Mango's Becomes Full-Time Music Venue Next Weekend

By Craig Hlavaty Thu., Apr. 2 2009 at 6:00 PM

Categories: Only In Houston, Playbill, This Just In

The Houston scene has another music venue in the mix, as Mango's Café on Westheimer has its grand opening next Friday with a huge show headlined by the Sideshow Tramps. Took 'em that long to get the joint cleaned up from the Homopolice show, we imagine, and let's hope they got the restroom situation sorted because we can't afford any more tetanus shots.

Though Mango's made its debut as a music venue last weekend during the Westheimer Block Party, it officially goes live in earnest next week. It's already been open doing time as a decent Mexican restaurant for a few years now.

Free Press Houston editor Omar Afra's wife, Andrea, is a partner in the operation with Paul Holzhauer, a former cook at Midtown's Reef. The duo aims to serve a predominantly vegetarian menu that "even carnivores can get down for," Omar Afra wrote in an e-mail.

Omar and a few other partners are handling Mango's booking, which is shaping up to be a nightly revue of pretty much everything currently oozing from Houston's earbuds. Townes Van Zandt-channeling folkie Robert Ellis seems to be aiming for a nightly residency, playing at least four times this month alone, both solo and with I Am Mesmer.

Mango's is also in the same spot as the Oven, which had a huge part in shaping Rocks Off's chubby punk heart back in the '90s, back when the place used to look like a Vespa dealership.

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