Photo by Beaver's

It sounds so wrong but it feels so right.

​I've been exploring The Best Things I Ever Ate around town. This time, I was on the hunt for Houston's best dips: creamy avocado ranch, Buffalo chicken, spinach and artichoke - you name it, I've tried it. All while looking for the city's best. And I certainly found it in the Smoky Queso "Knocked Up" by the Bar-Bar at Beaver's. When you can order something "knocked up," you know it's gonna be damn good.

When my fiancé and I first moved to Houston a little over a year ago, we stumbled upon Beaver's by accident (literally stumbled -- we were slightly intoxicated). Our friends had come to visit from New Jersey, and not knowing the lay of the land, the four of us had cabbed it to a wine and pizza joint that we found online. Unfortunately (or as it turns out, not), that pizza joint didn't exist. Instead we ended up at a random bar on Washington, loaded up on some Jack and Cokes, and upon our bartender's suggestion, headed over to Beaver's on Decatur St. (Thank you, bartender, whoever you are and wherever we were; I can't remember exactly).

As we walked up to Beaver's, I experienced a "Land of Oz" moment. According to its website, Beaver's is a "Gastropub Meets Texas Icehouse," but that meant absolutely nothing to me at the time. I knew that we had found the restaurant suggested, as I saw a giant Beaver's sign, but it seemed we were in a cutesy neighborhood. We stepped inside the restaurant, with its walls covered gloriously in beavers (stop it, you sicko) and the sweet scent of smoky barbecue piping through the air. Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Jersey anymore.

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​Pondicheri's second monthly charity breakfast is planned for tomorrow from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Half of the proceeds from all sales will go to benefit Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, so dig in.

The following Monday, January 16, Valentines for Soldiers will take over the Saint Arnold brewery from 6 to 9 p.m. Come out and help create Valentine's Day greetings for our soldiers in Afghanistan, pack boxes with goodies or just buy some treats for yourself at the bake sale. The pay-what-you-can bake sale will feature goods from Fluff Bake Bar and many more wonderful bakeries, all of whom are donating their pies, cupcakes, cookies and truffles to help cover the costs of shipping all the Valentine's Day boxes abroad. Saint Arnold will also be donating $5 each of its brewery tour ticket sales to the cause. Food trucks H-Town StrEATs and the Eatsie Boys will be on site to serve food, with a portion of their sales also going to the fund.

The second annual TEDxManhattan "Changing the Way We Eat" event is being held in New York City on Saturday, January 21, which means most Houstonians - even the ones who care passionately about the future of food - won't be able to make it. And it's a shame, too: The event plans to explore the issues, the impacts and innovations happening as Americans increasingly move to a more sustainable way of eating and farming. The good news is that there will be a free viewing party for the event right here in Houston. The official viewing party will start at 9 a.m. at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church on 1900 Bering Drive. Although the watch party is free, you do have to make reservations.

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Fresh Oysters on the Half-Shell with Three Caviars

​Karaoke and sports bars are not uncommon down the long stretch of Bellaire in Chinatown. What is uncommon is one that serves delicious, well-presented, high-quality dishes in an ambiance you wouldn't expect from the area. After a rather disappointing meal at Wild Cajun, a friend mentioned a new bar, Vibe Lounge, down the street on Wilcrest in the same shopping center as Nam Giao, a new favorite of mine. Since Vibe only opened in November, I hadn't noticed it before. I wasn't expecting much but your run-of-the-mill karaoke bar, so what I got was a definite surprise.

The space itself is very modern. A large, mirrored bar catches your eye as you walk in, and dark tables are paired with tall, white-leather chairs. The surrounding flat screen TVs and massive projector screen showing football games and ESPN evoke the sports bar side, while the dim lighting and upbeat music brings about the lounge feel. This could definitely be a candidate for a "non bro" sports bar. If the space alone was surprising, the food was a shock.

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Chuck Cook Photography

Justin Burrow pours a craft cocktail on a quiet night at non-pretentious Fitzgerald's.

​Justin Burrow, who recently received the Favorite Mixologist nod for the My Table Houston Culinary Awards in October, is using his experience to create a casual and accessible cocktail night every Tuesday evening at Fitzgerald's.

Fitzgerald's has been around for 34 years and is a Houston live-music institution. Burrow has early memories from here and is fond of the place. "I remember my dad bringing me to Fitzgerald's when I was four years old to watch his friend's band. Being able to do something cool in this building is an honor."

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Chuck Cook Photography

A full house of buzzing patrons celebrate Double Trouble Caffeine & Cocktails' grand opening

​I first met Robin Berwick while she was working as a bartender at Anvil Bar & Refuge. She said that she wanted to have her own place someday. Many bartenders say that, but Robin wasn't just voicing a nebulous dream. A few months later, she left Anvil to have more time to focus on building a business. On December 1st, Double Trouble Caffeine & Cocktails (3622 Main St., 713-874-0096) became a reality.

Robin is only one of the partners in Double Trouble; the other is Robin Whalan. "The Robins" worked together at Poison Girl, earning them the nickname that now graces their bar.

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Don't gotta tell me twice.

​Oh, Taco C, how I love thee. Maybe it's because I lived off Taco Cabana tortillas and queso in college; every great night at the square or float down the river in San Marcos ended with a trip to TC. Drunk, sober or hungover, it hits the spot.

So when I saw an ad for Taco Cabana's new fajitas pueblas, I put them on my "to eat" list. The plain 'ol chicken fajita taco and I have been in a committed relationship for years now, so adding chopped bacon and a creamy avocado sauce? It's just like a spiffy haircut or new suit. I still love him for who he is, but he sure does clean up nice.

After a late Tuesday evening at The Dubliner, my belly was growling, and even though it's a bit of a hike, we headed over to the Taco Cabana on 59 and Kirby. (Who else misses the TC at the corner of Westheimer and Montrose? DAMN YOU, Smoothe King.) We ordered the fajitas puebla, one chicken, one beef, and took them home.

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Pepperoni Pizza at Alto Pizzeria, $13

​Pizza. For me, it's the ultimate comfort food. It's what I crave when I'm down, when I'm ravenous, when I get late-night hunger pangs. The only problem is that it's not exactly the healthiest of dining choices, and with my abundant lack of self control, when I eat pizza, I have this tendency to overindulge.

New entrant Alto Pizzeria, located in the West Ave complex above Ava, offers the perfect solution for my pizza cravings. Smaller than what Houstonians are used to, Alto's are more individually sized pizzas -- about eight to 10 inches in diameter, which means I won't overeat. The crust, not too thick or thin and crispy on the bottom, has a bit of air and spring to it when you take a bite. There's just enough melted cheese and ample pepperoni on the one I order. "I love the crust," my friend, who's originally from the East coast, says. "It's hard to find a New York-style crust like this in Houston."

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Photo by John Suh

It's bigger, but is it better?

​In a previous post, a reader scoffed at my pick for Cajun food and suggested I check out BB's Cafe for a taste of the authentic cuisine in Houston. Soon after that post, BB's opened a location near me in the Heights. It was meant to be, so I ventured there recently to get my Cajun on.

The BB's in the Heights has a patio, great for people-watching patrons at Fitzgerald's across the street, and there is ample seating inside compared to the original BB's in Montrose. We opted to sit indoors to escape the humidity and asked the friendly waiter for advice on what to order. He suggested eight different dishes, and not being ones to back down from a challenge, my dining companions and I ordered all eight.

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What the heck's that green stuff?

​Have you ever shown up at a party that was supposed to feature food, only to find nobody eating? Maybe they already ate it all, those greedy bastards. Maybe you're running behind, and everyone else has had their fill by the time you arrive, and the food has been put up. Either way, it sucks.

The latter happened to me recently, at a work-related crawfish boil. There were mudbugs left when I arrived, but nobody was eating them, and the food had already been cleared away. Given that crawfish is an exceedingly messy, interactive dining experience, I felt uncomfortable digging in while the rest of my coworkers sat around the table, watching me tear apart crustaceans, their hands and faces free of shell fragments and brain fat. I went without.

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​Driving into town from the Southwest side for happy hour is especially challenging for me, as I always seem to run into traffic. Luckily, Grand Prize Bar's happy hour lasts from 4 to 8 p.m., which means that I can get there a little later and still partake in the drink specials. Two nights ago, it also meant that I could eat a gourmet meal on the cheap if I stayed beyond happy hour, because the guys at Mockingbird Bistro were doing their Tuesday pop-up dinner.

I'd been there before for Grand Prize Bar's infamous Monday Ghetto Dinners, when there was hardly an open seat in the house. But last night everything was easy. I got easy street parking just outside the door, there was ample room at the bar, and I could actually hold an easy conversation with my girlfriend and talk to the bartenders without raising my voice.

"We're more of a late-night bar," one of the bartenders told me when I commented on the easy parking and scanty attendance. "The industry crowd comes in after 11 p.m., and we're usually busiest at around 1 a.m."

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