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Nothing says party like a dumpling bar? Or a sandwich shop? Or a Chili's in a shopping mall?
The NCAA has released its list of official “fan gathering” sites for Final Four weekend.
With official Final Four events scattered widely across the city, Houston has identified four “hospitality zones:” Downtown/Midtown, Washington Ave., Galleria and Reliant Park.
Previous Final Four cities designated just one “fan gathering site” per regional team. This year a regional fan gathering sites has been selected in each of three hospitality zones.
Party headquarters for Kentucky fans:
Christian's Tailgate, 2000 Bagby (Downtown/Midtown zone)
Chili’s-Galleria, 5015 Westheimer (Galleria zone)
Sawyer Park, 2412 Washington (Washington Ave. zone)
Party headquarters for U Conn fans:
Sushi Raku, 3201 Louisiana (Downtown/Midtown zone)
Texadelphia, 6025 Westheimer (Galleria zone)
Cadillac Bar , 1802 Shepherd (Washington Ave. zone)
Party headquarters for Butler fans:
Front Porch Pub, 217 Gray (Downtown/Midtown zone)
Maggiano's Little Italy, 2019 Post Oak Blvd. (Galleria zone)
360 Sports Lounge, 4601 Washington (Washington Ave. zone)
Party headquarters for VCU fans:
Sam Bar @ Alden Hotel, 1117 Prairie (Downtown/Midtown zone)
Gigi's Asian Bistro and Dumpling Bar, 5085 Westheimer Road (Galleria zone)
Porch Swing Pub, 69 Heights Blvd. (Washington Ave. zone)
Mike Shine, president of the Houston Restaurant Association, chaired the committee that selected the fan gathering sites, as well as recommended the more than 60 other “sanctioned” restaurants and clubs. Find a list here.
In addition to agreeing to the NCAA requirements such as purchasing caps, T-shirts and other Final Four trinkets, the GHRA has asked to the “official” restaurants to join their efforts to help the hungry.
Restaurants and clubs have agreed to participate in a food recovery system where food that might otherwise be thrown away be distributed to the needy or have pledged to make a monetary donation to the Houston Food Bank. (In the case of the latter, some may give a portion of sales to the non-profit.)
Shine says one of his main goals was to showcase as much of the Houston restaurant landscape as possible.
“We have over 35 cuisines in Houston and more than 8,000 restaurants. We want to show visitors Houston's great hospitality. And hope they’ll leave saying, ‘What great food.’ ”
Brandon Grissom, one of the owners of the upscale 360 Sports Lounge, called the selection process easy, thanks to the GHRA. And the sport bar is looking forward to greeting fans of the winning Southeast Regional championship.
What team colors would Grissom like to see festooning his 360? The burnt orange and white of the University of Texas, of course.
Sanctioned = Paid the NCAA enough cash. That's the only way the NCAA rolls.
Thanks for letting me know what areas to avoid! I appreciate this.
Chili's Galleria? Seriously? That's a complete joke. There are much better venues in the Galleria area that aren't buried underground next to an ice rink (very Houstonesque, yes?) in a freakin' mall (as nice as it is).
"We have over 35 cuisines in Houston and more than 8,000 restaurants. We want to show visitors Houston's great hospitality. And hope they’ll leave saying, ‘What great food."
Ummm, yeah. So Chili's is a terrific choice. Same with Maggiano's. It does have good food, but it's a freaking chain. We aren't Dallas, but you'd never know it from those two choices.
Best party is at my house!
I highly recommend SRO Sports Bar and Grill in Northwest Mall on W. 18 th Street. They have great service and serve great food. They have dozens of televisions. I can not vouch for the drinks. Enjoy.
God, I wish I could have proofread this for you before you published it.
What an annoying list. Go to Collina's on Richmond inside the loop, bring your own bottle of wine, and enjoy a great Italian meal!
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