By Jim Ayres  Marmo, in the new Montrose Collective mixed-use development on Lower Westheimer at Grant, is quite a pleasant, sunny L.A.-style restaurant. Once they tighten a few screws, it will become a great one.  Marmo’s website calls it an “…Italian chophouse concept. Marmo, meaning ‘marble’ in Italian, features fresh hand-rolled pastas, house-made charcuterie, and

By Jim Ayres  After a particularly dull (if I’m being nice) meal at a Houston institution, I’m warming like the weather to one of Houston’s newer, healthier dining options.   Let me get the bad out of the way. Before trying to curate three different health-related diets into one I can manage, I decided to splurge

By Jim Ayres  I am not the demographic imagined by the creators of the JOEY Uptown chain when its first Texas location recently opened at The Galleria. No, that demographic would be the young, beautiful, well-dressed, and well-heeled — both patrons and staff.   Still, when looking for a new restaurant to try, I landed here

By Jim Ayres  I met a friend recently for dinner at Traveler’s Table on lower Westheimer. It’s a restaurant that may not have the PR pull of Houston’s big players, but still, it has found an audience. The place was jam-packed on this Thursday night.  Traveler’s Table’s website tells us “We seek to modernize and

By Jim Ayres  Trendy Tennessee-style hot chicken shows no sign of cooling down in 2022. So, in the past month, I’ve had a hot chicken adventure, visiting five inner loop spots to see who’s serious and who’s silly. My ranking follows.  Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken1815 Washington AveHouston, TX 77007832-740-4022GusFriedChicken.com  Each of my visits to

| FROM GOODNIGHT HOSPITALITY  Experiencing Rosie Cannonball for the first time is… well, it’s like opening a restaurant. Everyone dreams about it, but you must be a little bit eccentric to make it happen.   The lunch menu at Rosie Cannonball certainly seems eccentric, even a little off-putting. You’ll see the cute Little Gem Lettuces being

| A solid standby in River Oaks By Jim Ayres I wasn’t particularly stressed when I went to dinner at Relish, located in that kind of Upper Kirby/River Oaks zone. Still, any agita I might have been carrying from the workday was swept away as I sat down. It’s funny, too, because I can’t say

By Jim Ayres It’s not even Halloween (as I write this) but I want to wish you a happy Thanksgiving! Despite all the craziness, we have much to be thankful for, including a brand-new Portuguese Indian restaurant. Just north of I-10 you’ll find (or not; signage is lacking) Da Gama, a place that’s already getting

By Jim Ayres Opened as a fried chicken outlet in Guatemala in 1971, Pollo Campero offers excellent, well-priced favorites from all over Latin America — right here in Houston. Ten locations, in fact! And from the day I first walked into the one on Washington Avenue near Shepherd, I was hooked.  According to the Pollo

By Jim Ayres As I peer out the picture window lined in the splendor of giant banana leaves, I’m filled with the joy of a great day! The sun is out, birds are singing, bells are ringing and I’m in a jolly fine mood. Maybe it’s because I’m nibbling on another one of Le Colonial’s