November 21st will be my second anniversary of being 21. For the easily confused, I will be turning 23. And, Natalie two years ago has a very similar bar scene to Natalie current day: Midtown.
I know! Anyone familiar with Houston is either shaking their head, disappointed with my avoidance of the hundreds of amazing Houston bars, or you’re, like, morally against drinking, because everyone knows there are so many amazing bar ‘hoods. For 21-year-old me, Midtown was where everyone is at. All my friends who could go out flocked there. It was close to campus and vast enough to entertain for A WHILE.
Me as a lil baby 21-year-old.
Almost-23-year-old me, however, is merely comfortable. I live 19 miles out of downtown and any drive like that must be rewarded with a diverse scene, plenty of people (as Midtown always provides) and a familiar parking situation (I have the Midtown parking map memorized). I recently went to another bar center, Rice Village—I used to go there a lot when I lived in the area. It was a Saturday night and there may as well have been tumbleweeds tumbling down the streets. Also, the crowd was about 20 years on average too old for me. Plus, all my friends still frequent Middy Midtown more often than a grocery store. I even know people living there, and not just in a “I live at this bar” way.
I will forever be OK with Midtown. I mean, unless it starts, like, being a hotbed for Ebola BECAUSE THAT’S SERIOUS. But, right now (and for a while) I’m kind of sick of it: the bars, the people, the lines and the same places over and over (that’s my own fault, I fail to mix it up).
This is my vow to be more adventurous with my Friday and Saturday nights. And here are my next ventures, complete with a bar bucket list.
Montrose
I’m pretty familiar with this area, especially its restaurants, but the bars—most known as the gay scene—are flourishing. What was well-visited then, might not be now. I must explore!
- Anvil Bar & Refuge (bc when a drink takes a mixologist 5 whole minutes it tastes better)
- Catbirds!
- Poison Girl (to dive for)
GreenStreet
I went here for a work event recently—I hadn’t explored it before! Definitely somewhere to go hungry, and enjoy a not-so-late night. SOOO many delicious food places and fun activities!
The Heights
Honestly, I’m not at all familiar with the area. I’m pretty much arbitrarily picking these places with criteria of new, not a chain and interesting sounding.
Market Square
Like Montrose, I’m familiar with the area but it’s changing so much!
Washington
Washington (aka douche-ington, a self-explanatory nickname we had for it. Not sure how accurate it is now…) has been so unreliable to me. It’s either bustling with bros are as empty as one of those bro’s brains.
Main Street
Close to, but not exactly Midtown. I can say that as one of the few surviving heels-wearing people to walk from Main Street to Midtown. That’s 1.7 miles, y’all. In heels. Ouch.
Well, that’s all I have for now. See ya after all these wonderful bars. Hope they are all as great as I hope. If not, I have a whole lot of Yelp users to yell at.
I made the rounds at Anvil, Poison Girl, and Kung Fu on my 21st. It was a Tuesday night, so needless to say, it was pretty dead. But Anvil was hopping. Will definitely go back!
Amy! Yeah, Anvil is ALWAYS hopping. It’s such a great scene.