Fall is finally here!
We all know that fall is more an idea that a reality here in Houston, but that doesn’t stop us from trying. Pumpkin patches, pumpkin spice lattes, and the occasional crisp autumn day, embrace it all this autumn in Houston! [Featured image: @bryanmalloch]
1-3. Experience Magical Candlelight Concerts
Experience a magical spring here in Houston thanks to the amazing indoor and outdoor venues the city has to offer. Luckily, Fever Originals has brought its popular Candlelight concert series to beautiful venues for the season with concerts that include:
- Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics at The Bell Tower on 34th
- Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics at The Lone Star Flight Museum
4. Dine in the Dark
Ever wondered what it is like to eat in the dark? Eminent psychologists have been advocating dining in the dark as the ultimate taste experience for many years. Studies show that 80 percent of people eat with their eyes; with that sense eliminated, the theory is that the other senses—namely taste and smell—take over to elevate your meal to a whole new level. After donning your blindfold in the darkened, candlelit room, you’ll soon realise that focusing on taste and smell alone can be a truly enlightening experience—provided you’re not afraid of the dark!
5-6. Watch A Scary Movie
Nothing says “Halloween” like watching a movie that will prevent you from sleeping for a week. Thankfully there are plenty of places in Houston where you can see such films in the company of a crowd, you know, strength in numbers.
- Rooftop Cinema Club of Houston is conjuring up a special batch of movies that will give you the heebie jeebies – the good kind.
- Located at Midway’s 150-acre East River development on 100 Bringhurst St., Moonstruck Drive-In screens a variety of 4K features on a 80 x 40-foot screen with a stunning skyline backdrop.
7. Experience Eternity at this Breathtaking Infinity Room Exhibition
To describe the glimmering works of Yayoi Kusama as “iconic” almost sounds like a disservice. Nothing less than mesmerizing, her kaleidoscopic infinity rooms have enchanted the world over, leaving those who’ve entered breathless, and those who’ve seen them secondhand taken with envy.
Now, Houstonians can experience the indescribable as MFAH becomes the new home of Kusama’s Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity.
8. Stroll through Houston’s Very Best Pumpkin Patches
Is there anything more representative of the fall season (outside leaves) than the pumpkin? Whether it’s sipping on a pumpkin spice late, digging into pumpkin pie, or re-reading instructions on how to properly carve a jack-o-lantern, the pumpkin is (literally, in the latter case) the face of autumn. Get your hands on one of your own at one of these bountiful pumpkin patches around Houston!
9. Breathtaking Places To See Fall Foliage In Texas
Let’s be real, the only way you can see fall colors in Houston is through filters and photoshop. Those that seek the upmost fall experience with breathtaking sights of blazen, changing leaves, will have to take their PSL to-go on a state-bound road trip. Here are the 10 best places in Texas to see fall foliage.
10. Roll into this Mini-Golf Cocktail Bar
With 23,000-square-foot to play with, Puttery will comprise four themed mini golf courses across two levels in addition to multiple bars. Despite it’s exciting design, Puttery aims to be recognized for its speciality cocktails and chef driven menu as much as it’s elegant putting courses. Whether you’re eating or playing, a delectable food and beverage program with shareable plates and craft cocktails aims to tempt people in regardless of whether they plan for some light competition or not.
11. Scream at the Largest Horror Amusement Park In Texas
Houston Scream Fest, billed as the largest haunted amusement park in Texas, is coming back to life this October. The park is plagued with multiple haunted houses, a carnival-style midway, a zombie paintball course, live concerts, big screen horror movies, eats, and (free!) drinks Pre-sale tickets are now available at $10.
12. Fly into the Witch Market
Thorn and Moon’s Magickal Market is an enchanting monthly bizarre, a covent of charming vendors, witchcrafted goods, and occult oddities all (spell)bound together in one wickedly sweet atmosphere. The market takes place on the first Saturday every month, which in October, lands on the second!
13. Boo on the Boardwalk
Boo on the Boardwalk is back for another year and promises a bag of treats for all ages. On weekends throughout October, the Kemah Boardwalk will feature themed nights full of Halloween fun activities. Whether you shriek by for Freaky Fridays, Scary Saturdays, or Spooky Sundays, you’ll be in for a hauntingly good time, with live music, magic shows, and festive entertainment.
14. Go On a Daring Journey Of The Most Haunted Places In Texas
Gather around the campfire, folks, for Halloween season is here. Ushering in the celebration of all that is spooky, we’ve compiled a list of the most haunted places in and around Houston as well as the grim tales that beseech them.
15. Have Second Breakfast at the Hobbit Cafe
You don’t have to journey all the way out to Mordor to enliven your Tolkien-esque fantasies. Here in Houston, just southwest of Montrose is The Hobbit Café. Since 1972, the café has served all the hobbits, elves, wizards, and dwarves the best food Middle Earth, Houston has to offer.
16. Dance All Night at this Twin Peaks Nightclub
The public can now see what’s behind the red curtains at the new, Lynchian-inspired nightclub, Cherry. The darkly lavish new nightclub is a concept from Hospitable Viking the group behind The Commoner + The boulevardier, Rosemont, and the 006 Bar. It’s set in the two-story space formerly occupied by the Nightingale Room – which is rather appropriate all considering.
17-21. Cozy Up at Houston’s Best Coffee Shops
Thankfully, there are plenty of coffee houses scattered about the city for residents to take refuge, re-energize, and maybe eat a scone or two.
- Rev up your mornings at the motorcycle and coffee garage.
- Secret Garden offers various international coffees with options in the form of Vietnamese, Greek Espresso, Greek Freddo Cappuccino, Turkish Coffee, and more.
- Husband-and-wife caffeine team, Manuel and Martha Gil, have recently opened Segundo Lab inside Ironworks near downtown, bringing rich, creative java flavors to the Second Ward.
22. Celebrate Oktoberfest
King Bier Haus in The Heights is a gorgeous indoor and outdoor beer garden punctuated with twinkly lights, luscious accents, and woodland furniture in the heart of Houston’s hottest neighborhoods. This also one of the few places in town that you can find top notch German beer and cuisine. Here, you can fill your flagons from any number of lagers, weissbiers, hefeweizens, and dunkels.
Oktoberfest at King’s Bier Haus takes place from October 14 – 16 with massive tents, live German music, exclusive themed beers, competitions, and much more. Find tickets here.
23. Visit The Hidden Castle in Texas
A short drive outside of Houston in the small town of Bellville Texas lies a medieval castle equipped with a 3,000-pound drawbridge, moat, and a knightly guest quarters.
24. Embrace Everything Pumpkin
Beyond the Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts of the world, awaits a cornucopia of local bakeries, restaurants, and coffee shops that know how to enrich your autumn experience in Houston with all the season’s best flavors. (Trick or) treat yourself to 10 of our favorite spots to get fall treats in the city!
25-29. Sweeten Up at a Speakeasy
There’s something special about speakeasies. The secretive, vicarious forbidden feel of transporting back to the prohibition make imbibing cocktails all the more tantalizing. Stow away in wonderful hidden bars that Houston has to offer!
- So Clutch, the owners of the Concrete Cowboy, Clutch Bar, and a host of establishments in other US cities, opened the doors of the Sugar Room on Washington Avenue. The cocktail lounge hidden inside a local bakery features a glamorous selection of drinks as well as tasty treats.
- Tucked away in the corner of Cantina Barba’s back patio is a scanty, nondescript, somewhat rusty container. The door on which advertises “Mijo’s Mezcal Bar” – which, to our knowledge, lays the smallest bar in Houston.
- Relive the ’20s and all of its splendor at the Daisy Buchanan Lounge, from the group behind Gatsby’s Prime Steakhouse. The flashy new 52-seat lounge, located at what was once Bar Victor on 4321 Montrose Blvd, is made in the image of the era infamously captured in Scott F. Fitzgerald’s masterpiece, The Great Gatsby.
30. Unwind Inside This Cozy Beer And Wine Bus
Parked on Montrose Blvd., Bacco Wine Garden is an intimate, fire-lit, two-story bar and patio that serves wine, beer, and an assortment of Italian comfort food. Beyond the wraparound balcony, there lies a dazzling wine and beer bus for patrons to share an even more intimate experience.
31-33. Hit the Dive Scene
Houston thankfully has plenty of places to take shelter in a flurry of rain: whether to escape the weather, shoot a round of pool, grab a cheap beer, or to play a song on a jukebox, consult this list to discover where to go.
- Those who leave up their festive decorations year round, like the people over at Grand Prize Bar, are complete freaking lunatics – and we love them for it.
- La Carafe Wine Bar is a historic haunt housed in a building that’s stood for over a century and remains to be the oldest in the city of Houston.
34-35. Or, Hit a Patio Bar
One surefire way to capitalize on the weekend, weekday, weeknight – really just any time – is to have a couple drinks amongst friends in the open air of a patio. Get out and about this season at some of our favorite watering holes in town
- Nestled on 1239 W 19th St. among a familiar crowd of patio bars – Preslee’s, McIntyre’s Heights, and Bungalow Heights– is a newcomer known as Moonshine Deck, a throwback Americana-inspired bar and kitchen with moonshine and whiskey to boot.
36. Transport Yourself To Madrid at this Clubby Restaurant
If you’re looking for a taste of Spanish cuisine, with the sight, sound, and feel of Madrilenian nightlife, MAD Houston is your ticket.
37. Saunter Through Houston’s Fresh New Market
Railway Heights is now open on Washington with two stories of vibrant businesses, food stalls, local vendors, and an art gallery on the second floor.
38. Get Medieval at Ren Fest
The 48th Annual Texas Renaissance Festival, the largest renaissance festival in the nation, returns to Texas this October with a kingdom of entertainment for the whole family.
Every year since 1974 the town of Todd Mission travels back to the 16th century, becoming a bustling village filled to the brim with stages, shops, artisans, vendors, and no shortage of characters – from kings, queens, and knights, to fairies and elven-kind. It’s annual attendance clocks in around 500,000 visitors – making it the Nation’s Largest Renaissance Festival.
39. Elevate Your Lifestyle at these Houston Rooftop Bars
Nothing quite says “living the highlife” like clinking glasses on a city rooftop. Touch the sky this season with a brunch, evening, or nightcap on the most jaw-dropping rooftops in Houston.
40-47. Eat Your Heart Out
Houston’s culinary scene is a vast, rich landscape populated with delicious eateries, scrumptious bakeries, and Tex-Mex as far as the eye can see.
- Whether it’s a classic Neapolitan-style Margherita, a traffic cone-sized slice, or some warped creation piled high with everything and the kitchen sink – we don’t discriminate when it comes to pizza. Any way you slice it, here’s 10 of the best pizza parlors in the Houston area!
- Not all buffets are created equal. When seeking out a local in which to stock up on calories to last you the winter hibernation, we recommend heading to one of our 10 favorite all-you-can-eat buffets in Houston.
- Whataburger, Taco Bell, McDonald’s – the usual suspects when it comes to late-night munchies. Sometimes, though, you got to broaden your horizons, especially when a glorious late-night food scene of delis, pizzerias, taquerias await in the city of Houston.
- Hot, cold, rain, or shine, ice cream is a good call on any day. Here’s the scoop on where to find the best ice cream in Houston
- Like breakfast tacos, kolaches are synonymous with breakfast in Texas. Savory, comfortable, portable – perfect for an on-the-go breakfast, or bought-by-the-dozen hangover cure. Unlike similar handheld breakfast staples such as donuts, bagels, and croissants, it’s not so easy finding kolaches outside of Texas. We’d probably travel more if you could, but for now, we’ll stay here in Houston with our favorite comfort breakfast food on the go.
- Grab a cup of coffee and a slice of pie at our favorite diners in Houston
48-49. Glamp In The Stars
New resident Texan, Elon Musk, promises that humans will land on Mars by 2026. If you can’t wait that long, you can spend a few nights at Basecamp Terlingua, an other-worldly glamping experience that integrates the future with the past, giving its visitors the impression of luxury camping in the cosmos.
- Horizon on the Hill in Marble Falls is a wedding venue like none other. The countryside venue offers sweeping views of the surrounding countryside, a majestic look over Lake LBJ and Lake Marble Falls, and a dazzling stardome that acquaints visitors with a magical view of the constellations.
50. Check Out all the Fun Happening at Discovery Green
It’s sure hot right now, but this summer heat – and summer as a whole – will be over before we know it. In anticipation of cooler pastures, Discovery Green has announced its fall program including the return of Scream On The Green, Dia de los Muertos, and other seasonal favorites!