Yes. exactly.

Also, this week the Sprouts market add has English Bangers $2.99#.

Phoenicia Market sells english bangers.

You mean Whole Paycheck?

Cutting into my HEB shopping and not much reason to go to the much closer Whole Paycheck.

Nice find is that their adds overlap a day. On add day (Wed) the previous week's add is still valid.

Went to the one opened recently in Katy. Reminds me of what Whole Foods should be. Good quality without the inflated prices.

Central Market has a large variety of breads. The HEB plus stores (parent co of Central Market) have s subset of the types of bread that Central Market has.

Went by Tuesday evening. Still very busy, but had lots of checkers and a expediter to keep the checkout line moving. Grabbed a few things to try, including a three buck chuck merlot to try. I'm disappointed they didn't put the upstairs and balcony into any use yet.

I noticed they have even stopped listing the public's choices. Can't let the public's taste interfere with the hipster bent they have been on since Rob Walsh left.

Chuy's has the most authentic NewMex style green chile (or is it chili) I have found in Houston.

Home Cooking: Barbeque Inn Fried Chicken, shrimp, chicken fried steak. Triple A. Though I don't think either would meet your beer desires.
TexMex: Spanish Flower, Ninfa's on Navigation, Last Concert Cafe
Burgers: Christian's Tailgate
Pizza: Luigi's BYOB, Star

There are lots of interesting places off Washington, Mid-Town and Heights (generally west of downtown and maybe a bit nw that could fit your criteria.

Deli meats section. Got a pound of the Pastrami, vg.

Central Market's deli now has Carnegie Deli Pastrami and Corned Beef.

I haven't had a chance to go, yet, but Capri Restaurant in Spring seems to get lots of excellent reviews and is on my list for the next time I get up there.

Frenchy's is a cross of cajun and soul food fried chicken. It's a balance of spices that Popeyes can't come close to. Every bit as good as Barbeque Inn fried chicken but for different reasons. It also is the best cold fried chicken I remember having. Still crispy after a day in the fridge in a zip lock bag. They also actively sell wings that make me very happy.

El Tiempo Cantina, Laurnzo's Prime Rib. Both by the children of the founder of Ninfa's.
Churrasco's for South American style.
Rio Ranch for steaks in a upscale ranch house atmosphere.
Barbeque Inn for truly great fried chicken (Food and Wine agrees), shrimp and chicken fried steak.

Carrabbas should be 85. I ate there the second day. Location was a ahem " news" stand before.

It was Sam's Place back as far as 88 or 89. Haven't been back in quite a while. Remember some great fajitas there.

Tried Katfish Kitchen for lunch on day. Shrimp were good, and the fries were seasoned nicely. They were a bit dis-organized. 11:30 they were still getting prepared for the day. Someone must of talked to them about the holes in the Styrofoam boxes, mine had 5 holes punched in the top.

Russo's New York Pizza has two locations with coal ovens. One on I-10 east of gessner, the other 290 and hwy6. The other locations seem to have the gas fired stone/brick ovens. IIRC the two family Carrabbas have wood pizza ovens. Fratelli's on 290 near the loop now has a brick pizza oven.(Haven't tried that yet)

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Fratelli's
10989 Northwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77092

Starts Monday 8/1. Interesting choices.

http://houstonrestaurantweeks.com/

Off Westheimer@8 going east: Rio Ranch, Churascos, Kasra, Rudy Lechners.
Going west: Cafe Pita+(on ddd), Becks, Bistro le Cep, Burger Guys. Also Tokyo One on south bound access road.
Chinatown off Belaire has a overwhelming numbrt of choices.

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Rio Ranch Restaurant
9999 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77042

Burger Guys
12225 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77077

Thai Gourmet (when they say thai hot they mean it)
Old Heidelberg german can be uneven.
La Vista Lunch around $10 Dinner $14-$25 byob wine $5 corkage
Antonio's Flying Pizza Hand tossed pizza
Barry's pizza Sicilian is what I love there.
Richmond Arms, British pub food, beer and soccer on the telly
El Patio watch out for the Blue Margaritas, they are lethal.
Escalates slightly upscale mexican, make guacamole at your table
Silvia's Enchilada More mexican or south texas border than tex-mex.
Burgers Beck's or Pappa's burgers The Becks @westheimer/augusta has a 100+year old oak you can sit in the shade and have burgers and beer.
A little further afield Ragin Cajun

There a hundreds of restaurants around the galleria, just a few of my favorites.

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Thai Gourmet
6324 Richmond Ave, Houston, TX 77057

La Vista
1936 Fountain View Dr, Houston, TX 77057

Old Heidelberg
1810 Fountain View Dr, Houston, TX 77057

I don't like the Tilman empire from many points of view. He dumbs down good restaurants. His business ethics are pretty much non-existent. I look upon his philanthropy in the same vein as Al Capone's soup kitchens. To get an idea of what kind of business dealings he does read the Houston Press article by Allison Cook from 1994 to get some history of how he got where he is.
http://www.houstonpress.com/1994-06-3...

Tried it out today. Not the easiest to find. Positive impression. Liked the hot and sour soup, had just enough heat to warm the back of the throat. Had the Szechuan chicken.

I tried a new chain that's been spring up Genghis Grill. A take on mongolian grills. You get seated and they give you a metal bowl. You take it back and there is a line (or two). Divided up into a meat section, a veggie section, seasoning section and sauce section. The meat had chicken, turkey, beef, sausage, pork, marinated fish, fake crab, pepperoni, shrimp, ham and probably more I don't remember. Something like 10 seasoning mixes, around 30 different veggies, and a whole bunch of different sauces. Just pile whatever combinations of things you want together into your heaping bowl, get the sauces you want in little condiment thingys and give them to the guys who grill everything up. They give you a number and 5 or 10 minutes later it is delivered to you. Pretty good. With tax just over $10 at dinner, a buck or so cheaper at lunch. Unlimited for $3 more. Not bad. Will go back again.

Tried Brookshire Bros chicken. Pretty good. Heavy crust that stayed on the pieces. A bit salty but good flavor. Better than I've had at any of the other Houston area grocers. I'll go back again. The best grocery store fried chicken I've had is a Publix. But you'll have to go several hundred miles to get to a Publix. My favorite local grocery store fried chicken though is the plain breaded wings at Kroger. Not as good as Hooters but more PC.

I think you mean this.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2002-05-2...

"Not like Larry's," he says. "Most Mexican restaurants in Houston these days are an evolution beyond the original Tex-Mex. They're citified. They're better at fajitas and other stuff. You can still get cheese enchiladas in Houston, but it's not the thing you think of. When I want enchiladas, I go to Larry's."

I hope what I got was a aberration. But I was taken aback by the microwaving of the ribs. I forgot about the sauce. I had a separate tub of their sauce. I thought it was too sweet. It also had a gelatinous texture, something between karo syrup and cold hot and sour soup.

I went by and got ribs and brisket. Start with the ribs. The ribs were pulled out and while cutting them they seemed dull looking, almost like they had been in the fridge. After they were cut up they were placed in the microwave, oy vey.The brisket was from two briskets, on never sliced on before. Took it home to eat. The ribs were as disappointing as expected. The slices of brisket from the first brisket had a modest smoke ring, it was dry and the connective tissue was still tough. The second brisket had a much more pronounced smoke ring and bark. It looked promising. However the dark smoke ring was really more char than smoke, very dried out. Maybe I caught them at the wrong time but I was disappointed all around. I would diagnose both the brisket and ribs and being cooked to hot and not long enough. IMO.

On the subject of Houston Barbecue Company on eldridge. You'd be hard pressed in a blind taste test to tell the difference bet it and Luling City (not City Market in Luling). Not suprising as the people involved were formerly with Luling City. However Both Houston bbq and Luling City have the same flaw from my experience. Only go when they are busy. Go mid afternoon or after the evening rush you're liable to get meat that has dried out waiting too long. Being said I do like going by and its the only place after the Q is all gone I'm still soaking the bread with the sauce. I have been know to use up a whole bottle myself.

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Houston Barbecue Company
1127 Eldridge Pkwy Ste 400, Houston, TX 77077

Greek?
Niko Niko's, One's a Meal

Any good Italian?
DaMarco high end, Michelangelo's (lower Westheimer) La Vista(Galleria and Memorial/8, Pasta Lamontes aka Lomonte's Italian Restaurant & Bar (I10 West@hwy6)

Middle Eastern/Lebanese
Kasra Persian Grill, Fadi's, Cafe Caspian (If you go, go across the street to Phoenicia market), all Westheimer, Pasha (Rice Village)

Any good European?
Rudi Lechner's German/Austrian(Westheimer), Old Heidelberg German(Galleria)

Any good Chinese in the neighborhood? If not, where is the Chinatown that you recommend?
Belaire Blvd. east and west from West Beltway 8.
Fu Fu Cafe (soup dumpings aka steamed pork buns aka Xia long bao)

Any others?
Barrys Pizza for Sicilian pizza (Galleria)
Chicken Fried Steak Goodsons Cafe (Tomball) Hickory Hollow(multiple), Barbecue Inn (Fried Chicken** and Fried Shrimp and also among the best) (inside loop north of Downtown), Rio Ranch(Westheimer)

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Lomonte's Italian Restaurant & Bar
14510 Grisby Road, Houston, TX 77079

Kasra Persian Grill
9741 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77042

Old Heidelberg
1810 Fountain View Dr, Houston, TX 77057

Rudi Lechner's Restaurant
2503 S Gessner Rd, Houston, TX 77063

Fu Fu Cafe
9889 Bellaire Blvd, Houston, TX 77036

Barbecue Inn
116 W Crosstimbers St, Houston, TX 77018

Niko Niko's
2520 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006

Cafe Caspian
12126 Westheimer Rd Ste 100, Houston, TX 77077