Panicafe is an international cafe chain with locations throughout Spain and Argentina. Over the last five years, the company has brought the classic European-style cafe and tearoom to Texas, with locations found in Spring, Montgomery and The Woodlands, Manager Florence Rossini said. 

What's special about it: Rossini said she studied and worked as a pastry chef, and now serves as the manager at Panicafe. When asked what draws customers to Panicafe, Rossini emphasised the freshly baked food and the comforting atmosphere the cafe offers.

Quote of note: “It's really comfort food made in a healthy way. Our customers are 95% women, so it's a lot of what women want when they have lunch, have a conversation with a friend, or come for a treat,” Rossini said. “Everything is thought about, not extremely sweet, always concentrating on quality taste and experience that you get when you're at Pani.”

The Crawfish Critic and Seafood Co. will open a new brick-and-mortar location this May in downtown Conroe.

Two-minute impact: According to its website, the company was founded in 2020 by Christian Waldo, who originally founded the company to enter cook-off events to help raise money for charity. After many years with the company and the Southern Cajun Cookoff Association. Waldo and his team are preparing to officially open in the Conroe area.

What else: The new storefront will be offering more than just crawfish, according to a March 25 Facebook post. The business will be offering a wide variety of sauces, seasonings and supplies. 

• 1200 N. Frazier St., Conroe

The March Housing Market Update from the Houston Association of Realtors, released April 8, shows signs of stability and growth in the Houston housing market. Factors behind this stability include slowly falling house prices and sales gains in single-family homes and townhomes/condominiums.

The conditions: According to HAR, single-family home sales rose by 3.7% with 7,644 homes sold in March compared to the 7,369 sold last March. Home prices fell slightly as well by 1.5%, leveling to a median price of $333,000. Houses saw a slight increase in days on the market, rising to 67 days compared to 62 days last year. Total property sales across the Houston area grew by 3.6%, with 9,001 properties sold, and the number of active property listings rose by 8.8%, equaling 55,611.

What the experts say: HAR Chief Economist Ted C. Jones said the current state of the global economy has led to some instability in interest rates; however, the market has stabilized in comparison to last year.

The final phase of ticket sales for the 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament will drop April 22 at 10 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. The drop coincides with the 50-day countdown to the tournament.

What to expect: Tickets across all 104 matches, including the seven held in Houston this summer, will be made available for public purchase on the FIFA website, according to an April 21 news release.

Fans can choose tickets from across categories 1 to 3 and the front-row seat categories, depending on the match. Along with this ticket set, additional tickets will continue to be released to the public on an ongoing basis up until the final match July 19 in New Jersey.

Something to note: Ticket demand for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been the highest in history. Over 5 million tickets have already been sold, leaving roughly 2 million seats left across the 16 World Cup stadiums.

According to the April 15 Houston Association of Realtors’ March Rental Market Update, Houston's rental market has seen an increase in leased listings.

The details: For March, HAR reports there were 4,718 leased listings for single-family rentals on the market, a 15.8% increase compared to last March. For pending listings, there was an increase of 7.8% compared to last year, totaling 6,172 homes on the market. Lease prices in comparison to last March dipped by 2.1% to $2,242 from $2,290. Homes have also spent slightly longer in the market, from 43 to 47 days.

What else: According to HAR, the townhome and condominium market has also seen changes in March; 673 properties were leased this March, leading to a 12.4% increase compared to the 599 properties last March.

Alongside the rental market, the number of new listings for townhomes and condominiums has grown by 10.1% to 1,082 properties; last March’s listing amount was 983 properties. Meanwhile, the number of days on market has grown to 61 days this March from 53 days last March.