Tara "Shuggie" H.'s Profile

Soundtrack: "One For My Baby (and One More For The Road)" Frank Sinatra (1947) - Frank Sinatra: The Columbia Years

Way to go Kevin, http://Yelp.com, Makers Mark, Annie Ray, Mark C. and The Highball!

Although I spent most of my time in the Xanadu Room (shout out to Allison, Holly, Dej, Jaye and Eileen) karaoking Broadway, "The thong Song" and "Careless Whisper," I can say that the general atmosphere was perfection. It was so wonderful to see all you Yelpers turned out in your Mad Men themed best. It was a feast for the eyes!

Some highlights: Dej belting out Aretha - daaaaaaaamn, girl, you got some pipes. Kimberley yelling "Tara H. is that you!?" *blush* Justin B. bringing it in his skinny tie and plaid blazer. The Highball folks singing and dancing in the Xanadu room - wonderful!

I was on Cloud 9 at this shindig!

My only criticism? Why weren't you playing era music?! Next time?

UPDATE:: I've been corrected. The DJ was playing era appropriate music. :)

Every time I come to Houston to visit friends I end up forgetting something. The store closest to my friend's house in Tomball is WalMart.

This WalMart is weird for several reasons.

1. The aisles in some sections are only 5-6' tall.
2. My friends come to WalMart so often they know their names. How often do you have to come to WalMart for them to know your name? No really. That's a lot of WalMart shopping.
3. Their employees, while sweet, have no concept of time. As in, they move molasses slow. Polar ice cap slow. Wait. What?

The last time I was in this store, I stood in line for ten minutes while one employee had his card declined five times, then argued the price of Metamucil for five minutes until the cashier just took off to check the price. I mean, really?! It was 11:30 PM at night and I might be in a hurry to get home. I'm just saying.

Anyways, I don't like this place. At all.

I'm giving four stars for Matthew, the cutest leasing consultant dude ever. Seriously. Soooooo adorable.

That is all.

Do you know how you've been meaning to go somewhere for ages - I mean ages - and you never quite make it?

Yeah, that's kind of what Annie's was for me. It was that place that a friend of mine wanted to visit, but that we never quite made it to.

After a late night of too many drinks (three for me - I'm a lightweight) and too little sleep (two hours) I got up at 5:00 AM and prepped for my yard sale. Five hundred dollars later I was feeling flush but I was also starving.

Annie's to the rescue! What a beautiful space! I especially love the 20' tall doors that open out onto the street to make it feel like an extension of the city. I love that type of atmosphere.

The service felt slow at first, but then again, keep in mind at this point I was starving, my blood sugar was low and I was cranky - so grain of salt, eh? Once we started though, there was no going back. I had an omelet with ham and cheese and veggies. I tried my friends brioche french toast - OMFGSFD. Decode that, my friends.

Anyways, long story short, everything i tried was very good, seasoned well and tasted delicious. I can't wait to go back to try more.

Also, I am enamored with the huge mirror behind the bar.

I recently had the opportunity to visit a friend from Austin that has relocated to the Montrose area of Houston for her husband to attend law school.

We were sitting around bemoaning the fact that we couldn't think of a single place to eat that sounded appetizing when her husband suggested Italian. Uh, nom.

Anyways, we made our way down to Rice Village to D'Amico. Is the parking bad? Meh. Park and walk and you are all good.

I had lentil soup (not amazing) and lasagna (seasoned sparingly and baked well) and she had a house salad and lasagna. We brought her five month old daughter who was fawned over by the employees and patrons alike. Adorable babies.

Next time I am in Houston, this is definitely somewhere I would visit again, except I would order something a little more adventurous (perhaps the mushroom ravioli or artichoke pasta).

UPDATE:

*doo doo do dooo*

I called to order lunch for myself and a CW.

She wanted a Mufaletta with Turkey in lieu of all other meats. She's ordered it previously in this manner.

So...

RUDE DUDE: "Little Deli"
ME: "Yes, I need an order to be ready at 11:00 AM."
RUDE DUDE: "Okay."
ME: "Yes, I need a mufaletta, but sub turkey for all other meat."
RUDE DUDE: "We actually pre-make those sandwiches and we don't have anymore Mufaletta bread. Does she like the bread? Maybe I can steer her towards a Turkey Sandwich."
ME: "Well, she's ordered it that way before."
RUDE DUDE: "Well, like I said, they are pre-made."
ME: "Can you unwrap a pre-made one and take the meat off and put turkey on it instead?"
RUDE DUDE: "I've never heard of that before. That would eat up all our food cost."
ME: "So, charge more."
RUDE DUDE: "Yeah, I'm going to have to talk to the owner about this. I don't think this is allowed."
ME: "Yes, you should talk to the owner about this."
RUDE DUDE: "Okay, what else?"
ME: "So, yeah, I think I'll cancel my order."
RUDE DUDE: "Well, I want to help you with this."
ME: "Yes, I know, I'm just in the mood for something else. Bye."

Really?!? I offer to pay more and you still can't be bothered to make a sandwich the way I want it made? REALLY?! And then you make me feel like I am a "trouble" customer, saying you need to talk to the Owner?

No food is worth patronizing an establishment that is patronizing, ya dig?!

I kept trying to type in "The Highball" up there in that little search box thingie and it kept changing it to "therapist." Does Yelp know something I don't?

We dropped by The Highball last Friday and boy that showed lack of planning and foresight. On the reals. There was a two hour wait for both bowling and the karaoke rooms - there is a waiting list and they will put you on it and call you when the rooms are available.

The surroundings are...swank without being pretentious. It screams Joel Mozersky and Mad Men-esqe. Late 50's, early 60's. Fun.

The free skeeball is awesome - when it works. We sat there for thirty minutes and over that time, the machines stopped functioning five times. Grrr. Still, it's free so, gift horse, mouth, etc. Bar service is quick and polite.

I can't wait until I get to come back and explore this little gem at a time when it is a little less busy.

I'm with Kevin N.!

When you are looking to kick back with some pals and don't want the hassle and intimidation of karaoke bars, KTV is awesome. Unlike other private suite karaoke bars, it looks as if some time and effort was put into the color scheme and furniture. I know 90% of Yelpers probably don't pay attention to this sort of thing while downing six packs while singing a reggae version "Say A Little Prayer," but I'm not 90% of Yelpers.

That being said, the host was awesome and was nice enough to show us little short cuts on how to queue songs in other ways than just inputting the song number.

Things I will remember: The girl stumbling into our room while effectively squishing me between the door and the wall. I believe the Drunk Sorority Girl Room is that-ta way. KTHXBAI. Singing some cheesy song to the emo be-mohawked host standing in the the hallway who was having none of it. Fine. I hope no one ever serenades you with "Island In The Stream," ever again!!

No, but seriously, this place is this biz.

Monica O. introduced my roommate and I to Pie Slice Bakery last week. It wasn't promising, when at 7:15 the door was locked. To be fair, the door did have a sign advertising their hours to be 8AM - 7PM.

Showing mercy on (what I am sure was) out pitiful, disappointed faces, they let us in "for dessert." Once inside, they said, "If you want to order dinner that will be okay." Swoon. Marry me.

I ordered the Mac 'n' Cheese - complete unremarkable and the New York Style Cheesecake - which blew everyone at the table out of the water. Totally nom-worthy.

Monica O. ordered the Margarita pizza - probably the best pizza I've ever had in a non-pizza centric restaurant.  Her banana cream pie was alright (in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not a fan of creamed anything in a pie tin).

I am definitely coming back to have another slice of that cheesecake.

Some coworkers and I decided to try out La Casita on a whim. We had seen it at lunch and the place was always hopping so we figured there is a reason.

The reason is that the food is delicious and the portions are generous. I had one of their beef burritos (pulled beef not ground beef) and it was delicious. The rice was a little underwhelming, but you can't have everything.

My coworker ordered a bowl of tortilla soup and not kidding, it was bigger than her head. She ate for thirty minutes and only managed to eat about a quarter inch of the soup.

Plus this place is faaaaast. The salsa looks homemade and the waitresses know their stuff.

PRO TIP: Pay at the register and watch the big hump in the road going into the adjacent parking lot.