Following directions from brick-laden downtown, drive past the Museum district and the Houston Zoo, down a street called Sunset Boulevard that’s lined with trees and mansions draped in ivy.
There, just west of Rice University, is Rice Village — one of Giles Barnes’ favorite places in the city he calls home — where people mill about a walkable, four-blocks-by-three-blocks district that dates to 1938 and is filled with retails chains, restaurants, bars and smaller clothing boutiques such as Hemline and Grace Anna’s.
An ice-cream sandwich food truck can be found parked in the shade and nearly every dining option features an outdoor patio, including Local Foods, one of Barnes’ favorite lunch stops.