Category Archives: Things to Do in Houston

Good [Ethnic] Food: Nigerian & Indian

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While in New York, I was impressed with the diversity of the people around me. There are some amazing culturally authentic pockets tucked away. My adventure buddy, Bukky, had the idea to meet up with some of her family and try out a Nigerian restaurant called the Buka Lounge.  I usually only eat Nigerian food at my house and at Nigerian parties, and I have never been to a Nigerian restaurant. I had been to scared to try Houston’s Fingerlicking restaurant (I have no idea why because I’ve heard mostly good things.)

I ordered: Goat meat pepper soup and a side of akara.

I love my mother’s goat meat pepper soup because it’s the right amount of spice; just enough, not too little. I was pleasantly surprised to find this pepper soup was very similar to my mom’s cooking, only a tad spicier. I had to keep my glass of water near by, but the burning around my lips let me know I was eating authentic Nigerian cuisine.

The akara and the sauce (it wasn’t quite stew) were delicious together.

Here are some other meals at the table:

Great dinner, great company.

————-INDIAN FOOD————

On another day, we tried Indian food. I already love Indian food, so I ordered Tiki Masala with Jasmine rice and a side of Naan bread. Delicious!

Good Eats: In the Big Apple

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My first meal off the airplane was a bbq brisket sandwich in North Carolina. Good stuff. Fried pickles and hush puppoes on the side. Yummm!Detailes about the restaurants to follow.

Top left: The OZ Cross sub. 

Large enough for two meals! The Deli had many subs that crazy names paying homage to celebrities, bands, or other famous people.

I also tried a couple new things while I was here:

#1.Oreo Donut- Dunkin Donuts 

The donut was gooood…for the first 3 bites. After that, I was done. The

#2. Sweet Apple- Arizona

I love Arizona juice! My favorite flavor is Kiwi Strawberry, and Fruit Punch is close second. I saw Sweet Apple and decided to try it out. Big mistake. I had to force myself to swallow the weird pseudo-apple juice. I will stick to my kiwi strawberry. It ain’t ever lied to me.

See, Mommy, I’m nowhere near starving!

Eating Good in the Neighborhood

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I have been sampling all types of cuisine this summer. Strangely enough, as a Houstonian I have had limited exposure to Mexican food. In the month of June, my Mexican food consumption was at an all time high.

Honestly, I can’t remember the names of the restaurants or even the names of the meals. All I remember is that each of them was delicious.

#1.

#2.

#3.

Yes to Mexican food, all the way!

Perhaps I enjoyed myself a little too much this month. My waist beads were fitting a little more snuggly heheh. It’s all good though. I do it for the love of good food.

Project Row Houses

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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go view the Project Row Houses, a collection of historical houses that have been converted into “art exhibits,” so to speak. I had no clue that this historical significant space had been under my nose in Houston this whole time. To read more, check out their website here.

From the outside, all you see are cute little houses lined up on a street. The Project allows several artists to showcase their art in a house. Each house has a different theme and flavor.

House #1

House #2

House #3

House #4

I did not get to view all the houses but I promised that I would share this beautiful art  and life showcase. You should visit, if you can. It’s free of charge and is located on 2521 Holman Street. Houston, TX

Me & some Fellow Teach for America friends

Good Eats: The Grotto

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My friend Soluto had a birthday dinner at The Grotto around the Galleria. He told us to dress to impress, so I paired my classy red dress with some pearls (as seen here).

While we waited for everyone to arrived, we were served an assortment of breads and breadsticks. I’m a big lasagna fan, so I ordered the “Lasagne Al Forne.” I wasn’t too please with the $17 price tag, or the small portion (at least compared to the other dishes that came to the table. I was, however, impressed with the taste! Maybe it was the good company and good conversation, or maybe it was just good lasagna, but I enjoyed my meal. I was surprised to find I was full after the square of lasagna. Perhaps it was all the bread.

At the end of the dinner, before they brought an unsplit check for 25 people (O_o), they brought out a complimentary birthday cheesecake with sparklers. They also sang “Happy Birthday” for him.

Bottom Line: The Grotto has a good ambience (lighting, music, and decor). We had a semi-closed off side room that we shared with one other party. I attach good memories with The Grotto because it was like a mini reunion for my friends and I. The high price plus the small portion size is not ideal for most people. I thought The Grotto’s food was decent (I’ve had better lasagne) but I wanted to give them another chance. I browsed their website and found that they have Happy Hour specials.

Here’s a screenshot of their Happy Hour menu:

I’d recommend The Grotto if you have a full wallet and like a variety of pasta and Italian dishes.

Perks: Free bread, free birthday cake

Drawbacks: price

Good Eats: Grub Squad [Feature]

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Earlier last week, I got the chance to sit down with the Founder of a new food delivery service called “GrubSquad.” Interestingly enough, founder Ogo Ifelayo and I have been family friends for a long time. I had no idea he was sitting on this gold mine of an idea all along.

We met up at Dunn Bros Coffee shop. Check out my “Good Eats” post on Dunn Bros Coffee (link to follow)

Meet Ogo, founder of GrubSquad, food enthusiast, LSU alum , and all-around good guy.

Check out his interview:

Naturale Chronicles: First off—GrubSquad, that’s a great name!
Ogo: Thanks! It’s better than “OJ Deliveries,” and the other names I came up with before [laughs].
NC: Congrats on the recent launch!
O: Thank you. Yep, we launched the site on April 3rd. We had our launch at Sushi Raku. We had a great time.
GrubSquad launch party (April 18th, 2012)
NC: Ogo, for those who know nothing about GrubSquad, how would you describe what you all do?
O: Our slogan is “feeding productivity enthusiasts.” We know that life is busy. There are enough things to worry about. Getting something to eat shouldn’t be one of them. We are an online food delivery service that connects customers with the food they want, when they want it. There are great restaurants that don’t typically deliver, we’ve teamed up with them so they can give you “EXACTLY WHAT YOU, DELIVERED.”
NC: How did you come up with the idea?
O: I used to help out a lot of my friends with catering businesses by taking their orders to big events, parties, weddings, graduations, etc. When my brother got married and we were catering food from all over the city, I thought to myself “What if there was a more effective and efficient way to get the food you wanted?” I talked to a few buddies of mine and tossed around the ideas. I suddenly got organized and started writing down my ideas in a journal.
I always say to my creatives, “Show me your IDEA JOURNAL so I know it’s real!”
NC: What’s your favorite part about being the GrubSquad founder?
O: Honestly, the deliveries.
NC: Really! You mean to tell me the founder of GrubSquad still makes deliveries?
O: [laughs] Yes! We just started up, so I still make some deliveries. I enjoy serving people. I’ve done it all my life with through church, camps like Camp Quality (a camp for children with cancer), helping out friends, etc. I like meeting people and being able to help maximize their day in a cost effective way.
Ogo’s GrubSquad Mobile
NC: If you could name 3 goals for GrubSquad off the top of your head, what would they be?
O: Grub Squad wants to help customers:
#1. Be more efficient and productive with their lives.
#2. Have access to their favorite restaurants and a variety of healthy options.
#3. Explore new good food in a convenient way.

Sidenote: I wanted to check out the ordering process, so I pulled up the website, typed in my zipcode and Grub Squad pulled up their partnering restaurants in my area. I was delighted to see new places I had never been to and many of them at relatively low cost. Once I selected where I wanted to eat, the specific restaurant menu pulled up and I could click and add to the cart what I wanted. Very easy to use!

NC: Do you have a target audience?
O: GrubSquad is for everyone. Our primary market has been those busy professionals who barely have time for lunch.
NC: Yea, doctors, business people, teachers…
O: Exactly! A lot of times, the lunch break is too short to hop into your car, wrestle through traffic, and find a proper meal. We do the hard work so they can eat and still be productive and keep it moving.

NC: So…I’ve been eyeing that GrubSquad tee. Any chance I could get some GrubSquad gear?
O: Of course! We ordered some new batch of shirts. We’ll put them up for sale on the website sometime in the near future. We’ll hook you up!

Bottom line: GrubSquad gets my NC stamp of approval! All the foodies of Houston will love them for bringing good food to a central location. Ogo was telling me that Houston has a great food culture. I’m discovering that myself, and I think GrubSquad can be the tool we need to try new foods and still stick to our busy schedules. Foodies and “Productivity Enthusiasts” are in good hands with GrubSquad.

Order now at grubsquad.com

Find the on Facebook and Twitter

Good Eats: Dunn Bros Coffee

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I recently visited Dunn Bros Coffee for the first time to meet up with Ogo Ifelayo, founder of GrubSquad, to do an interview. I’m not a coffee-drinker, but I wanted to try it out anyway. I actually liked it. It was interesting to try a non-Starbucks coffee place. It was spacious on the inside, with couches and high tables with stools for patrons to sit on. It was relatively quiet— quiet enough to study, read a book, or have a meeting without being disturbed.

Dunn Bros had a cute chalkboard menu. They served beverages as well as food.

Here is part of the menu:

The prices were pretty low; most of the beverages were under $5.

I ordered a Chicken Pesto pizza (pictured above). I’m a pesto fan! The only thing on it that I had to remove was the artichoke on the top of the pizza. (I forgot to tell them to take it off when I ordered). I’m kinda picky, but I still think the pizza was delicious.

I also had a strawberry smoothie (also pictured above). It tasted like fresh strawberries! The only downside was that the cup was on the small-side. I was a little bummed when I finished the smoothie and had no more left.

It was a nice, light meal. Good taste. Laid back atmosphere. I’d recommend Dunn Bros Coffee if you’re looking for good beverages (coffee/smoothies) and food.

Next time, as per the GrubSquad founder’s recommendation, I will try either the Chicken & hummus sandwich or the salmon w/ chunks of mango sandwich. Both sound promising!

Good Eats: Good Dog (Food Truck)

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Tobs and I went to the Haute Wheels Food festival this past weekend. When Tobs told me about it, the inner fattie in me rejoiced! Of all the food trucks we saw and visited, Good Dog was my favorite!

This cute little vintage cutest van, caught our attention! Since we were both in the food for hot dogs, we decided to check it out.

The owners of the truck were friendly and efficient. The food was out in about 5 minutes! It was so good, we had to come back twice!


The hot dog was different from anything I’d ever tasted. First thing we noticed was the bread. It was soft on the inside and lightly toasted. The hot dog was thick, like sausage. And the condiments, which are hand-made, complimented the hot dog perfectly.

Tobi had the Good Dog and I had the Chillin’ Dog

Good Dog- Dog and Bun with your choice of Hand-Made Condiments

Chillin’ Dog- beef and chorizo chili, pickled jalapenos, diced onion and short bus mustard

Bottom line: Good Dog gets my stamp of approval! The taste is unique and delicious. The price for this gourmet hot dog is great. I’ve never felt so bougie eating a hot dog. I felt like I was buying a hot dog in the somewhere in New York.
If I’ve whet your appetite and you would like to hunt down Good Dog, catch them on their website
http://gooddogfoodtruck.com/ where they give you updates about where to find their truck daily or follow them on Twitter at @GoodDogHotDogs
To check out the rest of our Haute Wheels Food Festival adventure, click here (link coming soon).
Photo credit by Tobs