02/01/17 12:00pm

2211 Norfolk St., Upper Kirby, Houston

Mosaic Dermatology LogoSwamplot today is sponsored by Mosaic Clinic Dermatology. Thanks for supporting this site!

Why wait to see a dermatologist? At Mosaic Clinic Dermatology, same-day, next-day, and Saturday appointments are available! And chances are, one of Mosaic Clinic’s 3 Houston locations is nearby: in Upper Kirby at 2211 Norfolk St. Suite 405 (pictured above); in Midtown at 902 Fairview St. Suite 1; and in the Tanglewood area (convenient to the Galleria) at 5757 Woodway Dr. Suite 185a.

Mosaic Clinic Dermatology is an award-winning, highly rated general dermatology practice that also offers several specialized treatments for skin conditions — such as acne, eczema, and skin rashes — as well as a range of cosmetic procedures and products.

One of the procedures offered at Mosaic Clinic Dermatology may be of special interest to you: the MiraDry underarm sweat and odor treatment. MiraDry is an FDA-approved, non-invasive, in-office procedure that can take care of underarm issues in as little as one treatment. It’s for anyone who is tired of dealing with underarm sweat, odor, and hair. MiraDry allows you to stop using deodorant.

To find out more about MiraDry or any of the other available treatments, check out the Mosaic Clinic Dermatology website. You can make appointments at any location from this page — or call (281) 941-5556 for immediate assistance.

Join the growing number of local businesses supporting Swamplot. Become a sponsor of the day.

 

Sponsor of the Day
02/01/17 11:30am

Rice Box, 300 W. 20th St., Houston Heights, Houston, 77008

Rice Box, 300 W. 20th St., Houston Heights, Houston, 77008The Chinese chicken takeout swapout at 300 W. 20th St. is now more or less complete, as of the space’s soft opening on Saturday (just in time to celebrate the Lunar New Year, which kicked off, as it happens, the start of the year of the rooster). The restaurant’s official kickoff is planned for this weekend, the day before the Super Bowl. Rice Box owner John Peterson told the Chronicle years ago that the now-catering-only food truck was loosely inspired by the movie’s White Dragon noodle shop; the new restaurant’s prominent neon signage and dense Asiatic business district patio mural offer a more overt visual cue. (Incidentally, Peterson isn’t the only person interested in ushering in the movie’s dystopian aesthetic for culinary purposes — celebrity food guy Anthony Bourdain is reportedly working on a whole Blade Runner-themed food marketplace on a pier in New York.)

Interior renovations include the addition of several beer taps, in line with that TABC permit notice spotted last year (though some of the taps reportedly dispense nitrogenated tea.) Here’s a look from W. 20th St. at the refurbished exterior, and the building’s new side patio:

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Heights Chicken Switch
02/01/17 8:30am

the-square-at-memorial-city-mall

Photo of The Square at Memorial City Mall: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
01/31/17 6:00pm

‘BE SOMEONE’ BRIDGE GRAFFITI EDITED BY ANONYMOUS SUPER BOWL BOOSTERS Craig Hlavaty writes that the blue BE SOMEONE graffiti on the train bridge over I-45 south of Hogan St. — whose periodic re-creator can’t take credit for it, for reasons of vandalism law — has itself been vandalized again, this time to read something along the lines of B FOoTBALl. With the Super Bowl throngs presumably on their way, will the original graffitist have time or opportunity to get the piece back on message before this weekend’s main events? Or does the new scrawlover better encapsulate the spirit of the city for the moment, what with other muralwork around town getting a football-themed makeover?  Would Scenic Houston be willing to lend a hand? Or, perhaps, whoever made the tiny neon sign version on E. 7th 1/2 St.? [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Video of graffiti defacement: Houston Chronicle

01/31/17 5:15pm

New Paint Job for Trader Joe's, Petsmart at Former Alabama Theater, 2922 S. Shepherd Dr., Upper Kirby, Houston

The front of Weingarten Realty’s Alabama Shepherd Shopping Center now sports some big dark blocks on its Shepherd-facing facade, Houstorian James Glassman notes in a drive-by of the scene this afternoon. The gradated yellow vertical fluting above the movie-theater-turned-bookstore-turned-sandbox-turned-grocery store’s marquee sign (which the city’s landmark designation writeup says is made of enameled steel) has been done over in a single swath of brown, matching the shade applied above the formerly tan Petsmart facade as well. Marketing materials on Weingarten’s website for the shopping center still show the old color scheme:

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Trader Joe’s Trade
01/31/17 1:30pm

2531 Kuester St., Montrose, Houston, 77006

Right across Kuester St. from where that paving prep looks to be going on this month, some building permits have been issued recently for a new honky tonk and bar listed as Goodnight Charlie’s. A couple of readers noted that the long-empty triangle of partially grazeable land behind Buffalo Exchange also sports the TABC notice signage above, and the space looks to be owned by the same legal entity that owns the jilted corner lot. The fenced-in land sits at the trailing end of Kuester, which blends into Missouri St. and the back edge of the parking lot of Mexican seafood-themed bar La Grange (which took over the 2-story building formerly occupied by gay bar EJ’s on Ralph St., behind the Westheimer-facing Central Houston Animal Hospital). 

Here’s a wider shot of the permitted honky tonk site; that’s the back of the Community Endowment Foundation’s Swelha House visible just to the right of all those early-2010’s townhomes:

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Fenced In Off Westheimer
01/31/17 12:00pm

Rendering of 1123 Wakefield St., Oak Forest, Houston

Jamestown Estate Homes LogoSwamplot’s sponsor today is Jamestown Estate Homes, which is announcing its latest showcase home in Oak Forest. Thanks for supporting this site!

This Craftsman-style home, which should be complete in early March, will be listed in the mid-$800s. It is zoned to Garden Oaks Elementary School and is within walking distance of several dining and entertainment options. The 2-story home is 3,709 sq. ft. on a 7,920-sq.-ft. lot, which means there’s room in the back yard for a pool. The plan features a first-floor master bedroom, an open-concept kitchen, 3 upstairs bedrooms, a game room, and a media room. Jamestown Estate Homes is proud of its floorplans, its attention to detail, and its custom finishes; this home should do a good job showing off the homebuilder’s capabilities.

Jamestown Estate Homes was named Custom Builder of the Year by the GHBA in 2013. The company has active projects in the Memorial Villages, Oak Forest, and the Heights, and is looking to expand into Meyerland, Bellaire, and Tanglewood. (Jamestown Estate Homes will also build on a client’s land in surrounding areas.) The company completes 6 to 12 homes a year, with projects starting around $500,000 (for the house only). With three sales already on the record in 2017, Jamestown Estate Homes is on track for a record-breaking year.

To find out more about this property or Jamestown Estate Homes, visit the company’s website, check them out on Facebook, or contact Victoria Hawes directly at victoria.hawes@jamestownestatehomes.com.

Some smart local businesses are doing well — and doing good — by sponsoring Swamplot. Find out here how your company can participate.

Sponsor of the Day
01/31/17 11:30am

7006 I-45 South at Woodridge, Gulfgate, Houston, 77087

7006 I-45 South at Woodridge, Gulfgate, Houston, 77087 Vintage roadside attraction photographer Molly Block sends in the fresh shot above of the empty triple post that previously held up the neon beacon of Gulfgate all-night diner Dot Coffee Shop (along with a previous portrait of the sign itself, circa 2013). Block snapped the picture of the bare poles over the weekend; an employee tells Swamplot this morning that both the Dot sign and the sign for also-Pappas-owned Pappas Bar-B-Q next door had to be temporarily taken down out of the way of that planned reworking of the I-45-Loop-610 intersection. The project will add another pair of direct connectors between the 2 highways, and retool the southbound I-45 frontage road, which runs along the edge of the restaurants’ parking lots (as shown in the TxDOT schematics below):

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Gulfgate Rearrangements
01/31/17 8:30am

richmond-donkeys

Photo of Richmond: Bill Barfield via Swamplot Flickr Pool

Headlines
01/30/17 5:30pm

1634 Westheimer Rd., Montrose, Houston, 77006 1634 Westheimer Rd., Montrose, Houston, 77006

Update, 1/31: A few readers noticed some TABC notices across the street — more here.

A reader noted the recent earth-scraping on the now-largely-grassless corner lot at 1634 Westheimer Rd. (shown above in last week’s aquatic trappings). The long-empty land, across Kuester St. from Buffalo Exchange, is listed as the former site of Kewpie’s Cleaners and Dyers, and was previously tapped as the intended site of a 5-story Bunkhouse hotel. The midrise plan fell through, though, freeing the land to become the future site of the Edmont. That plan also fell through: Only a temporary version of the woulda-been restaurant was ever built, for a 1-night fundraiser supporting a foundation started in memory of chef and Edmont co-founder Grant Gordon.

Recently issued city permits suggest the space is turning to the parking industry for now. Here’s another shot, facing southwest through the fence toward interior design shop Merchant & Market, exterior design shop Houston Ink Society, and smoke shop High End:

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Down to 0 Stories for Now
01/30/17 1:45pm

Map of TCEQ Shadow Creek Ranch study area

The city of Pearland’s Odor Task Force is hosting a meeting on February 8th to give some updates on the saga of the Shadow Creek Ranch stench, the Chronicle‘s Margaret Kadifa reports. The map above shows industrial sites noted by the TCEQ in the vicinity of the master-planned community during the environmental agency’s long-running search for the source of the odor. Early last summer the come-and-go smell was finally officially linked to emissions from the slowly rising Blue Ridge Landfill, which sits across FM 521 from the subdivision, just outside the Pearland border in Fresno, TX. The agency says that 81 investigations had been launched in response to more than 1,900 complaints from the neighborhood, as of January 1st; TCEQ started sending enforcement letters to the landfill in October, and a class action lawsuit on behalf of area residents was filed in November.

Map of industrial sites and air sampling locations around Shadow Creek Ranch: TCEQ

Blue Ridge Mountains
01/30/17 12:00pm

Drink

ASCOT logoToday our sponsor is ASCOT, also known as the Alcohol Servers Counsel of Texas. Thanks for supporting Swamplot!

If you work in a restaurant, or in any kind of food-service or food-prep operation, you’re probably already familiar with state requirements for training in food-handling safety. And if you work in a bar or for an alcohol distributor, you probably already know why it’s so important that everyone who has anything to do with selling, dispensing, or delivering any kind of alcoholic beverage complete state-certified training in alcohol safety.

Since 1988, ASCOT has been licensed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission to provide TABC-certified alcohol-server training programs. That makes ASCOT one of the oldest and most established food and beverage certification programs in the country — as well as Texas’s longest-running provider of training in this important field. And ASCOT has been a preferred source for training in food handling in Houston since 2004.

If you’re responsible for making sure new employees are trained promptly and well in these particular areas, you can be sure they’re getting the exact program they need — in the most helpful format possible — by sending them to ASCOT. ASCOT offers its training courses both in a classroom setting and online, in both English and Spanish.

Use the discount code ASCOT on the alcoholservers.com website and the online alcohol-server training course works out to just $9.89 per class. The food-handling class costs just $7.00 — no discount code is needed.

ASCOT’s server-training program is certified by the TABC, and its food-handler program is ANSI Accredited as meeting the ASTM E2659-09 standard. For more details, or to sign up, head over to the ASCOT website — alcoholservers.com — or call 713.922.1223.

Cheers to the many smart local businesses that are supporting Swamplot! Here’s how to get more information about our Sponsor of the Day program.

Sponsor of the Day
01/30/17 11:30am

Glenbrook Valley neighborhood signage, Glenbrook Valley, Houston, 77061

Glenbrook Valley neighborhood signage ca. 1956, Glenbrook Valley, Houston, 77061The retro Glenbrook Valley neighborhood entry sign above is now standing on Broadway St. north of the intersection with Santa Elena St., Robert Searcy notes. The neighborhood civic club’s new Mod marker echoes one that stood in the area shortly after the subdivision’s early 1950s founding (shown here in a black and white excerpt from a brochure for the 1956 Parade of Homes tour) and replaces the much more rectilinear sign long planted in about the same spot. The new sign’s cursive also mimics the throwback style of the script on the nearby Glenbrook Valley Apartments on Bellfort St.:

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Pregaming on Broadway St.