Name: Erin
Neighborhood: Greenway Plaza
City: Houston, Texas
My Home: Two-bedroom loft (converted to lofts from an old office building)
Greenway Plaza is sandwiched in between two of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Houston: River Oaks and West University (as in west of Rice University). I've lived here for about 5 years. It's just down the street from the artsy neighborhood of Montrose, where I've also lived. It's an eclectic part of town that's not too far from anything.
Erin's Guide to Greenway Plaza
You can walk to cute shops and the farmers market, and to the neighborhood bar, Velvet Melvin (where they have killer pizza, by the way). It has the feeling of downtown, since there's a little pocket of office buildings surrounding the neighborhood, but it's not over crowded. And if you're lucky enough to work in one of these big office towers, you can walk to work, too. It's hard to find another neighborhood in Houston where so many people walk! I love it here.
1. Favorite Neighborhood Home Store
- SUNSET SETTINGS: 2610 Sunset Boulevard
"Contemporary modern furniture and accessories for the home"
2. Go-to Shop for Gifts
- SLOAN HALL: 2620 Westheimer Road
"Fine artisan jewelry"
3. Best Vintage Shop, Thrift Store, or Flea Market
- TAXI TAXI: 1657 Westheimer Road
"Used, vintage, and consignment clothing"
4. Favorite Bookstore
- DOMY BOOKS: 1709 Westheimer Road
"Domy is a progressive bookstore with a focus on editioned books, periodicals, video, and product lines that concentrate on national and international contemporary art and culture."
5. Favorite Coffee Shop, Café, or Restaurant
- CAFE BRASIL: 2604 Dunlavy Street
Open-air patio seating
6. Best Hardware/Paint Store
- BERING'S: 6102 Westheimer Road
A hardware store celebrating its 70th Anniversary in Houston
7. Best Place to Pick Up Groceries
- HEB ON BUFFALO SPEEDWAY: 5225 Buffalo Speedway
"Here Everything's Better" — a supermarket chain in Texas and Louisiana
8. Best Place to Buy Flowers
- RIVER OAKS PLANT HOUSE: 3401 Westheimer Road
Florist and garden center
9. Best Neighborhood Park
- LEVY PARK: 3801 Eastside
Near Richmond Boulevard in the Greenway Plaza area
10. Best Spot to Take Visitors
- URBAN HARVEST FARMERS MARKET: 2311 Canal Street
"A local charitable organization supporting a network of urban gardens, farms and orchards"
Photos: Erin
Thanks, Erin!
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Comments (15)
Love to see more Texas! Go Owls.
i have SO MUCH LOVE for heb. i live around alamo heights in san an antonio where there's also a cute heb. it has a tree growing inside it, which emerges from the top of the store through the roof! san antonio also has a "deco" heb in the deco district, but the only thing exciting about it is the deco-esque sign
Finally, it's nice to see more of Houston on the blog.
Erin, you live in Greenway Plaza and don't go to Tuscany Coffee?? They have the best coffee in Houston, bar none.
mdorothy, I will definitely check out Tuscany. I've never been and it's right around the corner! I've got a few favorite coffee spots. I absolutely love Anecdote in the Heights but it's not exactly in my hood. I'm partial to Brasil, great location and atmosphere. Inversion on Montrose is pretty good too.
My favorite resale shop The Guild Shop is just down Dunlavy. I wish I could find one like it in Austin.
haha I live across the street from Brasil and Domy! I would not call that Greenway Plaza but am so happy to see places where I spend A LOT of time on AT!
So funny. I was just telling someone who will be visiting Houston this weekend about this area today.
Nice to see Houston represented, even though I rarely get to this area anymore since my friend moved out of it (I live in the suburbs). It is nice to occasionally walk around the Montrose area, but I wouldn't do it regularly. It was 91 the last couple days and that's nothing compared to summer.
This area also has a some architectural significance in Houston. Washington D.C. architect Charles A. Goodman master planned it, and local and well-known modernist Harwood Taylor designed several really neat commercial MCMs along Richmond St.
I work in Upper Kirby just East of Greenway and West of Montrose (between some of these spots listed), which has lots of good local flavors like Hobbit Cafe and Tierra Caliente (arguably the best taco truck in H-Town) not to mention great design shops like the Kuhl and Linscomb complex.
If Houston is featured again, I hope the Heights or Montrose (where I live) is next! You could go on for 10 posts about those neighborhoods!
This is timely. I'm currently apartment hunting in the Greenway Plaza area :-)
How do you like Metropole?
Yea! Go Houston! Sunset Settings is a great store! Thats where my LCW is from. The shop owner is a very nice lady. Also LOVE HEB! The only grocery store to shop at! :-) I live in the Historic "Woodlands Heights" area which I really love. There are tons of shops and restaurants. Maybe someone will showcase the Heights one day. :-)
I'm glad to see Houston featured in an AT article; but I have to say that Cafe Brasil, Sunset Settings,Taxi Taxi, Domy & Sloan Hall are not in the Greenway Plaza area. Might have been more accurate to call this article "Cool Places to See Inside the Loop". ( In which case I would add the Menil Collection/Menil Park/Rothko Chapel & The Station Museum on Alabama.)
Gemmine, I really like the Metropole. I think they have fairly reasonable prices. I love our loft! It is basically all windows :) They just changed management companies so it's getting even better. And there is a complimentary concierge that will take you out and pick you up!
mirandajane & Malala, Yes, I realize some of the spots I mentioned aren't exactly Greenway Plaza, but they are only a few blocks away. The lines between Greenway, Montrose, River Oaks, and Upper Kirby are kind of blurred in my opinion. I've lived all over these places the past few years, so please excuse my indiscretion.
It's good to see something local here. We still haven't made it over to the farmer's market yet. We live east of downtown but go over to greenway for costco.