samagon Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Brewery Tap, they've been there for ages, at least as long as I've been able to drink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 True. Which is why Warren's and La Carafe have both been around for decades - from before Market Square was hot and fashionable in the '60s, through the valley of the '80s, and on into today.There's going to be more staying power for more places, though, as more and more people actually live downtown. My experience is that singles and couples living in a smaller place within an easy walk will often treat the neighborhood places like an extension of their living rooms.I fully agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
102IAHexpress Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 I've only lived in Houston and downtown for two years and I am amazed by the amount of change that has occurred on the restaurant / bar scene. When I moved here, OKRA was not even open / even hinted at. Since then there has been a number of successful openings and it's hard to keep up with the pace of change. I've also been very pleased with the quality of each opening - these establishments are nothing like the typical Midtown / Wash Ave bars where the bartenders do not even know what Campari is. Here are recent openings in no particular order:Prohibition (1008 Prairie). A burlesque event space in back (A beautifully restored theater. You would have no idea that it is in this building. Drop in and ask to take a look) but the front restaurant serves excellent lunch and dinner. Pricey with some entrees > $50. Absolutely worth checking out for the smoked fried chicken alone. Chef Ben McPherson.http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2014/06/27/foodie-friday-whos-cooking-up-restaurant-news-in.html?page=allMain Kitchen (806 Main). In the new JW Marriott. It's been discussed in the JW thread a lot so won't rehash it here. Chef Erin Smith.https://www.facebook.com/MainKitchen806Bombay Indian Grill (806 Main). Indian lunch buffet.http://bombaygrillhouston.com/Honeymoon Cafe (300 Main). Serves upscale sandwiches for lunch. Downtown's only good independent coffee shop. Always packed for lunch and surprisingly packed for Sunday brunch.http://thehoneymoonhtx.com/Springbok (711 Main). South African restaurant and sports bar serving lunch and dinner.http://www.springbokhouston.com/Nightingale Room (308 Main). Bar and live music space. I visited and the cocktails are high quality. Part of the Anvil mafia.https://www.facebook.com/NightingaleRoomPublic Services Wine and Whiskey (202 Travis). Run by the former Oxheart sommelier with interesting wines and whiskeys. It's in the restored / renovated Cotton Exchange building.http://publicservicesbar.com/New Hearsay Location (1516 Dallas) Also, looks like a formerly empty location on Main Street is taped over with the business named "Beef and Barley" and District 7 Grill is taking over an empty space that spans half a block at Main and Texas. There is some sports bar opening on Main as well. As MAB noted in another thread, a new BBQ restaurant set to open by Brian Caswell (Reef), Bill Floyd and Greg Gatlin (Gatlin's BBQ) is set to open in Q1 2015 on Jackson and Congress near Minute Maid Park. There is now a liquor store downtown called Posh Liquors (http://poshliquors.com/). Based on the name, I'm assuming they are trying for an upscale clientele base. All these join the first wave of restaurants (El Big Bad, Batanga, Fusion Taco) and first wave of bars (Captain Foxheart's Bad News Bar and Spirit Lounge, OKRA, Pastry War, Clutch City Squire, Little Dipper, Dean's Credit Clothing re-opening). Yes it would be nice to get a full service grocery, a Target and some retail downtown but I am so grateful for everything that has happened to downtown recently, that I have no absolutely no complaints. I also have nothing but optimism for further development as more residential opens. I'm not sure you've fully observed Downtown. Your first wave of restaurants as you call them are all located in spaces previously occupied by restaurants that recently failed. State Bar, a long time downtown resident, is gone. Georgia's Market failure is glaring. Not only where they a grocery store, but they were also a bar and restaurant. Most restaurants are still closed on the weekends and or evenings (café express, Chipotle, etc..) Not saying we can't be optimistic about Downtown, but lets see how the crash in oil prices plays out first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 There's a Dunkin Donuts going in under 1000 Main where Quizno's used to be. Now that's a restaurant scene rebirth right there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mab Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 https://twitter.com/nsarnoff/status/551113810728079360 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 https://twitter.com/nsarnoff/status/551113810728079360 Good info, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtownian Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 Good info, thanks! This info is super-dated (as always from the Chron). Refer to the first post in this thread on November 21: "District 7 Grill is taking over an empty space that spans half a block at Main and Texas." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 There's a Dunkin Donuts going in under 1000 Main where Quizno's used to be. Now that's a restaurant scene rebirth right there. mmmmmm... sugar and lard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 There's a Dunkin Donuts going in under 1000 Main where Quizno's used to be.Now that's a restaurant scene rebirth right there.Dunkin Donuts may not be the only arrival. Look next to Poblano's before the sealed off Macy's doors ...that space is also under work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 I was just in Austin. I was reminded their downtown life is very cool. I can't wait to see ours come around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Dunkin Donuts may not be the only arrival. Look next to Poblano's before the sealed off Macy's doors ...that space is also under work. Was told this morning that this is actually an expansion of Poblano's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I was just in Austin. I was reminded their downtown life is very cool. I can't wait to see ours come around. I can do without the cool, that brings in more people. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I can do without the cool, that brings in more people. I am not afraid of more people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I thought we wanted more people downtown...besides, we have our cool area on Washington/Montrose and Westheimer. It might not be A-town levels but it's a start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adr Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 GUYS THE SCENE IS DEAD. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I am not afraid of more people I thought we wanted more people downtown...besides, we have our cool area on Washington/Montrose and Westheimer. It might not be A-town levels but it's a start. Have you been around people lately? They're the worst. In seriousness, I like Austin being the cool kid in the state, it keeps the festival related street closures to a minimum. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Bring back the Westheimer Street Festival! ...just saying... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C2H Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 I can do without the cool, that brings in more people.Totally disagree with this. If those are your expectations, perhaps you'd be happier in a city like Amarillo or Lubbock, not the state's largest city and among the top 4 in the nation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 (edited) Totally disagree with this. If those are your expectations, perhaps you'd be happier in a city like Amarillo or Lubbock, not the state's largest city and among the top 4 in the nation. I am being a bit tongue in cheek here, but you're not far off re: Lubbock/Amarillo. I like the job market options that a large metropolitain area affords. It makes it worth it to me to put up with the people. Houston as always (in my 38 years here) been big with plenty of people flocking here for whatever their reasons may be, but I never got the feeling that there was much "cool" to pull in folks just looking for a city in which to have fun around a lot of other people similarly looking to have fun. The particulars (as I percieve them) that make Austin/Portland/NYC/San Francisco "cool" do very little for me. Were I independently wealthy, I'd probably live on the outskirts of a small-ish city with a regional airport, but if you are going to give up the economic advantages of a large city, you can probably do better for scenery and climate than our friends in the Panhandle. Edited January 12, 2015 by Nate99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 GUYS THE SCENE IS DEAD. That Popeyes was a disaster, even when it was open. Especially on Tuesday's. I wonder what Hilcorps plans are for the block? (They own both lots IIRC) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 That Popeyes was a disaster, even when it was open. Especially on Tuesday's.I wonder what Hilcorps plans are for the block? (They own both lots IIRC) What happened on Tuesdays? I imagine the foyer of building that houses a drunk tank to have similar ambience to street level fast food downtown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adr Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Henke & Pillot (809 Congress) is having their soft open tonight. http://henkeandpillot.com/index.cfm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adr Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Oh. And sorry if the post above made you think a major grocer was headed to downtown. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henke_%26_Pillot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swtsig Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 looks cool... it'd be nice to have a slightly more classy lounge to go downtown. love the scene there and definitely love the concentration of chill spots but sometimes you want to class it up a little bit more than little dipper, deans or bad news bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtownian Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 looks cool... it'd be nice to have a slightly more classy lounge to go downtown. love the scene there and definitely love the concentration of chill spots but sometimes you want to class it up a little bit more than little dipper, deans or bad news bar. For "classier" lounges, I've been going to Prohibition, Public Services and Main Kitchen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 For "classier" lounges, I've been going to Prohibition, Public Services and Main Kitchen. Springbok and the Hearsay twins also fit into that mold, and a couple of others whose names escape me at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adr Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Checked the place out last night. Very upscale. They are building out a rooftop patio, which they say will be where they will eventually be having party brunches. They cited classic pre-burn down La Strada as a reference point. The second floor will be finished into a live music venue with a capacity as high as 200. Impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 ERA Pizza planned to do the same thing, so we'll see about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adr Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Updates on two new places at 108 and 502 Main. http://houston.eater.com/2015/1/21/7867847/are-barringer-and-woosters-garden-owners-opening-bars-on-main-street#4649186 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgriff Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Checked the place out last night. Very upscale. They are building out a rooftop patio, which they say will be where they will eventually be having party brunches. They cited classic pre-burn down La Strada as a reference point. The second floor will be finished into a live music venue with a capacity as high as 200. Impressive.What place? I can't tell what you are responding to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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