250 Reasons to Love Houston

250 Reasons to Love Houston Or how a town with bad traffic, little natural beauty, not much history, and unfortunate weather became the greatest place on Earth.

In this issue:

Arts & Culture

Eric Harland

Now Voyager

HSPVA alumnus Eric Harland returns to Houston with his acclaimed jazz quintet.

03/23/2013 By Justin Mitchell

Forrest Bess

The Van Gogh of Bay City

Thirty-five years after his death, a visionary Gulf Coast painter gets his Menil retrospective

03/23/2013 By Michael Hardy

Ice House

Let the Dolls Out

Stages Repertory Theatre mounts a modern adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

03/14/2013 By Michael Hardy

Eat & Drink

Cocktails

Whiskey 101

A homegrown bourbon cocktail how-to

03/21/2013 By Phaedra Cook

Texas Eats

Do-It-Yourself Crawfish Boil

Adapted from Texas Eats by Robb Walsh

03/21/2013 By Robb Walsh

Now Let's Eat!

Welcome to Gastronaut

We who are about to dine salute you!

03/20/2013 By Robb Walsh

On the Table

Va Va Veuve

You’ve come a long way, Tony’s

03/15/2013 By Robb Walsh

Houstonia BBQ

The 10 Best Barbecue Joints in Houstonia

Barbecue expert J.C. Reid of the Houston Barbecue Project lists 10 of his favorite barbecue spots

03/15/2013 By J.C. Reid

Houstonia BBQ

Old-Time Community Barbecues

The open-pit tradition of Austin Colony lives on.

03/15/2013 By Robb Walsh

BBQ

Of Pork and Preachers

Around here, barbecue and religion go hand in hand.

03/15/2013 By Robb Walsh Photography by O. Rufus Lovett

A scientific comparison

Donut Showdown: Dunkin’ vs. Shipley

Junk food juggernaut Dunkin' Donuts thinks it can just saunter into town. How does local mainstay Shipleys match up?

03/14/2013 By Robb Walsh

Editor’s Note

Founder's Note

Welcome to Houstonia

03/14/2013 By Nicole Vogel and Scott Vogel

Home & Real Estate

Space City

Lords of the Splash

Meet Houston’s high-end pool boys, who never met a Gunite grotto they didn’t like.

03/15/2013 By Peter Holley Photography by Jill Hunter

News & City Life

Poe Elementary Bombing

Suffer the Children

While it may seem like a signature element of our times, the murder of schoolchildren is, sadly, nothing new. It’s how we cope with such tragedies that has undergone a sea of change.

03/15/2013 By John Lomax

Cover Story

250 Reasons to Love Houston

Or how a town with bad traffic, little natural beauty, not much history, and unfortunate weather became the greatest place on Earth

03/14/2013

Hakeem Olajuwon

Dream Machine

A hoops legend, still cutting a figure in the city that made him famous

03/14/2013 By Jeff Balke

A Living Mosaic

We’re No. 1! We’re No. 1!

Examining Houston's newly-discovered diversity dominance

03/14/2013 By Kerry H.

Ice House

Bowl Movements

The ’Stros’ new homes-away-from-home: an appreciation

03/14/2013 By Jeff Balke

Ice House

Numbers Game at Minute Maid

The art (and science) of rebuilding a ball club

03/14/2013 By Peter Holley

Ice House

The Perfect Party

People we’d most like at our dinner table this month.

03/13/2013 By Catherine Matusow

Ice House

For Better or Worse

Working out Houston's future over a beer.

03/12/2013 By Catherine Matusow

Style & Shopping

Spring Fashion 2013

Garden Variety

A dull garden party? What are we, Yankees? The primly-manicured gardens of Bayou Bend are an unexpected backdrop for spring’s bold graphic prints, fearless florals, and brassy cosmopolitan pluck.

03/15/2013 Photography by Collin Kelly Edited by Laura Cassidy Styled by Leslie Rivas