where to root for the Astros

Houston restaurants and bars celebrate Astros Opening Day with food and drink deals

Biggio's will be serving brats and hot dogs on Opening Day.

Photo courtesy of Biggio's

The Houston Astros begin their march to the World Series this Thursday, March 27 with a home game against the New York Yankees. While fans with tickets to the game have access to Street Fest in front of Minute Maid Park, everyone else who wants to take in the game will find a range of options at Houston bars and restaurants.

Some of the specials listed below are only valid on Opening Day, but others will continue all season long. Here’s where to root for the home team.

Biggio’s will be hosting the ultimate opening day feast with the Astros Opening Series: Biggio’s Smoker Specials. Named after Astros legend Craig Biggio, the sports bar will be smoking brats and hot dogs on its patio and offering pregame drinks. BIggio will be there for photos. 11:30 am.

Catbirds will celebrate the occasion with $3.50 shots of Jagermeister, Fireball, and Mexican Candy as well as $5 Makers Mark, Espolon, and Deep Eddy and free hot dogs. Throughout Astros season, the Montrose bar will feature $4 Houston beers, $4 Jim Beam, and $8 Makers Mark Old Fashioneds. 3 pm

Over at all Cyclone Anaya’s locations, watch the game while sipping on their refreshing Ocean Blue Top Shelf Margarita with Espolon Blanco, Blue Curacao, lime, lemon, and pineapple Juice for $12 (Jumbo drinks are $15.) 11 am.

Throughout opening weekend, The Hidden Bar in West U. is offering one free sake shot to fans who come sporting their favorite Astros gear. Guests can sip on The Painkiller, made with Pussers rum, pineapple, coconut, orange, lime and demerara syrup for $15. 3 pm (11 am Sat.-Sun.).

Holman Draft Hall will have the “Astros Freeze,” a special frozen cocktail, available all opening weekend long for $12. There will also be $100 game day boards with lemon pepper wings, chicken strips, BBQ ribs, mini burger sliders and more. 3 pm.

Wear your favorite Astros gear when you visit Hongdae 33, Dun Huang Plaza’s all-you-can-eat, Korean barbecue hotspot. Enjoy BOGO beer or soju all day on opening day.11:30 am.

Jax Grill extends its yearly, Astros offer to its patrons. Throughout the season, any customer who arrives wearing an Astros jersey on game days is entitled to a 10% discount on their order. Kids can also get a free pack of Astros baseball cards. 11 am.

KIrby Ice House will be celebrating at all locations with can’t-miss specials. Sip on $4 frozen drinks like the Kirby Frozen Tea or Kirby Frosé, or $6 house wines by the glass. And don’t forget about $10 off select wines by the bottle. 3 pm.

Swanky seafood tavern Loch Bar is celebrating opening day with a couple mouth-watering specials. You can have the Loch Bar Burger (usually $19) at $10 and all draft beer for $4 on Astros opening day. 11:30 am.

Newly opened EaDo bar Nickel City will sell anyone with an Astros ticket or wearing Astros gear a 99-cent Jim Beam highball. The special is available all season long. Limit one per person.

Pier 6 Seafood & Oyster House will have an opening-day watch party, featuring massive big screens visible from nearly everywhere you can sit. They’ll also have ballpark-themed bites, $2 draft beers, and the all-star menu of tide-to-table fare. 11 am.

Houstonians can enjoy a drink at Reset Rooftop Lounge before or after the game. Guests that show proof of a same-day Astros game ticket can get one free shot (white tea, green tea or Mexican candy) or one free well drink all weekend long. 3 pm.

Diners who stop by Tacodeli can get a $5 tequila drink when they purchase an appetizer. Enjoy classic starters like Tacodeli’s flavorful queso and spicy guacamole and wash it all down with a discounted tequila drink for the ultimate, opening-day celebratory meal. 7 am.

Over at The Upside Pub, they’ll be serving an Astros Dog (bacon wrapped all-brisket hot dog, house queso, pico de gallo, crispy onions & jalapenos) and a Crawford Bock can for $15. They’ll also hit ya with home run beer shots and Orange Crush cocktails for $10. 11:30 am.

URBE is ready to help you show your spirit with their colorful, delicious Astros conchas. They will once again offer the conchas starting on opening day. And they will be available every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the season. 11 am.

New patio bar Woodland Social is celebrating its first-ever Astros season. They have 21 expansive 75-inch televisions, a grand 20-foot LED screen on the patio, and a well-stocked bar offering an enticing selection of cocktails, beer, and wine. 2 pm.

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bring on the Bacalhau

Michelin-starred Houston restaurant heads to Portugal for new season

Photo by Zach Horst

No conversation about Houston’s best restaurants would be complete without mentioning March, Goodnight Hospitality’s Mediterranean-inspired, fine dining, tasting menu restaurant in Montrose.

For its 12th season, which begins this Friday, August 7, March will take a broad look at Portugal. Over the course of pre-dinner snacks in its lounge, seven courses in its dining room, and take away desserts, chef-partner Felipe Riccio and his team will guide diners through all aspects of Portuguese cuisine, including its trade routes with China, India, and North Africa.

Riccio tells CultureMap that Portugal was the logical follow up to March’s 11th season, which examined northern Spain. He began the research process a few months ago, drawing upon published literature, cookbooks, and his own experiences as a stage at a restaurant in Lisbon. More than a menu update, seasons at March also include changes to the beverage offerings and creating service touches that enhance the experience.

Photo by Zach Horst

Rabbit cozido.

“Portugal is so close geographically to the north of Spain, and there’s a lot of similarities,” he says. “The menu really explores a lot of places outside of the Mediterranean where the Portuguese had influence and were influenced by. It’s all these trade routes.”

Priced at $230 plus drinks, tax, and gratuity, a meal at March begins in the lounge with four snacks, including a peri peri-spiced duck rillette, a delicate tart with lobster and caviar, a tempura-fried fish (peixinhos da horta) and the Macau-inspired porcho balichao made with manilla clams.

As always, March brings premium ingredients to its take on classic dishes. For example, it sources Japanese Almaco Jack for a crudo that’s inspired by Portuguese salt cod (bacalahua). Cozido, a slow-cooked stew that’s a staple of Portuguese cooking, gets reinterpreted as a house made rabbit sauce with foie gras. Riccio acknowledges that diners expect a certain level of luxury at this price point, but diners may not always realize how valuable properly-sourced ingredients are.

“I don’t think it always has to be so overt. I think the majority of people, the experience as a whole delivers that value,” Riccio says.

Similarly, the Portugal menu continues March’s move to a set, seven-course menu instead of giving diners the choice of either six or nine courses. Riccio see that as another sign of the restaurant’s maturity.

“A tasting menu is restrictive. We needed to earn that trust and give people options. I felt like people trust us and we’ve proved we can create an experience,” he says.

Since part of the criteria for a Michelin star is consistency across visits, March’s ability to hold its star while still changing its menu twice a year is a testament to the kitchen’s skill. Add in the server’s deep knowledge of every dish on the menu, its comprehensive beverage offerings, and a dining room that features museum- quality art, and it’s reasonable to think that March might become Texas’ first restaurant to earn a two-star rating. For his part, Riccio would welcome the recognition.

“I think March as an entire experience, as a restaurant day-in and day-out, we can be at that level. We strive to give people that experience to where they have that menu and feel it’s well worth it,” he says. “That recognition. I’ve seen what it means for the team, for the guests, and for the validation of the experience, and, obviously, for my career and the restaurant as a business.”

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