It used to be that we had to go to one place for our happy hour Lone Stars and a separate place entirely for our fine meals. Never would the twain meet. There was a lot of driving involved and probably some suspicion and prejudice as well. Luckily, that period of segregation has ended.
Maybe bars realized that tipsy folks get hungry and are willing to buy food and that jalapeño poppers are truly disgusting. Or maybe this is just another sign that the machinations of foodies to rule the world are coming to fruition. Either way, bars are getting into the serious food game by recruiting top chefs to helm their kitchens.
Grand Prize (1010 Banks St.) tested the waters last year when it started hosting biweekly “Ghetto Dinners,” and chefs Adam Dorris, Will Walsh and occasionally Justin Basye from Stella Sola would invade the Montrose bar and create a gourmet two-course meal for $15.
The pop-up dinners are currently on hold, but since then the bar has brought Feast in for evening catering. As if the city’s many bargain prix-fixe lunches weren’t enough, now we can get rustic, award-winning fare when we’re drunk at midnight. A chalkboard menu proclaims each week’s Feast options: baked Cornish pasties, lentil soup, pickled tongue with cauliflower and caramel cake. Maybe there will be feta with toasted bread or fish pie. It’s all prepared in the Feast kitchen and handed over to you, the customer, for between $5 and $10.
The Grand Prize staff itself must be a hungry bunch because they don’t stop there. On a recent Tuesday, Mockingbird Bistro hosted a Grand Prize dinner of their own with munchies like $6 macaroni and cheese and $9 lemon risotto with shrimp diablo. And every Wednesday, Charlotte, a bartender and Houston Dairymaid, will be toasting up grilled cheese sandwiches starting around 7 pm.
Just a few blocks away, Anvil Bar and Refuge (1424 Westheimer) also has a new menu in the works. The cocktail bar has always had tasty food options (Sunday brunch RIP!) and we’re particularly partial to the warm pretzels and curry eggs, but a striver never rests. Anvil now has chef Chris Shepherd from the late Catalan and soon-to-open Underbelly on board to conceptualize Southern-influenced bar eats. If you happened to drop in during the bar’s Derby party on May 7, you might have taken advantage of an early preview.
It’s a great time to be a picky eater and heavy drinker in the city and hopefully other bars will follow the lead and get into the game as well. We strongly suggest a Poison Girl and Indika mash-up.