{"id":104793,"date":"2025-07-30T12:31:21","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T12:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/104793\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T12:31:21","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T12:31:21","slug":"we-eat-where-we-work-the-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/104793\/","title":{"rendered":"We Eat Where We Work: The Heights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trendy Houston restaurants you\u2019ve tried because they\u2019ve gone viral on TikTok \u2014 you\u2019ve got a few, right? Or, maybe you\u2019ve driven across town to sample an impossibly fragrant, mouthwatering bowl of pho because of a food blogger\u2019s enticing Instagram photo. Perhaps you\u2019re a regular reader of the Houston Press\u2019s own amazing (full disclosure: she’s my friend) Lorretta Ruggiero<\/a>, and were moved to make dinner reservations thanks to her deeply genuine and entertaining accounts of dining out with family and friends, the best way to eat.<\/p>\n

One way we discover our favorite Houston eateries isn\u2019t as sexy as a TikTok food video backed by Danna Paola\u2019s \u201cKhe Calor,\u201d (it\u2019s a banger!) or even thumbing through the Press\u2019s award-winning culinary reviews. After 11 years with a small but wonderful downtown law firm, I moved to a large, wonderful law firm in The Heights. My lunch and dinner options weren\u2019t on the pros-cons list when I was considering a job change, but once I was sitting at my new desk, chatting with new co-workers about where to get midday nourishment or even the essential coffee fix, it was clear I\u2019d underestimated how large a role where we work determines what we eat.<\/p>\n

We all know this is true, of course, but no one ever tells a fellow foodie, \u201cGo try the osso buco at this place I stumbled upon before my 3 o\u2019clock meeting about the TPS reports.\u201d A 2019 U.K. study on this very subject described the office as \u201ca unique microenvironment where people spend most of their time and consume most of their calories.\u201d When I think of all the Tiff\u2019s Treats, DoorDashed iced coffees and free breakroom snacks I\u2019ve consumed since January on the new job (Pro-tip: a bag of Bugles and a can of Red Bull White Peach to power through an especially difficult afternoon), it\u2019s a wonder I have room for lunch or dinner.<\/p>\n

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Luce’s Island Latte<\/p>\n

Photo by Jesse Sendejas Jr. <\/p>\n

But, I do, naturally, and when lunch time rolled around those first few weeks with the new employer, I could only think about my old favorites. How was I expected to have reasonable discussions with clients without my favorite po-boy from Zydeco Louisiana Diner<\/a>, overstuffed with outrageously plump shrimp? Would I be able to snap out of zombie mode without the embarrassingly diverse choices I\u2019d come to enjoy in downtown Houston food halls like The POST<\/a>, Understory<\/a>, Bravery Chef Hall <\/a>and Lyric Market<\/a>? Might there be a place as nice and scrumptious as Xochi<\/a> in The Heights for an impromptu dinner with company I treasure or just want to impress? How could I work 8 hours without 20 ounces of coffee from Fifth Vessel <\/a>or Day 6<\/a>? It didn\u2019t add up.<\/p>\n

The answer was to go into the wild, to learn about the establishments that had fed the hungry in the area all those years I was eating downtown lunches and dinners at places like Treebeards<\/a> and Thien An Sandwiches <\/a>(yeah, sure, okay it\u2019s Midtown \u2013 close enough). I knew they existed and now I had the proximity and time I needed to see if they could fill this unexpected void.<\/p>\n

COFFEE<\/b><\/p>\n

Ya boy has been drinking coffee since age 17 when his boss Mike Grisaffe would drag him to Champ\u2019s Diner after the late shift at Mr. Gatti\u2019s to hear tales of teenaged heartbreak and slam back the sludgiest mud that could still be \u201cpoured\u201d into a mug. The palate has been refined since then and thankfully coffee houses in The Heights were eagerly awaiting my recent arrival.<\/p>\n

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Shaking beef, Hughie’s<\/p>\n

Photo by Jesse Sendejas Jr. <\/p>\n

A preferred spot is Sunday Press<\/a>, 3315 Ella, in Garden Oaks. The shop is a neat caf\u00e9 by day, bar by night hybrid that is becoming increasingly popular (see Rabbit\u2019s Got the Gun-slash-Cari\u00f1o\u00a0Coffee<\/a> north of Main, one of the best at this growing trend) and shows some industry savvy. The vibe here is all over the place, with laptops over there and romance over here. But there\u2019s a wealth of beverage options and food, too, for customers. The go-to here is the pistachio matcha latte, served iced or hot with pistachio cold foam and perfectly crushed pistachios.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a Luce Coffee Roasters<\/a> right across the street, one of several Houston locations, so the place seems familiar, thanks to previous visits to the shop on Washington Avenue. The recommendation here is the Island Latte, which is coconut forward. One thing that happened at the Luce at 1717 W. 34th may say something about this part of town I\u2019m getting to know. I\u2019d ordered two lattes and before I could remove my pay card from my wallet the person ahead of me bought my drinks. So, I paid for the person behind me and she then paid it forward. It was a nice way to start the workday, I gotta say. Welcome to The Heights, friends.<\/p>\n

There are more coffee options than we could cover with any brevity, so I\u2019ll add just one more, Coco\u2019s Donuts & Coffee Bar<\/a> at 2026 W. 34th. The place is adorable, perfect for a meet cute or a midday coffee klatch with the girls or coffee with family, which is what I did. There\u2019s a full-service bar, too and the Latino-owned establishment has sweet programming like a recent \u201cNoches Romanticas\u201d night with salsa and bachata lessons and social drinking \u2018til midnight. It hosts a book club and cake decorating workshops and more events you can follow on its Instagram page. Best of all, I\u2019ve loved every coffee I\u2019ve tried there, including the Mexican Mocha, which was topped with a tiny li\u2019l marranito, and the Neopolitan – espresso, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, strawberry cold foam and a mini-polvor\u00f3n on top. Aye, que chulo!<\/p>\n

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Torta de tamal at The Tamale Joint<\/p>\n

Photo by Jesse Sendejas Jr. <\/p>\n

LUNCH<\/b><\/p>\n

The first place I ate lunch when I went to work downtown 11 years ago was Frank\u2019s Pizza<\/a>, a Houston treasure. I needed the same sort of lunch the first day on the new job, a meal I knew would feel like a warm fuzzy (but, thankfully, not taste like one). I chose Antone\u2019s<\/a>. The legendary Houston sandwich shop is down to a few locations, this one at 2724 W. TC Jester. I feel a sense of allegiance to the sandwich joint, since Mom and Dad would buy us pre-game Originals at the long-gone Kirby location (it resembled a train car) ahead of games at the Astrodome. It was also the best meal they\u2019d cater to the quad at 1980s-era HSPVA. <\/p>\n

These days, I trend towards their newer sandwich, the Nature Boy, a meatless Mediterranean delight filled with tabouli, olives, tomatoes and feta cheese. There are hot food options, too, like a shrimp plate or gumbo. My first day on the job, I was back to the Original – ham, salami, provolone and chowchow on a fresh po-boy roll. Houston comfort food to salve any first-day jitters.<\/p>\n

A couple of options that have replaced all the goodness I once enjoyed at downtown Asian eateries like Thai Caf\u00e9<\/a> on Franklin and Pho Saigon<\/a> and Thien An (yes, I know,…Midtown) are Hughie\u2019s<\/a> and Pho Ben<\/a>. I visited the latter, 935 N. Shepherd, with a co-worker for a banh mi and wound up bringing half of the mammoth sandwich back to the break room fridge. My wife and I had been to Hughie\u2019s Heights location (1802 W. 18th) before for the shaking beef and impressive count of cold beers on tap, so it was the first place we shared a lunch in my new locale.<\/p>\n

Heading to Heights also meant I had more taco options than the couple of choices I was limited to in downtown Houston. So far, two of the best I\u2019ve found are The Tamale Joint<\/a> and Tacos\u00a0Do\u00f1a Lena. The former does breakfast, too, so I’ve started the work day with the breakfast tacos, the tamales, the chilaquiles and a better-than-it-needs-to-be caf\u00e9 de olla. But the real winner was the lunch option we chose the first time there, the torta de tamal. It\u2019s the guajolota on the menu, a fresh bolillo bread filled with two tamales, crema, salsa and queso fresco. At $8.99, it\u2019s a steal because it\u2019s enough food for two to share. And, it\u2019s delicious.<\/p>\n

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Tacos\u00a0Do\u00f1a Lena<\/p>\n

Photo by Jesse Sendejas Jr. <\/p>\n

Do\u00f1a Lena<\/a> is a TikTok favorite<\/a> and a Houston must, established by its namesake in 1985 in Guanajuato, Mexico and continued in Houston from her home until a brick and mortar finally opened in 2020. The place \u2013 located at 1805 W. 18th in the Heights \u2014 is festive and known for an array of salsas brought to the table in a flight for use on anything on the menu, meals with intriguing names like the \u201ctorta chingona,\u201d (pastor, chorizo, ham and \u201cweenies\u201d doused in avocado and a creamy sauce within a lightly toasted bun) and \u201cLas Tres Chismosas,\u201d a trio of street corn tacos filled with your choice of meats, from the customary chicken and beef fajitas, barbacoa and pastor to deeper cuts like lengua, tripas and tinga de pollo.<\/p>\n

The restaurant serves some nice refreshing beverages, too, aguas frescas and margaritas, an entirely acceptable lunch choice for when the boss has been especially demanding. Just don\u2019t get swept up by the drink cup which reads \u201cChingate Otra!\u201d or those TPS reports will never get done.<\/p>\n

Speaking of adult beverages, and the want\/need to imbibe after punching out, The Heights has proven quite capable of delivering the goods I\u2019d gotten used to downtown. In this story\u2019s companion piece, I\u2019ll touch on dinner and drink establishments I\u2019ve enjoyed in my new favorite place, Houston\u2019s Heights. So, come back for more of this, please, or, you know, as Do\u00f1a\u00a0Lena would say, chingate otra.
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