When will Pearland get some upscale restaurants? (The Woodlands, Katy: houses, neighborhood)

[Sampaguita]

Originally Posted by texas7

To each his own. I can't insult someone who calls PF Chang's upscale or someone who only considers Mark's upscale. Everyone is in a different income bracket and what is an upscale night out for someone might be casual daily dining for another.

Very well said!

[asonnier]

I Don't think anybody was insulting anybody!

[crbcrbrgv]

Texas7, I love your comment also. Heck, I could throw out my "I'm from Chicago" card and plainly state that since Houston has zero 5 star restaurants, why are we even having a discussion about upscale restaurants in the first place?

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

Texas7, I love your comment also. Heck, I could throw out my "I'm from Chicago" card and plainly state that since Houston has zero 5 star restaurants, why are we even having a discussion about upscale restaurants in the first place?

With all the growth in Houston, give it a few years.

@Pearland, I think there are three major reasons why nicer chains and higher aren't there:
1) Proximity to the inner-loop. Pearland is the closest true suburb to the inner loop and it's vast array of dining options. While it may be a pain to commute during rush hour, the drive to/from Pearland and the loop outside rush hour isn't that bad.
2) Proximity to not so nice areas. While there are not so nice areas between both the Woodlands and Sugar Land and Houston, Pearland seems to be closer to the not so nice areas than WL and SL.
3) Pearland is still relatively new as a large scale suburb. I'll bet if Pearland doesn't trend downhill and newer MPCs are built south along 288 with pricepoints close to Katy then the market would support these nicer places.

For comparison, does Kingwood or Cypress have many midscale and upscale chains similar to what the OP mentioned?

[Schumacher713]

Suburbs mostly get chain restaurants. I don't really see Pearland getting any. No offense, but it is one of the a lower income suburb. Houston has plenty of high end places. The food scene has stepped up quite a bit in the last few years. A lot are getting national recognition. Oxheart is considered one of the better restaurants in the country. I am not a foodie, so I don't care about fancy places. I do like good food though. There are tons of places that are reasonably priced.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by Schumacher713

Suburbs mostly get chain restaurants. I don't really see Pearland getting any. No offense, but it is one of the a lower income suburb. Houston has plenty of high end places. The food scene has stepped up quite a bit in the last few years. A lot are getting national recognition. Oxheart is considered one of the better restaurants in the country. I am not a foodie, so I don't care about fancy places. I do like good food though. There are tons of places that are reasonably priced.

I wouldn't call $180k-$280k homes lower income. That is solid middle territory, unless there are a whole bunch of cheaper homes than that in Pearland. I can count the times I've been to Pearland on one hand, so I know very little about it, but SCR is not lower income.

[Schumacher713]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

I wouldn't call $180k-$280k homes lower income. That is solid middle territory, unless there are a whole bunch of cheaper homes than that in Pearland. I can count the times I've been to Pearland on one hand, so I know very little about it, but SCR is not lower income.

Middle class is not what it used to be. I am not saying it is the hood or anything, but it is not near as nice as Sugar Land, Woodlands, etc. I have been to Pearland a few times. There are plenty of older homes there that I am guessing are cheaper than 180k.

[JaqueCosto]

I doubt the median home in Pearland is $180k. Pearland is vastly superior to most areas inside Beltway 8, but Sugar Land, Cinco Ranch and The Woodlands are more upscale suburbs.

[hbcu]

You pay more for lesser house in Sugar Land, etc..$180K is a nice home

[texas7]

I don't consider pearland to be an upscale community. It seems like a nice, middle income city to me. Although I do think they are experiencing growing pains. The infrastructure really wasn't there to handle such a big population boom so quickly. I see league city following that path - explosion in population faster than the city can handle it. And they don't have any upscale restaurants either. They do have some of the more popular, nice sit-down restaurants. That's a huge plus for any small city or town vs. just a glut of fast food or fast casual food.