The Boathouse is easily on my Top 10 BBQ list. I used to go to the original location on Montgomery Road when I was a kid and I had applied for a job at the Beechmont location just a couple of days before their pits caught on fire and burned the place down. Suffice it to say there was no job to be had. Montgomery Inn is closer to KC barbecue than the others.
Honestly I have had NC BBQ the least of the major varieties. What I have had has been adequate but not my preference in contrast to Austin or Memphis or KC. It is a rarity to find someone who is a NC BBQ fanboy who has been exposed to the other varieties on a wide scale. But just as I am loyal to the bone to Cincinnati chili despite living in Texas, I understand home state allegiances.
Truthfully, Houston is not a Texas barbecue mecca. That title belongs to Austin and the small communities surrounding it in Central Texas. Central Texas BBQ relies primarily on the best meat preparation with the sauce being just an accent. The other three major varieties tend to focus more on the flavors added to the meat. Don't get me wrong, I love them all. But most barbecue afficionados give greatest credence to how the meat is prepared (Can I get a witness from the Quad Cities?).
Now back to the original premise of the thread ...
While all part of Houston, the city has some very distinct sections of the city. Downtown is where Toyota Center & Minute Maid Park are located along with some live music venues (El Scorcho knows what I am talking about). But generally speaking there won't be that many reasons for you to head downtown even though it is just about 20-30 minutes east on I-10 (aka the Katy Freeway). It has the largest skyline in the city and is home to most of the major oil & gas companies in the world as well as other energy companies. Generally speaking, if you are the company nickel and want to order a big Texan steak then I would recommend a place called
Vic & Anthony's that is part of the Houston-based Landrys group. The most fun place to eat downtown IMHO is
Downtown Aquarium which is also run by Landrys. The seafood is adequate but not spectacular but the atmosphere in the place is amazing. During the Super Bowl here a few years ago it was THE party venue. It remains a great place for a group together. Sly Jr. is having his birthday there in a couple of months and he is completely jazzed. And as Atrain referenced, if you go downtown during the day you rarely see people walking around on the streets. Most of the major buildings downtown are connected by a massive tunnel system that was built back before the advent of air conditioning so the summers could be endured in Houston. I use the system when I am working downtown quite a bit. It is like a whole other wrld down there with restaurants & shopping. But generally everything closes down at 5 o'clock when the offices all empty out.
Midtown is located along the US 59 Southwest Freeway corridor between downtown and the Galleria. It is home to funky & trendy restaurants and a massive museum district. Rice Village is a great place to go hang out in the evenings. It is located right by the Rice University campus and the world's largest medical center ... Texas Medical Center has around 60 hospitals headlined by the massive MD Anderson cancer centers. Honestly Rice Village and much of midtown caters to the 20s & 30s crowd. Mrs. Sly went to
Niko Niko's with some friends a few months back & loved the place. It is Greek and is generally considered among the most fun & tasty places to eat in all Houston. Star Pizza is a fun, casual place to get a strong pie. And it is located right by Amy's Ice Cream & a Freebirds location on Shepherd. But if you are looking for a great burger, I highly recommend Prince's. It is located on the 59 access road basically just across the freeway from Lakewood Church (aka the onetime Summit/Compaq Center that is now home to Joel Osteen Ministries).
The world famous
Galleria is the centerpiece to the galleria section of town sometimes referred to as Uptown. The mall itself is massive and worth a visit. It is where oil barons & sheiks from around the world come to drop massive of amount of money on clothes, shoes and just about anything you can imagine. We like to go around Christmas time because they have a massive Christmas Tree in the middle of the ice rink that leaves my kids' jaws on the floor. Honestly we practically never buy anything there but it is great place to hang when weather isn't great outside. Just outside the Galleria itself is the Williams Tower that is the tallest building west of the Mississippi. In front of it and a short walk from the mall if you have parked on the SE side (which I highly recommend for easy access in & out) is the
waterwall. Its a massive freestanding u-shaped wall that creates an awesome waterfall that is one of the best photography locations in Houston. I love standing in the middle of the U and just soaking up the sounds of the water. The area surrounding the galleria is the chicest section of the city and is home to countless restaurants that top Zagat & Michellin surveys. In addition to the Mortons in the mall itself, my favorite steakhouse is the
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse on Westheimer. It is the flagship of the Houston-based Pappas family of restaurants. If you see Pappas in the name of a restaurant (i.e.
Pappasitos,
Pappadeaux &
Pappas BBQ) then you know it is going to be a great meal & experience. In fact, I would put Pappadeaux as perhaps my top recommendation for you based on where your conference is located with a restaurant right there in Town & Country, but I digress. Literally the options in the Galleria area are endless.
I had mentioned earlier that I do indeed recommend
Space Center Houston over in the Clear Lake/Bay Area Houston section of town on the SE side. It is the tourist section of Johnson Space Center that NASA runs. Unless you have security clearance, you can't get into the JSC any other way than through Space Center Houston. Be forewarned that when you first come in you see a huge section of kids stuff (I believe they have a big Lego deal there right now). But there is plenty to keep adults entertained to make the steep entrance worth the money. The trams that go into the park run from section to the back and the right. The trams rotate between going to Mission Control & the Astronaut Training Center. Both trams go to Rocket Park and drive you around the whole place. But if you have any flexibility, I recommend the Mission Control option even though you have to walk up a slew of stairs to get up to Mission Control. Be sure to also check out some of the shows & exhibits inside Space Center Houston. We find new options nearly everytime we visit (and we generally have a family membership).
The part of town where you conference is located is in the Energy Corridor along the I-10 Katy Freeway. BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and a slew of other massive oil & gas companies you've never heard of are located in this area. So even though this is primarily a residential part of town there are plenty of eating options. Right where the Katy Freeway intersects with the Sam Houston Tollway is the area commonly referred to as Town & Country. There used to be a mall there that was torn a few years back. In its place was built an awesome development called
CityCentre. It is full of great eating & entertainment options. We've been to the
Studio Movie Grill there that is the nicest theater/restaurant that I've been to over the years.
If you are looking for local quick & cheap options, there are several I recommend in your area. There is a
Becks Prime hamburger joint on Dairy Ashford. I have been a
Freebirds honk for about 15 years. It is the burrito chain here in Texas that Pepsi copied the cponcept to create Chipotle. The original is still the best IMHO. There is a Freebirds just inside the Beltway about 5-10 minutes from you along the I-10 acess road at the Bunker Hill exit (opposite side of the freeway from the Memorial City Mall).
I have mentioned that anything with the name Pappas in it is a great option and the same goes for
Goode Co. They operate a slew of different chains that are all strong.
Goode Co. BBQ is pretty strong and they have a location at your way. Another group of restaurants that are solid are the sister chains of Gringos (TexMex) & Gringeauxs (Cajun). But my favorite TexMex chain is the Austin-based
Chuy's. They have expanded out beyond the Texas borders in recent years following the Pappasitos & Pappadeaux lead, but they remain an awesome place to eat. The atmosphere is kitschy with tributes to Elvis everywhere and an seemingly endless variety of souvenir T-shirts that are immensely popular in Texas. But the food is what sets the place apart. The Chuys Special enchilada is one of my favorite plates of food anywhere on the planet. They have two locations on Westheimer ... one is just inside the 610 loop from the Galleria. The other is inside the Beltway/Sam Houston Tollway not far from
Yao Ming's restaurant and the new section of Chinatown. Oh yeah, if you are into Asian food there are a slew of awesome options. Houston has one of the largest populations of Chinese & Vietnamese in the U.S.
Just give me a ring if you have any local questions.
--Fumble (1961-2009), RIP
) for BBQ. Nothing has come close to Montgomery Inn. And NC, well.... haha
- By LU Armchair coach
- By TH Spangler