USA
City overview
Houston's Orthodox community lives in Southwest Houston, along Brays Bayou. The shuls, mikvaot and day schools sit in Meyerland, Willow Meadows, Westbury and the Fondren Road corridor known as Brays Oaks, with the small city of Bellaire to the north and West University Place a short drive east. The Chabad Lubavitch Center on Fondren Road, home to a daily minyan, a day school and a mikveh, and United Orthodox Synagogues on Greenwillow Street in Willow Meadows are two of its main institutions. Kosher food runs along a handful of streets: South Braeswood Boulevard, Fondren Road, Hillcroft Avenue and Beechnut Street in the Meyerland and Brays Oaks area, plus Bissonnet Street and Bellaire Boulevard in Bellaire. Two agencies certify locally, the Houston Kashruth Association (HKA) and Mehadrin Kashrus of Texas (MKT), and the H-E-B supermarket on Beechnut Street carries an in-store kosher section under their symbols. Distances are bigger than they look on a map. The community covers several miles, so the shul you plan to walk to on Shabbos should decide where you stay. On weekdays almost every visitor drives.
Houston, TX
Rabbi
Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff
Phone
(713) 777-2000Texas headquarters of Chabad-Lubavitch on Fondren Road, with a daily minyan, Torah Day School, Camp Gan Israel and Mikveh Taharas Yisroel on the campus, plus the office of Mehadrin Kashrus of Texas.
Getting Around
Public transit
METRO runs Houston's buses and METRORail.
Local bus and rail fares are $1.25 (discounted $0.60). A $3 Day Pass gives unlimited local bus and rail rides until 2 a.m. the next day. Pay with a RideMETRO Fare Card ($2) for free transfers within three hours; the RideMETRO app and contactless bank cards are also accepted, while cash gets no change and no transfers. In the community, Route 2 Bellaire runs along Bellaire Boulevard every 15 minutes, and Route 65 Bissonnet every 10 minutes on weekdays and 15 at weekends; both run from before 5 a.m. to after midnight. The METRORail Red Line comes every 6 minutes on weekdays and every 12 at weekends. The buses work for single trips, but the community is spread over several miles, so it cannot realistically be covered without a car.
Rideshare
Uber and Lyft operate across the community.
At Bush Intercontinental (IAH), ride-app pickup is outside Baggage Claim at Terminal A west side Door A-114, Terminal C south side Doors C-103 and C-104, and Terminal E west side Level 2 Zone 5; Terminal B passengers take the Skyway to A or C. At Hobby (HOU), pickup is Curb Zone 5 outside Baggage Claim, where Get Me, GreenLight, Lyft, Uber and Wingz all operate.
Car rental
At IAH every rental company works from the Rental Car Center at 17330 Palmetto Pines, open 24 hours, five minutes from the terminals by shuttle.
Blue-and-white Rental Car Shuttle buses leave every five minutes from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and every ten minutes overnight, from Terminal A south side Door A-115, Terminal C south side Doors C-105 and C-106. At Terminal E, follow the Rental Car signs. At Hobby, courtesy shuttles to the rental facilities leave from Curb Zone 1 outside Baggage Claim. IAH's main approach roads are John F. Kennedy Boulevard, reached from the Hardy Toll Road or the Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8), and Will Clayton Parkway, reached from U.S. 59 (I-69); signs on both lead to the Rental Car Center. Hobby is on Airport Boulevard, off I-45.
William P. Hobby (HOU) is the closer airport to the community. A taxi from Hobby to the Medical Center/NRG Park zone is about $35, plus a $1.25 departure surcharge and another $1.00 between 8:00 PM and 6:00 AM, before tip. By METRO, the 500 Downtown Direct ($4.50) runs nonstop from both airports to downtown, and the local 102 Bush IAH ($1.25) leaves from Terminal C, Door C105.
Good to know
October to April is the comfortable season, with average highs from about 64°F in January to 83°F in October; June to September averages 90–95°F and humid. The Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30, and RodeoHouston runs from March 2 to 21, 2027.
Plan Shabbos food before Friday afternoon: kosher restaurants close early on Fridays, and most list Saturday as closed. Harova on Fondren Road is a full kosher grocery, and H-E-B Meyerland on Beechnut Street has a kosher section whose products carry HKA or MKT tags. United Orthodox Synagogues, Young Israel of Houston and Meyerland Minyan each have a hospitality request form for visitors, so make your requests before you arrive.
Take ordinary big-city precautions and keep valuables out of sight in parked cars. Summer heat is serious, so carry water, and never drive into a flooded street during heavy rain. In an emergency call 911. Meyerland, Willow Meadows, Westbury and Brays Oaks are inside Houston city limits and covered by the Houston Police Department, non-emergency (713) 884-3131. Bellaire has its own police department at 5110 Jessamine Street, non-emergency (713) 668-0487.
Local time
1:37 PM
+4 hrs from NYC
Plug
Type A/B
120V
Currency
US Dollar
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