100 Houston Bars

Anvil's head guy creates list of 100 great Houston bars to try in 10 days

Never let it be said that Bobby Heugel doesn't care about his customers.

With Anvil Bar & Refuge closed for approximately 10 days to undergo some much needed renovations to its bathrooms and back of the house areas, its head guy came up a list of 100 Houston bars to visit in the interim.

The list contains the following categories:

Other Clumsy Butcher affiliated bars (examples include Julep, The Pastry War; Heugel is president of Clumsy Butcher)
Bars Doing the Cocktail Thing (Bad News Bar, Moving Sidewalk)
Bars with Tasty Wine Lists (13 Celsius, Camerata)
Bars to Drink Craft Brews At (D&T Drive-Inn, The Flying Saucer)
Your More Democratic Bar Destinations (Boheme, Cottonwood)
Dives You Should Visit While You Take a Break From Fancy Cocktails (Alice's Tall Texan, D&W Lounge)
Bars With Great Food and Drinks (Batanga, Beaver's Ice House, aka, restaurants)

The list isn't comprehensive — Stone's Throw deserves a little love on the cocktail side and one can't talk craft beer without mentioning Moon Tower Inn — but it does accomplish two important goals.

First, it celebrates the diversity of Houston's bar scene. Second, the recommendations function as both a bucket list for the educated Houston drinker and a push to check out a new spot or two. For example, while I find myself current with both restaurants and cocktail bars, I am completely deficient on dives — only eight out of 16 — a situation I plan to correct soon.

With a designated driver, of course.

Meanwhile, follow the progress of Anvil's rebuild over on Instagram. Heugel has promised to share tips of the build along the way; for example, "if you aren't insisting that your contractors build all the walls in your establishment on concrete curbs, you're missing a real chance to prevent long term water damage from mopping and other spills."

Not many business owners would give shout outs to his competition and offer suggestions to others. Give Heugel credit for going the extra mile and ensuring his customers are properly refreshed while Anvil rebuilds.

See the full list below:

100 BARS YOU SHOULD VISIT WHILE ANVIL IS CLOSED!
Listed in no particular order and roughly categorized to give you a general idea of what they're about.

OUR OTHER AFFILIATED BARS IN HOUSTON:
The Hay Merchant
Julep
The Nightingale Room
The Original OKRA Charity Saloon
(In Collaboration with Our Industry Friends)
The Pastry War
The Wine Bar at Underbelly

BARS DOING THE COCKTAIL THING:
Barringer
Capt. Foxheart's Bad News Bar & Spirit Lodge
The Commoner / The Boulevardier
Johnny's Gold Brick
Lei Low Bar
Moving Sidewalk
Prohibition Supperclub & Bar
Spare Key
Wooster's Garden

BARS WITH TASTY WINE LISTS:
13 celsius
Camerata at Paulie's
MAX's Wine Dive
Public Services Wine & Whisky
Sonoma Retail Wine Bar & Restaurant
The Tasting Room Wine Cafe

BARS TO DRINK CRAFT BREWS AT:
D & T Drive Inn
Houston Flying Saucer
The Ginger Man Houston
Mongoose Versus Cobra
The Petrol Station

YOUR MORE DEMOCRATIC BAR DESTINATIONS:
Bar Boheme
CharBar
The Continental Club, Houston, TX
Cottonwood Houston
The Davenport
the dirt
Double Trouble Caffeine & Cocktails
Etro Lounge
Fitzgerald's
The Flat
Grand Prize Bar
Houston Watch Company
KHON'S wine.darts.coffee.art
La Carafe
La Grange Houston
Ladybirds
Last Concert Cafe
Liberty Station
Little Dipper
Onion Creek Cafe
Poison Girl Cocktail Lounge (Be sure to ask Jonas about the free birthday shots!)
Red Lion
Reserve 101
Rudyard's
Sassafras
Simone on Sunset
Walter's Downtown
Warren's Inn
West Alabama Ice House
Under the Volcano
Valhalla at Rice University

DIVES YOU SHOULD VISIT WHILE YOU TAKE A BREAK FROM FANCY COCKTAILS:
Alice's Tall Texan
The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club
Big Star Bar
Catbirds Lounge & Patio Bar
Cecil's Pub
D&W Lounge
Griffs
Jimmy's Ice House
Kay's lounge
Keneally's Irish Pub
Lola's Depot Houston Texas
Lone Star Saloon
Notsuoh
Numbers
The Rose Garden
Shiloh Club
Shoeshine Charley's Big Top Lounge
Sunnys Bar

BARS WITH GREAT FOOD AND DRINKS:
Batanga
Beaver's Ice House
Benjy's in the Village
Brooklyn Athletic Club
Cafe Brasil
Caracol
Coltivare
Cuchara
Down House
El Big Bad
Goode Company Seafood
The Honeymoon
Hugo's
Kata Robata Sushi + Grill
Love & Squalor at Weights and Measures
Lowbrow
Mockingbird Bistro & Wine Bar
The Original Ninfa's on Navigation
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
The Pass and Provisions
Pax Americana
Pico's Mex Mex
The Queen Vic Pub
Sanctuari Bar at Triniti
Uchi Houston

Anvil is closing for 10 days for some renovations, but Bobby Heugel has 100 suggestions for where to drink in the meantime.

News_Anvil Bar & Refuge, exterior, night

Photo by Julie Soefer/Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

Anvil is closing for 10 days for some renovations, but Bobby Heugel has 100 suggestions for where to drink in the meantime.

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bring on barnaby's

Favorite Houston comfort food spot picks Garden Oaks for 10th location

Courtesy of Barnaby's Cafe

Barnaby's Cafe is coming to the Stomping Grounds this fall.

Earlier this week, real estate developer Bryan Danna promised “big news…very soon” about a new tenant for the former LuLoo’s Day & Night space at his Stomping Grounds development in Garden Oaks. That news is that Houston favorite Barnaby’s Cafe has claimed the space for a new location that will open later this year.

When a Barnaby’s decal appear on the restaurant’s door a couple of days ago, news of the restaurant’s imminent arrival spread quickly on social media. It will be Barnaby’s tenth location, joining outposts in Montrose, River Oaks, the Heights, and more.

The restaurant will occupy a 2,250-square-foot space at the Stomping Grounds. It will offer a to-go window for people hanging out in the development’s green space as well as a gated, dog-friendly patio. Houston artist Roberto Cervantes will contribute works to the restaurant’s interior.

Founded in 1992 by restaurateur Jeff Gale, Barnaby’s is known for its wide-ranging and affordable menu of classic American fare, including salads, sandwiches, breakfast items, and dinner entrees. Customer favorites include the Lebanese chicken fattoush salad, chipotle black bean burger, baby back ribs, and green eggs, which are scrambled with spinach and artichoke hearts. Dogs can snack on a special “puppy menu” of ground beef, sliced chicken breast, or scrambled eggs over brown rice.

Stomping Grounds green space A to-go window will expedite orders for people in the Stomping Grounds' green space.Courtesy of Stomping Grounds

“Bringing Barnaby’s to Garden Oaks and Oak Forest has been on my wish list for more than a decade, so I’m incredibly grateful that Jeff Gale and his team saw Stomping Grounds as the right fit,” Danna said in a statement. “Jeff and I go back to his first Heights location, which was one of Barnaby’s first big moves north of Montrose, and I have always respected what he and his longtime team have built. Thirty years in the restaurant business is a serious accomplishment. You do not make it that long unless you know how to take care of people, build loyalty, and become part of the neighborhood.”

When it opens this fall, Barnaby’s will be open daily from 11 am to 9 pm. It will join other restaurants at the Stomping Grounds, including Fat Cat Creamery, Tex-Mex restaurant La Mex, Bollo Woodfired Pizza, casual sushi restaurant Himari, Little Sister Cake Shop, and High Five Mini Bar. Earlier this week, casual Vietnamese restaurant Pho Prime announced that it had claimed the space formerly occupied by The Pho Fix for a new location that will also open this fall.

news-you-can-eat openings stomping grounds barnaby's cafe