mateosquared

I saw yesterday that Charter Builders just moved a trailer onto some land at 1463 and Cinco Ranch Blvd. Since they don't build houses I am guessing that is where one of the new elementary schools will be going. Anyone know?

I did see this: http://instantnewskaty.com/2011/04/20/20837.

Oh my a do gooder troll.

Rant On: Try to stay on subject instead of bouncing all over the place. I'm not voting for McCain or Obama or for anyone as it is a complete waste of time. They will do what they want to do along with there chronies regardless of what you think your voice carries (Can you say (Bush/Clinton/Bush). Anyhow that is not the subject here. Am I one of NIMBY folks you are talking about ? Yes I am. I have lived in Apartments for many years and held those same jobs you are talking about until I was able to move on up so to speak. I moved out here because I moved up from apartments and did not want to be around that setting any longer. When I moved here and was told of all the lies about how there would only be houses and schools with no strip malls or apartments, etc, etc. this is what I was looking for. The City has caught up and so have the things that come with that type of growth. Nothing I can do about it at this time but wait and see. As I stated in my earlier post we can only hope that the owners and HOA keep things nice and on top of the renters.

I do not feel empowered or above anyone else because of my choices of where to live or my reasoning I would rather not have apartment complexes near me. So please don't go stuffing all of us into that catagory you seem to have put all the people out here into just because they want something different. So you cut rice, whoop de doo, I harvested Cane when I was younger to make money when others didn't want to do it and that includes the low lifes who would rather leech the government or some other way of getting money instead of taking something to make an honest living.

As for your playing in Cinco Ranch when you were a kid, well that was when you were a kid and now that we are grown up and I got money I bought a piece of your playground which is now my home and my preference would be to not have apartments around my area.

B

Not sure why we have all the hate. We are all going to end up in one or two places when it is all said and done, so we might as well get along now.

It is a Discount Tire center that is going into that location. Please try to contain your excitement.

Interesting place. I would not think they would get enough traffic in that spot. NTB's location makes sense, because it is close to Grand Parkway. I agree it will be better than driving several miles to the other locations.

Hey, you never know. I didn't have high expectations for El Jarrito, but it ended up being really good.

In Katy, I think we have more restaurants with "el" or "la" more than anything...el Jarrito, la Finca, el Rancho, las Rosas, los Cucos, etc.

They all taste the same... bad and greasy. We need Taco Milagro, Lupe Tortillas and/or Chuy's.

On another note, it would be nice to remove all of the signs from the front of Times Square, maybe it would help improve the type of businesses located there. No decent company wants to be associated with that development until they clean it up.

Just curious we as as family are really considering opening s a restaraunt... What kind of restrauant do you feel is needed in Katy( ex Italian, deli, breakfast lunch etc) We are open for suggesstions? This will be a family run business so it wont be large... we have been looking at places anywhere from 1000-2000 sq ft TIA

A place like Empire Cafe in Montrose would be fantastic. It has a great breakfast, for those who thinks Denny's sucks (me), plus lunch and dinner. Here is a link to their site: http://www.empirecafe.net/

There seem to be a lot of people who moved to Katy from the inner loop who have moved out here to get the cheap house and "good" schools. One thing that we are missing are the good restaurants in the loop.

Great another crappy chain restaurant, just what Katy needs......

Yep, I agree, but you have to have the chains to help build the infrastructure... blah, blah, blah...

Looks nice. Wish I could enlarge the site plan though.

Though it is small, I think I can still make out a nail salon, liquor store and dry cleaners in the bottom right... and wait, wait I think there is Subway, too. Good times.

In all seriousness, I hope it works out too. The more multi-use developments we can get out here, the better.

It'll be a little while yet. I'll email you an invite for the grand opening, once we know for sure.

Thank you for your support! Do you live nearby?

We live close by in Falcon Ranch, so we are used to driving to most places.

There won't be anymore restaurants in Villagio after the Irish Pub. However, the 4 acres directly behind Villagio is another development named Rialta Center and might. As it stands now, there WILL be a El Rancho Mexican Restaurant on the pad site. I've got a great contact who has direct connections with most of the major heavy hitters in the Houston restaurant scene, and I'm hoping to bring some better eateries here.

Also - in case you didn't know, Qdoba will be opening in the old Hartz location near I-10 and Mason. It's a concept mexican chain that is new to the Houston area. I look forward to trying out their goods.

I have eaten at a Qdoba in Cambridge, MA, right across from Harvard. It is the same concept as Chipotle, with a little more variety. It is worth a try if you want a burrito, and do not want Chipotle or Mission.

Mateo, thanks ! Did you obtain a room addition, or did your project consist of a remodel of existing rooms ?

Well we had a two story entry, so we closed that in which gave us an extra 90 sq ft upstairs. We then made all of the half-walls, full walls. That was the entire gameroom up stairs which was open below. We also knocked down and moved walls to make one room larger. It was a fun project.

What the %$#@ is this. Only on the internet do people think they can get away with ludicris statements like this. Welcome to HAIF, by the way. Let me get this straight though, just because I live in the Katy area I don't know what good food is. Or I shouldn't expect good food!!!! This area isn't full of Appalachia hillbillies.

Have you even been to this location? I have been to several, and I think the food is great here.

I have been to this location as well as to several other Berry Hill locations east of Barker Cypress. On average they food at the Berry Hills east of Barker Cypress is better. I like Berry Hill, and was excited that they came to Katy, but was disappointed with the Katy location.

I was not pointing to any individuals and am sorry that you took offense to my post. I bring up my generalization based on the masses that frequent all of the bad restaurants in Katy. I would be more than happy to list them (restaurants, not the people) if you would like. If people would stop eating at these places or comment on the poor food quality, it may force them to improve or close.

Houston is considered to be the culinary capital of the nation, and Katy currently is a pimple on the face of this city highlight. I hope someday this blemish is cleared.

You are correct in that many people in Katy know what good food is. Unfortunately, they have to go west of Barker Cypress to get it. I agree, since we live in the suburbs we should not automatically have to expect bad/generic food. We should expect and have access to good food, especially for the prices we are paying for the current bad/mediocre fare.

Katy has become very diverse and more sophisticated in demographic, unfortunately the food has not caught up. I hope some day that it will.

That makes complete sense to me. After all, this is a rapidly growing area with high income and education levels, so naturally no one here expects or understands what good food is.

I'm still trying to decide whether I should be offended or amused by that comment.

It was intended more for amusement than offense. I hope the folks at Berry Hill see this string of posts, and help out with both service and food quality.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the population of Katy has become more diverse and sophisticated. It is just unfortunate that the restaurants have not kept up.

A Taco Milagro or Cafe Express would fit very nicely into The Villagio or La Centerra. I am not advocating for places such as Mark's in Montrose, but more for everyday eateries that have fresh, quality food.

This area in Richmond is a great place to be. As Brian mentioned, it is a good alternative to Katy for your $$$. I live here, I'm a Realtor here, and I'm opening up a mom & pop coffee and tart-frozen yogurt shop. I guess you could say I am a fan. As for the neighborhoods, I've not sold anything in Fieldstone, although I've shown a lot of homes there. I have sold in Lakes of Bella Terra, behind the Wal-Mart. It should be very nice as it fills up. Long Meadow Farms is certainly worth consideration and a lot of my clients list it as their favorite. I know some places to avoid too. Just email.

When is your coffee place opening up? Always looking for new alternatives.

lol - much of south Katy looks alike. When I first moved here from the New Orleans area, I thought every intersection looked exactly the same as the last. My teenage daughter hates it - thinks it lacks character. I just appreciate how much cleaner everything is.

It is even worse in Arizona and California, but yes, Katy is very generic and blah. I know it keeps cost down, but a little personality would be nice. Even the larger "custom" homes look alike. Cheap stucco, anyone?

Katy dwellers - Has anyone undegone a recent residential room addition, second story addition, remodel etc.. ?

How was the experience ? Did you utilize an architect ? Can you recommend anyone ?

We used Houston Structural to redo our four year old house. It is no longer generic...

http://www.houstonstructural.com/

We worked with Tom Lammers and Mark Hamilton. Great work, ethical, clean and have great ideas. They did the blueprints and even let us keep them.

We've talked with several, but none have been able to come up with their financials to back them. Starbucks is out because they now require a drive-thru at locations not inside other stores. If you have any thoughts about who you would like to see in there, let me know and I'll follow up with them!

Have you talked to It's a Grind, Peet's Coffee or Diedrich's? All fine coffee institutions who know how to run a professional coffee establishment. Also, they know how to train people.

We went to Berryhill this weekend.........what a huge disappointment!!!!!!!

We went Sunday at 1:30 PM We had 6 adults and 2 kids. We had never been before but I have read good things.........

The place was pretty empty. I did not realize that you ordered yourself.......I told the lady behind the counter that it was our first time there.....thus giving her an opportunity to tell us about the place....no such luck.....just handed us menus......

So we placed our orders.......put together a couple tables.

I saw the chips in little bags under a heat lamp.....very cold chips.....got some salsa.....not bad salsa....

First, all our food was barely warm when we got it..........

We ordered a variet of items and I tried them all:

tamales (beef, pork, chicken) dry and tasteless

fried fish tacos ok but kinda dry

Tortilla soup very spicy, not a lot in the soup and not a great taste

Chicken dish big piece of chicken but cold on the inside

beef tacos meat was dry and the tortillas were not very fresh.

For the prices they charge, we will never go back again..................

Yep, it is unfortunate that this Berry Hill is a poor representation of the others in the city. It seems once a restaurant makes it west of Barker Cypress it goes downhill. Most people in Katy don't expect or know what good food is, so they can get away with marginalizing their product once they move west. Pulcinella on Fry and Grand Parkway is an exception to this rule.

Since you guys seem very knowledgeable about the area. Are you familiar with anyone subletting or looking for people to fill offices in their current leases? I am looking to move my business out of the house, but only need space for one person. I've tried executive suites, but they are too much for the services I need. All I need is some space and high speed Internet. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Katy used to be chock-a-block with mom-and-pop/unique places. That is until the developers and Gymboree Mommies and Daddies decided it needed to look like everywhere else in America.

It seems to me that a livable city needs to be about a whole lot more than just shopping and education. Katy anymore is way too heavy on the former, mid-weight on the latter and Wonderbread boring all the way around.

I agree. It is hard to tell the difference between Katy, Pearland and Sugarland... The benefit of Katy is that if a hurricane comes you can get out of town quicker than if you lived further south and east. I imagine it will stay generic until some sort of tipping point is reached where people realize just because they live in the suburbs doesn't mean they have to eat bad food.... Chili's, Pappasittos, Willies, Carrabas, PF Changs...

If you want an alternative to Starbucks, you should try out Dunn Brothers on Fry and Grand Parkway. It is in the strip in front of Palais Royal and HEB. They roast their coffee everyday, which allows for a better cup of coffee for the same price.

Ours went up 6%. We were surprised it did not go up a little more, especially since it was flat for the past two years.

When are they going to start phase 2? It looks like they did all the work with the lake, and then just stopped. Are they waiting for more people to come out here? Thanks.