the Hyatt (on Louisiana, right? there aren’t two downtown, are there?) is decent walk across town to the stadium, but doable. you’ll be closer to the Theater district of downtown, near city hall. if you’re not averse to the city bus, the 82 will go right by your hotel and drop off just a couple block from the stadium.

tips for the ballgame:

well, it’s $1 hotdog night, so that’s a tough deal to beat. if you’re looking for slightly higher end fare, they have new Ballpark Sizzlers (or grillers, or something like that) stands that are an upgrade from last year. they’ll serve brisket sandwiches, sliders, sausage and peppers (probably not up to Milwaukee standards, but not bad), cheesesteaks… a little higher quality than the union station dogs, bubba burgers, or digorno pizzas. to be honest, i haven’t really toured the stadium for any special “sights”. their tribute to Astros past is out on the walkway in left field if you’re looking to wander around the park during warmups. also, if you’re a bargain-hunting drinker, like myself, find the 24-oz beer stands. more beer for your dollar.

tips for downtown:

well, Houston doesn’t have a very touristy downtown. there is park space up and down Buffalo Bayou, which runs through downtown right near your hotel, and is very pleasant if you’re just looking to get outside and stretch the legs a bit. if you’re into museums, the museum district is easy access from downtown on the light rail, which will be about three blocks from your hotel (fine arts museum, contemporary arts museum, natural history museum, many other museums, and the Houston Zoo are all within walking distance from each other).

if you’re looking for watering holes, there are several on main street between your hotel and MMP. Thursday night may have a decent happy hour scene, but probably not much of a post-game scene downtown. i’m a big fan of the Flying Saucer. it’s one of those places that has 100 or so taps and usually has a pretty good atmosphere. there are also a couple of bars across from home plate. the home plate bar has a third floor that it seems a lot of people don’t know about, with a nice balcony for people watching before the game.

hope that helps. enjoy your stay! (except for the part where the Brewers lose)

is Cabo’s. It’s just a few blocks from the stadium on Preston, at the corner of Preston and Main (Preston runs up to MMP at the left field/Crawford box entrance). Great margaritas and good food, IMHO.

In the next block over are some okay bars, including Sambuca and Shay McElroys. Of course, on Texas right across from the Home Plate entrance to MMP is The Bus, which is a fun beer joint, and you could always hit Larry’s Big Bamboo before the game—you need your ticket to go inside, since it’s part of MMP, but drafts are half price before every game until first pitch. I’ve seen Dierker in there several times pre-game, and he’s very congenial about fans coming up and chatting with him.

Have fun, and welcome to Houston!

The chicken-fried steak is highly recommended. Not sure if they’re open at night. When I was working downtown they mainly focused on the business crowd, so maybe during the day Thursday. It’s a few blocks walk down Louisiana.

Longhorn Cafe

A lot of people don’t know about the tunnels that run underneath the buildings in downtown Houston. They’re owned by the individual owners of the buildings, so they don’t always go exactly where you want, and most close after business hours, but they can be helpful. A few shops and restaurants are scattered around as well.

Downtown Houston Map

Thanks for being gracious hosts. I hope to reciprocate in the future!

Great tips. I’m hoping to have enough time to go to Cabo’s before the game. The Longhorn Cafe looks great too (I love chicken fried steak) and the museum district seems like a great place to go on Thursday.

Thanks again!

I am an Astros fan living in California, unfortunately I haven’t been to Houston so thanks for the tips!

Just got back from our trip. We enjoyed the game at Minute Maid Park (a high-scoring, back-and-forth Brewers win!) and our time in Houston. We liked the atmosphere at Cabo’s before the game. The next day we enjoyed our delicious food (best country-fried steak EVER!) at the Longhorn Cafe before taking the LRT to the Museum of Natural Science. Around 6:30 PM we took the tunnels (awesome!) to the Shoppes at City Center, only to find it was closed already! That was a disappointment, but it turned out well because we at at the new cafe at Discovery Green and got to watch a live band (great 80’s cover band) while we ate. Great time. Once the landscaping matures a little bit there, that will be a really nice park.

We were very happy about the air conditioning in Minute Maid Park. (low 90’s outside) The fans around us were very nice and we had a good time talking to them about both of our cities and teams. I liked the concession stands, in that you could pick your own food off the warmers and then go and pay. Much more efficient. I also thought the “visiting team food item” was neat. Of course for Milwaukee it was a brat & chips meal. I’d be interested to see what choices you have for other visiting teams. I walked around the whole stadium, both the field level and the upper level. I enjoyed the displays about the team history and about Craig Biggio. Also, we both got a kick out of the hideous color scoreboard screen on the right side of the main scoreboard. When it displayed the Astros’ defensive positions, it looked like it was from the original Nintendo. Terrible graphics. But I did like that there was a display showing the type of pitch thrown, along with the pitch speed. I wish Miller Park showed the pitch types.

Thanks again for all your help!