Postcards from Houston's Past

Besides just looking really cool, these images and artworks from the 1910s-1950s uniquely showcase a side of Houston's places and people that are rarely seen.

UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1942: Vintage linen postcard showing the exterior of Memorial Hospital and the surrounding area. (Photo by Lake County Museum/Getty Images)

HOUSTON - 1911: Vintage postcard looking south on Travis Street in Houston. (Photo by Lake County Museum/Getty Images)

HOUSTON - 1911: Vintage postcard showing a view looking north on Fannin Street in Houston. (Photo by Lake County Museum/Getty Images)

HOUSTON - 1918: Vintage postcard showing the view down Montrose Boulevard from the entrance to Hermann Park . (Photo by Lake County Museum/Getty Images)

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Look at 2929 Weslayan

Luxury living in 40 stories

The developer of the 40-story luxury apartment building under construction at Weslayan and West Alabama gave the Chronicle a hard hat tour of its new tower this week.

The development will be Houston’s tallest apartment building — at least until this one is completed in 2017.
Houston-based PM Realty Group, which is developing the project at 2929 Weslayan, expects the building to be full a year after it opens. The first residents should start moving in this fall. Read more about the building here.

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Release date of Texas history miniseries

History Channel announces release date of Texas history miniseries

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The History Channel will tackle the history of Texas on May 25, 2015, with "Texas Rising," an eight-hour miniseries about the Texas revolutionary fight and the rise of the Texas Rangers. (The ones with guns, not the baseball team.)

The miniseries was announced last March, ahead of key Texas independence anniversaries, but did not then have an exact release date.

Bill Paxton has been cast as Gen. Sam Houston, with Brendan Fraser, Ray Liotta, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olivier Martinez, Thomas Jane, Crispin Glover, Jeremy Davies, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Christopher McDonald, Max Thieriot, Robert Knepper, Jeff Fahey, and Kris Kristofferson filling out the rest of the cast.

Roland Joffe will direct the series, which is in production.

Singer-songwriter Kristofferson will be playing U.S. President Andrew Jackson. Martinez, husband of actress Halle Berry, has been installed as Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.

The miniseries is from the producers of the miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys," which also aired on the History Channel and also featured Paxton. The Texas series will air over four consecutive nights, according film news outlet Deadline.

The San Antonio Express-News previously profiled San Antonio native John Elvis, who was cast in "Texas Rising" as the half-Comanche son of a Texas Ranger. Fraser plays his
father, Ranger Billy Anderson.

The History Channel offered this synopsis of the series. It sounds like it will be a pretty bloody, gritty affair.

In 1836, west of the Mississippi was considered the Wild West and the Texas frontier was viewed as hell on earth. Crushed from the outside by Mexican armadas and attacked from within by ferocious Comanche tribes – no one was safe.

But this was a time of bravery, a time to die for what you believed in and a time to stand tall against the cruel rule of the Mexican General Santa Anna. The heroic General Sam Houston, the rag tag Rangers and the legendary "Yellow Rose of Texas," lead this story of the human will to win against insurmountable odds. At the end, the Texas flags stood tall and victorious, claiming a piece of history for all eternity.

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Top picks for Houston's bars and lounges

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Raise your glasses for The Pastry War, a new bar located at 310 Main in downtown It was recently named one the of the best new bars in America by Bon Appetite.

This spot, named for a three-month skirmish in 1838 between Mexico and France, specializes in tequila and mezcal. Fun décor and well-crafted cocktails made with only the freshest ingredients make this bar hum. (310 Main, 713-226-7770, twitter.com/ThePastryWar.)


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State Fair of Texas

State Fair of Texas is the organization responsible for producing the well-known event of the same name.

A 24-day showcase of entertainment, exhibits and competition, it is presented in Dallas each fall in historic Fair Park, a 277-acre complex recognized for its beautiful landscaping and unique collection of art deco architecture.
Founded in Dallas in 1886 by a group of civic leaders who wanted to focus attention on their young city’s accomplishments and prospects, the State Fair of Texas has consistently offered its visitors a first look at the newest and best in products and performances.
Many national corporations and local businesses participate in the Fair as sponsors and exhibitors. The event’s total economic impact on the Dallas/ Fort Worth area has been calculated at more than $600 million annually. State Fair of Texas, Inc. is a private, non-profit corporation. It receives no funds from state, federal or local government and is entirely self-supporting. Programs and policies are set by a 55-member board of directors.
The State Fair of Texas will open daily, Sept. 26 – Oct. 19, 2014. Exhibit hours are Friday and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; Sunday thru Thursday 10 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.


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El Pollo Loco fire-grilled chicken chain coming to Houston

El Pollo Loco fire-grilled chicken chain coming to Houston



Fire-grilled chicken chain El Pollo Loco will open in the Houston market in October, the company announced Thursday.

Its first Houston area restaurant will be in Sugar Land at 4528 Highway 6 and Austin Parkway.
Costa Mesa, Cal.-based El Pollo Loco  has announced four other locations for the Houston area, and they will open in the months following the Sugar Land restaurant launch.

The four locations are:

• Copperfield: Highway 6 and West Road in Copperfield
• Humble: FM 1960 and Whitaker Road in Humble
• Katy: South Mason Road and Provincial Boulevard in Katy
• Spring: Kuykendahl and Springbrook Garden Lane

The Sugar Land restaurant will be the ninth El Pollo Loco  in Texas. The chain currently has restaurants in the San Antonio and Rio Grande Valley areas.

El Pollo Loco features fire-grilled chicken, Spanish rice, charro beans, fresh vegetables, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, stuffed quesadillas, burritos, tacos, soups and salads.

The first El Pollo Loco opened in Los Angeles in 1980, and the  restaurant chain now operates  more than 400 company owned-owned and franchised restaurants in Arizona, California, Texas and Utah.


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Houston BBQ team win $10,000 in Vegas

Houston BBQ team win $10,000 in Vegas


Last November, Houston-based Pitmaker BBQ Addiction participated in the World Championship of Barbecue in Las Vegas. The team, which included Victor Howard, George Shore and Julio Howard, took home the win and ten grand.

On Aug. 7, you can see how the team did it when FYI TV, the network formerly known as Bio, presents the fifth in its six-episode reality series “World Food Championships.” The series airs at 10 p.m. Thursdays.

The TV series documents the second annual World Food Championships, where more than 300 chefs, restaurants and home cooks competed for a share of the event’s $300,000 prize purse.

“Unlike any other food-related show on the air, the World Food Championships TV series features a global cast of competitive cooks and chefs, from all walks of life, in a live-fire, tournament-style showdown,” Mike McCloud, WFC president, said in a release.

The Pitmaker BBQ Addiction team, which has been cooking for more than 15 years, competes in about 20 barbecue events each year.


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