Beautiful beer

A Houston favorite & a surprise make national best beer bars list, flexing Texas craft beer power

The Hay Merchant has received more than its fair share of recognition since Kevin Floyd opened the Montrose watering hole with Anvil co-owner Bobby Heugel around this time last year — though perhaps none matters more than recognition by Draft Magazine, a publication that celebrates the culture of craft beer.

Along with three other Texas joints, Hay Merchant merited mention on the magazine's America's 100 best beer bars: 2013 edition as a "frisky new spot along one of Houston's main thoroughfares," home to a great selection of brews on tap, incubator of one-off brewery experiments and purveyors of tasty bar bites.

Petrol Station, the Heights-area hideaway, also made the list for the first time. On top of the "sizeable beer selection," the magazine noted the dive's enthusiastic online community and delicious burgers.

Along with three other Texas joints, the Hay Merchant merited mention on the magazine's America's 100 best beer bars: 2013 edition.

Draft Magazine also gave a nod of approval to Strangeways, a "bombed-out" brick space in Old East Dallas, home to 40-plus taps and a "super friendly staff." The vittles aren't bad there, either — I heartily recommend the grilled cheese sandwich and the elotes. And for non-beer drinkers, the mezcal selection is top notch.

The Draught House Pub & Brewery in Austin, a perennial Draft Magazine favorite, gets kudos for its 70-plus taps (some of them made in-house) and its easygoing atmosphere, where dogs are welcome and patrons are just as likely to sidle up to the bar as they are to sprawl out with a lawn chair in the small parking lot.

My favorite part about the Rosedale pub (and my former neighborhood hangout)? The Goldfish Crackers in a dispenser behind the bar — a perfect snack for staving off hunger long enough for just one more pint.

Four Texas beer bars made the list of America's 100 best beer bars.

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wave goodbye

Innovative Houston Japanese restaurant closes after only two years

Photo by Kimberly Park

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One of Houston’s most innovative Japanese restaurants has closed its doors after only two years in business. Money Cat, a restaurant in Upper Kirby, has served its last meal, chef-owner Sherman Yeung tells CultureMap.

Yeung tells CultureMap that the restaurant was no longer financially stable and that he was "hemorrhaging money” trying to keep it afloat. Closing Money Cat allows Yeung to maintain operations at Tobiuo Sushi in Katy, which remains open.

Money Cat earned critical acclaim but never connected with diners, which Yeung attributes to some confusion in the market about the restaurant’s identity.

“[It was] my failure of not defining a clearer vision for Money Cat in the beginning,” Yeung writes in a text message. “I was struggling with avoiding calling it a sushi restaurant for the longest time because I didn’t want to overshadow our kitchen.”

Indeed, the hot dishes from the kitchen are what separated Money Cat from other Japanese restaurants. Partially inspired by his time staging at Michelin-starred restaurants, Money Cat served dishes such as chu toro toast (made with squid ink milk bread), maitake karaage, and honey vanilla milk buns with cultured butter and trout roe.

While Money Cat’s time has come to an end, Yeung thinks that at least some of its most popular dishes could live on. “I would like to start a much simpler concept focusing on the sando side,” he writes.

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