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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a martini experience

Posh Houston seafood spot stirs up 2 over-the-top $100 caviar martinis

Courtesy of Truluck's

Diners have the choice of either a gin or vodka martini.

A Houston seafood restaurant has added some extra luxury to its martini offerings. Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood & Crab, the Galleria-area restaurant known for its steak and crustaceans, recently added two different $100 martinis to its menu, as well as a significantly less expensive way to zhuzh up its cocktails with caviar-stuffed olives.

Dave Mattern, Truluck’s partner and beverage director, tells CultureMap that he wanted to build an experience around the trend of martinis garnished with caviar-stuffed olives that he’d seen on social media. He began tinkering with two cocktails, a vodka martini made with Belvedere 10 and a gin martini made with Nolet’s Reserve, which retails for around $700 a bottle.

“When someone orders a martini, we hand-stuff four olives with caviar, and then we put them in a cute, little porcelain bathtub. Then we wheel the cart to the table and stir a vodka martini. We have a bottle of Belvedere 10 that lights up. It makes for a really nice experience,” Mattern says.

Similarly, the gin martini is presented with blackberry, a lemon twist, and other garnishes that highlight the different botanicals used in distilling the spirit.

Truluck's martinis Each martini is served with four caviar-stuffed olives.Courtesy of Truluck's

Truluck’s goes all out for its hand-stuffed caviar olives, too. The restaurant uses extra-large Spanish olives that, in Mattern’s words, “soak up a lot of caviar.” So much that Truluck’s uses a full ounce of caviar for every six olives.

“You get a burst of caviar when you bite into the olive,” he says.

Each of the $100 martinis comes with four caviar-stuffed olives. Diners can add an olive or two at an à la carte price of $10 for one olive. “It’s almost a little appetizer when you think about it,” Mattern says about the four olives that come with each martini.

Currently, the offering is only available at Truluck’s location on Westheimer. Since Mattern is the company’s beverage director, he’s hearing from colleagues at other locations who want to add it to their menus.

“I’m trying to figure out how to take it to every location so we do it right and use the freshest of caviar,” he says. “When you waste caviar, an angel cries in heaven. We have to make sure we’re using it all.”

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