- 2145 Kipling St. [HAR]
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Lanier Place
WHAT IT TAKES TO GET INTO THE VINTAGE LOUNGE This week’s Houston Press exposé on velvet-rope racism includes several first-hand accounts of actual sightings of minorities inside the Rice Village’s Hudson Lounge — and this sweet little nugget of nightclub strategery from Amir Ansari, owner of the Vintage Lounge at 2108 Kipling (across the street from Petsmart): “‘A bar is like a prison, and we have to keep our population in check,‘ [Ansari] says. ‘We are outnumbered 100 to one — we have to prescreen. I’m not letting eight random guys come in in a group. They will usually start fights or bother the girls, which makes matters even worse.’ . . . Ansari has structured the dress code at Vintage to encourage long-term business, or so he hopes. Patrons sporting designer labels such as Dolce & Gabbana or Armani will move on to the next trendy bar soon enough, while more casually clad customers in button-up shirts and khakis are more loyal, he says. Beyond that, ‘We don’t allow graphic printed shirts. No Affliction stuff — nothing you would see on Jersey Shore,’ Ansari adds. ‘No baggy hip-hop stuff, but even that style is dying off.'” [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot]
A hungry reader writes in wanting to know about the new concrete-block building going up at 2802 S. Shepherd, just across Harold St. from the Houston Wine Merchant. Half of the lot is the site of the former Chicken N Egg Roll. Because the neighboring house on Harold was carted away, the new lot is twice as deep.
I have confirmed that it is a commercial establishment, but can’t find any additional info. Do you know? It looks too small to be a restaurant, but one can hope . . .
Here’s one clue our reader will be happy to hear: The original demolition report from last April listed the owner or occupant of the property as Toyama Japanese Restaurant.
- Previously on Swamplot: Daily Demolition Report: Chicken and Egg Roll
Photo: Swamplot inbox
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHICH WILL ROLL FIRST? “Speaking of demolition, the Chicken ‘n’ Egg Roll building is still standing. On the day of the supposed demo, there was a little Bobcat or mini-dozer in the parking lot. A couple days later I noticed a CoH red tag in the window. But the building is still there. Wilshire Village is still standing, too, for the most part. The windows are gone, gaping, and empty, meaning that the interiors have been exposed to the weather (such as it is these days). Some of the buildings have been tagged. The complex used to just look old, but inhabited. Now it looks vacant and sad, very sad.” [GoogleMaster, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Meat Beater]