Hello loyal followers! This will be my last Houston-related post for like, five weeks, because my travel schedule is INSANE and this is pretty much the last of the recent-ish coffee/food/beer pics in my camera roll. But don't worry, I've got some exciting stuff lined up in the meantime. Every coffee place within three miles of Sea Girt, New Jersey? (I've given up on trying to explain to people how / why my Houstonian family takes an annual vacation to New Jersey.) Or maybe I'll finish that post I started six months ago about my non-terrible trip to Dallas. There's a very real possibility that nothing will be posted until I get back to Houston and convince someone to go on a blogger adventure with me. Time will tell.

For now, here are some thoughts on five places I've been to recently - three I haven't talked about on here before and two that I have, but that I felt were worthy of another mention.

Frank's Backyard

I'm a little late to the game on this one. Sometimes, a new place will open and I'll vow to check it out immediately, then next thing I know I'm basically living in New Hampshire (in case you were wondering because I've gone two entire paragraphs without mentioning that state - I still spend approximately half of my time there). But I finally made it! Here's what you need to know about the place. It's next door to iconic downtown late-night drunk food spot Frank's Pizza (don't get me wrong; that pizza is good under any circumstances and at any time of day), and because of some alcohol laws that I do not fully understand, you cannot purchase pizza at the bar. You can, however, buy pizza at Frank's Pizza and bring it to Frank's Backyard to consume. This is a minor inconvenience, but I can look past it. The beer selection is solid, and it's served out of a cute little Airstream trailer. Why didn't I get a picture of this cute little Airstream trailer, you ask? Because I'm still not great at this whole blogging thing. I love the atmosphere here; it's unlike anything else I've seen downtown. The Astroturf and picnic tables really do make it resemble someone's yard. It's also totally open to the sky, except for the balcony (where we sat, as you can see from the pictures)...a fun and unique concept for downtown, but not ideal for inclement weather. Another feature you can't see from these pictures (this really wasn't my best work here) - TVs! I would totally come here to watch a game.

Platypus Brewing

I'm not sure if I really love the beer here or if I just love the idea of this place - close to my apartment, glorious and abundant free parking, skyline views, good food, stays open late for a brewery, and, obviously, it's platypus themed. Ya know, like Perry the Platypus (did anyone else go through an intense Phineas and Ferb phase in high school / college? No? That was just me...? Anyway, moving on). Despite all the good things I just listed about this brewery, I rarely remember to go here. But recently, through an interesting turn of events, I somehow found myself at Platypus twice in one day. The first time, I met some friends who were already eating lunch. I didn't order anything, but I stole some of their brussels sprouts, which were great, and they told me that their sandwiches were fantastic as well. The beer on the left is an IPA called Show Me Your Peaches (and check out that exposed brick...love). The beer on the right, from my second visit of the day, is a Mexican Lager that I forgot the name of, but my friend and I agreed was pretty meh. Not pictured: the coffee porter I ordered, which I enjoyed and I believe was made with Catalina coffee from across the street, one of my favorites. You can also get pretty solid skyline views from the patio, that unfortunately are not visible in this picture taken with my lowly iPhone 7. Bottom line: beer is fine, atmosphere / concept is excellent.

Merchant

Finally made it to Merchant a few weeks ago and brought my work laptop along with every intention of getting some stuff done...and then spent an hour and a half filling out expense reports. I live an exciting life, let me tell ya. It's in the corner of a super average looking shopping center over by the Galleria. This is actually the second location; apparently the original one is a popular New Orleans breakfast spot. The inside is clean and bright and pretty, and I liked the crepe I ordered (not Melange, but still good). It was quiet and the WiFi was fast, so I'm adding this to my list of places for productivity. Everyone here was super friendly. I didn't realize this place closes at 4 PM on Sundays, so around 3:30 one of the baristas came to my table and explained to me that the pastries are made fresh in-house every day, so they needed to get rid of the extra ones from the day. I ended up going home with some delicious free scones and a to-go coffee. Needless to say, I'll be back. Partially because there were some chocolate chip cookies that looked amazing and I deeply regret not buying one.

Bonus Pics

Morningstar...I've discussed the donuts and coffee at length. But the other day something possessed me to order the $14 steak and eggs and OH MY GOSH Y'ALL THIS BREAKFAST WAS LIFE CHANGING. Steak. Perfectly runny eggs. An entire avocado. Fourteen dollars is a STEAL. I could eat this for breakfast every day. I may never get a donut from here again, and Morningstar makes my favorite donuts in Houston. Am I over-hyping this? No. No I am not.

I finally played some actual games at Coral Sword! It was everything I hoped it would be! First we played some obligatory Cards Against Humanity, laughed at some card combos that definitely make us horrible people, then we moved on to a card game called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (aka my new favorite game), from which I sustained a minor injury. The beer selection at Coral Sword is bizarre (in a good way). My friend ordered this Pineapple Space Cake IPA made by Clown Shoes, and I obviously had to photograph this can. Because we all know I am NOT pretentious.

Adios for now friends. I'll be back with more Houston coffee and beer pics in a month or so. I might or might not tell you about my trip to the Jersey Shore (apparently it's called going "down the shore," but I didn't think anyone would know what I was talking about) or something in the meantime. Hope y'all can get by without me.

<3 liz