HOUSTONIANS NOW EAT THEIR VEGETABLES IN THE STRANGEST PLACES 
Food and travel writer Salma Abdelnour, who grew up here, takes New York Times travel section readers on a tour of 5 Houston restaurants carved out of former something-or-others: the car dealership that became Reef, the ice house that became Beaver’s, the burlap factory that became Textile, the appliance warehouse that became Block 7 Wine Company. Somehow the spaghetti-western-themed strip center that ultimately became Stella Sola gets mixed up in this crowd (Abdelnour calls the building a “town house”). She adds: “In the film ‘Urban Cowboy,’ based in Houston and nearby Pasadena, the mother of the John Travolta character told him, ‘You just can’t get good vegetables in Houston.’ You certainly can now.” [New York Times] Photo of Stella Sola: 2Scale Architects
Sign up for the Newsletter
At least in this case, the developer, Allegro Builders provided actual parking for the Stella Sola McMansion. When they developed it’s across-the-street neighbor (where the Glass Wall is located) they hoodwinked(?) the city into approving a site plan with woefully inadequate parking, much to the distress of neighbors.
Now that Allegro is actually providing parking, maybe they can figure out how to do a building that isn’t so darned ugly…
Is Allegro actually doing anything any more? I was under the impression they had folded. At the end of the day the article wouldn’t have had the same ring had it said “in a purpose built restaurant space” rather than “in a converted townhouse”. Interesting to see the comment about the salt. From the word of mouth I have heard it sounds like someone definitely had a salt fetish the first few weeks of opening there.
I also suggust the Houston Farmer’s Market located at East Side and Richmond for fresh, local, organic vegetables.
Sat morning 8am-12pm
At the risk of drifting slightly off-topic, is there a list somewhere of all the farmers’ markets that have opened over the last few years? I always forget which ones are where and open which days.
Allego is very much “still around”. They are building amazing homes in the Heights and other parts of the city. Their office is in the Stella Sola Building on the Second floor.