Piola

Piola is new in midtown off of Louisiana next to Sushi Raku.  It's Italian, pizza is their specialty and they are a national chain.

I thought it looked cute on the outside.  Interior is decent.

Fun menu and designs.

Bruschetta, tons of tomatoes.  It's basically what it looks like, toasted bread, tomatoes, basil and some parmasan.

Seth got the FUSILLI BIANCO VERDE (With broccoli, chicken breast, cream and grana padano cheese. $11).  He made a comment about Piola just settling for mediocre.  I tried this dish too, it was pretty bland and boring.

I asked our server to recommend something, I always tell them I'm going to blog.  She suggested the Piola pizza. I liked it.  One complaint, there were too many sundried tomatoes.  I had to scooch some of them off.  I love thin crust, but the problem with that is you never quite feel satisfied.  It's almost like you have to have it as an appetizer.  I think La Griglia has this pizza in their bread basket and it's good and free!

I thought our server was ok.  I think she forgot us at the end.  She did seem new at the job.  The manager came by and gave us a sample of the gnocchi.  It's all you can eat for $13 every 29th day of the month.  They were very friendly and nice and I thought the gnocchi was good minus the fact it had tuna on it.  Fishy.

Final thought is that it's a decent spot in midtown and near downtown if you're looking for something Italian and/or pizza.  But even then I'd prefer NY Pizzeria.  Between the bruschetta, pasta, gnocchi and pizza I wasn't really impressed.  It felt very minimal.  I wasn't too crazy about the interior decor either.  But again, staff and sever were very friendly.  If you do make it this way, try Sushi Raku.  I've always had great experiences there from the food, staff, atmosphere, and beating on the drumbs!

Florist at Krogers

What an amazing selection! Ranging from $10-35 plus.

Happy Holidays from Soo, Lola & Cody!!

Kraftsmen Cafe

I read that the old Textile restaurant in the Heights went out of business and now it's a bakery, same owners.  For our Tuesday sales meeting, Kevin with BBVA Compass brings us some baked goods, which was a nice introduction to the bakery.  I tried their strawberry pastry and didn't think much of it.  Today, I was driving to Starbucks and passed by it so I decided to go in, even though I wasn't quite in the mood for breakfast.

I've aways thought this was such a cool building.  It used to be an Oriental Textile Mill building in the Heights, then was Textile the restaurant and now Kraftsmen Cafe.

I hate this purple mural.  It makes the place feel ghetto or something and doesn't quite go along with the rest of the space.  I get that it's neat, someone drew it, maybe even with chalk, but it's just not aesthetically appealing and alters the atmosphere of a quiet little rustic cafe.

The interior was rustic, maybe even a little French country.

I had the chocolate croissant and a cranberry ginger scone, both good.

I loved the decor and furnishings.  I definitely want to come back and have breakfast or a coffee with a girl friend.

It's also a cafe.  They have pastries, full breakfast menu and coffee.  They also do catering for parties and sell wholesale.  Gawd, that mural is hideous!

To sum it up, I like the building, liked the interior, the idea of it, the breakfast and lunch I need to try.  I definitely want to go back with a girlfriend, but it's not in the most central location and so far I'm not a huge fan of the food, but I want it to do well because it looks cool.  We'll see...

Kraftsmen Cafe

611 W 22nd St

Houston, TX 77007

(713) 426-1300
http://www.kraftsmencafe.com/



Tqla on Washington

No, it's not misspelled, it's short for Tequila.  On Washington next to 360 Sports Bar, Les Givral's and the Counter. 

Lots of stuff going on in this square and has a very retail look.

 

We sit at the bar, I order a frozen margarita.  It was pretty good, not as sweet and tangy, but pretty decent.  There is no way I could finish this, in fact, I only had 2 sips, OG finished it.

Our server/bartender said they have 175 different tequilas and a few on tap.  That's different, I'm not much of an liquor person, so I had no idea Tequila comes it tap.  There are some people that apparently love tequila.  A few people over had this wooden plate with shots and limes, looked pretty neat.

We decided to share and ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna.  If seared Ahi tuna isn't done well, things can go really awry.  Zelko's Ahi Tuna was so fishy, I had to cut off the edges.  Here, I thought the tuna was done well, didn't have a fishy taste and the salad mixture was good.  But, the chili powder or whatever it was so overpowering.  I thought it did the Ahi tuna a disservice.

We also get the beef and chicken enchilada.  The chicken enchilada is my litus test.  I thought it was good, but there was something about it that i didn't like, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  Maybe it's because I'm used to other restaurant's enchiladas, I don't know.  But, I'm not knocking it, it was good.  The rice had bits of corn in it, which I liked.  The beans, well can you go wrong with beans?  The beef version had that chili stuff on it again, very overpowering and after a few bites, I got used to it and kind of liked it, but still felt the chili powder was overpowering.

I forgot to mention the chips and salsa.  The chipotle salsa was warm and yummy, we had 2 bowls!  The green sauce had real pineapple, it was different and a nice break from the chipotle sauce.  We tried a beginner tequila, which I had a little taste and OG finished it.  It was not tasty to me, but then I don't find any liquor tasty, not a one.

Against our server's two suggestions, we get the chocoloate brownie and ice cream dessert.  It was a brownie with ice cream in a moat of chocolate fudge and pecans.  I was expecting it not to be very good, but it was actually very good, we devoured it!

Final analysis, it's very conveniently located, food is hit or miss, but overall good.  The staff were really friendly and accommodating.  The decor and atmosphere is colorful and a bit loud.  Lots of things going on like bright colors, back lighting, flames, etc.  If you're tired of the sports bar feel, well walk on over to Tqla, more of a sit down and eat place and less like a sports bar, but it does have some touches of a sports bar type environment, good change and combination of both.

Tqla

4601 Washington Ave

Houston, TX 77007
(281) 501-3237
http://tqlahouston.com/



Lights in the Heights 2010

Dropped off early in front of mine and my neighbor, Tony's, place.  I love how I still have this portopotty sitting in front of my place a day after Lights in the Heights has gone and passed.  Apparently my neighbors got into the Christmas spirit and decorated theirs as ours is sitting lonely and undecorated.

And the chaos begins at 5pm!  I had trouble getting to my place due to road blocks and the traffic. 

Lola and Cody in the Christmas spirit and waiting patiently for our guest.

Nice and helpful map of all the festivities going on in the Heights.  If you haven't gone, you have to do it next year, it's fun!

The Best Shoe Repair

If you need a good shoe repair shop, this is seriously the place to go.  I've taken my shoes to the shoe hospital as long as I can remember and seriously they've never done as good a job as this shop.  It was my first time here and the job they did on my favorite heels and flats was so good, I was speechless.

Arris Shoe Repair

I-10/Durham (next to the Starbucks)