Nightlife
07/06/11 2:43pm

And Another Wine Bar: Shady Grocery Going Crisp

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The owners of Pub Fiction and Shot Bar in Midtown plan to make over the former Shady Grocery at the corner of Bevis and 23rd St. in Shady Acres into Crisp Wine Bar and Eatery, which will also feature craft beers on tap, an “Italian-influenced” menu (including pizza and deli-style hoagies), a retail wine shop, and a separate entrance for customers who just want to order takeout. Also: a patio next to the kitchen’s new herb-and-vegetable garden that’ll be carved out of the asphalt. Guy-in-charge Al Scavelli tells Swamplot many of the details are still being worked out, but he hopes to open the place at 2220 Bevis up by next January.
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Quicklink
07/06/11 12:33pm

Red Light Green Light

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RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT The city’s red-light cameras are going back on — effective immediately — Mayor Parker announced today. And after “a short period of equipment testing,” tickets will be issued again. In the meantime, the city will appeal the recent court ruling that invalidated last fall’s vote to turn off the cameras. The mayor said the city would owe millions of dollars “we simply don’t have” if it violated the court decision and the city’s contract with the vendor that operates the cameras. [Office of the Mayor; previously on Swamplot]

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Comments
07/05/11 6:03pm

Comment of the Day: The Restaurant Rush in Shady Acres

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RESTAURANT RUSH IN SHADY ACRES “Given the success of hugely popular Cedar Creek just down the street…and the new Hubcap Grille opening about a block away on 19th…and Gatlin’s BBQ…and the new spot opening soon on 23rd…I’d say this part of town has a hungry (and thirsty!) population who will ensure that this new Corkscrew location does well. Welcome to the neighborhood – very happy to have you here!” [LaLa, commenting on The Corkscrew Pops Open in Shady Acres]

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Art
07/05/11 2:44pm

Cy Twombly, 1928-2011

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CY TWOMBLY, 1928-2011 Famed scribbler and smudger Cy Twombly died earlier today in Rome after a battle with cancer. He was 83. A ceiling painting created by the shy former army cryptologist for the Louvre opened to the public just last year. In 1995, a permanent exhibition of his works opened in Renzo Piano’s quiet addition to the Menil Collection at 1501 Branard St. in Montrose. [Arts Beat] Photo: Stephen Bridges

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Openings and Closings
07/05/11 2:20pm

New Quick Stop for Slow Foods in River Oaks

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This building at 3951 San Felipe, just west of Willowick, may have started out as a gas station, but it’s also spent time as a cleaners and most recently was a bank. Since its soft opening last week, it’s been Relish Fine Foods, a small new market for the River Oaks crowd, specializing in natural and seasonal gourmet food, with shout-outs to local vendors. There’s still plenty of room to fill the wide-open 2,300-sq.-ft. interior with more merchandise, reports photographer Candace Garcia. (More than the current deli and olive bars may show up before the official opening next week.) But where better to start a little Houston grocery that supports the slow food movement than in this drive-up-friendly grab-and-go location? Parking-lot-facing sandwich munchers, there’s even a marble bar set up along the west front of the building set up just for you:

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Nightlife
07/05/11 11:40am

The Corkscrew Pops Open in Shady Acres

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Reopened in a new location over the weekend, after a year or so of mellowing: wine bar and former Washington Ave nightlife pioneer The Corkscrew. That mysterious Heights location turns out to be in Shady Acres, in the former strip-center Washateria at 1308 W. 20th St., where there’s now this patio out front.

Photo: Candace Garcia

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Malls
07/01/11 5:29pm

South-of-Houston Outlet Mall Competition Settles on Texas City

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SOUTH-OF-HOUSTON OUTLET MALL COMPETITION SETTLES ON TEXAS CITY Tanger Outlets had hoped to build a new mall in League City, but the land it had its eye on was sold at auction. So the company has announced it will be teaming up with rival mall developers Simon Property Group to build a mall in Texas City, where Simon was planning its own Galveston Premium Outlets instead. The new Tanger Outlets will sit on 55 acres on the west side of the Gulf Freeway, north of the Walmart Supercenter just south of the Holland Rd. exit. The first phase is expected to feature 90 stores in 350,000 sq. ft. Groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for this month. [Tanger Outlets; previously on Swamplot]

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Hobby Airport
07/01/11 11:54am

New Hong Kong Market Moving in Close to Hobby

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The long-rumored fifth Hong Kong Market will soon take over this former flea-market building (on the right in the photo) just southwest of the intersection of Airport Blvd. and the Gulf Freeway, a reader reports. Work is already going on inside the building, which was originally a Sam’s Club. The 2 pagoda-themed strip buildings flanking the building’s parking lot that were put up a few years ago are still mostly empty — only a pho restaurant and a nail salon have moved in. The Pulgita con Aire, aka the National Marketplace flea market, now has its own building with an attached parking garage directly south of its former home (barely visible in the background between the 2 buildings), along Mosley Rd. at 9820 Gulf Fwy. D. Back in February, the owners of the Hong Kong Market agreed to pay $1.8 million in back wages and a $200,000 fine for underpaying the Houston grocery chain’s workers and misleading investigators about its labor practices.

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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