Restaurant closings

Like everyone, I have felt a little pain from the recession. I have lost some income. My savings have been cut in half.

But I am lucky that nothing truly terrible has happened. I haven't lost my job. And none of my favorite restaurants closed.

That is, not until now.

Goodbye Mint Cafe, La Jaliscience

Mint Cafe was one of my favorite casual restaurants. The food was simple, Middle Eastern food, with a few interesting surprises.

Mint was run by a family. And the more we went, the more we felt like family. That makes the closing even harder to swallow.

La Jaliscience on Yale was one of my two or three favorite places to eat Mexican food. Like Mint, it was nothing fancy, just simple, inexpensive Mexican food. It also felt like family. And I felt like the crazy gringo cousin who could speak just enough Spanish to get by.

In the past few weeks, I have gone to both restauarants and found them shuttered.

The economy and restaurants

For the most part, restaurants in Houston have faired ok in this recession. Most of my favorite restaurants inside the Loop have stayed afloat.

Yet the Greater Houston area has had a lot of closings. Many of these are listed at b4-u-eat.

This lists suggests that the suburbs have been hit hard. Sadly, the end of nationwide recessions is often the hardest part for the Houston economy -- and for restaurants struggling to stay open.