Category Archives: Food, glorious food

Beer gardens get jerked around

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

First, we had this. Saint Arnold Brewing announced Monday that it will temporarily close its beer garden and restaurant. The reason? Gov. Greg Abbott’s office ruled it is a bar, not a restaurant, and therefore should close according to the … Continue reading →

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Wineries and distilleries

Posted on July 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m happy to keep beating this drum, but I’d really rather not have to. The owners and patrons of Ironroot Republic Distillery in Denison hardly consider the business to be a bar in the traditional sense. There’s no loud music … Continue reading →

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Give the bars a break

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I’m OK with this. The Texas Restaurant Association has asked Gov. Greg Abbott to revise the definitions of “bar” in his recent order closing drinking establishments in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases. In a letter to the governor, … Continue reading →

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The pause effect on bars and restaurants

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I feel terrible for them, but what could we do at this point? Ed Noyes was trying to get some shut-eye when he woke up to seven different texts Friday morning. Three of the five bartenders at his Fort Worth … Continue reading →

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It’s really hard out there on the restaurants

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I feel for them, but none of this is unsurprising. Celebrating her birthday in Galveston, Melinda Prince walked out of Yaga’s Cafe on Thursday full of coconut shrimp. What she didn’t realize was one of the employees at the restaurant … Continue reading →

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One good thing that may come out of all this

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

We may get to keep booze to go sales. On Twitter Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott suggested to-go alcohol sales should be made available in Texas past the coronavirus pandemic. Texas restaurants will be allowed to open for dine-in Friday under … Continue reading →

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More on coronavirus and meat processing

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From the Trib: To understand powerlessness in a pandemic, trace a northbound path from Amarillo up State Highway 87. Not too far shy of the border where Texas meets Oklahoma lies Moore County. There are few easy ways to make … Continue reading →

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Coronavirus and meat processing

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

In the Panhandle: State health officials confirmed Tuesday that they are investigating an outbreak of the new coronavirus at the JBS Beef packing plant in the Texas Panhandle, part of ongoing efforts to monitor major meat processing plants as the … Continue reading →

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The local plea to reopen

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

I have a lot of sympathy, but I don’t think this is a great idea. A coalition of 350 local businesses is urging Mayor Sylvester Turner and County Judge Lina Hidalgo to begin May 1 to ease stay-at-home restrictions meant … Continue reading →

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Coronavirus and beer

Posted on April 9, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Houston’s craft breweries are adjusting to life with closed taprooms and beer-to-go sales. The team at Saint Arnold Brewing sat down to taste some test beers one Wednesday morning, as its members do when they work on new releases. But … Continue reading →

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Three cheers for grocery store workers

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

They deserve them, and more. They are the friendly cashiers, the helpful baggers, the essential stockers and warehouse workers. The receivers who unload the delivery trucks, the personal shoppers who fulfill online orders and the teenagers who haul back all … Continue reading →

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Worrying about the restaurants

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Alison Cook laments the potential fate for her favorite part of Houston. Depending on local or state strictures, to help stem the spread of Covid-19 restaurants in most major markets would be able to provide takeout, drive-thru or delivery rations … Continue reading →

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Nuro set to roll out

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not, here they come. Self-driving delivery vehicles that carry no humans will hit Houston roads next month. Nuro, a San Francisco technology company, is planning to deploy its next-generation autonomous delivery vehicles in Houston after receiving federal approval. … Continue reading →

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Oh God, I have to mention Tony Buzbee again

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

There goes one New Year’s resolution. There is a plate of crawfish on the table in front of Tony Buzbee, who has substituted his jeans-and-jacket campaign garb for a baby blue sweatshirt and Texas A&M baseball cap. The setting: Crawfish … Continue reading →

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Beer to go is here

Posted on September 3, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Hooray! The highly anticipated beer-to-go legislation officially [went] into effect Sunday, and local breweries [celebrated] the occasion by offering up cans, growlers and crowlers of beer for visitors to bring home — a simple act that has been illegal in … Continue reading →

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Biking and breweries

Posted on July 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Actually, this makes perfect sense. This started off in the gray area between a good idea and a bad one. Two years ago, Jason Buhlman and Brian Kondrach got about 30 of their friends together for an afternoon of two-wheel … Continue reading →

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Here comes the driverless pizza delivery vehicle

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Gotta admit, this has me scratching my head. There goes another high schooler’s job: Domino’s Pizza Inc. plans to test unmanned pizza delivery in Houston later this year. The chain, known as a technology leader in the restaurant industry, is … Continue reading →

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Whata lot of angst

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve lived in Texas a long time, but I wasn’t born here. As such, news like this doesn’t hit me the way it hits some other folks. Chicago-based BDT Capital Partners said Friday it’s agreed to acquire a majority stake … Continue reading →

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Saint Arnold’s silver anniversary

Posted on May 31, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

A very happy anniversary to them. There is nothing particularly unique about the start-up story behind Saint Arnold. [Founder Brock] Wagner, 54, had been working as an investment banker when he decided to chuck the suit and tie and try … Continue reading →

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Pickle ’em if you got ’em

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

A victory for home foodies. In a victory for home cooks across Texas, the Legislature has expanded the state’s definition of the word “pickle,” allowing for pickled beets, carrots and other produce to be easily sold at farmers’ markets alongside … Continue reading →

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A beer truce is declared

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Well, glory be. Beer brewers and distributors and have been battling for years over what can be bought and sold at breweries across Texas. This week, two key groups in the fight finally signed a truce. The Texas Craft Brewers … Continue reading →

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Is the craft brewing business in a slowdown?

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Item one. Alluring as those wide-open skies and rugged vistas may be, the hardscrabble life in West Texas can be unforgiving. And so it was last year for the region’s popular and award-winning craft brewer, Big Bend Brewing Co., despite … Continue reading →

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A switch to cider

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Some craft brewing news of note. The taps, they are a-changin’ at Town in City Brewery, where owner Justin Engle has decided to pause beer brewing and focus instead on creating hard cider. The folks at Town in City began … Continue reading →

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Our increasingly non-dry state

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

There are now only five counties in Texas where you can’t buy alcohol. On Election Day in Stanton, just north of Midland, Ron Black was skeptical that a particular measure on the ballot would pass. “Well, I think at first … Continue reading →

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Whatabout that styrofoam?

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Texas’ favorite fast food chain is being asked to make changes to how it serves its food. Activists are pressuring San Antonio-based Whataburger to end its use of foam cups and containers in favor of materials friendlier to the environment. … Continue reading →

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Beer for dogs

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

We live in strange but wondrous times. When Megan and Steve Long tell friends and customers about their newest venture, Good Boy Dog Beer, more often than not, they’re met with the same three questions. One: Is it really for … Continue reading →

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Have a Coke and a toke

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Dude. Aurora Cannabis Inc. led pot stocks higher after Coca-Cola Co. said it’s eyeing the cannabis drinks market, becoming the latest beverage company to tap into surging demand for marijuana products as traditional sales slow. Coca-Cola says it’s monitoring the … Continue reading →

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The beer boom continues

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Raise a glass. There were a dozen craft breweries across the Houston metro before 2013, and that seemed like a lot at the time. Now, there are 52. The new breweries have added 344,487 square feet of industrial space — … Continue reading →

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Algae farms

Posted on July 22, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Food for the future. Inside a high-tech lab in a modular building in the West Texas desert here, a young scientist peered through a microscope at a slide of live and multiplying algae. She was on the prowl for “grazers,” … Continue reading →

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Beer delivered to your home

Posted on July 13, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Who needs groceries, am I right? Favor, founded in Austin in 2013, prides itself in delivering almost anything in under an hour. But until now, beer and wine — long the No. 1 request from customers — was among the … Continue reading →

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Back to the barbecue battle

Posted on July 10, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Once again, Sid Miller makes us pay attention to something we shouldn’t have to. Texas’ barbecue culture is sacred. But some pitmasters are catching heat from a former rodeo cowboy overseeing the state Department of Agriculture. Commissioner Sid Miller is … Continue reading →

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Paxton versus Miller on barbecue

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Just embrace the fact that this is the world we live in. A nonbinding opinion issued Monday by Attorney General Ken Paxton continues a battle between lawmakers, restaurants and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller over regulation of scales used to measure … Continue reading →

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Oh, no, Shipley’s

Posted on March 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Disgusting. Three former Shipley Do-Nuts employees are suing the company’s owner for allegedly groping them and making racist remarks, accusations that are consistent with a bevy of civil rights lawsuits filed by former workers since 2004. The women claim that … Continue reading →

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Microbreweries organize again

Posted on January 27, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

About time. Craft brewers are asking beer fans to put their money where their thirst is. Six weeks before state primary elections, the Texas Craft Brewers Guild on Monday launched a political action committee to raise money and awareness to … Continue reading →

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