this picnic totally rocks

Rockin' new girl-powered food and music fest stars Houston's top chefs

I'll have what she's having Underbelly pop-up chefs

Join the women of I'll Have What She's Having at a special fundraiser.

Photo by Carla Gomez

A Houston-based nonprofit will hold a fundraiser featuring some of the state's top culinary and musical talent. I'll Have What She's Having's Rock & Roll Picnic takes place at the Continental Club in Midtown this Sunday, June 5.

Intended to be an annual event, the Rock & Roll Picnic features food prepared by some of Houston's top chefs that's meant to be enjoyed while listening to music by female-led bands. Performers include Nobody’s Daughter of Girls Rock Houston, Katie Rushing, Dusty Santamaria, Calliope Musicals, and Austin psychedelic desert rockers Sheverb, according to a release.

The participating chefs consist of Top Chef alumni Evelyn Garcia and Sasha Grumman, multiple James Beard Award nominee Anita Jaisinghani (Pondicheri), Beaumont chef Monica Cobb, Chris Roy (Winnie's), and pastry chefs Julia Doran (Tiny Champions) and Alyssa Dole (Luloo's). Each chef is producing one dish that will be included in a tiffin that can be enjoyed at the event or taken to-go. Priced at $197.30 (more on that shortly), each meal is designed to feed two to four people.

Dishes include:

Monica Cobb - Texas Black Eyed Pea Caviar and Sweet Pepper Chow Chow
Sasha Grumman - Tomato, Watermelon, and Mozzarella salad
Chris Roy - Tasso and Pimento Cheese Rangoon
Anita Jaisinghani - Vegetable Biriyani
Evelyn Garcia - Vietnamese Chicken Salad with Sesame Crisps
Julia Doran - Sesame Cake with Roasted Strawberries
Alyssa Dole - Oatmeal Creme Pie

In addition to the concert and the tiffins, a silent auction will offer up private chef dinners, culinary creations, and other food-based delights.

Proceeds will benefit I'll Have What She's Having's 1973 Project, which provides funds to organizations that provide abortion services to Texans. The group initiated the project after the state passed its six-week abortion ban. Members of the organization joined Top Chef stars Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons at last year's Houston Women's March that protested the law.

The Continental Club's neighbors in the Mid-Main district are also contributing to the effort. Fashion designer Bonnie Kennimer is contributing a piece of the silent auction, and Double Trouble owner Robin Berwick has created a cocktail for the day whose proceeds will be donated to the organization. Winnie's, the nearby sandwich shop and cocktail bar, will donate a portion of proceeds from Sunday night's sales.

Tickets start at $25 to attend the concert. Tiffins, as noted above, cost $197.30 and do not include admission to the event. A VIP experience includes six tickets to the event, a reserved picnic table, two tiffins, drinks, and other perks. It is priced at $1,973.

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Fact Check

Houston restaurant's viral sign demanding tips is an AI-generated fake

AI-generated image tipping sign restaurant

Photo via Reddit

An AI-generated image about tipping waitstaff went viral in Houston, claiming to have been spotted at the Rice Village location of Torchy's Tacos.

New restaurant rage bait just dropped for Houstonians, and this time the culprit is an AI-generated image of a sign requesting patrons tip 20 percent.

The sign reads: “Dear Guests, Your server is not a volunteer. Service fees are not tips. Please compensate accordingly.” A simple math equation breaks down a hypothetical $100 restaurant bill, claiming the server would earn only $2.13, which is the tipped minimum wage that most servers receive from their employers. To add insult to injury, the line “If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to dine out” appears below.

The image caught the attention of Houston diners after it was shared on a local subreddit claiming it had been spotted at the Rice Village location of Torchy's Tacos, drawing more than 2,700 comments. Local radio station 93Q Country later posted the image to its Facebook page Monday morning, where it had generated more than 700 comments as of this article's publication.

“The image circulating online is AI-generated and is not affiliated whatsoever with Torchy’s Tacos,” a representative for Torchy’s tells CultureMap. “At Torchy’s Tacos, tipping is never mandated or required. While appreciated, gratuities are completely optional and always at the guest’s discretion.”

In an era when nearly everything online deserves a little skepticism, it helps to know the red flags before deciding how angry to become at something that's circulating on social media.

Here’s why anyone should view the image with extreme skepticism:

A quick Google search showed versions of the image circulating online for weeks, with people claiming to have seen it at restaurants across the country
The image does not resemble the Rice Village location of Torchy’s
Counter-service restaurants like Torchy’s do not typically expect customers to tip 20 percent

Still, the post sparked plenty of real conversations surrounding tipping culture, including:

Whether restaurants should pay servers more
Whether counter-service restaurants should expect 20 percent tips
Whether tipping should be based on service quality or the total cost of a meal

We’re not going to wade into the tipping debate at this time. But AI-generated rage bait like this can still be harmful to Houston’s restaurant industry, especially when false claims spread faster than corrections. Before assuming something online is real, it’s worth pausing long enough to verify it first.

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