1. La Guadalupana Bakery & Café – I love everything at La Guadalupana. Their croissants are incredible and I’ve been trying to imitate their migas at home. If you show up often enough (which I tend to), you may get free cookies from the bakery.
2. Sushi Miyagi – I swear Sushi Miyagi is the best sushi inside (or slightly outside) the city. I usually get Saba, Unagi and Tamago Nigiri and then experiment. Just be prepared to go early and wait for a while, because it’s a two person operation and they fill up quickly.
3. Late Night Food at El Rey or 59 Diner – Every few days I’ll go out for late night food and get horchata and a cuban taco at El Rey or a chocolate milkshake at 59 Diner.
4. Genji – Genji is a karaoke bar where you sing karaoke with the entire restaurant. The song lyrics are on a projector screen and you get microphones at your table to sing. If you’re good, the people at the other tables may join you, or if you’re me, you might get mocked. Their food is all pretty good too.
5. Bubba’s Burger Shack – Bubba’s sells really simple and really amazing burgers. As soon as it gets warm out, I’m going to spend a quite a few nights on their porch having a double buffalo burger with their hot sauce.

About Zack Kopplin

Zack Kopplin is an advocate for science who gained national recognition while still in high school after organizing 78 Nobel laureate scientists in a campaign against the Louisiana Science Education Act. He moved to Houston from his home state in 2011 to attend Rice University. Although still enrolled at Rice, he is currently out of class working full time as a public advocate for science and science education. He currently writes for Slate Magazine and The Guardian and his efforts have led to appearances on a number television programs including HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.