To paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of Avalon Diner's demise have been greatly exaggerated. It's sadly true that the Avalon Drug Store in River Oaks, a bastion of old-fashioned service and nostalgia, is closing. The store, which has been owned and operated by pharmacist Bill Morris for almost four decades, will be shutting its doors this week after rising insurance and property costs forced him to reexamine keeping the pharmacy open. At 67 years old,......

It's no secret that Tom Horan isn't happy about the demolition of the River Oaks Shopping Center: Back in September, when wrecking crews took down the north arc of the historic complex, Horan was there to channel Joni Mitchell. And now that crews have begun construction on the building's replacement — a much larger shopping strip with an adjacent four-story parking garage that'll loom over Horan's back yard — he's back to remind us that......

From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits... • The Feds are in town and they are investigating the Harris County jail. Did you know over 100 inmates have died in the Harris County jail between 2001-2006? • 103 year old musician, Huey Long, is no longer depressed after his prized guitar has been returned to him. • Quanell X is questioning all the attention given to two kidnappings in River......

From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits...

Happy bissextile day, Houston. If you're reading this from jail — we're actually not even sure if you can use the Internet in jail — well, don't feel alone: According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, 1 of every 100 American adults are behind bars today. Good lord. The good news: Texas is one of the states that has tried to slow the growth of its inmate population through......

The Country Houses of John F. Staub Stephen Fox Color Photography by Richard Cheek Texas A&M University Press Houston Texas – 1930’s. By the first quarter of the 20th century, Houston had made a dramatic evolution from the dusty southern outpost of the late 19th century into (basically) the city we know today. Industry was in full swing and there was a growing class of socialites moving into town, the Weiss’s, Farish’s, and Dow’s......

Champagne Bubble Bath The Tasting Room - River Oaks Saturday, December 8th 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. 2409 W. Alabama 713.526.2242 Taste some "sparkling wines", (hey, it's not Champagne, unless it is actually made in Champagne, France, just saying) and try some appetizers. The cost is $50/ per person, but, you get a $5 discount if you donate a new, unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots! Holiday Farmer's Market and Wine Tasting The Tasting......

Here you go Houston, more food and wine events for you to peruse. We are going to work to get you more than one Culinary Events posting per week, as the holidays can increase the number of events, dinners, fund-raising food and beverage activities and festivals. Also, we strive to give you some advance notice - as you can't always get your reservations or tickets, which ever the case may be, on the day......

It's party time! Folks in Tanglewood had a picnic-style party to celebrate the demolition of 5506 Russett St. (5537 got it too), where the owners are going to build a new home. It was an eerie farewell complete with champagne, snacks, and the oohs and aahs of the little kiddos when the bulldozer smashed into the roof of the 5,500 square foot teardown. Is anyone really trying to sell this house? The person who......

Are you a big fan of dream sequences? Perhaps you'd like to give yourself a headache? Maybe you're a fan of avant garde films? If you answered yes to any of the preceding questions, you should check out David Lynch's Eraserhead at River Oaks Theatre. Like much of Lynch's material, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eraserhead" target=new>Eraserhead promises to warp your brain with a hard to follow story, astounding visuals and lots of stuff to make you go hmmm.......

Deconstruction... ...of the environmental kind - not the more erudite nature of Derrida or even deconstructivism (a la Gehry) - is taking place this week in Briargrove and Rustling Pines. 6219 Del Monte (picture) and 306 Wilchester (picture) will soon be upgraded to two stories, stucco, and granite counter tops, but pieces of the old houses seem to have been taken off for recycling. While we're not thrilled about perfectly fine houses being tossed out,......

Better late than nevah - here's our roundup of feasting and imbibing in the very near future. See the bottom of the post for some Thanksgiving food ideas, we'll be continuing to update that, and no, we won't add Grandma Kroger to the list, or any other supermarket, for that matter. Well, maybe Central Market or perhaps Whole Foods, maybe. Great American Bake Sale -Dessert Gallery, Sugar Land Friday, November 16th – 6:00 p.m. until......

Kipling St. cleaned up a bit by Peter Brown Kipling Street, just behind the Alabama Theater/Shopping Center, will be a little more flat this week. 2136 and 2140 Kipling (pictures) are set to be demolished, and the current owner of the two properties - built in 1925 and 1938 - is listed as at-large man #1, Peter Brown. While there are no apparent plans for the land, we assume that they will not be the......

We're moving the weekly Live Music Calendar to Wednesdays to make room for our new weekly New CD Releases feature on Tuesday. OK, let's pretend you have a five-day date with some wannabe Sirius radio DJ and you have to wade through everything the city has to offer this week. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Well, good thing you listen to everything we have to say! May we recommend that you start off in familiar territory......

::HOME: The Aramco Brat's Story:: Tonight, River Oaks Theatre hosts the Houston screening of the feature length documentary, HOME: Aramco Brat's Story, a film depicting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as seen through the eyes of the Western expatriate children who grew up there between 1933 and present day. With all the attention given to the Middle East today, it is important that the Western public receives a complete picture in order that their......

Houstonist noticed about a month ago that something was missing near the corner of Bissonnet and Mt. Vernon streets, just west of Montrose Blvd. The house didn't seem to fit in, but it sure caught our eye - unfortunately it was recently demolished by the current owners. The house was located at 1 Waverly Court and was designed by Glassman Shoemake Maldonado Architects and built in 1999 to replace a beaten-up 1950s contemporary home by......

In our Retailist 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! So yeah, we're a little behind on the Retailist this week, but that may be because we've been busy trying convince our friends to loan us a pick-up truck for this weekend's Urban Market. The Urban Market happens two......

No, we're not bringing you the old Twisted Sister video. Instead, we're bringing you Houston's own 80's cover band Molly & the Ringwalds' version of "We're Not Gonna Take It." Why? Because Carrie and Jennifer "Ringwald" are much cuter than Dee Snyder. The fact that Molly & the Ringwalds play at the Continental Club tonight (7 p.m., like most Friday nights) gives us a second reason to play this video. The third reason comes......

Wine + Art at the Tasting Room Tonight, the Tasting Room River Oaks joins two of our favortie things: art and wine. Not a novel concept, but a welcomed one on a rainy week in H-town. The Tasting Room - River Oaks is proud to welcome winemaker Matt Steel from Green Point winery in Victoria, Australia and artist Robert Glick. The Tasting Room is very happy to be displaying a number of Robert’s works......

Good morning, Houston. Imagine that you're driving along one day when a traffic light falls from an overhead line and crashes through your car's windshield. You'd think the city would be responsible for the accident, right? Wrong! Just ask Lei Zheng, who was on a shopping trip with his wife and son last year when a traffic light fell on his Volkswagen. Zheng and his family weren't seriously hurt, but they did ask the......

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: Fight the Monday blues with booze, munchies and beats. Hit Berryhill Tamales all over the city for cheap-o specials (like $2 fish tacos in Montrose and free tamales with bar drinks in River Oaks). After you've devoured your share, head over to Brasil......

Demolition crews started in the back, but made it to the front of the northern curved section of the River Oaks Shopping Center this week: more after the jump.........

We were hoping that the nearly posthumous landmark designation and demolition-delaying rain spells might have given Weingarten Realty that last little bit of time to ruminate over their plans to demolish the River Oaks Shopping Center - unfortunately, according to Cherry Demolition, the bulldozers move in Tuesday to begin the demolition and make way for the big box anchor Barnes and Noble plus a four story parking garage. We were sad to see places like......

9602 Moonlight Drive, located in Meyerland at the intersection of Braesheather Drive, is one of our all time favorite mid-century homes in Houston. It was designed and built by Robert Cohen in 1964, and he and his wife lived in the home until 2004 when it was sold to John M. O'Quinn - yes that O'Quinn. From the smell of it, O'Quinn (who lives in River Oaks) let the house sit for three years and......

Admit it: At one point or another, you've sat back and thought to yourself, "You know, I really wish I lived in an embassy." And sure, it would be fun, but who wants to deal with all those pesky diplomatic staffers? Well, we have good news: There's a pretty embassaic home available in River Oaks, and the only people who'll live there with you are the ones you invite. (Did we mention that we're looking......

...and so are temperatures all over the planet (especially in Houston this week). This afternoon, environmental leaders engage citizens, in the form of Starbucks customers, in conversations about climate change and offer practical solutions to the climate crisis. This afternoon from 2 - 3pm at the W. Gray Starbucks (um, the one with the drive-thru, not to be confused with the one across the street without the drive-thru), the green-minded coffee company will host a......

Art Institute of Houston Poetry Forum Kickoff Borders Books and The Art Institute of Houston offer a monthly Poetry Reading Series at Borders River Oaks, hosted by Ken Jones, instructor at The Art Institute of Houston. The readings are the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at Borders River Oaks at 3025 Kirby Drive at the corner of West Alabama. These monthly poetry events are free, open to the public, and part of......

Or perhaps a more appropriate title would be: Another One Bites the Dust (and another one down and another one down...) The cool Anime Avalon (2439 Times Blvd.) is closing its doors later this month citing difficulty in competing with big box stores. Anime Avalon (formerly Planet Anime) is an anime/manga haven, hooking up Houstonians with figures, model kits, magazines, videos and a ridiculous variety of accessories. To balm the pain, we might hit their......

So, short of some kind of miracle — we're not sure exactly what kind, but we're thinking maybe a midnight ghostly visit to Weingarten Realty CEO Drew Alexander, a la A Christmas Carol — the north section of the River Oaks Shopping Center will be coming down in the next few days, to be replaced with a new retail strip anchored by a Barnes & Noble megastore. And in case you've forgotten, B&N's moving into......

...for demolitionToday, Houston City Council voted to designate the River Oaks Shopping Center, River Oaks Theater, Alabama Shopping Center, and Alabama Theater as historic landmarks, though it will not afford the structures any protection from Weingarten Realty's current and future decisions to demolish them. According to Historic Houston, there were three dissenting votes from council members Michael Berry (big surprise), Addie Wiseman (who tagged this measure last week), and Pam Holm. Save Our Landmarks invites......