Places to Eat (and Drink)

Houston is a vibrant metropolis, by some measures having already surpassed Chicago as America’s third largest city. Houston is a big foodie town. Uber and Lyft are plentiful and easy. We have a lot of space in Texas, so “close” means 5-10 miles, usually on a highway, and ~15 minutes; there’s no such thing as “walking distance”.

One of the reasons for Dixie Hoedown’s creation was to get back to a time when folks would dance together at night and then hang out, socialize, and make new friends doing fun non-dance activities together during the day.

Here’s some suggestions below. But let me also remind you it might be better to make lunch your principal meal and eat light for dinner because then you will light as a feather on the dance floor. AND because most of our workshops are in late afternoon / early evening and going to dinner means missing workshops.

Food at the Venue:

Thursday: Neon Boots will have big Hamburgers for sale

Friday: there will be a taco truck outside the venue after sundown

Saturday: Neon Boots will have big Hamburgers for sale around 7pm

Sunday: Dixie Hoedown will provide an Ice Cream Social to kick off our Sunday Tea Dance

Aanother option is to bring your own sandwich or snack or just use GrubHub etc to have food delivered at the venue. You may NOT, however, bring in to the bar any sort of water, soft drinks and certainly no alcohol. The bar is in business to sell beverages and is graciously letting us take over their dance floor in the hopes you will be thirsty. So don’t be a dick. Drink prices at Neon Boots are remarkably cheap.

Restaurants to go Eat

Note from Johnny Q: ” I hate to single out a particular place to eat, but I’d be totally remiss if I didn’t strongly urge you to visit House of Pies (for pie) and Barnaby’s Cafe (for fatoush salad). Seriously just go, you’ll thank me later”. Both have multiple locations, but see below for Galleria area addresses as they’re the closest to the dance venue.

  • The Galleria (né Uptown) is close to the dance venue, and where we are suggesting you book your hotel, and you’ll find a broad range of cuisines in walking distance or short cab ride.
    • First off, go to House of Pies at 6142 Westheimer (old nickname: House of Gays, but it’s much more mixed nowadays) , open 24/7 so make this your go-to for after-dancing. And they make all their own pies from scratch right there! If eating an entire meal, they do serve cottage fries (Texan for “tater tots”, y’all).
    • The Galleria area also has a 24 hour Starbucks at 2521 Post Oak @ Westheimer
    • a great Jewish deli called Kenny & Ziggy at 2327 Post Oak (not better than a NYC deli but way better than a LA deli. If you enjoy the deli experience you know what I’m talking about).
    • Also the Grand Luxe Cafe at 5000 Westheimer is quite, well, grand, based on a similarly named restaurant at the Venetian in Vegas.
    • There’s also a Barnaby‘s close to the Galleria 5750 Woodway Dr (order the fatoush salad!!). The lesbian staff is hilarious, so keep your wit sharp. And the gay staff want very much that you gawk at their muscles while thinking they’ve got you fooled that they’re straight. Gurl, if I had a swing like that I’d put it on a porch.
  • The LGBT neighborhood is called Montrose and is famously eclectic. It’s about 6 miles from the dance venue and maybe 4 miles from the Galleria. You’d love anything at
    • Barnaby’s Cafe at 604 Fairview (get the fatoush salad, damn it!), this location has a Baby Barnaby’s next door which has weekend breakfast
    • or The Burger Joint 2703 Montrose Blvd for burgers, open till 4am on Fri/Sat and ranked among “the top burgers in Texas”.
    • Or for drinks stop by George’s Country Sports Bar (more Sports than Country IMHO), or the Houston Eagle.
  • As Montrose has gentrified people have moved north to the Washington Corridor and to The Heights. The Pearl Bar, Guava Lamp, Liberty Kitchen & Oyster Bar, Boomtown Coffee are all worthy of your attention, as is a local Texas Chain called Torchy’s Tacos (get the fried avocado taco). Remember in Texas the tacos are soft. No más Taco Bell, Ese!
  • Finally there is AsiaTown, which is a bit west but a major dining experience if you’re a foodie, due to the strong influence of Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodian immigrants to Houston. Almost as good as NYC’s Chinatown. Two great spots are Crawfish & Noodles, which blend Texas Gulf seafoods with Asian flavors and which *chefs* rave about. (And ok, the wait staff is very very pretty!). For something really authentic which the immigrants themselves go to, try Confucius Seafood, esp the salt & pepper lobster

If you’d like to spend more time drinking rather than dancing (“Heathen!”), you might enjoy a gay pub crawl of Montrose