LOCAL Houston | The City Guide FEBRUARY 2016 | Page 25

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE CLUB•ICEHOUSE•LOUNGE EIGHT ROW FLINT WHISKEY•BEER•TACOS What once served gas from the pump, now serves fuel of another kind. With a keen eye for investing in their neighborhood, the old Citgo station on the corner of Yale and 11th Streets in the Heights has been repurposed by the local team that brought us Revival Market and Coltivare. Hold on, the same people that own the craft butcher shop and a top-notch Italian restaurant refurbed an old gas station into a watering hole/taco joint? They did, and Eight Row Flint FTW. Though it still resembles a gas station in a cool way, the atmosphere has been rehabbed into a casual neighborhood watering hole. Starting with the massive, dog-friendly, L-shaped patio, purposely bordered with greenery and TVs, you know this is a place you are going to relax year-round. Inside the garage rollup-style doors, the renovations trend industrial with a lot of masonry (think raw walls of cinder blocks, concrete floors), exposed ceiling joists and reclaimed wood. The big, centrally placed bar surrounds the liquid goods, and those who forgo the patio fill the community tables, bar and other seating options, making busy nights a little crowded. draw. And, with 16 beers on tap with at least 50 bottled/canned beers spanning the entire spectrum, how can one complain? Maybe the 4 frozen drinks, perhaps the Coltivare Gin+Tonic (perfect for those long, hot Houston days), is your thing? If not, Eight Row Flint also has draft cocktails, and some great carbonated drinks like the Eight Row Mule, because variations of the Moscow mule are never bad. Just need something simple? Try a ‘cheap thrill’ whiskey shot with a Miller High Life for $4. Also in the works, bourbon aged in and poured from barrels racked behind the bar. Nothing like this in the city! Because we can’t help but mention the food, a permanent food truck out back serves queso and tacos nonstop (we hear the Brussels sprouts taco is the bomb). Along with the atmosphere, we’re guessing the beverage program with over 100 bottles of bourbons/whiskeys at any given time is quite the The crowds from the neighborhood sure indicate something good is happening here and we have to agree...we’re guessing no one misses that old Citgo station. 1039 Yale Street, Houston, TX 77008 832.767.4002 Mon–Fri 2pm–2am, Sat 10am–2am, Sun 10am–Midnight www.facebook.com/eightrowflint www.eightrowflint.com By Mike Cook | Photography by Daniel Ortiz february 16 | L O C A L 25