Richmond Strip

The Richmond Avenue Entertainment District, commonly known as the Richmond Strip, is an entertainment district along Richmond Avenue in western/southwestern Houston, Texas. It was especially popular in the 1990s, but it later declined as a partygoing destination in favor of other areas of town, such as Washington Avenue. Erin Mulvaney of the Houston Chronicle stated that at its peak, it was "seen as the Houston's answer to Sixth Street, Beale Street and Bourbon Street."

Marty Racine of the Houston Chronicle said "At the dawn of the '90s, geographically dysfunctional Houston lacked anything resembling an "entertainment district." Originally the Richmond Strip housed a few pickup joints and pool halls. After large chain establishments such as Billy Blues, Dave & Buster's, and Fat Tuesday moved into the area, bars began to appear there.Chuy's, Joe's Crab Shack, and Taco Cabana opened their first Houston locations in the Richmond Strip.

In 1993 Brad Tyer of the Houston Press said "The Richmond Strip has developed over the course of the past decade into a true entertainment district, a place to be and be seen, Houston's urban-sprawl equivalent of Sixth Street in Austin or Beale Street in Memphis or New Orleans' Latin Quarter — part local destination and part tourist trap, offering sensory overload in exchange for dollars." In 1995 Racine said "Elsewhere, Kirby Drive and especially Richmond Avenue are examples of strips where a bandwagon effect has spurred the proliferation of restaurants and clubs." In 1994 Greg Hassell of the Houston Chronicle said that the Richmond Strip was "the city's party strip." By 1997, the Richmond Strip became well known as a party destination in smaller communities outside of the Houston area. Jene Harper, the president of the Larchmont Civic Association, said "But I'll go out of town and people say, 'oh, the Richmond Strip. I know where that is. It's where all the bars are.' In the small towns, El Campo, Sealy and all that, it's, 'Oh, you're from Houston. You ever go to City Streets? Yeah.' They drive in all the way to go to City Streets."

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