River Oaks restaurants to partner with Urban Harvest for limited-time, special farm-to-table menu additions
Restaurants along the River Oaks Shopping Center will partner from Sept. 2-30 with Urban Harvest to create limited-edition, farm-to-table dishes using locally-sourced ingredients from market vendors, with 10% of sales benefitting Urban Harvest.
Urban Harvest is a Houston-based nonprofit organization that aims to increase access to fresh, local food through its farmers markets, gardens and education programs.
How it works: According to an Aug. 28 news release, the four local participating restaurants have committed to using ingredients from Urban Harvest vendors, with each restaurant choosing a key farmers market ingredient to incorporate into a dish for customers to try during the month.
Quote of note: “Our partnership with Urban Harvest is about bringing the community together through food while celebrating local talent,” said Lauren Granit, general manager of River Oaks Shopping Center. “The collaboration not only highlights kitchen inventiveness from these very talented River Oaks Shopping Center chefs through creative, seasonal dishes, but also showcases the bounty of local artisan food purveyors.”
Kirby Ice House opens fourth location in the Heights with the longest bar in Texas
The franchise previously held the title of longest bar in Texas at its Woodlands’ location, but the new 146-foot bar in the Heights has surpassed it by five feet, according to an Aug. 27 news release from Kirby Ice House.
The big picture: Sitting on a 3.5-acre lot located off Loop-610 near Ella Boulevard, Kirby Ice House’s new location can hold up to 800 guests and 400 parking spaces.
The first Kirby Ice House opened nine years ago, and the business is popular for hosting large football watch parties, with its four locations having around 40 TVs each.
22 fall events, festivals to attend around the Greater Houston area through early November
There are a variety of fall events and festivals taking place throughout the Greater Houston area through early November. This list is not comprehensive and events are subject to change.
P-6 Farms’ Fall Festival During weekends this fall, attendees can visit P-6 Farms and enjoy its fall festival, which will include activities such as a pumpkin patch, vintage rides, pig races, food, drinks and themed photo opportunities.
Saturdays and Sundays between Sept. 27-Nov. 2, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
$25.95
9963 Poole’s Road, Montgomery
The Famous Market’s Fall Festival This festival in Pearland will feature over 50 vendors, a kids’ zone, food, a DJ and arts and crafts for attendees to enjoy.
Sept. 27, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Free (admission)
Pearland Town Center, 11200 Broadway St., Pearland
St. Paul’s 2025 Fall Festival and Craft Show In Katy, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church will host its 14th annual fall festival and craft show that will feature vendors, food for sale, children’s activities and a train.
Gov. Abbott signs new congressional map; Texas Democrats vow to fight in court
Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas’ new congressional map into law Aug. 29, declaring in a video posted to social media that “Texas is now more red in the United States Congress.”
The details: Under Texas’ current congressional boundaries, Republicans hold 25 of Texas’ 38 congressional seats. State lawmakers have said the new map will help them gain up to five more during the 2026 midterm elections.
Texas Democrats have called the mid-decade redistricting effort unconstitutional and "racially discriminatory," while Republicans asserted that the map "complies with the law" and was designed to help more Republicans get elected to the U.S. House.
Next steps: Texas’ new congressional map is set to take effect in early December, although it will be discussed in court two months earlier. After state senators approved the map Aug. 23, the League of United Latin American Citizens and a group of Texas residents filed a lawsuit asking that the map be found unconstitutional.
A panel of three federal judges will hear arguments in the case Oct. 1-10 in El Paso.
