Meet the team
There’s a lot to love about Houston. The crazy place sneaks up on you. You begin to understand it, and you start to care. Other places seem boring — homogenous, clichéd, set in their smug ways. “Houston gets in your blood,” the old joke goes, “like malaria.” Every day, you’ll hear from the team highlighting what makes this beautiful, complex city we call home just a little bit better. Get in touch with us at houston@citycast.fm.
Where I’d take you to eat in Houston:
Aga's Restaurant! My go-to order would be the paneer makhani, chicken kabab white karahi, and the halwa puri breakfast on the weekends!
Someone from Houston you should know about:
Everyone should know about the group Khruangbin! Laura Lee, Mark Speer, and Donald "DJ" Johnson Jr. have created a sound that is so unique yet so Texas. I listen to their songs 'So We Wont' Forget' and 'Mariella' at least once a day!
The tourist trap that's actually great:
Not many Houstonians head out to Johnson Space Center, but it truly is great and inspirational. I think every Houstonian should have to take a tour every four years just to remind ourselves why we're called Space City.
Where I’d take you to eat in Houston:
Cafe Caspian, one of my favorite Iranian restaurants in Htown! It’s so beautiful from the inside and they have such a lovely outdoor seating area. Without skipping a beat I’d order for us Kashk -E Bademjan, Koobideh Kabobs (the chicken and beef) and the star of the show: Ghormeh Sabzi!
Someone from Houston you should know about:
Mo Amer is a name everyone should know. His story speaks so well to the refugee and immigrant struggle. To go from completely uprooting your life as a child and coming to a country you’re not familiar with and then working your way up to having your own show on a major streaming platform (Mo on Netflix) is so inspirational .
It’s more personal for me because he comes not just from my community, the Palestinian-American community, but also from my neighborhood, Alief. A neighborhood that is where so many immigrants come and settle.
Carlignon Jones
Producer
A place in Houston hidden gem:
Wild Stallion wine vineyard, it’s something I recently found out about myself.
Where I’d take you to eat in Houston:
Grace’s restaurant and I would order the chicken fried chicken with mac and cheese and mashed potatoes
Someone from Houston you should know about:
Trae tha Truth is a former rapper who does a ton of things for our city and other cities. I picked him because he’s constantly organizing events to help out people in our city.
Brooke Lewis
Newsletter editor
Where I’d take you to eat in Houston:
Escalante’s is my go to Tex-Mex in Houston. My mouth waters just thinking about their guacamole and quesadillas.
Something we do better in Houston than anywhere else:
Help each other out. I have seen it time and time again–whether it’s Hurricane Harvey, a global pandemic, a freeze. Our city comes together when tragedy strikes and it always brings out the best in us.
The tourist trap that’s actually great:
You have to go to the Breakfast Klub and get their chicken and waffles. Even though there’s always a line (even on Monday!), it’s so worth it once you taste the first bite.