#washington ave
As a self-proclaimed foodie, I put together a food tour (here, spreadsheet from with notes here). This is how it went.
Firstly, our mission is to explore Houston and encourage others to as well. What better way to do it besides trying new foods? With our list of restaurants on hand, we set out with a couple friends to see what gems we could discover. As large as Houston is, it is no surprise that there are many neighborhoods to explore. The Heights was the subject of this first tour. This area of Houston has a quirky charm with a very easy-going pace. Washington Ave is a business populated street full of restaurants and bars, making it a good choice for hopping place to place. We went on a Thursday afternoon, around the start of happy hour. The goal was to try as many foods as possible without stuffing ourselves or depleting our pockets. Efficientqueens.
First stop: Urban Eats
The ambiance was very calm. It wasn’t very busy at that time. We started out with a flight of beer, which came with house selected cheese, salami, and nuts. Next, we ordered the fried green tomatoes and a pear & prosciutto flatbread pizza. Arugula, arugula, arugula. These two dishes were definitely the stars of this tour. We wanted to try something different, and different is what we got. The fried green tomatoes were far from traditional, being that they came stacked with goat cheese, an onion chutney and roasted beets. They were served with a smokey aioli, but they honestly did not need anything else. The flatbread pear pizza was light with the perfect crunch. The pear did not disturb the prosciutto, as they worked together to form a great combo. If it’s not apparent already, I would for sure recommend this spot.
Next we visited Soma Sushi.
Still being happy hour, we headed over to Soma. Of course we got into some hot sake. One of our personal favorites, we also ordered edamame. The waitstaff were very friendly, and this place is surrounded by other places I personally enjoy such as Kitchen 713, and MAX’S Wine Dive, which are also featured on our Washington Ave tour list. Nothing on the menu particularly wowed me, but for a casual day out with friends, it is surely worth the time and the happy hour prices.
Next, we headed across the street for some frozen margaritas.
After that we somehow ended up at The Galleria, bringing our food tour to an end, or so we thought. We headed over to Diablo Loco Sports Bar where we had the Crown Royal wings and a few drinks.
All in all, the tour was a great idea. The food led us to the fun. Between us pairing up and sharing dishes, not only did we go home full, but I spent less than $50 doing it, which is good considering we went to four places AND had drinks. The entire experience was positive, and I really had fun finding out about all of the unique menus, even though we did not get to them all in one day. In the future I would like to do more tours like this.
Is there a particular neighborhood you would suggest? Did you and your friends try any of these places? Let us know!
Written by: Arie
