Houstonist loves sushi. Actually, that might be an understatement. If Houstonist could marry sushi (or make it our domestic partner), we would. And we'd have adorable little sushi babies and live wasabily ever after. So when a new sushi restaurant opened up just down the street from our office, we were ecstatic. There is a troubling dearth of good sushi restaurants on the west side of town, with the sole exception of Sushi Jin,......

Soon, there will be one more reason to be jealous of your friends who live in Midtown (aside from easy light rail access and The Big Top): Crave Sushi. Word from HAIF is that a new sushi restaurant is being built on Travis at Tuam, to fill the void in the underserved sushi market in Midtown. Crave Sushi is scheduled to open in December of this year, just in time for the weather to be......

Pack your bags, grab your passport, check your visa. We're taking you outside the loop for a taste of Japan, folks. Houstonist, on the wise recommendation of the Fearless Critic, recently made the trek out to Westheimer and Fondren to dine at Sasaki. The restaurant is incognito in a dumpy strip center, nestled right next to your typical shady cell phone store, an insurance office and a hair salon (with 100% real human hair extensions!).......

A recent phone conversation with Houstonist's doctor went like this: Doctor: Houstonist, your tests came back and everything looks great except for your cholesterol. Houstonist: Cholesterol? Really? Doctor: I'm not sure how much you know about cholesterol levels, but what we're shooting for is under 200. Yours is 250. As you can imagine, this has major ramifications, especially for someone like you. Heart disease is the number one killer of women. . . . .......

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: If you're still in the Halloween mood, after all that blood red jell-o shot slurping and blacklight body paint application, hit the Lawndale Center's (4912 Main St.) retablo exhibit. Doors close at 5pm, which gives you plenty of time to nosh on some......

Houstonist first went to Ra for what we hoped would be a nice sushi dinner. We ordered a meal of nigiri, sashimi, sushi rolls and nabeyaki udon. For all the hype and fanfare, we were not only disappointed, we were actually angry. The fish was flavorless and overpriced. The Udon? More like U-don't. Since when did noodles and vegetables in boiling water cost $12.75? We've never had hot green tea taste like they used the......

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: Fight the Monday blues with booze, munchies and beats. Hit Berryhill Tamales all over the city for cheap-o specials (like $2 fish tacos in Montrose and free tamales with bar drinks in River Oaks). After you've devoured your share, head over to Brasil......

Steel Lounge Underground Music Series at CAMH Well, we hope you all survived the storm of the century last night. Even if you did, looks like the labor day weekend's gonna be more of the same. Guess we should just chalk this whole summer up. Here's to a sunny 2008 summer! Of course, really the only event worth going to tonight is our Houston's B-day Pub Crawl Downtown, but of course that wouldn't be fair......

It would if it were Christmas in July, right? Or at least the temps might climb down to a mild 75? See what the air is like at the Contemporary Arts Museum tonight, where ArtsHouston sponsors Steel Lounge Underground. Instead of carols, there will be DJs Majora y Minora in from Austin, spinning electro, disco, techno, house, and all other forms of I.B.M. (Intelligent Booty Music). And for holiday fare: free sushi and veggie......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Is that a magic wand in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Yeah, that innuendo doesn’t really work on chicks. Dilettante will forgive you because I assume you’re caught up in Harry Potter fever. Not to be confused with Welcome Back Kotter fever, which died out years ago. I didn’t know they were still teaching kids how to read,......

Most of the Missed Connections this week were such a treat. Some folks want to score at the Astros game while some lady parts are on display. And, bacon was stolen. Mmm, bacon. Sir. Noble Douche Bag the 3rd - w4m a gentle haiku-just for you: Our bikes you dun stole I hope that it cost yer soul To work we- can't roll.... you suck hope you get a wicked crotch rash and teased......

Most people know that sushi and seafood are never fresh on Mondays. Many restaurants don’t get their shipments in until Tuesday and/or Thursday so the seafood you eat on Monday is likely to be the weekend’s leftovers. Against our moral fiber, we headed to Sushi King (3401 Kirby Dr) on Monday with every intention of ordering their delicious Nabeyaki Udon soup. Then we broke down and ordered some sushi. Our server informed us that they......

Why don't other restaurants pick up on this idea? Get people in early not only for the drinks, but for lower priced food as well? It works on us every time. Houstonist has been making the rounds to a few of the local Sushi Happy hours (mainly down Kirby), and thinks that you could gain a little something from some of our quick roundups, impressions, and thoughts. Note: we have not been to them all,......

Good morning, Houston. Has it been a crazy week for you? It kind of has for us — but really, we got nothing compared with what happened in the custody hearing for Anna Nicole Smith's body and daughter in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., yesterday. By all accounts, it was a circus (what else would you expect?), and Judge Larry Seidlin did his best to keep it all under control. Seidlin said Smith's body will remain......

I was wondering if you could do a round up of restaurants that will be open on Thanksgiving for we few freaks who will not be spending time with friends and/or family. You would know this better than a recent transplant like my(sorry)self. Hey, just because you're not able to spend time with friends and family on Thanksgiving doesn't make you a freak — it's what you do while you're away from your loved......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Western Gulf. It's Friday, which means it's time to head over to Post Midtown for some seafood and sushi. Here's a nice shot of cars driving through the area (probably at 50 mph and dodging peds, as has been our experience). If you're in the neighborhood be sure to check out Fish or This Is It, Soul Food. If you've got a camera, and you......

After months of anticipation — or was that construction? — RA Sushi finally opened its doors this weekend with private parties Friday and Saturday. The sushi restaurant/lounge's first Texas location is above West Elm in Highland Village; RA already has restaurants in San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tuscon, Chicago and Palm Beach. So here's what to expect after you climb the custom wood spiral staircase (ladies in heels, don't worry: there's an elevator): Menu RA......