NUMBER CRUNCH
Stylish. Urban. Sophisticated. Cultured. Diverse. These words could be used to describe quite a few cities around the world, but for one city, the words are a long time coming. For years, Houston has battled negative perceptions due to weather, traffic and a Western image that hasn't mirrored reality since the days of Urban Cowboy. In a 2009 Travel + Leisure audience-generated America's Favorite Cities survey on Travelandleisure.com, Houston emerges as a top-tier urban city, with strong cultural and culinary offerings.
Below are some of our highlights.
ETHNIC FOOD
Houston's perch near state and national borders infuse the food culture with breadth. It’s the small, independent, ethnic restaurants whose recipes have been passed down from generation to generation that separates Houston’s culinary personality from other cities. Here, Cajun and Creole traditions are nearly as ingrained as Tex-Mex and barbecue. Mexican food flourishes at all levels and a growing Asian population has spawned a cornucopia of Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Indian and Korean restaurants.
Best Stops: Feast, Hong Kong Food Market, Les Givral and Polonia.
Starting in February 2010, Whole Foods Market, the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau and chefs Bryan Caswell (Reef, Little Bigs & Stella Sola), Randy Evans (Haven), Monica Pope (t’afia & Beaver’s), Chris Shepherd (Catalan), Hugo Ortega (Hugo’s), Marcus Davis (the breakfast klub), Mark Holley (Pesce) and food critic Robb Walsh will launch culinary tours to showcase Houston restaurants, markets and neighborhoods—new discoveries even for locals—that make Houston one of the most diverse culinary cities in the world. www.HoustonCulinaryTours.com
AFFORDABLE
Big cities = Expensive. But not in Houston. The 4th largest city in the U.S., ranked No.1 in Travel + Leisure’s survey for affordable hotels and No. 5 for affordable getaways. You get more bang for your buck when the average hotel room rate is $127.94 and an average meal is $5 less than the national average.
ANTIQUE AND VINTAGE SHOPS
Houston is known for its eclectic assortment of antique shops stocked with some of the most beautiful and rare items that you can find. The Westheimer Curve, the Heights and Montrose are dense with antiques stores, vintage shopping and resale fashion shops ideal for those with an eye for the old.
Best Stops: Heights Antiques on Yale, Retropolis, The Guild Shop and Texas Junk Company.
DIVERSE
Houston is a unique place, no doubt about it. With 100 different spoken languages, 90 foreign consulates, and myriad nationalities and ethnicities, Houston offers a Guatemalan restaurant, a Middle Eastern grocery, a Vietnamese tea shop and a Russian art gallery within one block.
STYLISH BOUTIQUE HOTELS
Some of Houston’s hippest digs are nestled inside historic downtown buildings. The swank and sexy Hotel Icon made its home inside a landmark 1911 national bank, while The Magnolia Hotel claimed the original 1926 corporate office for Shell Oil Company. The ultra contemporary Alden-Houston also shares a historic address of the former Sam Houston Hotel.
For more information on Houston, contact the Greater Houston CVB Marketing Department: Lindsey Brown at Lbrown@ghcvb.org and Lauren Braden at Lbraden@ghcvb.org.
