Beastie Boys Day At El Big Bad; Houston Restaurants Honored In Wine Spectator

DOWNTOWN - Join El Big Bad August 5 as they celebrate and honor all things Beastie Boys both commemorating the talent and influence of the incredible band while remembering MCA on the anniversary of his birth. Special drinks with names like Brass Monkey, Paul Revere Punch, and Professor Booty with Shasta soda will encourage celebrants to toast the band while viewing the Criterion Collection of their videos on an HD video projector upstairs. The event goes from 4pm - 12am. Costumes encouraged! [Eaterwire]

HOUSTON AREA - Houstonians like their vino and evidently Wine Spectator likes Houston's restaurants; 49 local eateries were honored with Wine Spectator's 2014 Restaurant Awards - a superlative with weight from the world's leading authority on wine. Gillian Sciaretta, Restaurant Awards Manager from Wine Spectator had this to say about our city's offerings: "Houston, Texas is strongly represented in the 2014 Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards Program with 49 award-winning restaurants, which span across all three award levels, including Grand Award winner Pappas Bros. Steakhouse. All of these winners have wine lists that offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers. We at Wine Spectator applaud all of the winners for their passion in wine and for creating award-winning wine programs." For more details and to search for your favorite restaurants visit Wine Spectator's web site or purchase a copy of the magazine available on newsstands starting today. [Eaterwire]

UPTOWN PARK/GALLERIA - Mexico-based fresh seafood market restaurant Peska has officially announced it's plans to open in BLVD Place this November. With 6,000 square feet of service and dining space, this new eatery from the Ysita family will focus on "the best of globally sourced seafood and cuisine that blends the cooking styles of the Mediterranean, Europe and South America." Siblings Diego and Maite Ysita are excited to finally be opening this location in a city that they have grown up with, "Houston is our second home, and we have been waiting patiently for the ideal location to introduce Peska here," they said. [Eaterwire]