especially because it’s close to the light rail. Parra hasn’t gotten financing yet

source: http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=7902 (rendering also posted there)

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2. Old Boy Scouts of America building at Bagby and Victor: Work on the Boy Scouts building will begin in February. The $20 million project will include Moor's Restaurant and Tapas Lounge, serving mainly Moroccan and Spanish cuisine and be leased and operated by Hicham Naffaa and Ali Bendella, owners of Coco's Crepes, Cava American Bistro and Cielo Mexican Bistro. The building, scheduled to open in October, will also have banquet space and Chopra's offices.

There is now a sign up in front of the building for Moors...

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The article in post #1 says he wants to build a public garage. That just means he's going to allow the public to use it, but for a fee, right...as opposed to a private garage just for his businesses? There's no way he would build it and just let anyone park in it for free, would he? He sounds like he's for the greater good, not just there to make a buck.

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The article in post #1 says he wants to build a public garage. That just means he's going to allow the public to use it, but for a fee, right...as opposed to a private garage just for his businesses? There's no way he would build it and just let anyone park in it for free, would he? He sounds like he's for the greater good, not just there to make a buck.

I think a public garage would make sense, as long as the price and security is competitive to those in the Medical center as opposed to those public open lots that have seemed to mushroomed along the line. Of course, it will all have to depend on the design, pity he doesn't think additional residential would help, but perhaps when Camden finally gets off hit's collective poopy head, it'll build.

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  • 2 months later...

Figured I'd update this thread I started. I went to Hearsay last week for dinner (awesome food btw) and the manager started chatting my wife and I up on the cool building. I mentioned I live near "The White House" on Elgin and said I saw I sign on it, but was wondering when they'd start construction on the new restaurant. He said they are going through design approvals, and the fact that it's a historic building is making it take longer. They cannot move any interior walls, but said he hopes construction will start in a couple months. He said the place is going to be really fancy, with separate dining rooms throughout the house. They will have a valet pull up in the front of the house.

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culturemap update

culturemap saying the groundbreaking starts in august (article dated sept 29th, 2010). not sure if they mean next year or should have broken ground by now.

They must have updated the article because it says mid-November ground breaking. I had no clue they were going to add an extra floor to the building... that will be awesome. As for the White House mentioned in the article... still no activity at the building from what I've seen.

On a side note, I was at Tacos a Go Go last night and noticed that the Supper N Punch (and other shops about to open) are coming along nicely. They had a live horse grazing on the lot next door wearing a sign that just said "Opening October 1". It was hilarious to see a horse grazing in Midtown.

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They must have updated the article because it says mid-November ground breaking. I had no clue they were going to add an extra floor to the building... that will be awesome. As for the White House mentioned in the article... still no activity at the building from what I've seen.

On a side note, I was at Tacos a Go Go last night and noticed that the Supper N Punch (and other shops about to open) are coming along nicely. They had a live horse grazing on the lot next door wearing a sign that just said "Opening October 1". It was hilarious to see a horse grazing in Midtown.

Yeah, Sig's Lagoon is going to be moving over to that building too.

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That looks like a pretty dingy building and doesn't look historic. And where are the planning to put the garage; it doesn't look like there's room. Is this the righ location?

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nyry2n71jvsr&scene=32456093&lvl=1&sty=b&where1=1911%20Bagby%20St%2C%20Houston%2C%20TX%2077002-8594

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They must have updated the article because it says mid-November ground breaking. I had no clue they were going to add an extra floor to the building... that will be awesome. As for the White House mentioned in the article... still no activity at the building from what I've seen.

On a side note, I was at Tacos a Go Go last night and noticed that the Supper N Punch (and other shops about to open) are coming along nicely. They had a live horse grazing on the lot next door wearing a sign that just said "Opening October 1". It was hilarious to see a horse grazing in Midtown.

That could be a disaster in the making. I've seen many close calls because of those offramps nearby.

As far as the other development, I wish I can see a rendering of what's going on over on main street.

How DOES that antique store across the street stay in business?

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