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The Heights Restaurant And Bar Scene - More Coming


Freelander

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  • 2 weeks later...

For sake of conversation, can anyone she'd light on the purpose of the rest of the building that houses Krafsmen Cafe? I've always thought it was a great building,, despite not knowing what it is/was. Best options for repurposing?

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For sake of conversation, can anyone she'd light on the purpose of the rest of the building that houses Krafsmen Cafe? I've always thought it was a great building,, despite not knowing what it is/was. Best options for repurposing?

 

 

Kraftsmen also has a wholesale baking business, though I'm not sure that occupies the entirety of the rest of the building.

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Kraftsmen also has a wholesale baking business, though I'm not sure that occupies the entirety of the rest of the building.

 

There is an antique store called Installations that has a good portion of the west end of the building.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not Heights, but for those of us in Shady Acres/Timbergrove area The Warehouse Bar and Chill just opened recently. On 11th between Ella and Seamist. Craft beers and full bar, but they need to have more than just one white and red wine.  New American bar food.  A good addition to the hood'.

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I went to Boil House over the weekend.  Pretty solid crawfish, they were really nice/friendly and even gave us a piece of King Cake to try while we were eating our crawfish.  Will definitely be going again.

 

I also went to Mighty Mini Pies on Main Street Friday (I think that is the name) and got two mini pies.  They were tasty (kinda sad I didnt' go before now)

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Gelazzi is open on White Oak and Harvard.  I have not been yet, but saw that they did a nice job fixing up the space behind the building.  There are lots of tables with umbrellas in the space behind the building.  A nice spot to enjoy some gelato.  They should be able to print money being just a block from Donovan park. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So, Maryam's Café is supposed to open in the old Cricket's Creamery space on July 1, 2014.  www.maryamscafe.com

 

The space looks to have been gutted, but I have not seen any signs of a build out yet.  July 1 is a bit ambitious, but I hope it is good. 

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So, Maryam's Café is supposed to open in the old Cricket's Creamery space on July 1, 2014.  www.maryamscafe.com

 

The space looks to have been gutted, but I have not seen any signs of a build out yet.  July 1 is a bit ambitious, but I hope it is good. 

 

Judging from the website, it doesn't appear that Scott Tycer's involved with this place anymore. I'm still curious as to why Cricket's shut down rather abruptly not too long after he acquired it. 

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My understanding is that Tycer/Kraftsmen had some sort of partnership interest with the person who bought Crickets from John, but did not own it outright and was not running it.  I do not know why they closed up so soon after taking over, but the transition from the funky old Cricket's with John's vegetarian dishes and fun soda fountain concoctions to the new neutered version of Cricket's seemed to just alienate the former clientele and do little to attract new customers.  The interior had bare walls with no art or pictures.  It was like eating in the back of a warehouse.  The food wasn't bad.  But you could get a better meal at just about any other place in the Heights. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

The food at Mozelle's was really good.  But the seafood market concept was probably the downfall.  Houstonians are generally not big consumers of seafood at home and tend to eat out for seafood or look to the big grocery chains to buy seafood.   I know a lot of people who ate there and were big fans of the food, but not a single person I knew bought seafood there to bring home to prepare. 

The location was also probably an issue.  They were too close to too many chains and other restaurants.  It is tough to be the new kid on the block and build a customer base when you are surrounded by so many other options.  I think they would have done better if they had opened up in an area that was underserved, like GOOF, Lazybrook/Timbgrove or along N. Main.  People are really ready to embrace new restaurants out there.  Hughie's is packed even though it is very hit/miss in terms of food and service (but the beer list has a way of making everything ok as long as the waiter keeps the suds coming). 

I hope they are not gone for good and try again with a better location and more of a restaurant concept.

Edited by s3mh
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Is it possible (or advisable) to change the name of a topic? It seems to me that this one, "Lack Of Restaurant Diversity In The Heights," (now over 8 years old), is a bit out of date. Surely there is some diversity by now! Just a thought.

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I would argue that there is still a lack of diversity... but a fair amount of choices for similar genres.  We still have no Indian or Sushi places... it was be really nice to see something like an Ethiopian restaurant.

 

I also like this thread as a reminder as to how far the restaurant scene has come for the 'hood.

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Heard something about being non-compliant with parking minimums. Can't confirm.

 

There has been a lot of fuss in the neighborhood about that issue recently.  Gelazzi got grandfathered on parking.  Neighbors got upset about that and about the TABC application.  Gelazzi just wants to serve gelato made with booze, but someone claimed that they were opening a bar.  Ruckus with the city ensued.  I think Boil House claimed to be take out, but set up a bunch of picnic tables. 

 

The real parking problem is mostly the streets and partly the patrons.  There are boneheads out there who will actually park right in front of someone's driveway or so close to the driveway that it is impossible to get out.  With minimal parking enforcement, this happens all the time.  But the real issue is that the streets are only 18' with open drainage ditches.  And the streets that are curbed and guttered are not wide enough for parking on both sides.  But the City sits on their hands when people ask for parking to be limited to one side and won't be improving any streets until the year 2047 when a few pennies left from the drainage fee trickle down to our neighborhood streets (pun intended).

 

If the streets feeding into the commercial corridors were curbed and guttered for a few blocks on each side and had parking limited to only one side of the street, there would be plenty of room for parking for restaurant patrons. 

 

Of course, I have no sympathy for people living near Coltivare, etc. who are just upset that people park on their street.  But, I have seen these streets get so clogged up that emergency vehicles could not get through and residents cannot get out of their driveways. 

 

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Is it possible (or advisable) to change the name of a topic? It seems to me that this one, "Lack Of Restaurant Diversity In The Heights," (now over 8 years old), is a bit out of date. Surely there is some diversity by now! Just a thought.

 

Not until there's a place to get decent bagels North of I-10.

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