Houston, TX. (Part 2)

I love Houston weather this time of year. Humidity is low, everything is green and the bugs aren't out yet.

For this trip I flew into the smaller Hobby Airport which I recommend as it is easy to navigate in and out of. I was only there for a quick over night trip so I had to make my choices of where to eat carefully. I had been wanting to try one of the 'Pappas' restaurants for awhile so I know I had to hit one of them. I then wanted to venture more downtown and eat at a local stop there.

Mission accomplished.

It's nice to have people you work with that actually live in the cities you visit so they can chauffeur you around to the local eating establishments instead of relying on the rental GPS devices that can be very temperamental.

So here are two more recommendations the next time your down this way.

Pappasito's Cantina:     http://pappasitos.com/home/

This is a local chain that I had mentioned in my previous Houston blog that everyone raves about but I had yet to try. They have BBQ, Seafood, Steak, Greek and burger joints all over Texas but my work bud in Houston picked me up at my hotel late due to some flight delays and recommended the Cantina of all of them as we were both starving. He recommended the fajitas so we went with the Steak and Chicken fajita combo. AWESOME! Sometimes when you get fajitas the chicken or the steak is so much better than the other but both of them here were very tender and juicy. They came with a side of melted butter to pour over the meat which was a nice touch. Sometimes the meat will be over a mix of red and green peppers, mushrooms and onions. These meats were over a bed of onions only which was unusual but coupled with the excellent guacamole and pico it was all that was needed. Plus you want to taste the meat when it is done this well. Their cheese queso is awesome so make sure you get some with the chips.

Barnaby's Cafe:     http://www.barnabyscafe.com/

This is another local chain that I visited for lunch downtown. The one I went to was located on West Gray which is a cool little street coming right out of downtown that had a bunch of little cafe's and bistro's. I'm glad the guys I work with picked this one. I had an excellent Pulled Pork Torta that is basically an open faced sandwich that you must eat with a knife and fork or it will get messy. It was what the waiter recommended as one of their signature dishes and I was glad he did. My co-workers had the meat loaf, cob-salad and the Texas chili hamburger and they all swore by their selections. I wished they all rotated plates like my family but what can you do!!!

Here's to hoping these chains get big enough to expand to Utah someday. I never imagined getting In-N-out burger or Cheesecake Factory and they're here not so here's hoping.

Until next time, stay hungry my friends!