Peak crawfish season is here, and Houston Chronicle restaurant critic Bao Ong is leading a guided tour through Houston’s beloved Viet-Cajun scene.
After our first sold-out tour we’re heading back to Asiatown 1-4 p.m. Sunday, May 24, for a multi-stop crawfish-themed experience. Expect crawfish, fusion dishes and a sweet surprise at the end. Tickets are $120.
Please note: Due to the nature of the experience, we’re unable to accommodate dietary restrictions, including shellfish and nut allergies. Transportation is required.
To purchase tickets, head to the link in our bio.
Galveston's historic Elissa ship will soon set sail for a three-month voyage to visit various ports across the country and celebrate the 250th anniversary of United States' founding.
The ship's journey is part of a nationwide initiative to gather military and tall ships — traditionally-rigged sailing vessels with two or more masts — at New York Harbor for the July 4 weekend. The nautical celebration will feature more than 60 ships from 20 countries.
The Elissa, which first launched in 1877, will visit six locations over the next few months: Pensacola, Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Yorktown, Virginia; Portsmouth, Virginia; New York City and Boston.
"It's a rare opportunity for us to be able to take Elissa on the road for this and to take Elissa to locations that are historic in nature," said Will Wright, chief creative officer at the Galveston Historic Foundation. "It's a great way for us to be ambassadors of the island to other locations."
Click the link in our bio to read more.
📝: Ashley Soebroto / reporter
📸: @bcoomer713 / photographer
From the team behind Neo and Kira, Oru features everything from à la carte nigiri to omakase in a sleek, minimalist space designed to feel interactive and intimate.
How many stars did it receive?
Read the full review through the link in our bio.
📝: @baohaus / restaurant critic
📸/📹️: @egconley / photographer
💻️: Alexandria A. Badillo / audience
What started as a calm overnight line turned chaotic by sunrise as crowds pushed toward the front during the Swatch x Audemars Piguet launch in Houston. Customers said around 40 people who arrived shortly before opening were let into the store first, sparking yelling, line-cutting and frustration before sales were shut down for the day over safety concerns.
Click the link in the bio to read more.
📝&📹: Ashley Soebroto / Reporter
A judge denied a last-minute request from members of Houston’s Orthodox Jewish community seeking to extend voting hours ahead of Saturday’s runoff in Houston City Council District C.
The four plaintiffs claimed that for much of the 12-hour voting period, they would be unable to cast their ballot due to their observance of Shabbat, a weekly Sabbath in the Jewish faith that begins on Friday before sunset and ends on the following evening after nightfall. Shabbat ends at 8:48 p.m. on Saturday.
The lawsuit was filed Friday against Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth and Houston city leaders, and was heard before Civil District Judge Tanya Garrison of the 157th Judicial District that evening.
Click the link to read more.
✍️: Haajrah Gilani / reporter
📸: @raquelnatalicchio / photographer
Opinions from the Houston Chronicle Editorial Board: If you want to understand the difference between Rep. Christian Menefee and Rep. Al Green as they compete for the newly redrawn Congressional District 18, compare their actions in Congress last month.
Menefee – the young, former Harris County Attorney – filed a bill that would ensure seats don’t sit empty for months as the 18th did after the sudden passing of Rep. Sylvester Turner.
“That should never happen again,” Menefee wrote.
Within a few days, Green – the elder statesman who got himself ejected from the latest State of the Union for holding a sign that said “Black People Aren't Apes!” – introduced a resolution condemning President Trump for a weeks-old social media depicting himself as Jesus.
Click the link in our bio to read more.
📸: @jfochtman / photographer
Don Toliver was two songs into his set when he laid claim to the city that raised him.
"For those of you that don't know," he said to the sold-out Toyota Center crowd, "I'm from Southwest Alief mutha-f—in' Texas."
Toliver, whose Octane Tour started a week ago, grew up on Swishahouse classics and hip-hop nights at AvantGarden. He attended Hastings High School, where he first began making music. Thursday night's Houston show, then, was a homecoming. Toliver stopped later to introduce his family, who was sitting in an upper level.
"Let me try to make it through this," he said multiple times as he raced up and down the stage. "Make some noise for my grandfather up there. My grandfather just turned 81 years old!"
Click the link in our bio for Joey Guerra's full review.
📝&📸: Joey Guerra / reporter
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday rejected Gov. Greg Abbott's bid to expel the state’s top House Democrat from office, unanimously ruling that his role in breaking quorum to stall redistricting legislation did not grant Abbott the power to remove him.
Lawyers for Abbott had argued that state Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, "abdicated the remainder of his current term" when he left the state to stall the GOP's plan to redraw congressional maps in their party's favor ahead of the 2026 midterms. Abbott prodded the court just this week to ask for a ruling in the months-old case, which constituted an unprecedented move by a sitting Texas governor to exert power over the legislative branch.
In the majority opinion for the all-Republican court, Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote that the court didn’t need to intervene because Wu and other lawmakers returned to office. He cited rules and legislation already in place that allow Republicans to pressure Democrats to return, including by imposing fines and penalties.
Click the link in our bio to read more.
📝: Bayliss Wagner / reporter
📸: @jfochtman / photographer
If you survive 43 years in business in the same strip mall, clippers humming from open to close, you are more than a barber. You are the keeper of memories — of growing families, friendships, graduations and the next generation of customers wanting a fresh fade.
Columnist Joy Sewing takes us to a thriving Black suburb in Houston that once hosted cotton and sugar plantations. Sewing talked to community members about the transformation of the city from it's leadership, to street signs.
Read the full column at the link in our bio.
📸: Raquel Natalicchio, Brett Coomer /Houston Chronicle
President Donald Trump on Friday once again sidestepped a question on whether he will endorse in the upcoming Texas Republican runoff for U.S. Senate but repeated his attacks on Democratic nominee James Talarico, calling him "pathetic" and "a weird, a weird candidate."
Speaking aboard Air Force One after visiting China, Trump told reporters that he believes either four-term incumbent John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could defeat Talarico in November. But despite promising in March that he'd make his choice known for the May 26 runoff, he declined to commit to either one.
Click the link in the bio to read more.
📝: John C. Moritz / reporter
May 15 is the general deadline to protest your property tax appraisal for homeowners in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties (or 30 days after your appraisal notice was mailed, whichever is later.) If you want to review your options, it’s not too late.
The Houston Chronicle’s DIY property tax protest tool, TX Tax, lets you search your address for free to see if your home may be unfairly appraised. If you decide to protest, the tool is designed to walk you through the process step by step.
Click the link in our bio to read more.
Texas Children's Hospital will create the country's first "detransition clinic" as part of a settlement over a Texas investigation into gender affirming care, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Friday.
The hospital will also have to pay $10 million, fire five doctors and no longer provide gender transition care at the hospital. The Chronicle has reached out to Texas Children's for comment.
Paxton referred to the Texas Children's doctors as "woke" and "deranged child mutilators" in a quote touting the clinic, which he said would offer free care to people "victimized" by gender transition procedures.
Click the link in our bio to read more.
📝: Peter Warren / reporter
