I will be the first to admit that other than having some girlfriends that live there, Houston, TX wasn't at the top of my must travel to spots. However, as a couple that was raised in Georgia and HUGE Atlanta Falcons fans (we had to buy the expensive sports cable package to watch every game when we moved), we had a big item on our bucket list. We said way back in 2000 when we met that if the Falcons ever went back to the Super Bowl, we would make it happen and go. So when they ended up winning their spot in the big game, we immediately booked the flight and hotel. It was only a long weekend trip, and I was excited about the game, but as I perused zagat.com for some food recommendations, I got more and more excited. We weren't going to have enough meals there to even begin to touch their expansive culinary scene. Who knew?? Houston, at least what we saw of it, wasn't the prettiest place we've been, but man it's a food lover's paradise.
When we first arrived, we had to get our taste of Tex Mex. As expected, they have places on every corner. Pappasito's is an old favorite of ours from when we lived in Atlanta, so we had to stop by for nostalgia purposes. Ninfa's on Navigation (ninfas.com) was another Tex Mex places that came highly recommended, but sadly we didn't have enough time to check it out...next time for sure!
Since this was an adults only trip, on our first night we decided to check out Houston's nightlife (with all the other tourists and locals too apparently) and we went to Club Nomadic to see Sam Hunt and the Chainsmokers. Being an old lady (alright not that old, but not a spring chicken anymore) we left before it was over and missed a surprise performance by Snoop Dogg, but you know, the need for sleep won out.
The rest of the weekend, we checked out all of the football events they had going on downtown. If you are ever in town for a Super Bowl, I highly recommend going to the NFL Experience. We had a great time there, but the kids would've loved it too and plan to take them there when the Super Bowl is in Atlanta. Definitely plenty to do to make a whole afternoon out of it.
Since we all know the outcome of the actual game, and I don't want to shed more tears thinking about it, I will just say NRG Stadium is beautiful and we had a fabulous time until the 4th quarter. Also, Lady Gaga was amaaaaazing live!
So back to my happy place...food. We literally hit a home run on every place we chose to eat. For dinner one night, we tried a cool little joint called Weights + Measures ( http://weights-measures.com/ ).The menu reminded us of one of our favorite spots in Orlando, so we decided to give it a try and it did not disappoint. Very good food, but no stuffiness of a finer dining restaurant which is exactly what we were going for that night. For lunch, we chose Brennan's (https://www.brennanshouston.com/ ). This is a sister location to the famous Brennan's in New Orleans. We love New Orleans and Creole style food, so knew it would be right up our alley. I have to say, the food was amazing. We order and share most of the time and had crab cakes (the best ones we've EVER had), shrimp and grits and then beignets for dessert, because you pretty much have to in a New Orleans based restaurant, right?? The atmosphere was a little uptight for my liking, and imagine the dinner atmosphere is even more formal. Think ladies that lunch and people that own yachts filling up the room. It's a place where you have to think about your most proper manners and the volume of your conversations. I enjoyed the food enough to go back, but I tend to go for places where you can be a little more relaxed.
We had brunch at two different spots during the trip. One was in a cute little place where I met up with my local girlfriends, yay! It was called Tiny's No.5 (http://www.tinyboxwoods.com/tinys-no5/) and was the sweetest place. Definitely a getting together with girlfriends spot. Go in with an empty stomach because the portions are Texas sized! Our other brunch spot was Dish Society (http://www.dishsociety.com/). This is where we had our pre Super Bowl brunch. Again, the portions are huge, which was a good thing because we were so sick after the result of the game that we didn't eat dinner. The Dish Society is a farm to table place with outdoor patio seating and a really nice spot for brunch. If you go, you must try the Organic Prickly Pear Mimosa, OMG it was good. I had the chicken & biscuits with gravy and the hubby had the brisket n' eggs, because when in Texas, you have to have brisket. Both were delish and also way too much food to finish, which we felt sad about, but couldn't do it (we tried our best though!)
Our favorite dinner hands down was MF Sushi (http://mfsushiusa.com/). Located in the Museum District of the city, MF Sushi is a trendy hotspot, so make sure to make reservations early. We were told the chef's omakase is a must try, but we didn't have the time to spend for an extra long dinner. We did however, get to see the restaurant's namesake Mr. Magic Fingers (MF) at work prepping an omakase for another couple and I can assure you he earned his nickname....just wow! He's definitely an artist in chef form.
So, we did a lot in our short weekend and checked a big item off our bucket list with attending a Super Bowl. We hope to do it again in the future with a better result for our team. Even though it was bittersweet with our loss, it was a fabulous weekend and we fell in love with Houston. Everyone we met was friendly and the food was out of this world. If the opportunity ever came about to move to Houston, we know we'd fit right in. We hope to be back sometime again ya'll!
