Happy Jimmy Buffett Day

'Keep the Party Going' at Margaritaville Lake Resort this Labor Day weekend

Summer's not over yet.

Photo courtesy of Margaritaville Lake Resort

If it's not already marked in your calendar, Jimmy Buffett Day is August 30 and there's no better place to celebrate than Margaritaville Lake Resort Lake Conroe | Houston.

The party lasts through Labor Day, making it the perfect excuse to change your latitude and attitude with a long weekend away.

Here are just a few highlights of what's in store:

A Jimmy Buffett Musical Tribute by Phillip Lee on Friday, August 30, and Saturday, August 31 in Palm Court from 6-7 pm, and then again from 8:30-10:30 pm in Boathouse Bar & Lounge.
“Magic at Margaritaville” show with magician Harry Mauer in the Paradise Amphitheater on Saturday, August 31, at 8 pm.
Glow Pool Party at the 5 o’Clock Somewhere Pool on Saturday, August 31, at 8 pm.

Margaritaville Lake Resort Lake Conroe Catch the Jimmy Buffett tribute at the Boathouse Bar & Lounge.Photo courtesy of Margaritaville Lake Resort

To further honor Jimmy’s incredible legacy and his heart for service to others, the resort will donate one dollar from each “Jimmy Buffett Day” special drink purchased in a special commemorative cup to Child Advocates of Montgomery County (CASA). Since 1992, CASA of Montgomery County has been training volunteers, raising awareness in the community, and working to stop the cycle of childhood trauma and abuse.

Guests who want to soak in the lake life throughout the weekend and beyond can also take advantage of three special offers:

“Keep the Party Going": Enjoy everything Margaritaville Lake Resort has to offer, including access to the Jolly Mon Water Park and onsite dining at LandShark Bar & Grill, License to Chill Bar & Cafe, and Joe Merchant’s Coffee and Provisions. Take advantage of this special offer by August 30 and a portion of the proceeds from your stay will benefit CASA of Montgomery County. Two special edition commemorative cups are included with each package.
Labor Day weekend: Close out the summer with one more trip to paradise. Enjoy a host of fun activities for the whole family as well as delicious food and lazy days by the lake. For only $299 per night, you can book any number of days from Friday, August 30, through Sunday, September 1. Plus, add additional dates before or after Labor Day weekend for only $179 per night.
Everlasting Summer: Take the family on one last summer excursion or enjoy a leisurely couple's getaway while enjoying incredible savings. Take 35 percent off the resort's best rate when you book a stay for any dates from now through December 31, 2024. But don't wait, because the offer ends Thursday, September 5.

The Margaritaville Lake Resort Lake Conroe | Houston is an all-suite resort, featuring 335 guest suites — including 32 lakefront cottages — on 186 lakefront acres on Lake Conroe. It is the first Margaritaville Resort in Texas.

Margaritaville Lake Resort Lake Conroe The resort sits on 186 lakefront acres on Lake Conroe.Photo courtesy of Margaritaville Lake Resort

Guests can enjoy an 18-hole golf course, a three-acre waterpark with a lazy river and outdoor pools, plus pickleball, tennis, swimming, boating, and fishing. Margaritaville's popular full-service St. Somewhere Spa and a spacious Fins Up Fitness Center provide exceptional wellness options.

Located just an hour from Houston and about three hours from the major hubs of Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio, the resort is within easy reach of over 19 million Texans. Learn more about Margaritaville Lake Resort and book your stay here.

jimmy buffett jimmy buffett day labor day lake conroe margaritaville staycation vacation promoted

What's Eric Eating Episodes 523 and 524

Acclaimed Austin duo dish on their wine-obsessed neighborhood restaurant

Birdie's Arjav Ezekiel Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelly

Birdie's owners Arjav Ezekiel and chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel are this week's guests.

On this week’s episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel and beverage director Arjav Ezekiel join CultureMap Houston editor Eric Sandler to discuss their Austin restaurant Birdie’s.

Widely considered one of Austin’s top restaurants, Birdie’s has earned local, regional, and national acclaim, including a place of the 2025 Time100 Next list, Food & Wine magazine’s 2023 Restaurant of the Year, and a 2025 James Beard Award for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service to Ezekiel. In a 2024 column, James Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd recommended that Houstonians visit Birdie’s the next time they’re in Austin.

Sandler’s conversation with the duo begins with a little bit about how they met while working together in New York and their decision to move to Austin. From there, it turns to Birdie’s counter service model that’s unusual for a restaurant of its quality. Sandler asks whether not offering traditional table service has lowered the restaurant’s profits.

“It’s the opposite. Because we have a leaner labor force in the dining room, our margins are probably double what they would be if we were a traditional restaurant,” Ezekiel explains. “What we’re able to do is take a portion of that margin and invest it back into our team. We talk about ‘Conscious Capitalism’ a lot. That extra margin pays for paid family leave that we offer to everybody on our team, the month of paid and planned vacation every year, the subsidized health insurance, the subsidized mental therapy we offer. We needed to find more change under the cushions, so we could invest it back into our team.”

Initially, Birdie’s opened with an a la carte menu. In 2025, it switched to a prix fixe format that offers diners six courses for $80. The switch means the restaurant serves fewer diners per night, which has shortened the wait to order from up to an hour to 20 minutes or less. Chef Malechek-Ezekiel explains that this change has also expanded the range of dishes she’s able to serve and broadened the techniques she uses to create them.

“We can cook fish confit. We can use the Japanese robata grill to cook on charcoal. We can hot smoke fish to order. Now, I feel like, wow, look what we can do now. Before, we had the skills, but we couldn’t physically do it with how tiny our space is.”

Listen to the full episode to hear more about how Birdie’s guides diners through its wine list, which of the monthly prix fixe menus has been the most successful, and the couple’s thoughts on potentially opening a new restaurant.

In this week’s other episode, Craft Pita chef-owner Raffi Nasr joins Sandler to discuss some recent news in the world of Houston restaurants. Their topics include Tex-Mex restaurant Superica transforming into a casual steakhouse; the imminent opening of delivery-focused Shredders Pizza; and a change in operations at Weights + Measures.

In the restaurant of the week segment, Nasr and Sandler describe their recent meal at Oru, a new sushi restaurant in the Heights from the team behind Michelin-recognized omakase counter Neo and Upper Kirby hand roll concept Kira. Listen to hear their favorite dishes as well as Sandler’s quibbles with a couple of aspects of the experience.

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Subscribe to "What's Eric Eating" on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hear it Sunday at 9 am on ESPN 97.5.

Photo by Mackenzie Smith Kelly

Birdie's owners Arjav Ezekiel and chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel are this week's guests.

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'Keep the Party Going' at Margaritaville Lake Resort this Labor Day weekend

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