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9 more Houston bars with over-the-top Christmas decor and festive sips

Since one roundup of 14 bars isn’t enough for Houston’s holiday bar scene, here are even more festive spots transforming their spaces with lights, themes, and seasonal sips.

Atlas Ultra Lounge
There’s no need to be a Grinch — Whoville has arrived in the Galleria area for the season. Order a Grinchmas Glow Tree ($45) for the table — the mini Christmas tree is adorned with eight colorful ornaments filled with lemon drop shots — or select the Snowball Spritz ($55), a bottle of champagne accompanied with juice and cotton candy “snowballs.”

Saturday brunches include photo ops with the Grinch and themed bites like Green Eggs and Who Biscuits. Who-Ville at Atlas Ultra Lounge runs through December 29. Atlas Ultra Lounge is open Monday-Thursday, 5 pm-12 am, Friday-Saturday, 5 pm-2 am, and Sunday, 11 am-12 am. Breakfast with the Grinch takes place every Saturday in December from 11 am–4 pm.

Endless Bummer
Take a detour to the underworld this holiday season at Endless Bummer, the speakeasy-style tiki bar by Beutelguese Beutelgeuse. At “A Very Bummer Christmas,” patrons can take a gander at the art installations while sipping from festive glassware. Highlights include the Son of a Nutcracker! ($26), a concoction for two of dark rum, cognac, and Grand Marnier served in a Christmas stocking-shaped oversized mug that is dramatically set alight. Reservations are not required. Endless Bummer is open Thursday-Saturday, 5 pm-12 am.

Julep
The halls are decked at Alba Huerta’s James Beard Award-winning cocktail bar. Not only is the main room aglow, but the newly opened parlor has been festooned with twinkling lights and neatly wrapped presents. Libations include a spiked hot cocoa with Reyka vodka and a cacao cordial; Apples and Whiskey with Bushmill’s, apple cider, lemon, honey, and ginger; and a Holiday Old Fashioned with gingerbread syrup. Julep is open Sunday-Wednesday from 4 pm-12a m, and Thursday-Saturday from 4 pm-2 am.

Plume
Oversized ornaments hang from the ceiling of this Shady Acres bar. With cocktails like the Cider Clause — a creation of blended scotch, American whiskey, and apple brandy or aged rum — holidays at Plume lean into the bar’s “Old Hollywood” vibe. Also, don't miss Chris's coquito — it's made from an old family recipe. Plume is open Tuesday-Thursday from 4 pm-2 am, Friday-Saturday from 3 pm-2 am, and Sunday from 1 pm-12 am.

Starduster Lounge
It’s “Cowboy Christmas at the Ole Dusty,” so slip on some boots and grab a hat. The neighborhood bar has trimmed the cactus, hung the chili pepper lights, and crafted holiday drinks for the occasion. The lineup includes movie nights (Elf and The Grinch on December 14, National Lampoon and Die Hard on December 21), along with a toy drive and gingerbread house making party on December 20 from 2-6 pm. Starduster Lounge is open Monday-Friday from 4 pm-2 am, and Saturday-Sunday from 2 pm-2 am.

The Toasted Coconut
Tiki meets tinsel at The Toasted Coconut. The beloved eatery takes Santa to the tropics this Christmas, with a fully blinged out bar. Featured cocktails include the frozen Coquito Parrandas with a Puerto Rican rum blend, caramelized coconut, and a spiced ginger tea, and the Luz de Maiz, a clarified oat milk punch starring Angel’s Envy bourbon and a nixta corn liqueur. Toasted Coconut is open Thursday-Friday, 4 pm-12 am; Saturday, 10 am-12 am; Sunday, 10 am-10 pm; and Tuesday-Wednesday, 4 pm-10 pm.

IKTO - I Know the Owner
Holiday cheer is easy to spot at this bar in the Heights, where bright Christmas lights catch the eye from the street. Seasonal sips such as the Mistletoe Margarita and Sugar Cookie Martini are featured on a limited-time $15 cocktail menu, while a $10 snack board comes loaded with treats like s’mores and a Pudgy’s cookie. Catch 8 pm showings of Home Alone 2 on Wednesday, December 17, and A Charlie Brown Christmas on Wednesday, December 23. IKTO is open Tuesday-Sunday from 2 pm-12 am.

Chicken N Pickle
Pop in for brunch with Santa on Sunday, December 14 and 21 at this pickleball-focused spot. The Webster location leans into ski-lodge décor with a build-your-own spiked hot chocolate bar, crackling fireplaces, and a flight of cocktails delivered on a miniature ski. Chicken N Pickle is open Friday from 11 am-12 am, Saturday from 10 am-12 am, Sunday from 10 am-10 pm, and Monday-Thursday from 11 am-11 pm.

Wonder Bar
This Midtown hotspot continues its annual tradition of over-the-top holiday installations. Expect vibrant art, Instagram-ready moments — including a giant gift box photo op — plus interactive elements ranging from a chilly ice room with Sasquatch to other quirky themed spaces. Wonder Bar is open daily from 4 pm–2 am.

Photo by Vivian Leba

Toasted Coconut is a beloved destination for holiday cheer.

where-to-drink cocktails nightlife holidays christmas

visiting popup bagels

A highly opinionated take on Houston's venture-backed new bagel shop

Courtesy of PopUp Bagels

Houstonians are lining up to try PopUp Bagels.

It’s hard to remember the last restaurant opening with as much fanfare as PopUp Bagels. Houstonians lined up in the heat for the bakery’s grand opening on Saturday, June 13.

Shawn the Food Sheep included a glimpse of the line in his review below.

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A post shared by Shawn Singh (@shawnthefoodsheep)

Eager to see what the fuss is all about, I stopped by around 10 am on Thursday, June 18. Thankfully, only about a dozen people stood in line ahead of me, and I had a bag of six bagels in less than 20 minutes.

The frequency with which it boils and bakes it bagels sets PopUp Bagels apart from Houston’s traditional, mostly family-owned bagel shops. Instead of making large batches early in the morning that may get refreshed once or twice per day, PopUp Bagels is constantly boiling and baking smaller batches of a couple dozen bagels at a time throughout its operating hours. That's why customers will hear the cry of “hot bagels” echoing through the small, counter-service space every time more emerge from the oven.

PopUp is different from traditional bagel shops in a couple of other important ways. First, the menu only list five varieties — plain, poppy, salt, sesame, and everything, which is topped with poppy seeds, salt, and sesame seeds. And, it only serves whole bagels — no slicing or toasting. The store’s motto of “grip, rip, and dip” explains how it expects customers to consume their bagels. Packaged lox are available, but diners have to assemble the sandwich themselves — either off-site or at one of the couple of cafe tables outside.

PopUp Bagels also doesn’t sell individual bagels. Instead, diners must order a minimum of three bagels and a schmear — various cream cheese and butters are available — for $15. Six bagels and a schmear costs $24. A dozen bagels and two schmears is $46. As a point of comparison, the Bagel Shop Bakery in Bellaire charges $25 for 13 bagels and two, 8-ounce schmears.

So, how is it?

Fresh, hot bagels are inherently superior to hours-old bagels. That’s a real advantage for PopUp Bagels. On my visit, the fresh-from-the-oven plain bagels were so hot that they needed a couple of minutes before we could "grip and rip" them.

As for the bagels themselves, they certainly look the part. The outside is deeply caramelized with an even distribution of toppings that adhere well to the exterior.

But the biggest shortcoming is texture. Bagels, obviously, are supposed to be chewy, but all six of the bagels that an ex-pat New Yorker friend and I ordered walked the line between chewy and underbaked. That may be deliberate, as softer bagels are easier to “grip and rip.”

It's also possible that the bakery’s new employees are still dialing in procedures, and that a different day would yield bagels with a crispier texture. Colloquially, friends who have also visited the shop — both in Houston and other cities — disagreed with my assessment of the texture.

The plain is just that, with a very mild flavor. Both the scallion cream cheese and salted butter had a pleasantly creamy texture and boosted the dining experience.

Overall, PopUp is competitive with Houston’s best bagels. That’s promising, since Stripes — the equity growth firm that bought PopUp Bagels in 2023 — has announced plans to open more than 300 locations nationwide.

But you won’t see me driving half an hour or standing in a long line to get another taste. Houston’s locally-owned bagel shops are more convenient, less expensive, and just as good.

Courtesy of PopUp Bagels

Houstonians are lining up to try PopUp Bagels.

openings news-you-can-eat breakfast popup bagels