Tucked away in the shell of an old K-Mart in a west Houston strip center that defines the word "unassuming" is one of the city's best markets and -- dare we say it? -- the best salad bar around. There. The secret is out. Sandy's Market doesn't look like much as you pass it on Katy Freeway, almost lost in the shuffle of endless beige stucco buildings that line the city's roadways. But step inside......

Houstonist loves "the dumpling nazi" and all of the tasty dumplings offered. Doozo is our lunch of choice a couple of times per week, we are completely, hopelessly in love with the dumplings and the hot and sour soup. If you go looking, Doozo moved a couple of months ago to the corridor behind their first location - and the prices went up just a wee bit. You can find them by seeking out the......

Ah, Nielsen's Deli - home of Houston's most luscious, and best ever homemade chicken salad and one very mean deviled egg. For over 55 years, Nielsen's has been the Afton Oaks area's source for deli sandwiches and salads, homemade desserts, stuffed jalapenos, luncheon trays, finger sandwiches and homemade soups. This lunchtime jewel is located on Richmond Avenue, just inside Loop 610, near the Galleria. It's convenient from downtown too, peeps! Open 7 days a week,......

Yo, Houston - the only thing better than pie? Why 24 hour a day pie - for that 2:30 a.m., we can't sleep unless I get we get us some French Silk, pronto - thing! Well, perhaps that's just us. You can even get a sugar-free pie made with Nutra-Sweet (insert Boudreaux joke here), a Bayou Goo, Lemon Ice Box, Sweet Potato and a fine assortment of cakes and cheesecakes. Where? Why where else? The......

In our Retail-ist weekly feature, we share local places to satiate your shopping needs and feed your consumerist tendencies. Have a great place for us to get addicted to? Email us and let us know! Houstonist loves shopping at places that keep us on our toes. At Sandy's Market (12171 Katy Freeway), blanking out in the middle of squeezing tomatoes might cost you a nasty run-in with a group eating in the middle of......

Rice Window Exhibit + Closing Gallery Talk by Artist Mike Stilkey While other campus spaces had some downtime this summer, Rice Gallery was busy with its summer window exhibit "When the Animals Rebel." The installation's Los Angeles-based artist, Mike Stilkey, will give a talk tomorrow, Aug 30th, at noon at the Rice Gallery. A complimentary light lunch will be served, and the event is free and open to the public. To create the installation, Stilkey......

Those who know it love it. And those who don’t know it don’t know they love it. Kraftsmen Baking not only serves preservative-free bread, pastries, sandwiches, salads and soups, they also provide many Houston restaurants with carbo-loaded delights as well. The owners of Kraftsmen have a wonderful collaboration that unites the Houston culinary community and places priority on quality, organic and local ingredients. Located in an adorable nook on Montrose where the buildings are covered......

Week's not over yet! Here's your chance to catch some ongoing events standing on their last leg today. Out the door, now. Or you'll miss 'em. Events Closing Today: Black Light /White Noise: Sound and Light in Contemporary Art [Contemporary Arts Museum Houston | 'til 5pm] Lunch Films [Aurora Picture Show | 3pm] Houston International Jazz Festival [Jones Plaza | 5pm] Gallery Talk The Artist's Eye: On Robert Rauschenberg [Menil today @ 3pm] --- Photo:......

Lunch Films at Aurora Earlier this week, we told you about one great event happening tonight in the Heights. And here's another just down the road. Lunch Films premieres today and tomorrow at Aurora Picture Show. “By accident, I started a series of lunch shorts. I bought a filmmaker lunch because he was broke. I asked for a short film in return for the cost of the lunch and wrote rules on a napkin to......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. City-wide Wi-Fi Is Coming, Protect Yourself A recent story in the Chronicle states that city-wide wifi will require users to download tools to help protect themselves while online. The Tech Buzz feels that the responsibility falls on the user to protect themselves while online regardless if the wifi is free or belongs to the city. Everyone should take precautions and be careful when transmitting sensitive data......

The big billboard on Kirby read, "Best Business Lunch." Well, Houstonist had some biznats and we needed some lunch, so off to Benjy's we went. Sandwiched between Antone's and a Scottish pub on the outskirts of Rice Village, Benjy's is in a great space that makes for trendy digs without the hassle of finding parking. Houstonist has been to Benjy's twice before - once for brunch and once for dinner. Both experiences were fairly unmemorable,......

Houstonist makes the “long” pilgrimage to the outer-outer loop on Bellaire for our Vietnamese fix, so a hot spot in Montrose would rock our world. At first glance, Hollywood Restaurant (2409 Montrose Blvd) may seem like a video store by the same name, but keep reading the sign and you’ll see that it’s a Vietnamese restaurant…and a Chinese restaurant…oh, and as an afterthought, it’s also a French restaurant. The florescent, multicolored neon sign gave the......

Joe Turner's Come and Gone: Ensemble Theatre Not that Houstonist needs anymore reason to love Midtown, but the Ensemble Theater convinces us even more. Over the past few years, the Ensemble has showcased some of the city's most prolific African-American theater, dance, and song. Opening this past weekend, Joe Turner Come and Gone continues in this tradition with August Wilson's play revolving around the denizens who occupy this post-slavery boarding house and “gives haunting voice......

Today’s tasty Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Christine. This is Mike's lunch - he had the Hot Tomato Caprese sandwich, which he said was really good! This lunch was had at Cricket's Creamery & Caffe, a vegeterian restaurant in the Heights and was taken in conjunction with an Assignment: Houston flickr meetup. Mmm-mm good! If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 200......

There's a new kid on the sub sandwich block, folks: Houstonians who worship at the altar of Jimmy John's will rejoice over the grand opening of a franchise on Houston soil today. The first Jimmy John's in Houston is located on 59 N between Weslayan and Buffalo Speedway. The chain of sandwich shops is popular with college students, likely because of their late hours, and their nearly 500 locations are mostly in college towns.......

Keith Plocek over at HouStoned called our attention to a post he wrote today about Write On Metro, the transit agency's fledgling blog. Write On is a pleasant enough read, sure — we learned, for example, that people in Cypress are nearly wetting themselves over being able to ride the bus into the city and read the heartwarming story of Bobby Moon, Metro's audit manager, who rides Metro to lunch every day (and, as......

From blogHouston comes news of an online municipal auction ending Friday that will benefit the Combined Municipal Campaign, which in turn supports 768 charitable organizations. So what do you auction off if you're the city? Well, there's dinner at Fire Station 28 (where you can see their 9/11 memorial), lunch with City Controller Annise Parker, a citywide YMCA family membership — not too bad. And then there's the really interesting item: a ridealong in an......

Houston's 40th Greek Festival commences this Thursday at 5 pm at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral complex. There will be plenty of food, ranging from dolmades to loukoumades (who can resist hot honey puffs?!), and entertainment will include Greek dance performances, and music by Alex Kalos, the "Golden Greek." There will also be crafts and gifts for sale, as well as tours of the cathedral. Don't forget that METRO will be offering free shuttle service......

Houstonist continues to bring you food/beverage adventures for the week. Some of which are a short drive ( well – ok – Dallas is a hike), we hope you enjoy finding out what’s to do locally. Here’s the scoop: • Ten Wines for $10 Lunch: Smith & Wollensky – 4007 Westheimer • California Meets France: Chez Georges – 219 Westheimer • The Allen Oldies Band Plays: Central Market – 3815 Westheimer • The El......

If you haven’t noticed, we like lunch. If it weren’t for lunch, we’d probably not make it to dinner. If it weren’t for lunch at Thai Cottage, we’d probably go insane. The food is so good that we almost forget that two people can eat there so well for around $15. Located near the Edwards Grand Cinema on the corner of Richmond and Wesleyan, it’s a favorite amongst the Greenway set. The location affords......