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La Carafe

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La Carafe
  

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813 Congress Houston, TX 77002

713-229-9399 

http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~hans320/p...  

7 User reviews Write A Review
813 Congress Houston TX 77002

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  • Sun, Sat 1pm-2am, Mon-Fri 12pm-2am
  • Patio/Sidewalk Dining
Description

Housed in the oldest commercial building in town, La Carafe exudes history. The jukebox plays no small part in this process, stocked as it is with Benny Goodman and Lady Day, and so do the candles behind the bar resting atop mountains of their own melted wax. The brick walls are covered with photos and paintings of the city in bygone days and even one of the city's namesake. The museum-worthy collection is dominated by a huge portrait of Sam Houston himself. A weekend afternoon here taking in the downtown scenes will really make you fall in love with Houston all over again.








Back to TopHouston Press Critic News & Reviews | Write a Review
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Back to Top Houston Press Awards | Visit the Best Of Website

  • 2012 | Best Jukebox

    Said to be the oldest commercial building in Houston, La Carafe is encrusted with history, its walls brimming with old photographs, newspaper clippings and other artifacts. The same is true of its jukebox, whose leaves preserve near-forgotten corners of 20th-century pop music like doo-wop (the Platters, the Ink Spots) and European chanteuses (Edith Piaf) all the way up until the Cowboy Junkies' 1988 album The Trinity Session. Within its leaves, Bob Seger's Beautiful Loser sits next to Ella... More »

  • 2009 | Best Downtown Bar

    La Carafe or Warren's, Warren's or La Carafe? That is the question. That anything other than one of Carolyn Wenglar's two venerable Market Square bars is the downtown's best is a fool's proposition. Right now we are in a La Carafe mood. We love the candlelight and the stalagmite-like wax formations, the amazing lore accreted on the brick walls, the wine and the beer. We love it that it is housed in the oldest public building in Houston, an edifice in which merchants once traded with local... More »

  • 2008 | Best Place to Smoke and Drink

    Since the nicotine-loving set has been literally kicked to the curb, those who also enjoy a tipple with their tobacco have been on the lookout for prime public spots in which to indulge their twin vices. While many bars have simply roped off a couple of cheap picnic tables in their parking lot, venerable La Carafe fully cashes in on its prime location. The handful of tables out front offer a prime view of the skyline, and an outside speaker bathes patrons in sweet sounds of the bar's... More »

  • 2005 | Best Downtown Bar

    Housed in Houston's oldest commercial building (it used to be a freaking Pony Express station), La Carafe is a barroom-lover's bar. We're not talking a Bud Light-clock, gigantic-TV, supermodel-poster barroom, but a grown-up, no-bullshit place to sit down with a close group of friends and do some serious drinking. The candles that appear to give the bar its only light seem to have been burning for more than 100 years, perched as they are upon mountains of congealed wax. Nestled in the corner... More »

  • 2001 | Best Bar Decor

    In a city in which most bar owners' decorative aesthetic runs toward merely plastering the walls and ceilings with garish beer and liquor ads, the 141-year-old La Carafe (which over the decades has been an Indian trading post, a steam bakery and a Pony Express stop) stands out like a Vermeer among velvet Elvises. The walls there have not been festooned with art as much as they have simply accreted tangible history. The old portraits of luminaries like Jack Yates and Sam Houston, the ancient... More »

Back to TopUser Reviews & Comments | Write a Review
  • ragazza_007
           (0)    (0) Flag

    | Houston, TX | 13 Reviews

    4
    | Tue, June 9, 2009

    I first visited La Carafe 13 yrs ago and I completely fell in love with this cozy candle-lit wine bar! Cozy atmosphere, superb jukebox, knowledgeable & friendly staff, great wine selection and eclectic clientele! 13 yrs have passed, and I am still in love with the oldest bar in Houston!

  • MJ51
           (0)    (0) Flag

    | Houston, TX | 2 Reviews

    4
    | Fri, July 24, 2009

    This is a great spot. One of the oldest bars in Houston I believe, and supposedly haunted. I attended a seance there. Great atmosphere.

  • Chef Bridgette Coleman
           (0)    (0) Flag

    | Houston, TX | 7 Reviews

    4
    | Sun, April 26, 2009

    i have only been once to this place, but the vibe was amazing,staff friendly and great fun locals

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