Bottoms Up

Hungry Rodeo fans sip and savor at Roundup + Best Bites event

Killen's TMX won the Lone Star Entree Award.

Photo courtesy of HLSR

Last month, more than 5,000 — yes, you read that right — Rodeo fans packed into NRG Center to sip and sample from nearly 100 Houston restaurants and food trucks at the 2022 Rodeo Uncorked! Roundup & Best Bites Competition.

In addition to the amazing food, approximately 400 wines from the 2022 International Wine Competition were poured.

This annual event put on by the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is a fan favorite, with top chefs and world-class wines coming together to duke it out (in a friendly way) for the championship titles.

Here's the full list of winners:

People's Choice Award
First place: Cotton Culinary: Figgy Piggy
Second place: Guard & Grace, A Modern Steakhouse: Oak grilled Creekstone Farms Prime New York Strip with loaded baked potato

Tasty Tradition Award
First place: Joyce's Seafood & Steaks: White chocolate bread pudding
Second place: Taste of Texas Restaurant: Certified Angus Beef tenderloin and Megan’s mac & cheese

Trailblazer Appetizer Award
First place: Omni Houston: Pork belly skewer, Moroccan BBQ, carrot puree, chicharrone
Second place: Songkran Thai Kitchen: Thai steak salad (Neu Nam Tok)
Third place: Revival Market: Cauliflower crositini – cauliflower hummus, homemade giardiniera, za’atar, chives

Lone Star Entree Award
First place: Killen’s TMX: Brisket suadero taco with black garlic salsa guacamole and queso fresco, and charro beans with jalapeno sausage
Second place: Gus’ Fried Chicken: Fried chicken wing
Third place: Russo’s Italian Kitchen: Lobster maestro – lobster essence, bianco, talegio, capelietti, maine lobster, smoked pecan

Two-Steppin' Dessert Award
First place: Egghaus Gourmet: Texas pecan croissant
Second place: Ragin Cajun: Bread pudding with rum sauce
Third place: Ashley Cakes: Carrot cake

Rookie Award
Craft Creamery: R-C Ranch wagyu brisket ice cream sandwich

Trail Boss Food Truck Award
Cruisin Sushi: Cruisin Special Roll – fried roll inside chicken, zucchini, carrots, Monterrey cheese, Tampico, cream cheese and avocado, drizzled with homemade spicy mayo and eel sauce (homemade soy and jalapeno sauce on the side)

Outstanding Showmanship Award
First place: Eculent
Second place: Texas Harvest

Killen's TMX won the Lone Star Entree Award.

Photo courtesy of HLSR

Killen's TMX won the Lone Star Entree Award.

family-friendly outdoor bar

Massive, German-inspired beer garden coming to new Energy Corridor project

Photo by Eric Sandler

The new beer garden will be similar to Katy Beer Garden.

One of Houston’s most successful bar operators is bringing his talents to the Energy Corridor. Steven Salazar is opening Ashford Beer Garden at the Ashford Yard mixed-use development.

Slated to open in early 2026, Ashford Beer Garden will build on the success Salazar has had with Katy Beer Garden, the project he opened last summer at The Dryer, a mixed-use development on the property of Katy’s historic Cardiff Rice Dryer. Like KBG, Ashford Beer Garden will be large — roughly 21,000 square feet — divided into a 10,000-square-foot indoor beer hall with a companion cocktail bar and a 11,000-square-foot outdoor beer garden that’s shaded by trees.

“We’re sticking with that Bavarian charm,” Salazar says about his vision for Ashford Beer Garden. “Bring your family. It’s really relaxed. The kids are playing. You have multiple generations hanging out. It’s worked well in Katy. We’re excited to bring it to a new area.”

Of course, the new project will make some improvements on the original. Most importantly, Ashford will have a full kitchen (KBG mostly relies on food trucks and a nearby food court). Salazar says he’s looking for a chef to lead the kitchen.

In response to customer demand for private event space, Ashford Beer Garden will also have a larger second floor patio than KBG does. The beer garden will have a larger screen to make it easier for people to watch sports.

Located on the site of a former Schlumberger campus near the intersection of Dairy Ashford Rd. and Briar Forest Dr., Ashford Yard is a 12.7-acre development that will include apartments, restaurants, and retail tenants. Salazar says he found his values aligned with the projects developers, Houston real estate firms Market Square Companies and Tenon Property Company.

“We have a similar vision of quality for the community and creating a space and having great neighbors. Not being a strip center but a true development that’s above and beyond what the area has to offer,” Salazar says. Later, he adds, “It seems great for us to be surrounded by companies such as Shell and Baker Hughes and all these great neighborhoods."

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