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Best Place to Bring Out-of-Towners

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

There’re two things Houston locals can’t go wrong with when giving visitors a tour of the town: food and art — which means that when it comes to the latter, the Museum of Fine Arts is nearly a Saturday-afternoon requirement. With a vast array of art collections spanning centuries and a myriad of cultures, MFAH is bound to impress even the grumpiest relatives. The museum offers collections from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, from 500 BC Africa and Pre-Columbian South America, from Native Americans and contemporary masterminds such as Pablo Picasso, Georgia O’Keefe and Andy Warhol. This fall, special exhibits include a showcase of the work of legendary Dominican fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and a thematic collection of work from Latin American artists revolving around the central idea of “home.”

Best Happy Hour

Heights Bier Garten

Photo by Yuri Peña

This Heights boozing compound is actually two bars in one, both a craft beer and wine-on-tap mecca and a swanky craft cocktail destination, and that means a happy hour that covers double the ground of your average after-work special, weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m. Here, you can choose from more than 30 beers at just $3 a pop or half-off wines at HBG, or walk across the cool patio, where groups of pals lounge in hammocks or bring their pups to hang out in the shade of picnic tables, to where you’ll also find a wealth of cocktails for half-price as well, including simple variations on mules and mojitos to complex, spirit-forward concoctions dreamed up by the mixologists tending the well-stocked Worcesters Annex bar — so well-stocked, in fact, the bar is coming up with its own Dewey Decimal System to keep track of its booze. Thankfully, chef Brandon Silva also offers a variety of tasty snacks, so you won’t get too overwhelmed by all the studying at hand.

Best Museum

John P. McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science

For ages, educators have been trying to convince kids that science can be fun, but The Health Museum is the only place we know of that lets them crawl through a 40-foot replica of the lower intestinal tract known as the “Colossal Colon.” Part of the museum’s permanent Amazing Body Gallery (where you can also walk inside a 10-foot brain), the model’s origins are actually rather heartwarming; the concept came from a colon cancer survivor in honor of a friend who died from the disease. So is this: Since opening in 1996, the museum has drawn more than 2.5 million visitors to its interactive exhibits, programming in the McGovern Theater, and a vast matrix of programs, camps, classes and seminars. The Amazing Body Store (read: gift shop), meanwhile, offers everything from a model kidney to, if a skeleton T-shirt isn’t your speed, some spiffy souvenir scrubs. For an additional fee, the on-site DeBakey Cell Lab allows guests to collect their own cheek samples, test anti-microbial agents, or learn how saliva breaks down food, among other microscope-ready dramas. Good, clean fun.

Best Radio Station

90.1 FM KPFT

Photo by Patrick Feller via Flickr

Every year the fund drives at KPFT get a little closer together, evidence of just how difficult it is for a totally listener-funded FM station to remain afloat in this era of corporate-controlled airwaves. More amazing still is just how little the years of behind-the-scenes turmoil — which came to a head when, after an especially contentious staff shakeup, police were called to the station’s Montrose offices back in July — affects its on-air programming. The 47-year-old station is still one of the very few places in the nation’s fourth-largest city that save room for nearly every musical genre under the sun, and gives the DJs complete control over their playlists, leading to a level of trust among listeners practically unheard of these days. Every day KPFT stays on the air is a victory for independent music, independent programming and independent thought itself. Savor it while it’s still here.

Best Blues Club

Emmit’s Place

Photo by PROMartin Fisch via CC

Opened in 2012, Emmit’s Place is a cozy little neighborhood bar located in a small strip center on a mostly residential street near South Post Oak and 610 that hosts live music, mostly blues and zydeco bands with the occasional rock and country acts. Although Emmit’s is new to the local music scene compared to some of the more veteran spots in town, it has captured the hearts of the regulars and newcomers alike and it’s the kind of place you feel comfortable in almost immediately due to the friendliness of the people involved and their lack of pretentiousness. Along with an impressive lineup of top-notch musicians stopping by for gigs, Emmit’s holds a blues jam and a karaoke night where everybody can showcase their talents, amateurs and pros alike. The drinks are poured generously here and do try the burgers, boudin and barbecue while you’re at it.

Best Art Gallery

Cardoza Fine Art

Houston is flush with galleries showing strong contemporary work, from the well-established houses of the Texas, Moody and Inman galleries to the new jack swingers like Jonathan Hopson, Homeland and Scott Charmin. So there are many hands on this hardbody, but this year we’re handing the keys to the Jeep to Cardoza in recognition of its fast and furious way of showing artists early and showing them often. Its restless menagerie of talent includes Katie Mulholland, Bret Shirley, Chris Henry, Melinda Laszczynski, Mark Flood and many others. Cardoza has artists on the rise, artists from the underground and artists who are just here to party. Perhaps, as the years go by, it will catch some artists on the decline, too. In addition to its local presence, Cardoza keeps a toehold in various national art fairs, the better to wiggle in somewhere in the national dialogue. Perhaps as important to the layperson is that Cardoza can party, as its sporadic deejay events attest.

Best Downtown Bar

The Pastry War

Photo by Carla Soriano

Sitting at the bar in The Pastry War feels like sitting at the table in a Mexican kitchen, with tequila in the turquoise-colored cabinets instead of plates and bowls. Baskets of lemons, limes and oranges line the talavera-tiled countertops. And Day of the Dead figurines and ceramic pottery crowd the end of the bar. Named for the 1838 French war in Mexico that was ignited after a French pastry chef complained that Mexicans looted his shop, The Pastry War specializes in mezcal and tequila, offering a somewhat overwhelming list of agaves. It also serves tamales and chips with queso or salsa — and accepts pesos for payment.

Best Gay Bar

Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon

Photo by Jack Gorman

Sixty-two years ago, a large dance hall and tavern called Esquire Ballroom opened on Hempstead Highway, on the outskirts of Houston and through the years it hosted legendary country acts like Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson and George Jones. Four years ago, the old Esquire location became a country and western LGBT club known as Neon Boots Dancehall & Saloon. Neon’s owners refer to their establishment as an “Everybody Bar” since all are indeed welcome and no discrimination is tolerated. The crowd at Neon is fun, unpretentious and diverse in every way, and the patrons all come together (literally) on the dance floor. There are lessons every Thursday evening for those unschooled in the art of two-stepping and line dancing. Bingo, karaoke, live music, Texans viewing parties, Latino nights, Queer Queens of Comedy Shows and other fun events on Neon’s calendar keep this Spring Branch-area joint jumpin’.

Best Movie Theater

Alamo Drafthouse, Mason Park

Driving to Katy just to see a movie might sound silly, but in the case of the Alamo Drafthouse, it’s worth the time and gas. Houston has plenty of places to see a movie, but there are very few places where you might see a movie and also see an alligator in the theater; get to quote a movie out loud with strangers; consume movie-themed drinks and snacks; or get that person who keeps explaining the plot to his neighbor kicked out of the theater. Yes, the Alamo Drafthouse is a business, but, more than any other theater, it loves cinema. And if you love cinema, you’ll love the Drafthouse, no matter how far you have to drive to get there.

Best Karaoke

Glitter Karaoke

Located in Midtown, Glitter Karaoke isn’t a bar that also has karoake — here, singing takes center stage. Five nights a week, you can belt out your favorite songs from a vast catalog of hits from rock, hip-hip, country and more. On weekend evenings, the venue is often packed with a good mix of can’t-wait-to-get-up-there performers and others who are content just to cheer them on. And you don’t have to sing like Kam Franklin or rap like Bun B to show off your skills — the crowd is eager to cheer on performers of all talent levels. Some advice: The line forms early and gets long quick, so your best bet may be to arrive around opening.

Best Of Houston®

2017 Best of Houston

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