The Daytripper

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Georgetown, the most beautiful town square in Texas.

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, protection and peace of mind for Texans since 1952.

Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick in Georgetown.

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Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick, Texas True.

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(upbeat music) - It's the Bayou City, Space City, Clutch City, and it's first nickname, the Magnolia City, but it's also H Town, Hustle Town, and its official title, the Energy Capital of the World.

They're all different and technically all correct because there is no place on earth quite like- Houston baby!

(banjo music) Where the east Texas pines, the coastal prairie, and the wetland swamps collide, you'll find Houston.

No town in Texas or the US for that matter, is as big and diverse as Houston.

Seriously, look it up.

It's equal parts folklore and fortitude.

In mythology, it's established as the land of oil and Earl and the Astros.

But in present day, it's home to countless families, artists, entrepreneurs, all forging their way forward into the new Texas dream.

It's a special kind of gumbo that only exists right here in H Town.

And we're back for our third helping.

We've taken you to the museums, the hidden underground, the weird art, the unbelievable international food.

So what's left to trip?

In Houston?

Well, we've only scratched the surface.

For me, growing up, Houston was three things.

It was Astroworld.

- Yep.

- Astros games.

- Yep.

- And ice skating at the Galleria.

- That's a day.

- The only ice skating rink within like 500 miles of southeast Texas.

- To look down on people actually ice skating was like the it's- It was like seeing a llama.

It's the most exotic thing.

(others laugh) It's like, what is this?

- I mean, what is Houston but a weird, wonderful, humidity induced fever dream.

And today we're gonna trip to spots so ingrained in the fabric and identity of H Town that it's impossible to imagine the city without them.

Places that are iconically Houston.

Our first stop will also count as breakfast: The Houston Farmer's Market.

And you may say, "Chet, there are lots of farmer's markets in Houston."

Well, true.

But this one is their great-grandfather.

And I've asked my buddy and Houston media personality, Raheel Ramzanali, to show us around.

Raheel, where have you brought us, man?

- Man, the Houston Farmer's Market.

This is one of the most iconic places in Houston.

When my wife and I got married, we moved close by.

So we would be here every single weekend.

There's so many different unique products here that you just want to try it all, right?

- Dude, it's wild.

This market started over 80 years ago, back when it was just a lot full of stalls, tarps, and farmers.

You wanna experience Houston Diversity?

Start right here.

- Nothing says "melting pot" like a Pakistani immigrant coming to this incredible farmer's market that has so many different Hispanic families and cultures blending together.

It's awesome.

- I've done my fair share of traveling, but I gotta say, even I'm not sure what some of this produce is, or better yet, how the heck to cook with it.

Pink guava.

- It's so good.

You have to try it.

- Never had it.

- You have to try it, for sure.

- Ooh, here we go.

- All right.

Cheers.

- Alright.

Cheers.

- Mm.

- That was wild.

That's good.

(indistinct) - This is Mango.

- And we get even sweeter, man.

- Okay, let's go.

- We're walking the ladder.

(both laugh) - Mm.

(they laugh) - Oh my God.

- That's good, dude.

That's good.

- Amazing.

I wanna buy the rest of that one.

That is so good.

- Chet's gonna try a pepper.

(Chet gasps) Shoot!

- Come on, Chet.

Ooh... Serrano?

- No, it's (indistinct).

- Oh, chile de arbol.

- Oh, no thanks.

- Chile de death.

(Raheel speaks Spanish) (both groan) - Oh!

Oh my God!

- That was a mistake.

- That was a bad mistake.

- Agua para mi, por favor!

- Mas mango.

- Mas mango.

- Mas mango.

- Mas mango.

- Mas mango.

Hey, that takes your sting off.

- Yeah, there you go.

- All the spices you ever need.

- Dude, no joke.

This is like the farmer's market pharmacy.

- Yeah.

- Right?

- Look, arthritis, bone pain, stress and anxiety.

Sinus.

Nah, that pepper opened up my sinuses enough.

I'm good, man.

- One of the cool things here is a lot of chefs, like world renowned chefs from the city of Houston, they shop here as well.

They're just like everybody else, right?

Just trying to find that perfect spice.

That perfect blend.

- Rain or shine, the market is open every day, whether you're cooking at home or just came to eat.

- All right, Chet, I told you, you gotta try one more thing.

It's my favorite thing here.

It's the mango with the chamoy Tajin.

- Oh!

Yes, yes, yes.

- Mango Preperado.

It's the best.

Yeah.

- Ah!

Now, that's good.

- That's good, right?

- That's so good.

Sweet, spicy.

That's magic right there.

- That's perfect.

- Mm!

But as they say, man cannot live on Mango alone.

Well, maybe they say that.

But regardless, Raheel has another favorite spot across the street that's been keeping Houston carbed up for decades: El Bolillo Bakery, turning out the freshest and bestest Mexican breads and sweets in all of Houston.

Pan dulce, bolillos, specialty tres leches.

Oh, and let us not forget fresh tortillas.

- We had all the fruits and all that good natural stuff.

- Healthy stuff.

- How about some baked goods?

- There we go.

- All right.

So you've a first- - Oh, the smell in here, man.

- Yeah, take a big whiff.

Enjoy it.

Now grab one of these.

- A shield.

- Here you go.

Don't touch the goods without that.

- Is this is the minimum order?

You have to fill the tray?

- That's the best part.

- Yeah.

- You walk around, you go into these little cabinets, and figure out what you want, what looks good and you just eat, right?

- I'm gonna get one of these.

I love these little- - You gotta get those.

- These little butterfly things.

- I've got my favorite right here.

- Part of me wants to eat all of it.

Oh, churros, man.

- Churros, you know.

- That's a no doubt.

- Oozing out.

- Ohh.

- Yeah.

- This is a message for my mom right now.

Mom, I hope you're watching.

Dang!

This, a Mexican kolache.

- Yup.

- Mexican klobasniky.

- Yeah.

- Right?

Una tortilla, por favor?

One?

Hot, si.

- Yeah!

Ready?

1, 2- (Chet gasps) - Cheers.

- Cheers.

I'm eating good with you, Raheel.

Eating real good.

El Bolillo now has multiple locations all across Houston and mad respect to Raheel for introducing me to this spot as it should keep me in the crew Well carbed up at least until lunch.

There are like eight downtowns- - I know.

- For Houston.

You got Downtown downtown, you got the Galleria downtown.

Midtown now has its own skyscrapers.

- And the threat of drivers that can't drive.

- Well, Houston has the patented Houston Freeway suite where you start all the way on the left side and go six lanes across to your exit.

- But that's how Chet drives anyway, so... - Oh wait, there's my exit?

(Chet exclaims) (others laugh) Houston does have the widest freeways in the world, although I'm not sure that's something to brag about.

However, if you wanna drive like a real Houstonian, well there's only one way to do that.

You'll need a car, a welding torch, and a lot of hot glue because they don't just drive cars in H Town, they drive art cars.

Alright, Alicia, I got just one question.

What?

(Alicia laughs) What is going on?

I know like for people who live outside of Houston, this art car thing is like kind of mind blowing, but y'all have been doing it a while now.

- Well, there was a group of artists that painted their cars and decorated them and kind of got together and drove around.

They hooked up with the orange show and had their first official parade, I believe in '87 or '88.

- And since that time, it's only gotten crazier and crazier.

And as a result, more iconic.

- It's very subversive.

You're taking a manufactured product that anyone could buy and customizing it.

- These are like little mini rebellions, right?

- Right.

- This is punk rock on a car.

- You can take your art to the road, on the road and you don't have to sit in a little gallery waiting for people to come see your artwork.

You just take it on the street.

- The street.

(Chet chuckles) And they do, especially during the annual Art Car Parade each April.

But if you're not in town for that one weekend, well this museum is ready year round to entertain you.

They might even throw you a tea party.

"Miss Henry's China Cabinet."

Y'all put this together in her honor.

- Yes.

Her friends did.

- This is amazing.

There's a antique spoon collection here.

If y'all don't do this to my truck when I die, y'all are not my real friends.

This is the appropriate way to honor a day tripper.

Okay?

This one is straight out of a dream or maybe a nightmare.

- Well, this one's called "Phantoms" by W.T.

Burge.

He started with a early seventies Volkswagen Beetle and then he built it out from there.

- Wow.

- And here's the entry.

If you- If you're the driver.

- Oh!

- Oh, man.

Sliding on in.

Oh, this is awesome!

Woo!

I don't think I'm gonna be taking this on any day trips very soon.

It's not just art cars.

Also art scooters.

Never seen a fuselage on a scooter.

- The people behind the museum feel like art cars are a uniquely new American art form and that it should be shown with other fine art.

So we try to pick the art and then we try to match the cars to the art.

- To the art.

I love it.

- Yes.

- I'm glad that people have a way to experience art cars, not just on the parade day.

It's special.

Oh, the places we could go in an art car.

And that includes our next stop, which today comes with some very appropriate transportation.

Read the car, and you'll know our destination.

Saint Arnold Brewing, Texas's oldest craft brewery.

This car is awesome!

- This is the place.

We have art cars.

We also happen to have a beer called Art Car.

- Oh!

Cheers.

- Cheers.

Art Car IPA.

- Art Car IPA.

I love it.

I mean, this couldn't be more Houston.

- There is nothing more Houston than the Art Car Parade and maybe nothing more Houston than the Art Car IPA.

I think.

- Yeah.

(Chet laughs) That's awesome.

This is Lenny Ambrose, marketing head honcho at Saint Arnold, who I've known personally for years.

But first thing's first.

Who is Saint Arnold?

Well, he's the patron saint of brewers.

And not only did he brew beer, but even after his death, he miraculously multiplied a jar of beer to quench the thirst of his followers.

What a guy.

And so in his honor, these folks now quench the thirst of all of Houston.

It was the early nineties when co-founders Brock and Nick started brewing beer in a closet at Rice University.

Well, the operation is a little bigger these days with everything done right here on site.

What do we have going on here, Lenny?

- So Chet, we produce a lot of cans.

A- A lot of cans.

The canning lines barely stop running all day, all night.

But we're doing variety packs, so that's mixing up a bunch of different beers.

But then also we're doing some of our new cider line as well.

I didn't know y'all were in the cider game.

- Oh, we are in the cider game, sir.

- Okay!

- Strawberry- - Strawberry kiwi cider?

- Strawberry kiwi cider.

It's like- - So fresh, so fruity!

- Yeah.

You know, you're like a kid with a juice box but an adult juice box.

Right?

- I'm all about that.

Ah, delicious.

- I know.

Refreshing.

- Yeah.

- Little sweet.

A little tart.

- It's the freshest cider I've ever tasted.

- I know and it's cold, right off the line.

Literally.

- Yeah.

Today, Saint Arnold produces 11 year-round beers, seven predictable seasonal beers, cider, and by my count, about 3000 other beverages.

Hey, experimentation is the name of the game, especially in the barrel room.

- I think the best style or the most classic is a big stout in a bourbon barrel.

- Has this been in there three years?

- Three years.

- Wow.

- And- And that beer is moving in and out of the barrel because of the temperature.

And so the wood swells and you know contracts.

- Yeah.

- And goes back and forth.

And we have barrel masters that actually are coming here to taste it on a regular basis to see when it's ready.

- Dang.

How do you get the title Barrel Master?

That's a cool one.

- I- I- It's way beyond me.

I don't know.

Are you ready?

- How about it?

I mean, I'm no barrel master, but I think I can try it.

- Okay.

- Wow.

Cheers.

Smell it, please.

Smell it first.

- Oh!

- I know, huh?

- Man!

That's heaven.

You need to put that in a candle is what you need to do.

It's kind of changing too.

There's a lot of more- - Yeah.

- ...chocolate coming out.

- And I get a little leather, even.

- Mm-hmm.

Sure.

- Kind of in the- Rich, rich.

- Rich.

There you go.

Wow!

- I know, right?

- The neverending experiment to make the world's best beers.

And the best place to taste all the concoctions the Saint has up his sleeve is here in the beer hall.

Was the vision from the beginning very traditional German and Czech beers?

- Yeah, I think so.

And then like with anything, you kind of evolve, kind of veer off and try to do other stuff.

That's one of the great things about visiting a craft brewery.

If you come in and say, "I'm a light beer drinker, mass produced light beer drinker.

What do you have?"

That bartender is going to know kind of how to guide you.

And they want you to find what you want to drink.

The city of Houston has always really embraced us and we love the city of Houston.

It is a community gathering place.

- It's an experience always coming to Saint Arnold.

I just wish I lived closer.

I mean, for real.

I think the crew has been watching me enjoy myself long enough.

Time for the Saint to quench their thirst as well.

Let's play a game.

Famous people from Houston.

- Beyonce.

- Yeah, you gotta start there.

- Paul Wall, baby!

- Paul Wall!

- It's your boy Paul Wall, baby!

Oh, oh!

Dr.

Phil.

- Chamillionaire.

- Patrick Swayze.

- Quaid Brothers.

- Kenny Rogers.

- Kenny Rogers.

- The gambler!

You got to know when to hold 'em Hold 'em Know when to fold 'em When to fold 'em - I looked this up on Wikipedia and I'm already forgetting half of it.

Like... - That was your only homework before this shoot.

- I know!

- One famous guy that didn't live in Houston: Sam Houston.

'Cause back in Sam's Day, well, there wasn't much city here to speak of.

What was here was the navigable bayou that connected this town site to Galveston Bay and on to all the ports of the world.

And today, we're gonna paddle it by renting a kayak from Bayou City Adventures.

And this is director, Ken Jacobs.

It looks like a pretty good day to be out on the Bayou, huh?

- It is.

It is.

It looks absolutely beautiful on the Bayou right now.

Alright, let's go get in the water.

There could be nothing more iconic to the Bayou City than the Bayou itself.

Man, I love being out here.

I mean up there on the highway, you got people rushing around, getting here and there as fast as they can.

But me?

Well, I'm taking the more slow and scenic form of transportation.

This is the Waugh Bridge.

It's home to one of the largest urban back colonies in the country.

And if you look around on the bank, there are these birds of prey that's sitting there waiting for either the baby bats or the old bats to drop out of the bridge and then they'll get themselves a little snack.

I tell you, nature is brutal.

Today, the bayou is surrounded by beautiful parks and green spaces, but that hasn't always been so.

You know, for decades, a century, maybe even, Buffalo Bayou was seen as nothing more than a drainage ditch.

It's only been within the past few decades that Houston has started to see Buffalo Bayou for what it truly is, which is a living, breathing waterway.

A super important ecosystem.

Man, there's stuff jumping all around me.

I just paddled over an alligator gar.

Alright.

So you'll see all these sticks just sort of stuck in the bank.

That's the work of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership.

They're looking to shore up the bank, planting trees so that way the bayou doesn't keep eroding.

Houston has built highways and giant infrastructure around something that's movable.

I mean, without Buffalo Bayou, Houston would not be here.

Houston, you got a lot to thank Buffalo Bayou for.

I recommend the way you do it is just a get out here and enjoy it.

Nothing like a long paddle to work up an appetite.

And we are gonna need it because tonight we are going big.

Texas sized, in fact.

By visiting a restaurant regarded by meat eaters everywhere as one of the best steakhouses in America.

My stomach is so ready, but I might need a change of clothes.

Much better.

Welcome to Pappas Bros.

Steakhouse, the flagship steakhouse of the Pappas Family empire.

That includes restaurants like Papacitas and Papadeaux just to name a few.

But it all began right here in Houston.

Ooh!

All right.

What do we have here?

- You have lobster deviled eggs.

- Oh.

- With honey bacon.

Bacon makes everything better.

You know, so I would not try to eat one without bacon.

- Yeah.

And lobster certainly doesn't make it worse.

- No it doesn't.

Anyway, so.

- This is family member, Evie Pappas and longtime general manager, Don Verba.

Today, the Pappas family has 80 restaurants across seven states.

But it started with much more humble roots.

Roots that sprouted the American dream.

- Our great-grandfather, his name was H.D.

Pappas, and he came from a small village in Greece.

He settled his family in Dallas and he had four sons.

So this place is called Pappas Bros.

And they were kind of like jacks of all trades, very entrepreneurial.

And they'd like, make money and lose money.

Make money and lose money.

And one of the businesses they had was this restaurant equipment business.

- Brothers Chris and Harris purchased a small restaurant downtown called Dot Diner.

Soon after, they opened their own restaurant called the Strawberry Patch right here in this building.

- I was a hostess.

I was 15.

And so my first job was here.

- Oh wow.

- As a hostess, and I always love telling this story about how Don and I used to work next to each other.

- You're lying.

- Don was a bartender.

- Yep.

- Oh, that's amazing.

- And he would make virgin daiquiris for the hostesses.

- Oh, that's amazing.

- Absolutely.

- You've been with the family a long time, then.

- Just over 31 years.

- They would look around and say, "What do people want to eat?"

And often they would look and say what's popular?

And they said, "Okay, they're eating fish" or, "They're eating Tex-Mex."

These are words out of their mouths.

"We can do that and we can do it better."

- The simple quest for better spawned all the restaurants the Pappas own.

But not everything they tried was a hit.

And the long times Houstonians may remember a clown-themed eatery called Circus.

Yeah.

That one didn't last too long.

And even some beloved restaurants had a pretty rough start.

- The Seafood House, like no one- No one showed up.

Like they opened the doors and no one came.

- Oh no.

- And so then they told the staff to go out on the highway and wave the red napkins to have people come in and eat.

- It's like the original sign flippers.

Y'all have been revolutionary and way more than you think.

- Yes.

Yeah.

- Like that's amazing.

But they always failed forward until they found success that stuck.

Success that is literally written on the walls of Pappas Bros.

Steakhouse, oozing from the fresh cut steaks all cooked on a 1000 degree vertical broiler.

- We wanted to really sear the outside of the meat.

You know, sometimes you'll be cooking on a barbecue grill and you see all the bubbles coming out and juices all flowing out.

Well, that's a lot of flavor that you're losing there.

- Yeah, that's true.

It's not backyard style.

That's what makes coming here special.

- Absolutely.

- Right?

- Yes.

- I think one of the wonderful things about the restaurants that the Pappas family has created is there's a place for families to gather and people gather all around Texas.

Family values and love and all the things food that bring family together right here in Houston.

- The magnitude of our programs have evolved more than I ever thought that they would have.

We dry age our your own beef here.

Back when we started, nobody did that.

Okay?

And so the forethought that we were gonna have a dry age cooler where we took our meat and we dry aged it was unheard of.

- The steaks are on another level, but it isn't just the meat that Pappas Bros.

is known for as this location alone has one of the most revered wine lists in America.

And catch this, 35,000 bottles on site.

- Chet, no matter what steak you order, properly pair that with a nice glass of wine.

I believe Steven McDonald, our master sommelier here, could be the perfect person to pick that out for you.

- That sounds good to me.

- Well this is our wine room.

- Wow!

Y'all got a few selections in here.

- Yeah.

So we're gonna- We're gonna sample some.

- Yes.

So what is it about red wine and steak?

What- What's the magic there?

- Wine is a special gastronomic product that gives you access to many more flavors and aromas that no other beverage can do.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

- That's- - Super smooth.

A little bit of that kind of mushroom and meaty quality that you would like find lines up really well with our dry age products.

A lot of savory black fruits and red fruits.

- Yeah, very fruity.

- Like leather, like dried florals, gravel.

- I need your vocabulary.

Gravel, mushroom, meaty, gastronomic wine.

I love it, Steven.

This so good.

To some, the wine might be the star of the show, but to me it will always be the meat.

I'm just kind of delaying.

'Cause I'm sort of like taking in a moment.

Like you wouldn't believe how good this smells.

All right, so I got a dry aged bone-in New York strip.

Ooh, man!

The moment of truth.

Hoo!

Ah.

It's beautiful.

This is perfect medium rare.

Oh my gosh.

That steak.

This experience that was started by some people who just simply had a dream.

A family who simply said like, "Yeah, we can do that and we can do it better."

And this is definitely betterer.

Yeah.

They don't let me in these places very often.

Alright, one last iconic stop before we wrap up the day.

Right here on the campus of Rice University.

Alright, so to be iconic in Houston, it doesn't mean you have to be old, you just have to be awesome.

And this right here is awesome.

So this is Twilight Epiphany.

It's an artistic installation by the artist James Turrell.

And truly, there is nothing else like it in the state of Texas.

Every day at Twilight, this hour of the day, the colors on the roof start changing and look around.

People come here seeking meditation, seeking, you know, kind of quiet, a little bit of reprieve from a busy day, maybe even looking for an epiphany.

You can trip it for the food.

You can trip it for the bayou.

You can trip it for the people and for the art.

Heck, you can even trip it in the art.

Houston is so diverse and delicious.

It can be anything you want.

But if Houston itself is anything at all, it's definitely iconic.

Wow.

Houston never fails to surprise me.

So I'll see all y'all out on the road.

Vaya con dios, amigos.

- The "Daytripper" is made possible by Rudy's, real Texas barbecue.

Shipping nationwide at rudys.com.

Karbach Brewing Company from Houston, Texas, makers of Karbach Lager, a beer that is proudly partnered with Don't Mess with Texas, please dispose responsibly.

Visit Georgetown, where big ideas meet small town charm.

Georgetown, the most beautiful town square in Texas.

Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, protection and peace of mind for Texans since 1952.

Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick in Georgetown.

Making Texas road trips possible for over 50 years.

Don Hewlett Chevrolet Buick, Texas True.

Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Texas' local bottler providing the Lone Star state with a variety of Coca-Cola products.