Houston Hotels

Museum of Fine Arts
The Museum of Fine Arts houses one of the largest permanent collections of art in the country in two separate buildings, one of which was designed by the famed German architect Mies van der Rohe in 1958.

Goode Co Barbecue
Jim Goode first became a restaurant owner in 1977 and this is the barbecue branch of his 'Texas-all-the-way' style eateries. Bring your appetite and hunker down over a plate of juicy brisket, chicken or sausage cooked to a T and smothered in Goode's famous BBQ sauce. Leave any vegetarians or 'foodie' types at the hotel.

Kim Son
Kim Son is a legendary Houston restaurant run by the La family, who escaped in a boat from Vietnam in 1979. The menu has 200-plus items ranging from rice-noodle soup to jellyfish and lotus root. Delicious.

Orange Show Center for Visionary Art
Beer cans, welded-steel oranges and plastic flowers as folk art? Conservative Houston has a wacky art streak. The late Jeff McKissack molded his house into a junk-art tribute to his favorite fruit until his passing. Today it's the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, off I-45 S, which fosters the folk-art vision by offering tours and keeping up the 50,000-can exterior of the Beer Can House (222 Malone St), off Memorial Dr. The center can give directions to other arty houses around town.

Rothko Chapel
For lovers of 20th century art the Rothko Chapel is a special place of beauty. Fourteen paintings by abstract master Mark Rothko specifically painted for this non-denominational space create a meditative sanctuary that seems light years away from the traffic and buzz of Houston. The chapel also holds meditation sessions and sponsors an annual human rights award.

Sambuca Jazz Cafe
This suave establishment, sheltering within the Rice Hotel, is a supper club that serves up Mediterranean cuisine, with live jazz as an accompaniment. The jazz menu is as diverse and competently presented as the food menu.

Art Car Museum
And now for something funky: the Art Car Museum is a repository for more than 15 of the psychedelic, buglike, and Mad Max-esque vehicles that have taken part in the annual Art Car Parade.

Houston Museum of Natural Science
Delve into excellent traveling shows - often with shiny themes (treasures of Tsarist Russia, gold of Afghanistan) - at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Dinosaurs, fossils, gems and mineral exhibits, chemistry and interactive experiments are all part of the permanent collections.

Tila's Restaurante & Bar
Tila's stands out from similar Houston establishments by combining Central-Mexican recipes with interesting ingredients, resulting in unusual dishes like brie and pear quesadillas. The dining rooms have a rustic, faux-painted flair and there's a patio just perfect for that pre-dinner margarita.

Ginger Man
A homey pub with 69 beers on tap, Ginger Man has a particularly nice yard - perfect for hanging out with students from nearby Rice U. (There are similar sister pubs in Austin and Dallas, too.)

Alley Theatre
The Alley, as it's known locally, presents first-rate drama, with many first-run Broadway and off-Broadway shows making their way here. This well-funded and well-regarded theatre also performs its share of classics and musicals.