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Memorial Drive begins its life in downtown Houston as Prairie Street, dipping gently out from town and into the lush greenery of Buffalo Bayou and the Allen Parkway area. As it flows out from the center of the city, it runs parallel to I-10 and Westheimer, making it an ideal egress for those on the west side of town on days when traffic is particularly hideous on the freeway.
Through Memorial Park, under Loop 610 and past the quiet, tucked-away mansions of the Villages, it winds. From its brief intersection with Voss until you reach Bunker Hill, you would hardly know that you were driving through the heart of a city at all. The road narrows and widens, two lanes to four and then back again to two lanes in a curvaceous path that follows the whims of the bayous surrounding it. Oak and pine trees hang thick overhead, muffling any city noises as you drive. East Egg and West Egg blend together in the dense trees, as a few neighborhoods peek out through the leaves.
From Beltway 8 until its demise at Highway 6, Memorial Drive becomes a much different road, however. And it is this stretch -- Upper Memorial -- down which Houstonist will meander today.
Immediately upon crossing Beltway 8 and heading west down Memorial, you're greeted with a familiar site: a hastily-built McMansion on the corner of the two thoroughfares. It stands empty for now, a spec home waiting for an owner, while silently occupying the lot that once belonged to a older, slightly less impressive yet more solidly built house. These two types of homes dominate the area.
On your left is Memorial Drive United Methodist Church, a quietly impressive church surrounded by Spanish moss-filled oaks that looks much older than it is. Originally built in 1961, the church has steadily grown ever since. The main sanctuary was erected in 1977 but managed to escape the stigma of most 1970s-era architecture and remain stately to this day. Across the street, you can see a trend that has been developing across the city in the past few years. In the repurposed and updated strip mall that once housed a Russian restaurant and pharmacy (and which still strangely retains a TJ Maxx), MDUMC has further expanded their operations to a "secondary campus" for seniors and youth. Houston has a great bounty of both churches and unoccupied strip malls, which some churches have used to their advantage. Tallowood Baptist, a few blocks east, has in fact repurposed an entire strip mall, a Circuit City and a community theatre (on certain days only) for their congregation's needs.
As you continue east, on your left is a hidden gem that is often overlooked by even longtime residents: The Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary, run by the Houston Audubon Society. Often referred to as simply "the bird sanctuary," this 17-and-a-half acre nature preserve offers several miles of simple, quiet trails with beautiful views that run along Rummel Creek. Open from dusk to dawn, every day of the year, the bird sanctuary is an ideal place to get away from it all without having to drive very far out of town. If you have young children or are simply an amateur birdwatcher, you can print out a list of the sanctuary's resident birds and take it along with you as a checklist. The entrance to the sanctuary can be difficult to find, however: turn left onto Wilchester if you're headed west on Memorial. The entrance is just past the first house on your left. Once you see the log cabin, you've arrived.
Continuing down Memorial past Wilcrest, you'll see a blue awning to your right. In this unassuming location is one of the best French restaurants in town: Bistro Provence. Owned and operated by second-generaton French restauranteur Jean-Phillipe Guy (son of Georges Guy, of the late-lamented Chez Georges), this extremely popular restaurant fills up very quickly every day. There is limited seating outside and only a handful of tables inside, which share the space with an open kitchen and enormous brick oven. Jean-Phillipe is on-hand most days, moving deftly between the kitchen and the tables as he greets guests and delivers food. The cuisine isn't quite authentically French, but it's as close as you'll get in Houston. The andouilletes, the pate, the bouillabaise, the mussels, the wine -- all combine to create a wonderful dining experience that's best enjoyed at a leisurely pace with a few friends and a long evening.
Our trip continues after the jump...
Crossing Kirkwood, a street which once ended its southern pathway at this intersection only to start back up again in a new ZIP code further south, you will approach a tiny parking lot with two fantastic spots for the early birds and the night owls. For those early birds, Olde Towne Kolaches is a tiny Houston chain serving not only outstanding kolaches, but also breakfast tacos, cinnamon rolls and lunchtime sandwiches on their sweet kolache dough. Their award-winning fruit kolaches aren't to be missed, with authentic Czech fillings such as poppyseed and apricot, and their meat kolache selection has recently expanded to include beef and chicken fajita kolaches. Not exactly traditional, but delicious nonetheless.
For night owls, there's the superbly hidden treasure that is The Shakespeare Pub, which is tucked away behind Olde Towne Kolaches. The decidedly ramshackle exterior and deceptively literary name mask one of the greatest blues and zydeco bars in town. The pub's motto is "She ain't pretty, but she's got soul," and true to their motto they offer live, soulful music six nights a week. Every Friday evening, Shakespeare has a happy hour featuring Brazilian jazz music by local duo Double Coyote. On Sunday nights, they have an open mic blues jam for anyone who wants to let out their inner Muddy Waters or Bonnie Raitt. In addition to their regular music lineup, Shakespeare also pours a cheap but good pint and offers free Wi-Fi to all their customers.
As we continue down Memorial, past the Kendall Branch of the Houston Public Library, we come to Liebman's Wine and Fine Foods. After the original Liebman's (located a few blocks away) burned down several years ago, the owners constructed a brand-new freestanding store to house their handpicked deli and speciality food items. The result is a fantastic selection of wines, meats, cheeses, coffees, chocolates, gourmet gifts and other foodie delights in a beautiful store that now offers outdoor seating to go along with their eat-in (or take out) deli. They're purported to have the best Reuben sandwiches in town, but you'll just have to visit them and decide that for yourself.
Located almost directly across the street in one of the many 1970s era strip malls that dominate this stretch of Memorial is the Blue Willow Bookshop, one of Houston's few remaining independent booksellers. More than just a simple bookstore, Blue Willow provides a sense of community and a very knowledgeable staff who stock a small but potent selection of books. For kids, there are free weekly Gamemeisters events and storytimes. They also manage to bring in authors that most other bookstores would kill to have. This week saw Lauren Weisberger, author of bestselling The Devil Wears Prada, in the store for a signing. In coming weeks they'll welcome authors Sarah Bird and Kara McLaren. The bookstore also hosts some of the most hilarious and enjoyable midnight book release parties around.
Crossing Dairy Ashford as we head further west, we cross a silent line into Houston's Energy Corridor. At the corner of Memorial and Eldridge stands the headquarters for McDermott International, a landmark for the entrance into the oil and gas territory that fuels Houston's economy. A few yards away lies one of the many entrances and trailheads to the immense but mostly hidden Hershey Park. This entrance off Memorial offers a large playground, runners showers, a massive sundial and stationary workout equipment in addition to the trails.
The corporate headquarters of so many energy titans tower over the park and the its surrounding neighborhoods with their manicured lawns and lush yards -- a stark contrast to the desolate oil rigs and stark, dirty field operations that finance the companies. BP America's headquarters sit a little further west still, in an office park dotted with duck-filled lakes, cozy benches and shady trees. At one of the lakes, a large venue of vultures has taken up permanent residence and sits ominously, darkly outside the buildings like larger cousins of Poe's raven.
With only a few blocks left to go before its eventual terminus, Memorial Drive plays host to yet more neighborhoods and gated communities of the old-school Kickerillo variety. Here, Cafe Benedicte provides this western portion of Memorial with a lively place to spend an evening surrounded by friends and endless bottles of good wine, although their food is not among the best in the city.
Memorial dead ends into Highway 6 a few blocks later, bluntly dumping cars into a no-man's-land of noisy highway bordered by Addicks Reservoir on one side and rundown strip malls, grotty bars and vulgar "spas" as far as the eye can see on the other. It's an abrupt end to a pleasant and green stretch of road, and a brutal reminder of what Houston can be at its worst.
Houstonist hopes you've enjoyed this trip down the less-traveled portion Memorial Drive. If so, stay tuned: Next time on Urbanist, we'll be hitting a spot a bit further into the city. Until then!
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I had no idea there was a bird sanctuary out there!! Very cool. Thanks for the great info.
good writeup and enjoyable read. ive seen most of those places but never stopped in. i think i will now.
Great article! If we ever venture out that far, we'll definitely check out Bistro Provence since we're suckers for French food (heading to Le Mistral tonight based on the write up from the Fearless Critic).
If you're heading out to Le Mistral tonight, then you're actually going to be quite a bit further out of town than if you went to Bistro Provence. The Bistro is closer in, at Memorial just past Wilcrest.
Le Mistral = OMFG. I love that place soooooo much. There just aren't words for how much I love it. I think you'll love it, too!
Excellent article!!
I just love Bistro Provence and it's quaintness...the food is fabulous, too.
And Leibman's has been a mainstay for Christmas presents for years (before their other location burned several years ago).
I love driving visitors down Memorial Drive and dispelling their preconceived notions of how "ugly" Houston is. This is truly one of the most beautiful drives in the country.
Thanks for this great article. I love finding out about all the little hidden places I didn't know about. The bird sanctuary is definitely on my list now.
Katharine,
Great post. Rich in detail and fun to read. Man, I wish I could write like that.
I don't know this area very well at all, but Terry Hershey Park is a gem, that's for certain. I had no idea there was so much in between! Brava!