We've made no bones about being fans of Crust Pizza Co., the independent pizza empire that has announced the expansion to a third location in the Woodlands. Their focus on fresh ingredients, innovative recipes, and rock-solid consistency makes them our go-to place for a great pizza.

But we'll let you in on a secret. The outstanding pizza may not be the best thing on the Crust Pizza menu. That honor belongs to the superlative calzone, which takes the already outstanding crust to the next level.
Behold this delicious creation. The flaky, hand-tossed dough is folded around freshly cut fillings, in this case a carnivore's delight of pepperoni, bacon, Italian sausage, beef, and Canadian bacon. Melted with the meats are a mix of freshly cut mozzarella and cheddar cheese. The crust is baked to a perfect golden brown, then brushed with butter and fresh garlic. 
The result is, hands down, the best calzone we've ever tasted. Try it.

Crust Pizza Co. on Urbanspoon

We were saddened to hear of the closing of the venerable b4-u-eat.com website, one of the oldest food review sites covering Houston since the mid-90's. They'd survived the rise of Citysearch and Yelp, and continued with their bare-bones format and ad-free approach.

Thanks for all your hard work, guys. You'll be missed.

Update: More Information!

WHAT: The 2nd Annual Houston Barbecue Festival will celebrate and recognize what is unique about Houston barbecue. Specifically, we want to:

Recognize the talent, hard work, and dedication of the owners and pitmasters that make Houston barbecue great.
Make the citizens of Houston (and Texas, and the U.S., etc.) aware of the long history of barbecue here and that the quality of Houston barbecue is comparable to other regional styles of barbecue.
Make Houstonians true connoisseurs of barbecue by offering samples of great barbecue so they can choose to patronize those barbecue joints committed to only the highest quality of barbecue.
Celebrate the diversity of Houston barbecue by including the many styles of barbecue found here.


WHEN: Sunday, April 6th, 2014 from 1:00-5:00pm. VIP Admission at 12pm.

WHERE: Reliant Park, Purple Lot. Parking entrance on South Main Street.

COST: General Admission ($50) includes entry into the festival and unlimited sample portions from each participating Houston barbecue joint. VIP Admission ($90) includes entry into the festival one hour early (at noon) and unlimited sample portions from each participating Houston barbecue joint. A T-shirt and one (1) drink ticket are also included. To ensure a quality event for everyone involved, ticket sales are limited. All tickets sold in advance, online at http://houbbq.com. No ticket sales at the door. A bar (beer and wine) and live music will also be included.

About the Houston Barbecue Festival
In its second year, the Houston Barbecue Festival will build on the success of the inaugural festival by including more Houston barbecue joints for a larger audience of Houston barbecue lovers. Expecting 20-24 barbecue joints and 2000-3000 guests, the event has moved to Reliant Park, one of the most prestigious and recognizable event venues in Houston.

This year's festival will feature most, if not all, of last year's list of the who's who of Houston's best barbecue. Currently confirmed are: Blake’s BBQ, The Brisket House, Brooks’ Place BBQ, CorkScrew BBQ, Fainmous BBQ, Gatlin’s BBQ, Gerardo’s, Killen's BBQ, Lenox Bar-B-Que, Pizzitola’s Bar-B-Cue, Ray’s BBQ Shack, and Tin Roof BBQ.

Additionally, the festival will include a few newcomers to the Houston barbecue scene: Feges BBQ, Oak Leaf Smokehouse, and Pappa Charlie's Barbeque. Baker's Ribs, a veteran of the Houston barbecue scene, will also be a new participant this year.

Also new for 2014 will be a lineup of select out-of-town barbecue guests who will be rolling into Houston to showcase their barbecue side-by-side with Houston's best. More details on this at a later date.

Additionally, staff from Texas A&M University's BBQ Genius Counter will be answering attendees' questions about all things barbecue, backyard or otherwise.

Returning as a founding sponsor, Texas Original Pits will have a selection of their Houston-made smokers, grills, and fire pits for sale.

Charitable Partner
The Houston Barbecue Festival has partnered with Vita-Living, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency in Houston, Texas that has supported people with disabilities for over 30 years. They currently serve almost 500 clients in seven counties through their residential, case management and foster companion care services. Vita-Living is recognized as a leading proponent of integrated community living and an expert in the care of individuals with complex disabilities and behavioral challenges.

"We were looking for a partner in an under-served charitable area," explained Chris Reid, festival organizer. "Public funding for care of those with disabilities has decreased considerably in recent years. So, on behalf of the Houston Barbecue Festival staff, restaurants, volunteers, and sponsors, we are happy to contribute a portion of all tickets sales and sponsorships to help Vita-Living in this important mission."

The needs of Vita-Living’s clients will not go away. They continue to be vulnerable throughout their lives and require lifelong services. For that reason, 88 cents out of every dollar donated to the agency goes towards the lifelong care of Houstonians with disabilities.

"I'm so happy that Vita-Living can support the local flavor of barbecue in this great city," said Jillian Day, Director of Development at Vita-Living. "We're very grateful for the opportunity to partner with another organization that represents the best of what this city offers; namely, opportunity and innovation. It will also be a great way to recognize our volunteers since everyone loves great food."

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OK, BBQ fans. The event you've been waiting for is coming. The second annual Houston BBQ Festival is on its way, and tickets go on sale February 17.

The event will be held on Sunday, April 6, from 1pm to 5pm at Reliant Park.

The new venue for the festival is Reliant Park, which will allow a bit more elbow room - the 2013 inaugural festival attracted huge crowds and tested the capacity of the venue.

Scene from 2013 Houston BBQ Festival

The 2014 lineup hasn't been announced, but participating in the 2013 festival were Blake's BBQ, The Brisket House, Brooks' Place BBQ, Burns BBQ, Corkscrew BBQ, Fainmous BBQ, Gary Burns Old Fashioned Pit BBQ, Gatlin's BBQ, Gerardo's, Killen's BBQ, Lenox Bar-B-Que, Pizzitola's Bar-B-Cue, Ray's BBQ Shack, Tin Roof BBQ, and Virgie's BBQ.

If you attended the 2013 festival, keep an eye on your e-mail: Rumor has it that a special offer for early tickets (at a discount!) will be sent to 2013 participants.

For more details, keep an eye on the official festival website.

In the breakneck-paced Houston food scene, new restaurants often appear, get hot, cool off, and ultimately disappear in a matter of months. Universal foodie acclaim doesn't prevent this vicious cycle -- witness the demise of media darlings like Feast and Bootsie's.

Certain parts of town seem to present even more challenges. Inner Westheimer has tremendous competition. The Heights has archaic liquor laws. Downtown can offer a strong lunch business, but is deserted on weeknights, and this combination has thwarted great restaurants like Samba Grille, Laidback Manor, and other high-profile, critical success stories.

Yet some restaurants endure, and do so for decades. Instead of embracing the hottest food trends, they find a formula that satisfies their customers, and they refine and perfect it.

A textbook example is China Garden, located downtown across the street from the Toyota Center garage. China Garden has been serving Chinese-American food for lunch and dinner from this location since the 1970's, and we've heard reports of good food from trusted friends.

We ventured downtown for lunch to try to find out why China Garden has thrived so long in the tough downtown restaurant market.

Stepping inside was like stepping into a time machine set to 1985. The space is charmingly dated, with nary a window to be seen in the main dining area.

And yes, that's a bar in the dining room, something we don't normally see in today's sanitized concept restaurants.

Service was charmingly old-fashioned as well. Regulars were greeted warmly by the staff, and newbies (like us) were made to feel welcome immediately. The house was full, and the staff was in constant motion, efficiently serving the hungry crowd.

Guided by a friend's recommendation, we tried two different classic choices - sweet and sour chicken, and spicy chicken, AKA General Tso's. Somehow we resisted the throwback Chop Suey that was the first offering on the lunch menu; some childhood memories are best left unrevisited.

While we were waiting, a small basket appeared without explanation, holding something handmade and fried.

We bit in, and discovered the China Garden version of hushpuppies. These were bite sized versions of the fried biscuits that used to be found at every Chinese-American restaurant, but that we've not run across in many years. They were tasty and slightly heavy.

Our entrees appeared shortly. First up was the Spicy / General Tso's Chicken.

Served on the classic dragon-pattern dishes, the slightly crispy breaded chicken pieces were tossed with onions, scallions, and small mild peppers, then dressed in a brown sauce with a confident bite of freshly cracked black pepper. Not spicy by modern standards, it was flavorful with only slightest hint of heat. Served with a barebones but tasty scoop of fried rice and a gigantic old-school egg roll, this dish was considerably superior to the generic stuff served at most Chinese-American spots. The sauce had slightly softened the crust, but enough stiffness remained to make it a very enjoyable lunch.

Next up was the sweet and sour chicken.

This dish was less complex, and less successful. The sweet and sour sauce was more like a honey glaze, with no sourness to be found at all. The chicken's breading had gotten soft and lost most of its texture; we suspect a large batch had been sitting in the sauce for a while. If you like sweet chicken dishes you may enjoy this, but we found the spicy chicken to be a much more satisfying dish.

As we were taking the photos of the food, our waitress came by with a smile, asking why we were photographing our food. I honestly don't think she'd seen that done before, which is an amazing concept in 2014, but this reinforces the fact that China Garden is well off the map for critics, bloggers, and the majority of foodies.

That's a shame, because there's a lot to like at this Houston classic, as the busy lunch crowds attest. If you like Americanized Chinese food, give 'em a try.

China Garden | 1602 Leeland, Houston TX 77002 | 713-652-0745

China Garden on Urbanspoon

As our readers know, Houston's vibrant food scene isn't limited to Tex-Mex, BBQ, and burgers. As our nation's most multicultural city, dining options span the list from African to Vietnamese, with pretty much everything in between.

And Vietnamese is a big deal here. Houston is home to one of the nation's largest Vietnamese communities, and these immigrants have brought the delicious foods of their culture along with them. Vietnamese restaurants thrive in Houston, and range from tiny mom-and-pop pho shops to thriving local chains like Kim Son.
Imagine our surprise when we got a note from Houston's home-grown upscale burger empire, Beck's Prime, talking about the Banh Mi sandwich they were adding to their menu. We received a generous invitation to visit any of the Beck's locations and sample this interesting new offering (along with a couple of others).
Burgers and Banh Mi. If that's not 21st century Houston casual dining, I don't know what is. But we had to wonder how good a Beck's Prime banh mi would be. To determine that, we put together a crack tasting team and ventured over to the Woodands' own Beck's Prime location.
Befitting this multicultural offering was our multicultural team, consisting of your humble editor and real estate guru / celebrity foodie Huy Dang, the man behind the stunning @uberbites Instagram account. His knowledge of Vietnamese cuisine far exceeds mine, and he has a very keen palate. He's also a sharp dresser, adding a badly needed touch of class to our dining party.
On a blustery February at noon we converged on Beck's Prime on Grogan's Mill in the Woodlands, skillfully avoiding the road construction that rendered the parking lot all but inaccessible. Even with the construction Beck's was doing a strong lunch business. Woodlands residents know their burgers, and Beck's are among the best. But we weren't here for the burgers.
Beck's staff demonstrated their usual flawless hospitality, and we ordered and grabbed a table. In short order the food came out. Front and center was the new banh mi.
Banh Mi at Beck's Prime

No, this is not your Aunt Thuy's banh mi. The traditional french loaf is replaced with one of Beck's signature egg buns, the fatty mystery pork usually found has been replaced with lean, chargrilled, generously-sliced pork sirloin, and the vegetables were crispy, very fresh, and freshly cut.

Biting into the sandwich revealed the bright, sharp flavor profile that defines the best banh mi. But the textures were very different. The rich egg bun didn't have the traditional chewy mouthfeel of french bread. The pork flavor was more prominent than in a more pedestrian banh mi, and a gentle kick of sriracha brought a garlicky heat to the sharp tang of the onions, cilantro, and jalapeño.
The result is a very good sandwich, although it's far from a traditional banh mi. Huy confirmed that Beck's had altered the traditional components, but he approved of the result, and nary a scrap of banh mi was to be found on either of our plates at the conclusion of the meal.
The second offering we sampled was another new pork sandwich from Beck's: Hickory Prime Pork. A far more traditional sandwich, it included the excellent sliced pork sirloin, pickles, onions, and Beck's house made hickory BBQ sauce.
This riff on the classic BBQ pork sandwich was much more traditional. The hickory BBQ sauce accented the rich pork flavor, and the classic pickle/onion accoutrements made for a very familiar sandwich. Our only beef (no pun intended) with this sandwich was the mildness of the sauce - a smidgen more heat (or a lot more heat, if you prefer weapons-grade sauces as Huy does) would bring this good sandwich to the next level.
All in all we were impressed by these new offerings from Beck's Prime. Over the years Beck's has offered not only some of the city's best burgers, but also very good non-burger offerings for those who weren't in the mood for mesquite-grilled ground beef. These new items continue that winning formula, and we predict that they'll both be popular all across Houston.

Beck's Prime | Locations all around town

Becks Prime on Urbanspoon

This fascinating video from 2008, sponsored by Burger King, chronicles people around the world who are tasting their first hamburger.

The Tet FESTival Houston 2014 is a fun, free, family-friendly event on January 25th from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Discovery Green that will showcase the Vietnamese culture’s food, dance and fashion in a Lunar New Year celebration.
Tet FEStival Houston 2014’s celebrity Pho Eating Contest will be held on Jones Lawn at 2 p.m.  This speed event will require participants to slurp NAM Noodles and More’s traditional pho with beef, brisket, meatballs, bean sprouts, rice noodles, beef broth, and all of the delicious garnishes including thai basil, bean sprouts, coriander, lime, jalapenos, hoisin sauce and sriracha faster than the competition. The contest will test celebrity contestants from the East vs. West to see who will be the “NAM Noodles and More Pho Eating Champion.”
After Ice Skating at the ICE at Discovery Green, attendees will be able to warm up with Pho variations at the NAM Noodles and More booth, as well as and a cup of the Vietnamese signature coffee, Cà Phê Sữa.  Traditional Vietnamese food presentations and fruit carving will be available throughout the festival grounds as well.
For more information, browse the festival website.

The Woodlands is surrounded by small towns and somewhat rural areas, and the influx of people to the area is causing the entire region to develop. A case in point is Umami, a newish Korean restaurant located in Magnolia, which is the town to the immediate northwest of the Woodlands.

Located in a nondescript strip center on Highway 1488, from the street Umami looks like a generically disappointing Chinese buffet. But a tip from a trusted friend (Thanks, Michael) sent us to check out the Korean cuisine offered by this family-run place.
Pulling into the center, we were greeted by a behemoth of a sign, which we later found out was left over from a previous incarnation of the restaurant. It's big, it's brash, and it doesn't bode well for what's inside.
One thing the sign accurately coveys is the size of the restaurant. It's big, taking up the entire building. Heading inside, we walked through a small foyer into the restaurant proper, and were surprised by what we found.

The decidedly upscale interior is warm and inviting, and a total surprise based on the exterior of the restaurant. We were looking forward to see if the food followed this trend. We asked the server what he recommended, and he immediately suggested the bulgogi bento box, a cross-cultural combination of the Korean beef dish juxtaposed into a typical Japanese lunch combination.
What quickly appeared was a nice portion of flavorful, thinly sliced beef, marinated and seasoned gently in the traditional style. The beef was very tender and fresh; this is one of the better versions of bulgogi we've found away from Long Point road. The fried rice had a nice savory bite to it, and the de rigueur California roll was a bit better than expected.
All in all, we were pleasantly surprised by Umami. The ambiance far exceeds the low expectations set by the outside of the establishment, and the very good Korean food will earn it a regular spot on our Asian food rotation.
Umami | 6960 Fm 1488, Magnolia, TX 77354 | (832) 934-2649 | umamigrillandsushi.com

Umami Grill and Sushi on Urbanspoon

Growing up in Houston, Bennigan's was one of those restaurants that I felt was always going to be around. They were a better version of Chili's or TGI Friday's, with all the expected casual dining standards, plus a few signature items. The bar was also a hoppin' happy hour scene, with groups of coworkers unwinding after a hard day at the office.

Over the years, as other restaurants in their segment updated their concepts, Bennigan's stayed pretty much the same. That turned out to be their undoing, because the chain declared bankruptcy in 2008, with most of the stores (including all of the ones in greater Houston) closing shortly thereafter.
I was surprised to hear that Bennigan's was returning to the Woodlands - it would be the second first location to return to the Houston area. They selected a location that has housed several short-lived establishments, most recently Aldo's. The building is on I-45, and was somewhat dark and uninviting.
The new Bennigan's opened their doors last week, and we decided to check them out recently for lunch. Our first impression was a good one; Bennigan's has gutted the building, and the result is much brighter and far more modern.

The Bennigan's dining room
We like how the space was visually divided into different areas - the design is open, but not too open, avoiding the barn-like ambiance that seems to plague many new establishments.
When we've mentioned to friends that we tried the new Bennigan's, we keep getting asked one question, over and over again: "How's the Monte Cristo?" This sweet and savory deep fried sandwich was Bennigan's signature dish, and we couldn't wait to see if it was still as delicious as we remembered.

Monte Cristo at Bennigan's

We're happy to report that the Monte Cristo may be even better than we remembered. Layers of thinly-sliced ham and turkey and American cheese are batter-dipped and deep fried, dusted with powdered sugar, and served with a side of raspberry preserves. The coating was golden brown, delightfully crisp on the outside and tender within, without a hint of greasiness. We approve, although our doctor might not.

But man does not live (long) by Monte Cristo alone, so we sampled some of the other items on the menu. We couldn't resist the Guiness Glazed Bacon burger, a half-pound patty cooked to order (although medium rare was more like medium well, a common problem) and glazed with a Guiness Stout-based sauce, topped with cheddar, thick-cut bacon, and fried onion strings.

Guiness-Glazed Bacon Burger at Bennigan's

Biting into the burger we were first hit by the tangy-sweet flavor of the Guiness glaze; the mild cheddar flavor and the smokiness of the bacon were good counterpoints. The onions added more texture than flavor, but the large patty's juicy beefy flavor came through the melange of toppings. This is a solid burger, and one we'd order again.

A dining companion chose the Irish pot roast, which turned out to be a credible though not memorable version of the classic comfort food. Along with the pot-roasted beef were potatoes, carrots, onions, and a bit of garlic.

Irish Pot Roast at Bennigan's
We were excited to learn of Bennigan's rebirth, and were pleased to see the Woodlands chosen for a  Houston area location. The comfortable atmosphere, friendly and competent service, and well prepared food should pack in the guests looking for a hearty, comfortable meal. The classics are all represented, and they've stood the test of time. We're happy to declare Bennigan's relaunch a successful one, and look forward to returning for another Monte Cristo soon.

Bennigan's | 18450 I-45 South | Shenandoah, TX 77384 | bennigans.com

Bennigan's on Urbanspoon

From a very strong beginning, Corkscrew BBQ, the small, family-run BBQ joint on Budde road near the Woodlands, has drawn numerous accolades for it's world-class brisket. Many think it's the best in Greater Houston, and can hold its own against the hallowed pits of Central Texas.

So do they rest on their laurels?

Apparently not.

Will Buckman, the pitmaster who personally oversees the smoking of each brisket, has selected an even higher quality brisket: Pasture raised Black Angus Prime Brisket.

This premium beef promises to elevate Corkscrew's brisket beyond its current highly awarded (and highly delicious) state.

Aaron Franklin, better keep looking over your shoulder.

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