<p>Our family's flying out for Owl Days -- staying near campus -- and
I'm trying to figure out if we need to rent a car or not. We're arriving
on Saturday night, and really want to get a feel for the campus ...</p>
<p>Is it easy to walk to Rice Village from campus -- or is a car rental a must?
Can we eat on campus? Where?
Do we really need to rent a car? </p>
<p>Thanks! This is exciting!!!!</p>
<p>There are some hotels within walking distance of Campus (I'm thinking of the Holiday Inn and Best Western on Main) but they are probably a 15 minute walk from the part of campus you'll be wanting to visit. Rice Village is a 10-15 minute walk from the middle of campus. From those hotels to Rice village would probably be about the same. If you're only considering eating/exploring Rice Village then you could get everywhere by walking, but remember that it's warming up and you might sweat in the daytime. If you'd like to go downtown you could take the light rail pretty conveniently, as it's right across from Rice and the hotels. If you'd like to see any of Houston that's not right around Rice or along the light rail (the vast majority of the city), a car is a necessity. I seem to remember my parents telling me, when they came to visit, that the car they rented cost about the same price as a taxi ride from the international airport, which is about 55$. </p>
<p>I don't know a whole lot about whether families will be able to eat at the serveries during owl days, but you could still eat on campus at the RMC (Rice Memorial Center). They have a Quiznos in Willy's Pub, a sandwich shop/smoothie store called 13th street, and Sammy's, which I understand to be nice cafeteria food though I've never eaten there. They're putting in additional food options in the glass building currently under construction behind the library. It's pretty unlikely that will be finished in time for Owl Days, though. </p>
<p>If you'd like specific food options in the Village, I'd recommend the following: </p>
<p>Texadelphia- Really good "Texas-style" cheese steaks. Stay away if you're at all concerned about your health. </p>
<p>Black Walnut Cafe- Hard to explain, but a casual place with a cool atmostphere and really good pizza, sandwiches, salads, and desserts. </p>
<p>There are a lot of good Thai restaurants. I recommend the place above Antone's. I can't remember the name, someone help me out. I've heard Patu's good too. </p>
<p>Ruggles has good fish tacos, probably other good stuff too. </p>
<p>If you want to go downtown for a nice dinner, I'd recommend Cava Bistro directly to your right as you get off the light rail at the Preston stop. That's not somewhere Rice students regularly eat, though.</p>
<p>If you're arriving on Saturday I would definitely recommend renting a car so you have more flexibility to explore Houston. </p>
<p>Houston has a wealth of great moderately priced restaurants. I'll post back later when I have more time to offer some suggestions. In the meantime, you can check out the restaurant reviews on Houston</a> Restaurant Recommendations and Reviews on Citysearch and look at Rice</a> Village. And Citysearch even has an article on dining in Rice Village: <a href="http://houston.citysearch.com/roundup/40521%5B/url%5D">http://houston.citysearch.com/roundup/40521</a></p>
<p>We came last year and tried to get around via taxi-cabs. It was a big mistake! We spent about $300.00 in cab fares. Houston is pretty spread out, and unless you're staying in a hotel that's right on the light rail, you may want to have access to a car. Rice Village is walkable to Rice, but most of the hotels are 2-3 miles away (unless you're staying in the medical center). We stayed up near the Galleria, and ended up taking cabs everywhere. We're used to NYC, where you would never rent a car! </p>
<p>Now, when we visit, we stay at the Marriott Residence Inn, which is probably about 2 1/2 miles from Rice and pretty easy to get to. It avoids the downtown area. We do rent a car whenever we're in Houston.</p>
<p>You should plan on entertaining yourself during Owl days. Let you student be in the activities meant for students and they will not see you. We did not even go with DD when she went.
From the web page: Owl</a> Days Frequently Asked Questions
Will there be any events for parents or family members? </p>
<p>Although Owl Days is designed with the student in mind, parents/guardians are welcome to attend a special information session, tour, and workshops on Monday. There is a program solely for parents/guardians on the following dates- Monday, April 7, Monday, April 14, and Monday, April 21. We are limiting each family to bring no more than 2 parents/guardians. Click here for the Owl Days schedule. Back to Top</p>
<p>Can parents or family members stay on campus? </p>
<p>No, we can only provide overnight accommodations for admitted students. Ask for the Rice University discount rate! Click here for information about Houston and a list of area hotels. Back to Top</p>
<p>I don't have much to add, but the Thai place above Antone's is Thai Spice. If you eat there before 7:00, they have a really good deal on the "Sunset Menu." That may only be available on weekends, though; I'm not sure.</p>
<p>The Marriot Medical center, and the best western are only 10 minutes walk max from campus (not far if your kids are lovetters or Sidizens). We do drive from home to Rice, but we often park the car and leave it once we're there. We like to walk to Rice village and eat at the Indian Place (can't remember the name) that makes fresh nan and has a great buffet. We also eat on campus where the students eat; you can pay with a check - not sure about credit card. We like to eat at the South Servery, which is a shared servery and has lots of food choices. I think it's a good idea to see what the food is like. The kids can eat at any servery, but some (including my son) often eat at their own individual colleges, where food choices are a little less.</p>
<p>Thai Village is also good and probably the cheapest of the three (Patu and Thai Spice), plus they deliver.</p>
<p>There are two good Indian restaurants: Shiva's is the better one and there is another one that I don't know the name of but it's next to Kubo's.</p>
<p>Kubo's is awesome for sushi.</p>
<p>Jason's deli is good if you don't want to spend much. So is Chipotle's but it's not really in "the village."</p>
<p>There's also a really good Turkish place, Vietnamese place, Chinese place (maybe several), lots of French bistros/bakeries, etc. Essentially, anything you want to eat is somewhere in the village.</p>
<p>Shiva's is the one that we like.... :)</p>
<p>Some of my favorite restaurants in Rice Village are:</p>
<p>Prego's - casual, upscale Italian <a href="http://www.prego-houston.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.prego-houston.com/</a>
Miss Saigon's - tiny but wonderful Vietnamese
Shiva's - Indian (they have a nice lunch buffet)
Croissant Brioche - tiny French bakery that's fun on a Sunday morning
Kahn's Deli - family-run Jewish deli
Ruggles Cafe - casual, with great desserts
Benjy's - upscale restaurant on the outskirts of Rice Village (great lunch, dinner and weekend brunch menu) benjy's</a> restaurant
D'Amico's - small Italian restaurant</p>
<p>If you go a little farther afield (with a car) I highly recommend a Tex-Mex breakfast (weekends only) at Goode Co. Taqueria -- trust me on this one. It's on Kirby Drive at the corner of Westpark. And across the street is Goode Co. BBQ that's a good barbeque restaurant. And definitely order a slice of the pecan pie! <a href="http://www.goodecompany.com/goodeRestaurant.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.goodecompany.com/goodeRestaurant.aspx</a></p>
<p>My favorite fun Mexican restaurant is a little farther still -- Chuy's on Westheimer (just west of Kirby). There will be a wait no matter when you go, but it's fun, cheap, with really good food. </p>
<p>Another good breakfast place is Buffalo Grille (there will be a line out the door if you go on Sunday). It's on Bissonnet (at Buffalo Speedway).</p>
<p>And if you want a treat, my favorite cupcake bakery is on Shepherd (just north of Hwy 59) is Sugarbaby’s</a> Cupcake Boutique</p>
<p>That will get you started.</p>
<p>If you want amazing pizza, do Barry's pizza, 6003 Richmond. I used to live in Houston and went there when I was a little kid, and have been back a couple times in the past 5 years...it's awesome. has sports pennants and TVs everywhere...and tons of quirky people work there :)</p>
<p>but like blackeyedsusan said...chuy's is hard to beat for mexican...it's the original one.</p>
<p>And at Chuy's be sure to order the jalapeno dip with the chips -- it's off the menu and really good (like a spicy ranch dressing).</p>
<p>Westsidewolf -- my favorite pizza place is Star Pizza (love the Joe's Pizza with spinach and garlic and deep dish whole wheat crust).</p>
<p>Many thanks for all the great suggestions. Considering the cab from the airport, and our dinner out when our son has his sleep-over, a car rental makes sense.
Really appreciate your great suggestions -- and a very kind neighbor gave me two more: Hobbit Cafe, 2243 Richmond Avenue ... Katz's Deli (open 24 hours) 616 Westheimer...</p>
<p>Hope to meet up with Sammy Owl!</p>
<p>Thanks -- should be pretty warm -- hope to see some azaleas...</p>
<p>Yes, the azaleas are out now. If you have some time to explore Houston while your son is at Rice you might be interested in visiting Bayou Bend -- it's an extension of the Museum of Fine Arts that's a mansion with gardens The</a> Museum of Fine Arts, Houston / Bayou Bend Collection Home Page</p>
<p>Hopefully the azaleas will be in full bloom there. Other ideas are visits to the wonderful museums near Rice -- Museum of Fine Arts and Houston Museum of Natural Science. Enjoy your visit.</p>
<p>Just a note: parking can be tough in Rice village, so allow for some time to find a place to park. :)</p>