a little love from the barkeep

13 Houston bartenders boldly bare it all for charity calendar

Find the calendar at bars across Montrose, downtown, and The Heights.

Photo by Alex Crawford

A group of Houston bartenders are stripping down for a good cause. The newly released Slinging Love calendar features 13 drink makers in cheeky nude poses.

Organized by Catbirds owner Shelly Wilburn, the calendar aims to raise $15,000 for the Houston Area Women’s Center. It’s on sale now for $15 at a number of the local watering holes where the participants work, including Rudyard’s, Penny Quarter, Poison Girl, Houston Watch Co., The New Potato, and Catbirds.

“For 20 years, the running joke has been we’re going to make a calendar of all these Montrose bartenders. [Supporting HAWC] was the motivation to get it done,” Wilburn tells CultureMap.

Inspired by pinup girls from the ’30s and ’40s, Wilburn put together an idea board. Alex Crawford, a photographer who works at Ralph Smith Studios, took all the pictures. Former Catbirds bartender Zach Doyle helped Wilburn recruit participants. The bartenders, who work at places such as OKRA, The New Potato, Present Company, and more, contributed some suggestions of their own.

“For example, Mike McMullin from OKRA, wanted to be Mr. January and pineapples are good luck,” Wilburn says. “I went and bought pineapples. I’m, like, I don’t know what to do with these. It kind of went from there.”

Generally, the photos are more amusing than titillating. In addition to pineapples, strategically placed picnic baskets, Christmas presents, and a watering can keep the pictures strictly PG.

“I like how it’s very much, we’re going to support the women in our lives with the men in our lives,” Wilburn says. “It’s not sexual. It’s mostly comical.”

As for next year, she’s already heard from bartenders who were disappointed that no one invited them to participate. She’s also contemplating a version with female bartenders dressed up as what they wanted to be when they grew up. Assuming the calendars sell out, it will have been a good experience.

“We had 13 guys get naked for us, and it was fantastic,” Wilburn says.

Here are the men of the Slinging Love calendar:

January - Mike McMullin, OKRA
February - Danny Furness, Houston Watch Co
March - Paul Redmond, The New Potato
April - Charlie Fernandez, Sassafras/Big Star Bar
May - Scott Michael H., Dan Electro’s
June - Roberto, The West End
July - Jonas Thompson, Poison Girl
August - Zach Boyle, Dino’s
September - Micah Youngblood, Catbirds
October - Ryan Sawyer, Rudyard's
November - Tommy Ho, Anvil/Penny Quarter
December - Noah Edger, Griff’s/Boondocks
2020 - Chris Burns, Present Company

fundraisers

an offer he couldn't refuse

Exclusive: Killen's Barbecue will soon shutter in The Woodlands

Killen's barbecue meat platter with sides

Photo by Robert Jacob Lerma

undefined

Fans of Killen’s Barbecue’s location in The Woodlands have a days to make one last visit. The restaurant will close this Sunday, December 7, chef-owner Ronnie Killen tells CultureMap.

Open since 2021, Killen says that he’s in final negotiations to sell the location at 8800 Six Pines Dr. to Whataburger for a new location of the iconic Texas fast food restaurant. Neither the original location of Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland nor its Cypress location are affected by the closure of The Woodlands and will remain open.

“Whataburger made me a deal I couldn’t pass up. It would take 10 years to do that kind of revenue,” Killen writes in a text, adding that the company recently made a significant payment to keep the deal’s window open through the end of the year.

He added that the costs to operate the restaurant have gone up significantly. As one example, a cord of wood cost $175 when he opened the first Killen’s Barbecue in 2013. It costs $475 now, he writes.

If the deal falls through, Killen states that he could look for a new buyer or convert the restaurant into a second location of Killen’s Burger, the retro-styled burger joint he operates in Pearland.

The restaurant’s closure had been expected since February, when Killen sold The Woodlands’ location of Killen's Steakhouse. At the time, Killen said he also planned to find a buyer for his barbecue joint in the bustling suburb. He cited the driving distance from Pearland to The Woodlands as one reason he chose to divest both locations. He still operates Killen's Steakhouse in Pearland, comfort food restaurant Killen's near the Heights, Killen's Burger, and three other locations of Killen's Barbecue.

As it approaches its 13th anniversary in the spring, Killen’s Barbecue remains a vital part of Houston’s barbecue scene. The restaurant recently earned an honorable mention from Texas Monthly and holds a Bib Gourmand designation in the Michelin Guide. In July, it opened a new location at Hobby Airport.

closings barbecue the-woodlands