Local Pour

I almost titled this post "Kim and Jon's Silly Running Adventures: Local Pour" but then I remembered I like having friends.

Happy Halloween! What are your plans for this crazy holiday? Handing out candy? Staying in and watching a scary movie? Going out? Sleeping? I'll be at the Montrose Bar Crawl tonight, so I'll be sure to report back on how it was!

So I did a nutty thing the other day.

I signed up for the Thanksgiving Day TXU Turkey Trot, which I'll be running alongside Jon (more like, way behind Jon since he's basically sonic the hedgehog, omg THROWBACK) and my Mom. And I'm all, "Pah, I ran a marathon in January and hiked the Inca Trail in September, what's a little 10K??"

I'm not always the brightest.

I quickly learned that I am not in fact Superman or lady, so Jon and I have a standing running date once a week, followed by dinner and drinks somewhere because I need motivation salvation.

The first of this series was a run through River Oaks for some light, mansion-hunting (ha.), followed by a brewskie or three and food at Local Pour.

Local Pour is a fan favorite of my family's, and I've been there several times, but just hadn't blogged about it ever. I know! I keep doing that! I'm sorry!!!

First of all, can someone please remodel the inside of my apartment to look like this place? Scratch that, can I just move in to Local Pour? It's industrial, yet cozy; open, yet intimate. The exposed brick, funky dangling lights, and mint subway tiles send me into a tailspin every time

(omg, remember TailSpin?! Throwback, #2).

I think Jon was also in a tailspin or on a runner's high because he was all, "You're not going to take a picture of me and put it on your blog are you???"

(Be careful what you say to a girl who's armed with a blog.)

So the food!

We started off with the spicy spinach and artichoke dip.

This was seriously good. It was super creamy and rich, and Jon actually claims it's the best spinach and artichoke dip he's ever had. I don't know if it's the best I've ever had, but it definitely gets an A+ across the board from me. The dip is topped with panko bread crumbs, which is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it adds a nice crunchy texture. And the lavash chips served with it were spot on - Not distracting, but  very complementary to the dip.

For my meal, I ordered two sides: the apple cider glazed brussel sprouts and the mac and cheese.

First off, our super friendly server took extra steps to make sure both the sides came to me vegetarian. (I wonder what's included in them that might be meat... Bacon? Ham? A 16 oz ribeye?)

The brussels were good, but not exceptional. I think they were a little too sweet from the apple cider. (Probably where the inclusion of a ribeye would have helped). I think the addition of some cheese, and maybe caramelized onions would have balanced the sweetness of the cider out better. They weren't bad, they were just sort of one-note, and I didn't get very excited about them.

But do you know what I did get excited about?

UGH. I want to dive headfirst into that beautiful little cauldron of mac and cheese.

You know what was so wonderfully divine about this mac and cheese? Its simplicity. Don't get me wrong, I love a good gourmet or funky macaroni and cheese dish (I'm looking at you Lowbrow with your crumbled cheetos on top), but this dish was macaroni and cheese in it's simplest, most beautiful form. The hearty little dish came out piping hot and oozing in a perfect blend of cheeses. It had the perfect amount of oil (which admittedly may have just come from the cheese itself) to thin the mixture out a little bit, and the flavor was absolutely sensational. Seriously, LP needs to offer it in entree form because it's really that good, and I fear it gets overlooked as a side. I was completely overwhelmed by this dish.

I love Local Pour. Every time I've gone I've had a great time. I try to stick to the more off-peak hours because I hear it can get a little crazy packed. This night in particular was a Wednesday, and while a good number of people showed up, it was not over-packed or uncomfortable at all. Also, no one looked at us like the hooligans we were in our running gear. AND on that particular night there was live music from a great band who serenaded us with some awesome Oasis and Foo Fighters throwbacks  (full circle, people!). I've been many times, and I'll keep going back!

So keep your eyes out for for the next installment: "Kim and Jon's Silly Running Adventures: Istanbul Grill"!

Love me please.

Leave a Comment bars, dinner, food, houston, pasta, vegetarian

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