Hey Beauties! (tired of convincing myself I don’t need the new IPhone..meh) It’s cocktail time and your girl found a spot that I just had to share. It’s about to get a little “real” round heyyuuhh so bear with me and hear me out. I was on the hunt for a specific sneaker and knew the closest spot that I could purchase them (in person) was the Houston, Tx “Galleria”. For those that don’t know, the Galleria is the largest mall in Texas and the 7th largest in the United States.. (Shout out Wikipedia) This was my chance to hit up H-Town and make a trip out of it.
Shopping & Nightlife “Duh”
No trip is complete without yours truly hitting the night scene so let’s get shakin here. The Galleria conveniently has its own hotel on property so that’s where I just HAD to stay…right??.. I know… If a mall has somewhere for you to eat, sleep, drink, and shop, you basically move in okkkuuurrrr. I clearly needed a drink to celebrate my shopping accomplishments, so it was time to hunt.
IG Solves Everything
I hopped on Instagram and began my investigation. *Modish Tip: I’ve discovered almost every place I’ve been to by either searching hashtags on Instagram or searching “trendy _____in ___City___” on Yelp. If you want to take it one step further, whatever catches your eye on Yelp, enter that into Instagram using the “places” function and voila… more intel! Look, I’m just here to serve.. okk?! *awkwardly laughing at myself* back to the scheduled program.. I was on the hunt, using my tricks to find a dope spot to run up on. Beauties, I was coming up empty, nothing was calling my name. I don’t know if I was just in a picky mood that day or maybe I was secretly wanting to make my way back downstairs for some more retail therapy, but I came up empty. I like to be at a location where I can bar hop and not have to Uber every time I want a change of scenery (don’t drink and drive queens). An area with options and different vibes in case one place doesn’t “tickle me fancy”
Nightlife 411
I FINALLY found an area (I guess you could call it that) that had a few different bars within walking distance of each other. There was one place that was familiar to me from another city in Texas that I frequent so that was refreshing and also my first stop.. UNTIL, NO ENTRY ALLOWED for one of my crew members since he was wearing Yeezy 700’s (all black Vantas) Now as a woman, we can pretty much show up in pajamas and be let in almost ANYWHERE but for men, it’s the complete opposite. Just to prove my point I’ll share a quick story.. I was in San Francisco in a similar situation when again, a male friend of mine was turned away for wearing a designer hat, they told him he could get in but would have to leave the hat in a dirty a** bin (on the floor I might add) and collect it at the end of the night. Did they think we were really going to leave a $500 hat in some crusty bin? Like… cmon’ I wouldn’t even leave a $10 hat in there. Door guys switch, I put the hat on, and we got back in line and allowed in. The Shade is real.
Rejected
Anywho, being turned away for “athletic shoes” wasn’t going to ruin our night. We hit up a few other places in the area and it just wasn’t for us, I’m pretty sure these places were filled with everyone wearing ‘athletic shoes” that couldn’t get into the first place. I hate saying “other place” and “first place” and hope I’m not confusing you, but I’m not here to bash just state facts. (If you want to know where I’m referring to, slide in my DM’s ayyyyyy). It seemed all we could talk about was not being let in and in listening to each other, we realized that there were indeed others in “athletic shoes” being allowed in. These other surrounding “spots” just weren’t cutting it for us, so we made the decision to head back to spot #1.
The $20 Handshake
Listen, I go out A LOT, I know how the night life works and know never to take “No” for an answer. There’s always a way to get what you want and unfortunately the night scene is a greedy one. There’s nothing a $20 handshake can’t fix (depends on the city). You have a host walking you to your VIP table and don’t like the area, slip him $50 (depending on the place; use your judgement) and he’ll get you some prime real estate.. TRUST… Same rules apply with a door person. An hour passed and we were down to try our luck again, sure enough… “DENIED for athletic shoes”. My boy reached his hand in his pocket, door guy has visual of this, he’s asked will a $20 do? and BOOM money is passed and we’re in. Walking in and seeing the plethora of “athletic shoes” made me realize that he was making a decent amount of coin for a Saturday night and not just that but I’ve been to the same place just in a different city and there is ZERO dress code so I was just baffled all together….But Whatevs. Different city, different rules I guess. *Shrugs*
I never let anyone, or anything affect my vibe, so we did what we had to do and had a great time. It was a new day and I was ready for a little Sunday Funday. I remember finding a place called “Present Company” on Instagram when I was searching the night before but passed on it at the moment since it was catered more towards a “brunch” crowd. Welcome to the Brunch Crew because we were ready to turn the weekend around. I was drawn to the neon lights, chairs, and all the dope ass photos I was finding on Insta. This was definitely a “ME” spot. Arriving to the location there was valet parking and roped off entry at the door. There was another small lot across the street for free parking for those who didn’t want to valet. There wasn’t anyone in line when we walked up but there were quite a few people already inside kicking off their Sunday Funday. The doormen were friendly and welcoming.
OMG, The VIBE
Walking in I realized this had a house structure and was 2 stories. There was a “front lawn” per say with “grass” (turf) and multiple tables and neon chairs with umbrellas for shade. There was an outdoor covered deck with longer tables (I’m assuming for larger groups) and the doors leading to the “inside” were open, keeping it one whole vibe and not cutting anyone off. I could already hear the smooth tunes of tech house coming from inside so obvi that’s where I was headed. There was a live DJ inside and it was as if I walked into another dimension, the inside was completely different than the outside. Outside had like a homey, cookout vibes and inside was edgy, trendy, and modern. I can’t really say what the theme was haha I saw a few Alice and Wonderland references with the neon light slogans on the walls and they marketed living in the “present” quite a bit. Regardless, this place was a vibe and I couldn’t stop looking around at everything.
Going straight for the cocktail menu I wanted something refreshing and fruity which is rare for me, but much needed after having straight vodka sodas all night. I decided on the “Stranger Danger” which is this dope a** drink at the center of this whole convo. The menu was strategically appealing, and I was sold with the picture alone. I read that it was “Watermelon Vodka” based and that’s all I really needed to know. The other “specialty cocktails” were equally as appealing and I noticed they had a drink for each liquor preference which was something I personally don’t see often *points for that* Of course my drink’s presentation was EPIC being served in the La Croix Watermelon Kiwi can and garnished with a whole mint leaf and lime wedge. It was too pretty to drink and I had to get the perfect shot for my boos (you). I went outside for the perfect lighting and was able to explore the place even more.
We Screwed Up
The outside area had cabanas almost as if they were available for bottle service. The upstairs area also had an extensive amount of décor and chandeliers (it was beautiful) and more seating. They must pack the house to need that much seating and I appreciated it. The vibe, ambience, mood, music, and just everything about this spot had us regretting not coming straight here on Saturday. I think we all said it at least 5 times “Dude, we should have come here last night!” The DJ was on point, others were dancing and laughing, just having a great time. I stopped at 1 drink since we had the drive back but everything in me wanted to stay as long as possible. One thing I can say is my drink was pleasantly stout.. (strong AF) but you won’t ever hear me complain about that *wink* … Welp we definitely should of partied here the night before. *sigh*
One For The Modish Books
I will definitely be stopping at “Present Company” in the evening next time I roll through Houston and get the scoop.. at least I won’t get turned away here for the “drip” OHHHH and I’ve been meaning to try “La Croix Watermelon Kiwi’ because sis it was bomb! This place is definitely MODISH Champagne approved!
