WHEN WESTHEIMER WAS FOR CRUISING John Nova Lomax reminisces: “This was Oil Bust Houston, and it looked then like Montrose might become a full-on slum. There were no condos along ‘Theimer (as it was often called by the mullet set) and few fancy restaurants. From Montrose Boulevard all the way to what is now called Midtown, Westheimer was lined with little more than one “modeling studio” after another, and it seems like there were even more tattoo shops than there are now. The denizens and visitors to these businesses (not to mention the street hustlers, drag queens, punks and Guardian Angels that still lurk in the area) provided plenty for the hordes of suburbanites — getting their first taste of freedom and big city life — to gawk at from the safety of their Blazers and Cutlasses. . . . on weekend nights, Westheimer would be bumper-to-bumper from Bagby to well past Buffalo Speedway, and sometimes all the way out to the Galleria, a phantasmagoria of teenage hormones and sound-collisions: car-horns, engines revving, and squealing girls, the hiss-and-almost-subsonic bass rumble of ‘Paul Revere’ booming from a Jeep Cherokee interlocking with a Honda CRX chirping out that inane ‘Two of Hearts’ pop ditty or the root canal Teutonic skronk of that ‘Warm Leatherette’ monstrosity.” [Hair Balls]
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Tag: Lower Westheimer
An update on recent comings and goings:
- Now Open: “A small group of cocktail freaks,” including former Beavers bartender Bobby Heugel, have at last opened the doors of Anvil Bar & Refuge on the Westheimer Curve. The location was originally a Bridgestone-Firestone tire shop, but was known more recently as the home of the Daiquiri Factory and Sliders.
- Closed: In advance of that new 25,000-sq.-ft. Spec’s opening up in the former Linens ’N Things in Weslayan Plaza, owner Christopher Massie decided to shut down Cepage Noir, his considerably smaller wine shop on Times Blvd. in the Rice Village.
More twists and turns:
AIRLINE: HOW YOU SAY WESTHEIMER IN SPANISH Stopping briefly at the Sunny Flea Market and the Cedar Lounge, and passing by Dance Town USA, John Nova Lomax decides a weekend evening on Airline Dr. is a familiar scene: “Even on a Sunday, the street is livelier than most in Houston – in fact, it reminded Beebe and I of nothing so much as lower Westheimer circa 1986, albeit en español. Teenagers still cruise the northern stretches of Airline in their cars, many of which sport speakers mounted in their grills, the better to share their norteño tunes with all those around them. (It’s loud, but since norteño is pretty much devoid of resonant bass frequencies, it doesn’t bulge glass or rattle your fillings.) There’s near gridlock at some intersections and the same sort of fleeting, duration-of-a-stoplight sexual tension (and thus its traveling partner — potential violence) ‘Theimer was known for back in its teenage hormone-drenched alleged heyday.” [Hair Balls; previously]
First came Katz’s, then Biba’s One’s a Meal. Now Alison Cook maps the coming convergence of 24-hour restaurants in the heart of Montrose:
In December, a critical mass of late-night eateries will coalesce near the storied Houston intersection of Montrose and Westheimer. The debut of Little Big’s, a new slider shack from the guys at Reef, firmly establishes the crossroads as the go-to address for clubgoers, nightcrawlers and late-shift service personnel in search of something to eat.
Little Big’s, construction of which is underway at 2703 Montrose–the former Ming’s Cafe–looks straight across the street at BB’s Kitchen, the terrific little po’ boy and breakfast place that stays open until 2:30 am Thursday, 4 am Friday and Saturday. It’s my favorite late-night spot in town.
Cook also notes a second Little Big’s location will open in Hermann Park this spring.
- The next late-night central: Montrose @ Westheimer [Cook’s Tour]
- Rouge Wipes Away Easy as the Biba’s Regulars Move In [Swamplot]
Photos of Little Big’s, under construction at the former Ming’s Cafe, 2703 Montrose Blvd.: Alison Cook
Just scrub away all that glitzy makeup and the former location of shuttered Rouge restaurant — at 812 Westheimer just a block east of Montrose — works fine as the new home of Biba’s One’s a Meal, says Alison Cook:
. . . the Biba’s folks got busy, banished the wine-dark swank, whitewashed the place and covered Rouge’s tables with blue-and-white checked plastic. Add a flotilla of Aegean photo murals, put on the sound track from Zorba (I am not making this up) and you’re good to go Greek. Or American, as the Biba’s menu and sign helpfully remind us, referring to the breakfast and burger fare that has seen many a local wastrel through the dark hours before the dawn, when a souvlaki or moussaka just don’t seem quite right.
Eighty-six the Beef Wellington with Mushroom pâté, bring on the chili cheeseburger with fries: The fates of restaurants make great economy-size metaphors, no?
I particularly enjoyed the way the formerly snazzy bar area is now filled with dinette furniture, as if the dining room redo–with its pretty wooden chairs and gleaming wine wall–just ran out of gas. What made it even better: a long table running the length of the room was filled with men of a certain age having a long, late lunch that looked right out of the old country.
- Burger Monday: Biba’s One’s a Meal Greek Village [Cook’s Tour, via Houston Foodie]
Photos: Alison Cook
Concept drawings for the new “boutique” hotel on Westheimer mentioned here on Friday are out! A tipster sends us to a HAIF post pointing to the Bunkhouse Management website, where Liz Lambert and company — the team behind Austin’s too-cool slow-mo Hotel San Jose rehab and Jo’s Coffee — have posted sketches of a 5-story, 75-room hotel complex planned for 1634 Westheimer, between Dunlavy and Mandell.
Yes, that’s the long-vacant failed-condo site next to Buffalo Exchange, across the street from the Leopard Lounge. Bunkhouse describes the site as a “blank slate,” but they’re likely to find a number of poured-then-abandoned piers on the property.
Bunkhouse’s plans show a restaurant, patio, and retail space fronting Westheimer. The hotel, wrapping around a pool, is in back, reachable from the front patio and a car entrance along one-block-long Kuester St., on the east side of the property.
Below: More drawings, including a site plan.
BOUTIQUE HOTELS COMING TO WASHINGTON AVE. AND LOWER WESTHEIMER? They’re not saying much, but two separate potential developers have targeted Inner Loop sites. No “immediate plans,” of course: “Liz Lambert, the businesswoman behind the hip Hotel San José in Austin, has a site on lower Westheimer earmarked for a possible hotel. . . . Sergio Ortiz, owner of Houston-based Orion Hotels Inc., is working on the development of a boutique hotel on Washington Avenue, one of the hottest emerging strips in the Bayou City.” [Houston Business Journal]
Anonymouseater, writing in the Food in Houston blog, begins discussion of a brand-new restaurant on Lower Westheimer with this caution:
Warning: This post contains material for an adult audience. Children, sensitive readers, and vegetarians should read no further. They also should not go to one of my new favorite Houston restaurants called “Feast.”
Anonymouseater is wrong about the vegetarian part. The proprietors of Feast claim to serve “great vegetarian food.” For example, in today’s lunch menu, “Roasted Vegetable Salad with Chickpeas and Homemade Yoghurt Cheese” is listed next to . . . “Tongue and Testicles in Green Sauce.”
And just above the “Lamb’s Tongues, Bacon, Rutabaga and Swiss Chard” is “Thyme Braised Lentils with Balsamic Tomato Salad.” So you see, Feast offers fine dining for every taste!
But really, why all the strange animal parts?
Real carnivores eat meat from the whole animal.
Oh. Feast’s home at 219 Westheimer is the former location of Chez George. Notes another reviewer, at Tasty Bits:
A few months ago it was a charming old house with creaky floors and ancient diners in suits eating continental food. Walk into Feast today you might think you’re in a neighborhood diner on Notting Hill. The space looks more open and full of light. Where a place like Ristorante Cavour feels like a facsimile created by an interior designer, Feast with it’s dark woods, family photos and subtle touches throughout the restaurant make it feel as if someone actually lives there. It’s a great place to eat.
After the jump: More cowball!
And yet another Lower Westheimer institution bites the dust. The Houston Business Journal reports that La Strada has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection:
According to documents, the restaurant filed as an emergency action after negotiating with the Texas Comptroller’s Office over a failure to pay past due taxes. A seizure notice was served and the restaurant faced immediate closure.
La Strada’s second location — on San Felipe — closed early last year.
- Restaurant files for Chapter 11 as state goes after past-due taxes [Houston Business Journal]
- La Strada Restaurant
- Goodbye, Felix [Swamplot]
Photo: Flickr user Pixeltopia
