Houston's Top 6 Hole-in-the-Wall Restaurants

Do you love a challenge? How about a food challenge? Competitive eating isn't just for professionals anymore. Head to one of these Houston, Texas restaurants and attempt to complete one of these wild and gluttonous food contests. more The Texas Challenge If you love Texas-style barbecue and want to test your eating ability, head to Central Texas Style B-B-Q and attempt The Texas Challenge. The challenge includes a pound of sausage, a pound of chopped beef, a baked potato stuffed with cheese, green onions, and sour cream, and two stuffed jalapeños. If you can polish off all of that food in under an hour, you'll get your photo on the wall, a free t-shirt, and your meal will be completely free. If you can't finish it, the meal will cost you $29.95. Inferno Wing Challenge This is only a challenge for spicy-food lovers. Diablo Loco, a sports bar and wing restaurant in downtown Houston, challenges you to eat 25 of their spiciest wings, known as Highway to Hell, in under 25 minutes. You can't drink anything that may cool your mouth down, and you can't leave the table. If you succeed, you get a free tower of beer and your photo on the wall. The challenge will cost you $19.99 whether you win or lose. Mega Mel The Mega Mel is the burger challenge to end all burger challenges. Mel's Country Cafe in the Houston suburb of Tomball offers you the chance to eat a one and a half pound burger topped with a pound of bacon, a quarter pound of cheese, and all of the fixings. If you can eat the Mega Mel in under two hours, you'll get your name on the wall and receive a free t-shirt. The rules also require that, once you finish the burger, you are able to get up, walk around, and talk without being sick. The Zellagabetsky This is perhaps one of the most famous food challenges in Houston. Kenny & Ziggy's is a New York-style deli that challenges you to eat a sandwich as big as Texas. The Zellagabetsky is an eight-decker rye sandwich filled with almost four pounds of corned beef, turkey, pastrami, salami, roast beef, tongue, swiss cheese, coleslaw, and Russian dressing. There's no time limit for finishing this gigantic sandwich as long as you do it in one sitting. Winner's are rewarded with a huge piece of cheesecake. The sandwich costs $55. La Crawfish Challenge Seafood lovers should get themselves over to LA Crawfish to test their stomachs on the La Crawfish Challenge. The challenge is to eat an entire 24-inch diameter bowl of extra-spicy crawfish pho without any assistance in under 30 minutes. If you can finish this challenge, you get a t-shirt, your photo on the wall, and your pho for free. Your t-shirt will also get your 10 percent off of any future LA Crawfish purchase for the rest of your life. If you don't complete the challenge, the bowl of crawfish pho will cost $21. Test your stomach and your spice threshold at one of these restaurants this weekend then swing by and test drive one of our new Mazdas! Image “ The Super Scooby from Jolly Fryer in Filton, Bristol” by brizzle born and bred, used under CC BY-ND 2.0

Heading for an Astros game at Minute Maid Park in lovely Houston, Texas? Here are the best places to grab food and drink before, during, or after a game. more Biggio's Named after Astro's legend Craig Biggio, Biggio's is an upscale sport's bar in the Marriott Marquis Hotel right around the corner from the stadium. This is a great place to enjoy a nice Houston-brewed craft beer on draft, a cocktail made with top-shelf liquors, some mango habanero wings, or wild boar mac n' cheese all while watching the game on their 30-foot televisions. The smoked-brisket tacos are pretty spectacular, too. Jackson Street Barbecue Only a few blocks away from the Astro's stadium, Jackson Street Barbecue is one of the most popular pre-game meal stops, so be sure to arrive early and be prepared to wait. The wait will be worth it when you're tucking into the best brisket, smoked sausage, or St. Louis-style ribs in Houston. Don't worry, you don't have to choose between them, grab yourself the sampler platter and have a little bit of each. Be sure to order a big portion of their creamy mac n' cheese, too. Irma's Southwest Grill A short walk away from Minute Maid Park and top-class Mexican food makes Irma's a great choice for a pre or post-game meal. There's no menu and the selection changes daily, so even if you've been before, you're sure to have something completely different and totally delicious. They have different opening hours on game day and always make sure to start serving food three hours before the first pitch, so there's no need to stress about timing. Hubcap Grill Do you want a nice juicy burger before the big game? Look no further than Hubcap Grill. It's only five blocks away from Minute Maid Park and if you're in a rush you can take it to go. If not, take a seat in one of their outdoor tables and enjoy endless options of burger concoctions. Feeling really hungry? Grab their quadruple burger which is packed with chuck beef and topped with cheese, bacon, ham, and French fries. Everything is made fresh on-site. The patties are hand-formed, the fries are cut fresh each morning, and even the buns are baked in-house. MKT Bar MKT Bar calls itself a global gastropub. It's one of Houston's liveliest bars and it's only a short walk to the Astro's stadium. Head here for live music no matter what day of the week. You can just enjoy a few drinks from their enormous selection of beers, wine, and cocktails or have a look at their extensive internationally-inspired menu. There's everything from ceviche and braised lamb tacos to curries and pizzas. There's sure to be something on the menu to please everyone in the group. The great thing about Minute Maid Park is that it is located right in downtown Houston. It's surrounded by so many great bars and restaurants that you may very well get so carried away with how much fun you're having that you forget to watch the game! Put together by your friends at Russell & Smith Mazda. Image “ Night game at Minute Maid Park, Houston TX” by roy.luck, used under CC BY 2.0

The Children's Museum of Houston is a great hands-on learning center that will entertain kids for hours on end. However, it's so big that you might get overwhelmed. Discover the must-see exhibits waiting at this museum. more Chevron-Houston Texans Maker Annex This exhibit's name is a mouthful, but it shows children some of the most exciting new inventions used in construction and creative jobs. The whole area teaches visitors about 3D printing, programming, circuitry, robots, lasers, video game development, and more with interactive exhibits and colorful cartoons. The Annex has group lessons that end with each visitor creating products of their own. Give your tech-minded child a deeper understanding of the things they love most. You could spark their future career. How Does It Work? The wacky contraptions in this exhibit show how electricity, sound, and other waves travel through matter. They also show how pulleys work, what makes airplanes fly, and more with artistic representations by major local artists. Kids build their own miniature roller coaster and send it down a five-foot tower to understand kinetic energy. They can also design a miniature car. Flow Works Consistently called the most fun exhibit by repeat visitors, Flow Works is an outdoor water-themed zone that shows the many curious ways water behaves and how we use that to our advantage. The centerpiece of Flow Works is an 18-foot high cauldron that fills up more and more as kids participate with the exhibits and redirect the water flow. When it's full, it tips over and makes a massive, exciting wave. Kids can compete in groups to see who can tip the cauldron the fastest. Kids will be dipping their hands into water, but otherwise will stay dry. Cyberchase - The Chase Is On! Based on the Emmy award-winning PBS KIDS show of the same name, this exhibit combines math and critical thinking in an exciting clash of good vs. evil. The dastardly Hacker seeks to control Cyberspace, but the CyberSquad and their cyberbird friend are here to stop him. Kids will learn more about computers, networks, and relevant mathematical concepts, such as probability and geometry, in perhaps the first math-themed activity that any child will enjoy. This is excellent for kids who love watching Cyberchase as well. Cum Yah Gullah The Gullah are a West African culture from the Sea Islands, which survived slavery and had virtually no American influence until the 1950s. This exhibit preserves the Gullah way of life, showing the tradition-based, family focused, hearty culture that composed enduring folk characters such as Br'er Rabbit. The Gullah are the African culture least affected by American intervention, and in the recreated life of its people, kids can learn about their heritage of telling stories, living off the land, and supporting art and music.   With these five awesome exhibits, any brief visit is sure to get you your money's worth in oohs and aahs, laughs, and new insights for your children. Help them understand the world and themselves while giving them a fun-filled adventure at the Children's Museum of Houston. Image “ Houston Children’s Musem playground” by Theresa_QViews, used under CC BY-SA 2.0