Hello!

A couple of friends of mine are heading to Houston for President's Day weekend -- 2/18-2/21. One of the does not eat meat. Any restaurant suggestions where they could get fish or vegetarian food/ or a BBQ place where one could get BBQ and the other could get fish/veggies? Also, any must sees and dos?

If you're looking for "American" food, one restaurant that comes to mind is Hobbit Cafe, at 2243 Richmond Ave between Kirby and Greenbriar. Most of the veg. restaurants I know are Indian or Chinese.
Check out this website for reviews: http://www.b4-u-eat.net/
Houston's space center is NASA's mission control, so tourists seem to flock there, but that may not be something you're interested in. Not knowing anything about you and your friends (age grp, interests, etc., it's hard to recommend things to see/do.
If you do a search on "houston" (use the search button at the top of this page) you'll find some older threads on must sees and dos. People have also recommended some website for checking out things to see/do.

Pappas Seafood at Kirby and Alabama is casual but delicious. Other Pappas family places (Pappasitos, Pappadeaux) would also work.
If mussels are your thing, some of the best moules frite are at the unassuming Cafe Montrose on Westheimer.

Hi enjoylife!

As to restaurants, pretty much any type of restaurant EXCEPT BBQ restaurants will have a vegetarian/fish option. BBQ restaurants are strictly for carnivores. If someone really wants to get BBQ while the other wants vegetarian, the best I can recommend is to head to Goode Company BBQ (very casual, with inside and outside benches and take-away). Then head over across the street to Goode Company Seafood.


But some other good options are:

Mexican:

Chuy's (fun, funky, casual, reasonably priced, good food, incl. veggie enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, etc.)
www.chuys.com

Hugo's (nicer, not Tex-Mex, great expansive menu, ate here recently and had the fish special of the day and it was the best fish I've ever eaten)

Italian:

The Grotto
La Strada
Prego
(all will have pasta and wood-fired pizza options)

American:

Backstreet Cafe (good varied food, has a great vegetarian plate) www.backstreetcafe.net

Benjy's (leaning toward Asian) www.benjys.com

Also, there are tons of great Thai and Indian restaurants that will have lots of vegetarian options.

To check out restaurants, try this site: houston.citysearch.com

As for things to do, Space Center Houston at NASA is a must-do. There are also a number of wonderful museums, depending upon your interest. The Museum of Natural Science is great and has a butterfly habitat, an IMAX, and a permanent exhibit. The Museum of Fine Arts Houston is also great. There's currently a Cartier exhibit there.

Not knowing if you're friends are male or female and the age range, it's hard to give specific advice. You can go to the symphony that weekend at Jones Hall, see Anything Goes at the Hobby Center, catch a Rockets basketball game, go shopping at the Galleria, etc.

Hope this helps.
Susan

Bellairegirl has great ideas for restaurants...Also for a casual meal, Barnaby's (there are three locations inside the loop) has wonderful salads that are huge, great value.

Bellairegirl, do you know the name of the Cuban restaurant in University Village? We've eaten there a few times when in town and really enjoyed it.

You are probably thinking of El Meson.

enjoylife: Where are you staying in Houston? The city is really spread out and you likely are not going to want to drive all over town to eat dinner.

Yes, the Cuban restaurant you're thinking of is El Meson. They have a great chicken dish there with TONS of garlic.

Also, I just had lunch today for the first time at Mo Mong (near Montrose). They have a mixture of Thai and Vietnamese food, and a really varied menu (including many vegetarian options). The food was excellent.

Susan

Getting ready to bid on the hotel. What are the safest areas w/ things to do in Houston? People have suggested the Galleria Area. Would that be the best choice?

For a casual visitor, the only areas in Houston worth bidding are Galleria, Downtown and Medical Center/Astrodome. I wouldn't bid on anywhere else.

We did a stop over in Houston on our way to the Bahamas and went to the Downtown Aquarium. If you like Aquariums, this place is great. They had 2 seafood resturants. One casual and one a little fancier. We did the casual and enjoyed the food. It's operated by Landry's Restaurants.

http://www.downtownaquarium.com/home.htm

If you bid 4 stars for downtown, you are going to get the Hyatt or the newer Hilton Americas. Either is good. Just FYI, I tried to bid on them for last August and couldn't get either for up to $100 bid. I got off and was able to get a great rate at the new Inn on the Ballpark downtown ($79 on expedia- and it was $169 on the hotel site) and we loved it.

One of our favorite lunch places inside the loop is Empire Cafe in Montrose on Westheimer near Dunlvy. It's a funky cafe/bakery. Allot of students hang out here. Montrose itself has allot of neat shops, resale and antique stores. It's not far from the Museum District.

They offer a variety of vegetarian dishes. Some of my favorites...vegetarian minestone, caprese salad on a bed of greens, grilled vegetable platter w/roasted potatoes , portabello mushroom sandwich. They also have good cakes and excellent coffee.

Places we like to go to:
Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Natural Science
Alley Theater
The Heights (19th Street)
Rice Village..shopping and restaurants
Alabama Bookstore
Half Price books...there's one in Rice Village
Angelic Movie Theater...downtown at the Bayou Plaza
Forbidden Gardens in Katy...replica of the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Army
Galveston (the Strand)

When we stay in town for the weekend our favorite hotel is The Magnolia, but there's not much around there to do during the day so we drive to the Galleria area, Montrose, or the Heights during the day. At night however Main Street comes alive with restaurants and people. The Magnolia is only a block from Main Street and also the Metro line that you can take to the Museum District.

For the hotel, my friends got the
Hilton Americas-Houston for $41 a night.

OOPS! I forgot to write that they got it through Priceline.

Wow! Congratulations! That's an awesome price.

Susan

Oh, and I forgot to mention, did you realize that hotel is only about a year old? An easy restaurant to get to from there is Chuy's. If you have a car, drive west (the only way you can go) on Lamar, which will turn into Allen Parkway and then will turn into Kirby Drive. Make a right on Westheimer, and Chuy's is a few blocks up on your right. It's a pretty drive, through River Oaks. On the way back, Kirby turns into Allen Parkway, which turns into Dallas, and which will lead directly back to your hotel.

Have a great trip!
Susan

The Hilton is an excellent hotel, and that is a fabulous deal. We stayed there a few months ago for a priceline rate of $55 and thought we scored big time. The rooms are big and luxurious and they even have a really nice health club, with TV's on the treadmills and a big sauna. I think your friends are going to have a great time.

Great deal. Friends of mine have raved about the bar at the top of the hotel. They tell me it has a great view.

The hotel is right across the street from the Toyota Center. Unfortunately, not much going on there that weekend (a Duran Duran concert is the highlight). Probably the reason the rooms are so cheap.