"If you want to drink wine somewhere nobody knows your name, go to La Carafe. As the oldest bar in downtown Houston, it’s rumored to be haunted. (For the record, the only apparition we've seen here is a friendly yet disinterested bartender.) The wine list may be short and run-of-the-mill. But what La Carafe lacks in options, it makes up for in spookiness. The jukebox may or may not work, there are plenty of brooding dark corners with candles burning atop pillars of drippy wax, and the old paintings show expressionless, possibly deceased people. Bring a first date before wandering around Downtown." - chelsea thomas, gianni greene, julie takahashi