by Paul Heney
Last updated: 7:00 PM ET, Sat October 26, 2019
Houston has been growing at an incredible pace, and this Texas town has exploded into the country's fourth-largest city in the last few decades. Energy jobs have fueled much of this growth, but the city has mostly remained a destination for business travelers, either visiting clients, attending a large trade show or connecting through its massive airport.
Additionally, this blue dot in red Texas has been making news in queer circles, electing one of the country's first openly gay mayors in 2010, Annise Parker. And Houston Pride, held each June, has been held for more than four decades and now attracts more than 700,000 revelers.
The center of LGBTQ life in Houston is the city's Montrose neighborhood, which features both daytime and nighttime pleasures. Stroll around this extended area after brunch and check out the unique shops or spend a few hours at The Menil Collection, a campus of art institutions and free galleries that focus on art, photography, drawing and more. My favorite was the temporary exhibit (through February 2, 2020) on Australian Aboriginal Art.
The Heights is another particularly queer-friendly part of town, and worth a few hours of time to wander through. Check out the fascinating Manready Mercantile shop, where you can make your own custom candle using more traditionally masculine scents. There's also an incredible variety of hand-made leather goods and unique clothes to be found here. Or take a few hours getting a mani/pedi or facial at Paloma Nail Spa, a clean beauty spa, which stays away from toxic chemicals and pays fair wages to its workers.
Food, Glorious Food!
Because of its growth, Houston is the kind of place where everyone seems to have originally come from somewhere else. But the city celebrates that, boasting that it's the most diverse city in the nation, and touting culinary mashups like Vietnamese-Cajun fusion (yes, that's actually a thing here).
Some of the best food we enjoyed here included incredible Tex-Mex at El Tiempo Cantina in Westheimer, shared small plates and wine at Postino in Montrose, sandwiches at Melange Creperie and the amazing Sunday drag brunch at Boheme. Plus, Vibrant, also in the Montrose neighborhood, has some fantastic vegetarian and non-GMO options.
You could spend several evenings sampling the multiple restaurants and bars that comprise the stunning Bravery Chef Hall, a brand-new food in the heart of downtown that's truly chef-driven. Patrons sit front and center, actually interacting with the chefs and the kitchen workers, giving real-time feedback for the chefs and allowing for a unique experience for the diners. Or eat in the "secret garden" under the stars for a quieter experience.
Our favorites here were the pizza and pasta at BOH and the coconut tofu at The Blind Goat. But truly, there wasn't anything served by any of the restaurant concepts here that wasn't wonderful. This is a must-stop while in town.
Eclectic Options
Some of our other favorite options in town included:
CityPass Houston is a good value if you're a museum fan; the book allows entry into attractions such as the Space Center Houston, Downtown Aquarium, Houston Museum of Natural Science and the (highly recommended!) Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Book a room at the newly opened C. Baldwin Hotel, part of Hilton's Curio Collection. Formerly a Doubletree, this property was completely rebuilt and now focuses on strong women who make a change, such as Charlotte Baldwin, who was known as the Mother of Houston in the 1800s. The hotel is located near the edge of downtown and is convenient to most attractions in the metro area.
The Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern is a cistern built to hold the city's drinking water almost a century ago. Today, the eerie and oddly beautiful underground space is open for public tours, one of only a few such spaces you can visit anywhere in the world.
Take a Pilates class at Control Studios, a queer-owned business in the city. We tried a short class and it was very enjoyable-plus, we felt it in our abs and core for the next few days, a good sign!
The Houston Farmers Market, located to the north of downtown on Airline Road, is a wonderful place to stroll in the early morning hours, with row after row of fresh vegetables, nuts, spices, seeds and more. It was easy to get lost in the vast array of sights and smells, and a stop at the nearby El Bolillo Mexican bakery was a great way to top off this excursion.
While there is a multitude of gay bars in and around Montrose, make sure you stop by The Eagle, a recently renovated club that has a wonderful vibe, some hot bartenders and even a fun gift shop. Go upstairs and check out the inspiring mural of LGBTQ history in Houston and the rest of the country, lovingly illustrated all along the top of one wall. It's a great reminder of how far this city-and we all-have come in the last 50 years.
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