My probably slightly unwarranted dislike of the suburbs (not just suburbs of Houston, but the concept of suburbs in general) is very well-documented. I'm pretty sure most of my readers at this point are people I know personally, so if I've offended any of y'all with my whole "yuppie city girl who refuses to leave the 610 loop and only drinks local coffee and beer" schtick...I apologize. It's mostly ironic. I think. Anyway, that being said, I find myself in the lovely city of Sugar Land quite often (the fact that my parents and three of my best friends live there could be a contributing factor). As a Sugar Land native, I've had the privilege of watching this nice little place grow from a typical affluent suburb full of houses that mostly look the same and a sea of chain restaurants to a much larger typical affluent suburb full of houses that mostly look the same and an even bigger sea of chain restaurants - plus some actually cool stuff.

Oh...and we should probably get this out of the way. The infamous selfie statue is absolutely real. You can see it in all its glory in Sugar Land Town Square, right in front of City Hall. And that is all I am going to say on that particular matter.

So if for some reason you ever find yourself making the relatively short drive southwest to Sugar Land and are in need of something to do, here is an incomplete guide.

Restaurants in Town Square

My best picture from Jupiter features neither pizza nor waffles.  Sorry. — My best picture from Jupiter features neither pizza nor waffles. Sorry.

Sugar Land Town Square, at the corner of highway 6 and 59, is going to be your best best for food and pretty much your only option for going out (more on that next). Parking in the garages is annoying, but it's free (and if there is one thing I love about the suburbs, it's free parking). Jupiter Pizza & Waffles, Guru Burgers & Crepes, and Japaneiro's all have the same owners, and are all excellent (the first two are exactly what they sound like, and Japaneiro's is Japanese-Latin fusion), but I personally like Jupiter the best. There is consistently a long wait for weekend brunch, but it's worth it. Escalante's, which is a Houston area chain, is also a good Mexican option. The area is pretty and most of the restaurants have nice patios. There is a huge fountain in front of city hall that is perpetually surrounded by teenagers doing photo shoots on their iPhones, but what did you expect?

Bars in Town Square

The Sugar Refinery.  Not pictured: the drinks we ordered (I'm 0-2 on helpful photos today). — The Sugar Refinery. Not pictured: the drinks we ordered (I'm 0-2 on helpful photos today).

Flying Saucer. Yes, it's a chain, and there's another one in downtown Houston. But it's a big space on the corner, the beer selection is great, and the food is decent. Baker St. Pub is also a solid bar choice, and there is often live music there. A relatively new and non-chain addition, The Sugar Refinery, has a totally different vibe than the others. Think fancy cocktails, interesting light fixtures (apparently I am really obsessed with light fixtures, what can I say?), bartenders in trendy outfits, etc. My friend and I went here several months ago for happy hour and ordered some reasonably priced appetizers, which were delicious and obviously aesthetically pleasing, just like everything else in this place. Historically, restaurants and bars in this particular location within Town Square have had trouble staying in business, but this one seems to be a perfect fit for Sugar Land.

Favorite Hidden Gems (aka restaurants in random strip centers along highway 6 that are actually great)

"Look casual.  I want my readers to know I have more than one friend." — "Look casual. I want my readers to know I have more than one friend."

I type this cautiously because I know people tend to have strong opinions and get irrationally defensive when discussing the best pho places. I won't even attempt to speak for all of Houston, but I do believe the best pho in Sugar Land is at Pho Ben. It's in one of the never-ending strip centers along highway 6, next to a TJ Maxx (#SuburbanLife). It's super fast, it's cheap, and also the egg rolls...SO GOOD. (I'm going to resist the urge to make a 'pho'-related pun to describe the food quality in attempt to remain slightly original on this blog.) Just go here. I promise. For great Mexican food (which is also, shockingly, located in an ugly strip center along highway 6), check out Lupita's. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this one...it doesn't look like anything special, but the food can hold its own against some of the better Tex-Mex restaurants in the Houston area.

COFFEE

I cannot even tell you how excited I am about this one. Sugar Land has an ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD, LOCAL coffee shop. Like, they roast their own beans on-site kinda place. It's called Blendin Coffee Club (pretentious name, don't care), it's super new, and I have covered it in a previous post but it deserves another mention. It is over in the older part of the city, close the sugar factory. (Long side note/fun fact: Imperial Sugar was once actually made in Sugar Land. The iconic factory and silos are still there - pretty sure I went on the most boring field trip of all time to said factory when I was in fourth grade. This area is rapidly growing, and I've heard rumors that another Town Square type place is in the works, which supposedly will include an Alamo Drafthouse...I'll believe it when I see it.) Anyway, sorry for the tangent. Blendin is great.

Farmers Market

If you look reallyyyyy hard, you can see the actual sugar factory.

The Farmers Market at Imperial (I don't know why everything in this city has such a dumb name, but whatever) happens every Saturday from 9AM - 1PM at the Imperial Park Recreation Center (it used to take place at the sugar factory, but apparently it was moved across the street, presumably due to the construction of the aforementioned shopping center that I am starting to believe may never exist). It features food trucks, tons of homemade food and desserts, and, of course, produce. Grab some friends and casually stroll through the vendors, buy some food (the breakfast tacos we had were great), and take some samples. The farmers market is literally in the parking lot of the softball complex where I grew up playing, so before I left I spent some time walking around and realized that my first-ever game took place on one of those very fields almost exactly 20 years ago. It got really weird and nostalgic for a minute there, especially when I saw some girls who looked like they were just learning how to throw a pitch. I even briefly considered writing an entire blog post about it, but I promise you do not want to read that. Let's stick with food and coffee.

While I don't see myself moving back to Sugar Land anytime soon (i.e. ever), I will continue to defend my hometown as a pretty okay-ish place to hang out (if you know where to go). Next time you're in the neighborhood, check one of these places out!

<3 liz