Houston, It's Michelin Day!

We won’t see the pomp and circumstance we have grown accustomed to over the past two years. The 2026 list is being released this morning via a press release and accompanied with an app update.

18 starred restaurants and 140 in the Guide overall is how Texas did last year. We’re still holding out for two stars, which has never happened. Montrose’s own March already has one star and people seem to think it may be the first to grab the second. Baso in the Heights could also jump from Recommended to one star.

CultureMap has given some predictions based on industry sources:

Why it matters: A star or a Bib can get a lot of attention for a restaurant. However, a Michelin listing isn’t a guarantee of survival. Killen’s in the Heights had a Bib and still closed this year.

What's next: Houston's results will be on our Instagram once they're out. If you want to browse the full list, Michelin's site.

Buyers seem to have tapped the brakes for now, but not by much. The latest weekly numbers from the Houston Association of Realtors seem to have a fall off, except for one.

From Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, buyers across the Houston metro put 1,661 homes under contract. That's down 23% from the same week last year Everything else barely moved. Sellers listed 3,530 homes, which was a 3% drop compared to last year. Fewer sellers this year seem to be taking their home off the market this year.

If you're buying, you may have more room to negotiate than you did this spring, especially on a house that's been sitting a while. Definitely worth discussing your options.

If you're selling, price for the market we're in now, not the one we had in April. Your first two weeks matter most. That's when buyers are paying the most attention. Don’t take that for granted.

Please keep in mind: these are metro-wide numbers. The Heights or Montrose can behave very differently from Katy or Cypress.

This email is general market information only. It is not tax, legal, or financial advice, and it isn't a recommendation about your specific property or purchase. The market data comes from Houston Association of Realtors Weekly Report; it's believed reliable but not guaranteed and can change quickly. For tax or legal questions, please talk with a qualified professional. For advice on your own situation, book a call. If you're already working with another agent, this isn't meant as a solicitation and you should review with your agent they will better understand your specific circumstances than I will.

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Grant Pulled
City staff applied for nearly $150 million from the DOJ's "Model Cities" program without the required City Council approval. The city withdrew the application Monday after the Chronicle reported it, days after the mayor's office had said it wasn't taking any action on the grant.
Read more: Houston Public Media

$48M Homelessness Push
City Hall unveiled Pathways to Independence, a three-year, $48 million homelessness effort paid for entirely by private philanthropy, with $34 million committed so far. The goal is to resolve someone's homelessness within 90 days. The city set a similar goal in 2024 and missed its funding target, so watch whether the last $14 million shows up.
Read more: Houston Public Media

Affordable Homes Approved
Council voted unanimously Wednesday to sell 12 city-owned acres at 10301 Stella Link, about five minutes from the Med Center, for Braes Park, a 144-home community. About 89 of the homes will be priced $210,000–$300,000 for households earning up to 120% of area median income.
Read more: KPRC

Justin Yu Is Back
The James Beard winner behind Oxheart opened House of Louie in the old Vibrant space at 1931 Fairview in Montrose. The menu leans French and Italian. It's open for dinner daily from 4:30, with Friday lunch and weekend brunch coming soon.
Read more: CultureMap

Love Croissants Goes Drive-Through
Love Croissants grew from a farmers market stand into a counter inside Weights + Measures in Midtown. On October 1, it opened its first stand-alone shop in the Heights, and the new spot has a drive-through.
Read more: CultureMap

Weather: warm and mostly dry, with a small chance of rain. (🌳 = OUTDOORS, 🏠 INDOORS)

Korean Festival Houston at Discovery Green 🌳
It's two full days for the first time, with Korean food, K-pop, and dance. Big Ocean, the first K-pop group with hard-of-hearing members, headlines Saturday at 7. Sunday 11–1 is a quieter sensory-friendly window.
📅 Saturday–Sunday, October 10–11 | Sat 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun 11 a.m.–8 p.m., 1500 McKinney St.
💵 Free
Get details

Bayou City Art Festival at Memorial Park 🌳
About 300 artists set up under the oaks, with food trucks and a wine and beer garden. It's the easiest way to buy real art from the person who made it. Check parking before you go.
📅 Friday–Sunday, October 9–11 | 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Memorial Park Picnic Area, S. Picnic Ln.
💵 From $20.85
Get tickets

Houston Comedy Film Festival at The DeLUXE Theater 🏠
Two days of funny features and shorts, plus a live jazz band and aerial performers, inside one of the best-looking old theaters in the city.
📅 Saturday–Sunday, October 10–11 | 10 a.m.–10 p.m., 3303 Lyons Ave.
💵 From $50
Get tickets

Kam Franklin: Land of the Neon Sun Release Party 🏠
The Suffers frontwoman is releasing her solo debut. A free music-industry panel and stripped-down set come first, then the full-band show with special guests.
📅 Saturday, October 10 | 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., The Secret Group, 2101 Polk St.
💵 Learning event free; show pricing TBA
Details

Rachmaninoff's Third with Yefim Bronfman 🏠
It's one of the hardest piano concertos ever written, played by one of the best pianists alive with the Houston Symphony. Date night, sorted.
📅 Friday–Sunday, October 9–11 | 7:30 p.m. Fri and Sat, 2 p.m. Sun, Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana St.
💵 From $67
Get tickets

FotoFest Opening Reception at Silver Street Studios 🏠
Latin American photography from across the diaspora, from documentary to fully experimental. It's also a good excuse to wander the Sawyer Yards studios.
📅 Saturday, October 10 | 2–5 p.m., 2000 Edwards St.
💵 Free

Texas Renaissance Festival: Opening Weekend 🌳
Season 52 kicks off with an Oktoberfest theme, plus new acts like a fire-and-acrobatics show from the Sons of Olympus. It runs weekends through November 29.
📅 Saturday–Sunday, October 10–11 | 9 a.m., Todd Mission, 21778 FM 1774
💵 Ticketed
Get tickets

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For issue 007, I had to ask: does Houston have any history with James Bond? More than you'd think.

The premiere we almost got. Moonraker, the one where Bond goes to space, was supposed to premiere here in 1979, timed to NASA's first space shuttle launch. The shuttle slipped two years, so the red carpet went to London instead.

The hometown Bond girl. Lois Chiles, who played NASA astronaut Dr. Holly Goodhead, was born in Houston and grew up in Alice, down near Corpus. Years later she came back to teach film acting at UH.

Mission control gets a line. Near the end of the film, Houston radios in: "Houston calling Dr. Goodhead. Houston calling. Confirm your position."

The billionaire behind a Bond plot. In Diamonds Are Forever, the reclusive Las Vegas billionaire Willard Whyte is a thinly veiled Howard Hughes, the most famous Houstonian of his era. Producer Cubby Broccoli was friends with Hughes and dreamed he went to visit him and found an impostor in his place. That dream became the plot.

Hughes ended up back home. He's buried at Glenwood Cemetery on Washington Ave, and the house he lived in as a teenager still stands on Yoakum, on the University of St. Thomas campus in Montrose. You can see both on a Saturday afternoon.

A scrapped premiere, a Houston-born Bond girl, a call from mission control, and a Houstonian who inspired a Bond plot. That's a respectable file on 007.

BUSINESS OWNERS. Every Thursday, this lands in front of people who want to know what's opening, what's being built, and what's worth doing this weekend in Houston. If your business belongs in that conversation, reply PARTNER and let's talk about what that could look like.

See you next Thursday.

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