Houstonia's 2017 Taco Loco

This post was done in partnership with Houstonia, who provided me with an event ticket, free of charge. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this Houston food post. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

Happy Taco Tuesday!

Taco Tue...Wednesday. It's Wednesday. Taco Wednesday. But, please, like that ever stopped you!

This year I was invited to attend Houstonia's Taco Loco, and it was awesome. The event was held in Uptown Park and included a Taco Takedown between several restaurants, a Margarita Mixoff, live music, and even a lil' wine for yours truly!

The thing that I especially loved about this Houston food event was that there were two vegetarian taco options, and several of the restaurants were also able to make a substantial veg option when asked - One that didn't just consist of a tortilla, salsa, and cheese (welcome to my world). Like, Broken Barrel made me a taco on an incredible pineapple tortilla (THAT'S A THING, Y'ALL), topped with caramelized onions and peppers, HELLO.

And Bosscat Kitchen & Libations offered me their hearty breakfast taco, sans brisket - Delicious!

A popular spot was Field & Tides for their taco, which happened to be vegetarian (and insanely good). It had great textures and popping flavors.

But my personal favorite was the vegan taco option from Cochinita & Co. I topped mine with some of their spicy garlic sauce, and it packed some serious heat!

Oh, also there were lovely desserts from Cakes by Gina, and Jon lost his mind over the churro cupcakes.

And margaritas upon margaritas of course!

They were all great, but my favorite margarita was...

...wine. My favorite margarita was wine. Sorry, sorry, I'm not a margarita person, and I never pretended to be! BUT there were some super duper spicy margaritas floating around that I did really like, cross my heart. Pretty sure Ambriza Social Mexican Kitchen was my favorite, and I almost died from the spice, but as the kids say, you only live once! (And it was reeeeally good)

The votes rolled in, and here were the results:

People’s Choice, Best Taco: Broken Barrel
People’s Choice, Best Margarita: Ambriza Social Mexican Kitchen (seeeee????)
Judges’ Choice, Best Taco: Fusion Taco
Judges’ Choice, Best Margarita: Cyclone Anaya’s
Judges’ Choice, Most Creative Ingredient: Sammy’s Wild Game Grill

And there you have it! This year's Taco Loco was an awesome, delicious Houston food event, and I'm so glad we were able to go!

Taco Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Eeeeeveryday.

Leave a Comment dinner, drinks, events, food, houston, lunch, mexican, restaurants, taco loco, taco tuesdays, tacos, uptown, vegan, vegetarian

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Giveaway: The I Do! Soiree hosted by Weddings in Houston!

This post was done in partnership with Weddings in Houston. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this wedding post. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

Engaged and confused?

Yeah me too.

Which is why I'll be attending the I Do! Soiree next week, and I'm inviting one of you and a guest to also attend! (Well, actually, I'm inviting ALL of you, and you can buy tickets for only $25 here, but try entering my contest first!).

The I Do! Wedding Soiree is hosted by the awesome local wedding magazine, Weddings in Houston. The event will be held on Tuesday, February 28 from 6:00-9:00 pm at The Corinthian, a super iconic event venue in downtown Houston. Attendees will meet face-to-face with some phenomenal Houston wedding planners (uhhh side note to everyone newly engaged: If I could go back and do it all over again? I'D GET A WEDDING PLANNER.), event designers, and top Houston wedding vendors. You'll also get to enjoy ridiculously delicious food and drink (I mean, if that's the main reason you're going, I'm certainly not one to judge) including decadent wedding cakes and desserts by Houston’s best bakers. The season’s most popular, beautiful gowns will be on display in a Strolling Fashion Show, and you can also check out different reception table designs, floral displays, wedding photography and film, wedding invitations, and registry items, all while enjoying live music and entertainment!

I've also been informed that every engaged couple is treated as a VIP, with red carpet treatment, a gift bag filled with hand-selected beauty, home and luxury wedding products worth hundreds, and the chance to win some fantastic door prizes! I mean who doesn't love free stuff, especially free wedding stuff, because all that shiz adds up y'all. #truth

HOW TO ENTER: One (1) lucky Adventures in a New(ish) City reader will win two (2) tickets to the I Do! Soiree! Enter to win by following these two steps: 

1) Follow me on Instagram AND

2) Tell me in the comments section of this photo what aspect of your wedding you are most excited about (food, dancing, booze <~~me.) ! 

Easy Peasy! The winner will be picked randomly and announced on Instagram within 24 hours. Good luck!

Leave a Comment downtown, events, giveaway, houston, weddings

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The 5th Annual Sundown at the Grove

This post was done in partnership with Sundown at the Grove, who provided me with food and drinks, free of charge. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this Houston event review. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

We are truly in the thick of the dog days of summer here in Houston.

But I have a cure for those hot, sweaty, summertime blues!

(that is, if you live in Houston, aka the center of the swampy sun right now).

And my cure is this: Sundown at The Grove.

Last week I was invited to attend Sundown at The Grove, an event that takes place on Wednesday nights every summer in the Treehouse space above the restaurant The Grove, located in Houston's Discovery Green park. A $20 ticket grants you a couple of hours in this beautiful setting overlooking the trees and park (and people congregating doing Pokémon Go which sorry if you're a superfan but it kind of weirds me out, but then again I read the whole Twilight series *maybe* more than once so judge away), four courses of light bites paired with beers from the chosen brewery of the day, and tunes cranked out by a DJ! Oh, and you also get to enter to win Southwest Airline tickets, which is never a bad thing.

Sundown at the Grove has been on my to-do list the past couple of summers, so I was pumped to finally get to go!

I took Jon as my +1, and we were exceptionally grateful upon entering the open, airy, air-conditioned room. We also ran into my Houston blogger friend Erika and got to enjoy our food and drinks with her and her sis. Jon opted for a wine paring instead of a beer pairing (BECAUSE THAT'S AN OPTION), but I stuck with beer since I wanted to report back on it. The featured brewery of the day was Houston's own 8th Wonder, which even though I'm not a huge beer person, I totally dig theirs!

Served buffet style, the first course of food was a mini banh mi, paired with Rocket Fuel. I did not eat the banh mi since it had meat in it, but the Rocket Fuel ended up being my favorite of the four beers! It was dark, chocolate-y, and esspresso-y (excellent descriptors, I know).

The second food item was my favorite of the evening - the homemade cracker jacks, paired with Dome Feaux'm.

These cracker jacks were ADDICTING. They were only slightly crunchy, so they didn't hurt your teeth, were LOADED with caramel, and absolutely outstanding. I seriously lost my mind over these!

(and may have gone back for seconds? #help.)

I'm no beer aficionado, so moving forward, just know that all of the beers were insanely refreshing, delicious, and paired perfectly with the foods!

The third round of food was a grilled pineapple and chili salad, paired with Astro Turf. This nice light, citrusy salad had a little bite from some red onions, and some texture from pumpkin seeds (I believe). It was the perfect salad for a "my legs won't stop sticking together" kind of summer day!

The last round of food was a bananas foster pudding, paired with Intellectuale.

Before my heat-fried brain could register the idea that the pudding probably had gelatin in it, I was a bad vegetarian and took a bite. And I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty darn magical. The pudding was smooth and playful, the banana was beautifully cooked, and the caramel drizzle looped everything back to the cracker jacks. I only had one bite because my brain finally caught up to me, but I can attest that this was an outstanding dessert! And the Intellectuale was my second favorite of the beers - It was light, lemony, and refreshing!

Sundown at The Grove is a fantastic summertime Houston food and drink event. It attracts an after-work crowd, filled with people seeking refuge from the heat and celebrating making it mid-way through the week. The mood is laid back and fun, and the food and drinks are great!

But I need some more of those cracker jacks...

Leave a Comment beer, dessert, dinner, downtown, events, food, houston, restaurants, vegetarian

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The 2016 Houston Press Menu of Menus Extravaganza + A Giveaway!

This post was done in partnership with the Houston Press, who provided me with VIP tickets to the 2016 Menu of Menus® Extravaganza, free of charge. I was not monetarily compensated for writing this post. All opinions are completely, 100% my own!

(psst, Houston residents, scroll down for an exciting Giveaway!)

So a big thing happened last week, and that big thing was the 14th Annual Houston Press Menu of Menus® Extravaganza! I had such a blast participating as a project partner last year, that I was super excited to do it again this year!

If you love food - particularly Houston restaurant food - this is an awesome local event to attend. 40+ Houston-area restaurant vendors provide samples of some of their best bites to hungry attendees, who vote on their favorite food item of the night.

There's also a fun "Iron Fork" showdown, where two local chefs face off in a cooking competition (Congrats to Lyle Bento of Southern Goods!).

Also, you can find plenty of booze for the masses (included with your ticket)!

Let's take a look at some of the awesome food that was there, shall we?

Orange blossom pistachio doughnuts from Doughmaker.

Arancini and tomato bruschetta from Mia Bella Trattoria (my favorite bite of the evening).

Nutella crepes from Coco Crepes (omg, my other favorite bite of the evening).

Fuzzy's Taco Shop

Freebirds (for all of your sakes I hope you never witness me devouring an ENTIRE Freebirds burrito in one sitting, which happens far more often than I care to admit).

Harold's peanut butter and jelly bread pudding.

SweetCup Gelato (the bourbon caramel flavor was the shiz).

Mala Sichuan Bistro

Meatloaf meatballs, mashed potatoes, and chili from Freezerlicious.

Impressive cheese display and refreshingly light couscous salad from Zelko Bistro.

Lots of vegetarian options at Bismillah Cafe.

Pepperoni's

Rosé spritzers from the place that takes a large percentage of my paycheck every month, aka Whole Foods.

Bagels on bagels on bagels from White Plate Art.

Plates of molecular gastronomy from eculent.

Fadi's Mediterranean Grill

State of Grace

Added Bonus: I bumped into my sweet friend Sarah!

As with the previous year, I had an awesome time at the 2016 Houston Press Menu of Menus® Extravaganza! It was nice having a VIP ticket this year, and getting to go in an hour early and beat some of the crowds, so I do recommend that option. It is still fun regardless, and the food is a force to be reckoned with. I can't wait until next year's event!!!

**GIVEAWAY!!!**

I'm also partnering with the Houston Press on their 2016 BrewFest, which will be held on Saturday, April 30th from 3pm – 7pm at Silver Street Station. All Tickets Include 8 – 3 oz. Beer Samplings, with additional sampling cards available for purchase at the event. One lucky Adventures in a New(ish) City reader will win two (2) General Admission tickets to the event! All you have to do is follow me on Instagram (if you don't already), and leave a comment on this photo, telling me what your favorite beer is. A winner will be randomly selected by the end of this week. Good luck!

And may the beer be ever in your favor.

2 comments asian, bagels, bakery, dessert, dinner, drinks, events, food, giveaway, heights, houston, italian, menu of menus, mexican, pasta, pizza, restaurants, tacos, vegetarian, wine

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