Believe it: Houston Is Now an Active, Hip, Quick Getaway
By Meredith Bethune
Long known as the country’s oil capital, Houston is experiencing a downtown renaissance, investing in new green space, impressive public art, and reinvigorated historic places.
Where to Stay
Sleep in coolly contemporary style within a former bank at the Hotel Icon. (Photo: Courtesy of Hotel Icon)
Stay in the midst of Houston’s hottest nightlife district at the Hotel Icon (from $179). Located in the former Union National Bank, the building dates back to 1911, but the airy rooms with sophisticated pops of jewel-toned color feel quite contemporary. Book a restorative massage (from $150 for 50 minutes) at the BALANCE urban spa or in your room. Downstairs in the lobby, the L&L Bar evokes an updated Texas vibe with chairs upholstered in faux cowhide and drinks using Texas spirits like the Bee Sting ($12) made with sweet tea, honey, lemon, and Whitmeyer’s Texas Moonshine.
Take in sweeping skyline views at the Hotel Magnolia (from $117). The 22-story building once housed a newspaper office, as well as the Shell Oil Company; today, it contains 314 posh rooms decorated in muted colors with gold finishes and purple velvet drapes. Escape the Houston heat in the rooftop pool, and pop down to the lounge for a complimentary buffet breakfast. The adjacent hotel bar offers a free happy hour for guests every evening and then serves milk and cookies between 8-10 p.m. Added bonus: There’s a complimentary shuttle to any location within a three-mile radius.
Experience Houston history at the Sam Houston Hotel (from $130). Originally in operation from 1924 until 1975, it then sat abandoned (like many other downtown buildings) for three decades as businesses moved outside the city center. The hotel reopened in 2002 after undergoing extensive renovations, with 100 elegantly spare guest rooms outfitted in earth tones and cheeky cow-print throw pillows. If the Houston Texans or Rockets are playing a game, join the locals in cheering them on at the Sam Bar with a Lone Star beer in hand and a mess of spicy wings ($7).
Where to Eat
One kitchen serves two uniquely eclectic dining rooms at the Pass & Provisions. (Photo: Courtesy of The Pass & Provisions)
Gorge on coastal seafood at Caracol, the newest restaurant by chef Hugo Ortega, beloved for introducing Tex-Mex-loving Houstonians to authentic interior Mexican cuisine. Start with the signature Ceviche de Caracol ($14) that mixes buttery conch slices with pineapple, papaya, and red jalapeño; then try the grilled fish of the day in a piquant tomatillo-caper sauce with crispy shallots ($26) or a dozen wood-roasted Gulf oysters smothered in zippy chipotle butter ($23). For dessert, the playful El Coco ($11) is a must; pastry chef Ruben Ortega (Hugo’s brother) forms housemade chocolate into a coconut shell filled with coconut cream, which diners are encouraged to crack open with a small mallet.
Sample Houston’s cultural diversity at Underbelly. Chef Chris Shepherd finds inspiration in Szechuan, Mexican, and other cuisines from Houston’s less-traveled culinary corners, using native ingredients like by-catch seafood and grass-fed beef in unexpected ways. Ask about the day’s charcuterie offering, which could include a prosciutto plate featuring aged ham ($30) from hogs finished on Texas peanuts. The menu changes regularly, but Shepherd’s locally beloved Korean braised goat and rice dumplings tossed in a fiery gochujang sauce ($14) is always available. Save room for southern-inspired desserts like tangy vinegar custard pie with salt brittle or sweet-potato fried pie with toasted marshmallow (both $9).
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Taste the eclectic fruits of collaboration at the Pass & Provisions. The innovative concept is actually two different restaurants with separate chefs, organized around one kitchen. At the more casual Provisions, start with a cocktail like the Highline ($10), which tempers the bite of peppercorn rye whiskey with maple syrup and charred grapefruit. Fanciful main dishes range from a monkfish and scallop ballotine wrapped in bacon ($27) to pizza topped with duck confit, mustard, and pickled currants ($19). The whimsy continues on a much grander scale at the tasting-menu-only the Pass (five courses for $75, eight for $95), where dinner is served inside a stark white dining room with a full view of the kitchen. Dishes highlight textural contrasts, and might include a creamy poached egg sprinkled with miso-flavored cauliflower and macadamia nut, or fresh cappelletti dumplings flavored with nori and floating in a broth with matsutake mushrooms.
What to Do
Explore Houston’s recently expanded bike trails with Bayou City Bike Tours. (Photo: Courtesy of Bayou City Bike Tours)
Pedal through downtown with Bayou City Bike Tours, a two-year-old company made possible thanks to recent bike-path expansions within the city. On weekends, engaging local guides lead bikers on California beach cruisers on a leisurely three-hour tour ($40) packed with Houston history and architecture lessons. Riders make stops at various local bars and cafés, the Astros’ Minute Maid Park, and Discovery Green, the city’s newest downtown park. The compact 12-acre space squeezes in a putting green, a recreational lake, and revolving art installations like Bruce Munro’s Field of Light, consisting of frosted-glass spheres that burst with colored light at dusk. The final stretch of the tour often takes bikers to view the 36-foot-tall sculptures of the Beatles outside local artist David Adickes’ studio in the Heights neighborhood.
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Plan your own outdoor adventure in Buffalo Bayou Park along the city’s main waterway. The 160-acre park is currently undergoing a $58 million facelift that should be completed by summer of 2015. Join the throngs of locals jogging, playing Frisbee, or using Houston’s new B-Cycle ($5 for 24 hours) bike-share program, on paths that snake through miles of native wildflowers and oak, magnolia, and cypress trees. Sporty types can rent kayaks ($45 to $55) from Bayou City Adventures to paddle along the narrow stream of water. Alternatively, register online for a boat tour ($30 per person) of the colony of over 250,000 Mexican free-tailed bats that, yes, reside underneath the Waugh Drive Bridge and emerge at sunset year round.
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Explore the burgeoning nightlife scene around Market Square Park. This was Houston’s historic center in the 19th century, but it was later paved over to serve as a downtown parking lot. In 2010, the space was reborn as a communal park displaying public art like ceramic flower mosaics by artist Malou Flato. The change has transformed the area into a bar-hopping destination with a collection of diverse watering holes in repurposed historic spaces. Facing the park, sip a glass of red at La Carafe in one of the oldest (and supposedly haunted) buildings in Houston. Walk around the corner to Main Street and try a rare mezcal or sotol (starting at $4) at the Pastry War or wander a few doors down for a Sazerac ($10) at the New Orleans-inspired café the Honeymoon. Recently opened Moving Sidewalk, also on that block, makes cocktails with handcrafted sodas like the Little Reed Horses ($12) combining pisco, yogurt, sherry, cucumber, lemon soda, and celery seed. Just south of the park, sample an obscure Japanese or Taiwanese whiskey (starting at $8) at Public Services while lounging on a plush antique sofa in the former Houston cotton-exchange building.
Insider’s Tip
A luminous James Turrell installation is hiding in plain sight on Rice’s campus. (Photo: Courtesy of Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau)
Houston is already well-known for modern art-fan meccas like the Menil Collection and the Rothko Chapel, but one of the city’s newest installations is actually hidden behind Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. Artist James Turrell plays with light and space to influence how we view nature in the “Twilight Epiphany” Skyspace. Every day (except Tuesdays) at sunrise and sunset, the public is invited to witness a 40-minute light show inside the pavilion, where a square hole reveals a view of the sky while various colors are projected onto the white ceiling (free; reserve ahead online).
Oddball Day
The nostalgic amusements at Galveston’s Pleasure Pier happen to also offer a prime view of the Gulf Coast. (Photo: Courtesy of Pleasure Pier)
Take a break from immersing yourself in the urban jungle and head to the Gulf Coast. Pick up coffee and a biscuit with eggs and housemade bacon at Revival Market, then embark on the hour-long drive south along Interstate 45 to Galveston. Stroll along the coastline at the Galveston Island Seawall, or take a dip in the temperate Gulf waters. Unleash your inner child on classic carnival rides at the historic Pleasure Pier ($26.99), located just south of downtown Galveston on the coast; the Ferris wheel offers unmatched beachfront views while rides like the Revolution swing thrill-seekers 60 feet into the air, dangling them over the water. Drive a few blocks north to Pier 21 and imagine you’re on a more European coast at waterside Greek spot Olympia Grill, lunching on pita filled with grilled shrimp ($12.49). From there, walk three blocks to the Strand and browse the shops of Galveston’s historic district. Buy a stylish new swimsuit at the newly opened Texas Surf Co. or some handmade chocolates at La King’s Confectionery. Head back across the bridge and north on Route 146 through coastal plains toward the rugged hamlet of San Leon. Tour the rum- and agave-centric Railean Distillery ($5, book in advance) and be sure to buy a bottle of their Railean Reserve XO Rum, made from American molasses and aged in charred oak barrels. Make the two-minute drive to dive-y Gilhooley’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar, but don’t be deterred by its ramshackle appearance and parking lot paved with seashells; on the live-oak-shaded patio, you’ll dine on the freshest Gulf seafood, plucked straight from the bay less than two blocks away. Fill up on raw or chargrilled oysters (from $9.50/dozen) before retreating north toward Houston for the night.
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