My husband and I will be in Houston, TX over the weekend (Sat - Mon) and wanted to find a good restaurant. I will be celebrating my birthday on Sat. Budgetwise, entree price should be less than $50pp. Any good recs? We love steak, seafood and ethnic food. (FYI - we're from SoCal, so we're open to anything that tastes good and is fresh and has atmosphere).

Also, this is my first visit since I grew up there and I haven't been back since I was a teen - we'll be at the Four Seasons. Is that anywhere close to Alief? I want to visit my old house and church and see the schools I went to as a kid.

We have such short a time, but is there anything else we should "check out" while there for a weekend?

Thanks!

Here's a good thread for you:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34713815

Oh, and the Four Seasons is in downtown. Alief is now part of Houston, I believe, but the area is about 15 miles west of downtown. About half an hour by car. Construction on US59 Southwest Freeway is mostly completed, so traffic usually isn't too bad.

rkkwan linked the thread I immediately thought of.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Till then, Happy Birthday.

Thanks for the link to that thread - it was very helpful! I have family friends to visit that I haven't seen in 14 years and we've been invited to a crawfish boil! I'm looking forward to that, too. I can't wait to see how much my old neighborhood has changed... hopefully for the better, but I'm realistic. I had heard Alief went downhill a few years ago. I was baptized in a church on either Westheimer or Gessner (can't remember) but I do remember there used to be a KFC across the street and Sharpstown Mall was around there somewhere, too.

I left Houston 13 years ago and still visit yearly since my family is there. I, myself, am always amazed at how much it changes and grows year to year, so you will probably really be in shock to see how much it's changed since you were last in town.

Have a great trip!

Some friends and I went to a restaurant called "Gravitas" which was quite nice, close to downtown on Taft St. There also is a restaurant in that same area called "Daily Review"--that has a nice outdoor area, if it's not too hot. Many people are fans of a restaurant called "Cafe Annie" near the galleria on Post Oak Blvd.