World Series dining deals

Best Houston Astros restaurant and bar specials to cheer on a World Series win

After an epic, 7-0 run through the American League, the Houston Astros are ready to take on the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. The Astros are heavy favorites, but fans know that the team's previous encounters with NL East teams didn't go so well for the good guys.

Still, with probable AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander ready to go in Game 1 and baseball's best bullpen, fans have reason to believe they’ll be root, root, rooting for the home team all the way through a downtown parade.

With that in mind, we've rounded up a number of Houston-area bars and restaurants offering game day specials that are good for pre-game, during the game, post-game, and even the day after. Put on that Peña or Altuve jersey and cheer the team to another championship.

Photo by Brian Doke

Get beer and burger specials at Heights & Co.

7 Pie
The newly opened pizza chain will sell diners a 12-inch pepperoni pizza for $5 after every Astros win (limit one per customer). Those looking to feed a crowd can get a $77 tailgate pack that includes four pepperoni pizzas, 16 jumbo chicken wings, 12 chicken tenders, a family-size order of fries, and a half-gallon of freshly brewed iced tea.

Acme Oyster House
The Montrose location of this Louisiana favorite will feature $15 buckets of beer (six bottles or cans) during Astros playoff games. Customers can also take advantage of happy hour (2-6 pm Monday-Friday), which includes $1 raw Gulf Coast oysters, $1 off drafts, $2 off glasses of wine, and $3 off frozens.

Angel Share
The downtown bar opens at noon on game days. Located five blocks from the stadium, it will feature $5 drafts as well as half-off wine and half-off draft and frozen cocktails.

Axelrad
The Midtown patio bar is serving its Astros-themed YorBomb — a blue and orange frozen drink that's half mango daiquiri and half Blue Hawaiian. It's $7 for 9-ounces or $12 for 16-ounces.

Be More Pacific
This lively Filipino spot in the Heights will take 10-percent off the bills of patrons who both wear Astros gear and sit at the bar. In addition, they’ll offer $3 drafts and $1 off Filipino beers.

Bosscat Kitchen & Libations
The whiskey-fueled restaurant and bar will sell $5 cans of Crawford Bock and $12 glasses of its Clutch City Cooler rum punch. Food specials include a brisket-topped hot dog, nachos with bourbon-teriyaki sauce, and a smash burger.

Bovine & Barley
The downtown sports bar will offer $4s select beers, $5 bar bites, and take 10-percent off the tabs of people wearing Astros gear.

Brasserie du Parc
Located near Discovery Green, the French restaurant has a number of game day specials. That starts with a bar bites menu offering dishes such as $2 raw or baked oysters, $12 fish and chips, $10 fried shrimp, and an 8-ounce wagyu burger with fries for $10. Drink specials include $5 select beers, $7 glasses of house red or white wine, and $9 select cocktails.

The Burger Joint
All three locations of the popular burger restaurant will provide dine-in customers with free milkshakes every time an Astros player hits a home run.

Caracol
Hugo Ortega's Galleria-area seafood restaurant will give patrons in Astros gear a free happy hour margarita with the purchase of an entree.

Candente
The Montrose Tex-Mex restaurant will offer happy hour pricing during World Series games. That means $6 house margaritas, palomas, well drinks, sangria, and wines by-the-glass.

Craft Pita
Buy two get one free dip at this Briargrove restaurant. Choices include hummus, spicy hummus, labneh, and babaganoush.

Ducky McShweeney’s Irish Pub
The Galleria-area bar and restaurant will offer specials that include a bucket of beer and cheese pizza for $25 as well as Astros-themed frozen cocktails.

Eight Row Flint
Agricole Hospitality’s casual bar will feature $5 game day nachos and hot dogs. Pair it with the Astros Thriller, a bucket of Karbach Crawford Bach and shots.

El Big Bad
Head to this margarita bar near Market Square for a Gameday Dog: a smoked sausage link topped with chopped fries, caramelized onions, and burger sauce ($4.50). As the restaurant advises, diners may want a fork.

Feges BBQ
The Spring Branch location has a number of specials, including $12 smoked meatballs, 10 wings for $15, 1-pound of rib tips for $10, $10 chopped brisket or pulled pork sandwiches, $10 half hog platter, and $8 Frito pie. Pair it with $3 select beers, and half-off select wines by-the-glass, and discounts on frozen margaritas.

GJ Tavern
Those looking to celebrate after an Astros home win can head to this downtown restaurant for happy hour pricing from 9 pm until close. And yes, it will stay open late for the games.

Heights & Co.
Enjoy $5 drafts and $10 burgers while watching the game on a 20-foot projector screen at this Heights patio bar.

Henderson Heights
Get $2 corn dogs during Astros games at this Washington Avenue spot that has 22 TVs. Diners will also find rotating drinks specials.

J-Bar-M Barbecue
The EaDo barbecue joint is offering eight smoked wings with a Lone Star beer for $15. Watch the game on one of the restaurant’s 13 TVs.

Kenny & Ziggy's
Get $5 hot dogs and $4 draft beers at the restaurant's Spritzer Bar. Those who are going to the games can pick up a bag lunch with a 6-ounce sandwich, bag of chips, mini black and white cookie, and bottle of water for $17.95.

Kin Dee
Customers who watch the game at the restaurant's bar will get $3 Thai beers during Astros games.

KP’s Kitchen
The Memorial-area favorite is offering 20-percent off its family pack to-go meals when customers say the word Astros when order. Choices include chicken tenders, baby back ribs, and burgers.

La Calle Tacos & Tortas

The Mexico City-inspired taqueria will host a special watch party for Game 4 of the World Series at their Midtown location (401 Gray Street). Prior to watching the game on a 6x8-foot screen, the restaurant will host a taco eating contest at 5:30 pm.

Lyric Market
Downtown's newest food hall is offering all-day happy hour pricing during World Series game days, which includes $5 drafts, $6 house wines, and $8 cocktails from the venue's Rhapsody Bar. In addition, those who spend $35 or more at the food hall can park in its adjacent garage for free on game days.

Monkey’s Tail
Get $12 Tecate Lite buckets at this bar in Lindale Park. In addition, sample a frozen Orange for $6 during happy hour.

New York Deli and New York Eatery
Both locations of this Jewish deli and restaurant will serve half-off hot dogs throughout the series. The restaurants' companion bagel shop will sell orange and blue Astros bagels.

Pitch 25
Located near the stadium, the soccer-themed bar is a good place to watch the games. Look for drinks specials such as the Space City margarita and the Orbit, an orange piña colada.

Ribeye & Rye
Get a free shot or mocktail every time the Astros score.

Riel
The Montrose restaurant will honor Lance McCullers, Jr. with its $7 LMJ shandy. In addition, look for special ballpark-themed bites (hot dogs, etc.) during happy hour (Monday-Friday, 5-6:30 pm).

Roots
Customers wearing Astros gear will get 20-percent off their food and drinks at this EaDo wine bar and restaurant.

Second Draught
The craft beer bar in The Ion will take $2 off a different "beer of the day" for each World Series game. Watch the game on the bar's TVs.

State Fare
All three locations of the comfort food restaurant will offer happy hour pricing during World Series games. Those watching at home may order a party box loaded with enough Frito pie, pickle dip, and guacamole to feed four to six people ($45).

Sticky’s Chicken
The Sawyer Yards favorite will celebrate every Astros win by giving customers two free wings over rice.

Stomping Grounds
Garden Oaks residents can gather on the green space of this development for World Series watch parties. The development's restaurants — Cherry Block Smokehouse, Rooster & Rice, Fat Cat Creamery, and Little Dreamer Coffee — will be offering different food and drink specials each night.

Sylvia's Enchilada Kitchen
Both locations of the popular Mexican restaurant will offer Astroritas and beef and chicken fajitas nachos for $9 during the games.

Tobiuo Sushi & Bar
Customers wearing Astros gear get half-off yakitori skewers and $2 glasses of hot sake (wagyu excluded).

Treebeards
The Bunker Hill location will reduce the price of a Crawford Bock by $1 for each Astros win. They start at $4.

Underground Hall
The downtown food hall is serving $4 Crawford Bocks all day on game day.

The Upside Pub
Newly opened in Garden Oaks, this casual bar will feature $12 pitchers and free shots of beer for every home run. Food specials include a bacon-wrapped hot dog that’s topped with queso.

Urbe
In honor of the Astros, Hugo Ortega's street food restaurant in Uptown Park will sell blue and orange conchas. Quantities are limited, so ordering ahead is encouraged.

Voodoo Doughnut
All three locations will offer an Astros-themed sprinkle cake for just 25-cents on game days.

Wild Oats
The Texas-inspired restaurant at the Houston Farmers Market will serve $3 Lone Stars during World Series games.

William Price Distilling
During any playoff game, get $5 beer, $5 house shot, and $9 frozen cocktails at this distillery in Garden Oaks-Oak Forest.

Winfield's Chocolate Bar
Upper Kirby's new chocolate shop will give away one scoop of ice cream or one chocolate-covered Oreo per customer after every Astros win.

Xochi
Located next to Discovery Green, Hugo Ortega’s Oaxacan restaurant offers a $22 Tlayuda de Res (a large, thin Oaxacan tortilla topped with black beans, housemade quesillo, grilled skirt steak, chichilo mole and fresh greens) and choice of draft beer for $22 plus tax and gratuity.

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wine guy wednesday

CultureMap Wine Guy Chris Shepherd serves up the most insider online speciality shops

Photo by Victoria Dearmond

Our wine columnist poses with a recent haul from Wine Bid.

Editor’s note: Long before Chris Shepherd became a James Beard Award-winning chef, he developed enough of a passion for wine to work at Brennan's of Houston as a sommelier. He maintains that interest to this day. When Chris expressed interest in writing about wine-related topics for CultureMap, we said yes.

In this week's column, he shares his favorite ways to buy special wines you won’t find at a store. Take it away, Chris.

Just because you’re observing Dry January doesn’t mean you can’t keep collecting wine. You’re going to want something to drink in February, right?

If your New Year’s resolution is to stock your cellar, I’m here to help. We can talk wine clubs in the future, but I have two fun ways to collect really cool wines.

WineBid

Wine Bid has been one of my favorite websites and apps for the past 15 years. Think of it as an eBay for wine that holds weekly auctions. Before bidding, you can search for wines in all kinds of ways such as vintage year, varietal, and size of bottle.

The website is a great place to look for hard-to-find wines, large format bottles, anything specialty that might not be on the shelf at your local wine shop — anything that isn’t a current vintage wine. I love giving friends and family birth year wines, and you can almost always find them on Wine Bid.

You can also search by specific growing areas. For example, I love Pisoni Vineyard fruit. By adding Pisoni to the My Favorites section, all wines using Pisoni fruit will populate — whether it’s Kosta Browne, Patz & Hall, or Pisoni Estate. It’s a really easy way to follow wines or vineyards you really love.

Chris Shepherd wine bid pisoni Chris recently acquired these Pisoni wines.Photo by Victoria Dearmond

One of the best things about Wine Bid is that they will store your wines for you until you’re ready to ship. I traditionally get two shipments a year — one in the fall (all the wine I purchased throughout the summer once it cools off) and again in the spring before it gets too hot.

Don’t think of this as your everyday wine shop. Instead, use it to find special wines for your cellar.

Last Bottle

Last Bottle is run by three friends from the wine business who have lots of connections with wineries, brokers, distributors, and importers from around the world. They taste around 40,000 wines a year and will only share wines that pass their quality assessment on the app. They’re also great at finding deals, which they also pass on in the app.

Here's how it works. Download the app, and you’ll see one bottle of wine with all the info — retail price, Last Bottle price, and a description. It will probably sell out quickly. Sometimes in 20 minutes or less.

They’re selling multiples of the bottle on offer, but we, as consumers, don’t know how many they have. If you want it, I suggest you buy it immediately. Bonus: when you buy four or more bottles, shipping is free. And, if you’re the lucky person to buy the actual last bottle of a wine, you get a $50 credit. It’s a fun game.

As soon as the last bottle of that offer is purchased, another completely different wine goes on sale, and there’s no telling what it will be.

I’ve had so much fun buying wine from Last Bottle. Sometimes, I find collectibles. Other times, I buy a case of $12 white wine.

Two to three times a year, Last Bottle hosts a two-day event called The Marathon. It’s rapid-fire cool stuff and a test in how fast you can refresh your phone. Power Hour is one hour each day during The Marathon where you can find some of the most sought-after wines on the planet (the $50 last bottle bonus isn’t applicable during Marathons). Marathon wines don’t ship immediately — they’ll compile all Marathon orders and ship together for free, and it usually takes about a month.

Start buying now. That way you have something to drink when you make it through Dry January.

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Contact our Wine Guy via email at chris@chrisshepherdconcepts.com.

Chris Shepherd won a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest in 2014. He recently parted ways with Underbelly Hospitality, a restaurant group that currently operates four Houston restaurants: Wild Oats, GJ Tavern, Underbelly Burger, and Georgia James. The Southern Smoke Foundation, a non-profit he co-founded with his wife Lindsey Brown, has distributed more than $10 million to hospitality workers in crisis through its Emergency Relief Fund.

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