Andy’s Home Cafe heads to Near Northside; reopening at 2121 N Main St
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Building "Bridges" Across the Bayou City!
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Read MoreTLDR : Turkey Leg Hut owner Lynn Price was arrested recently, next court appearance is set for June, and has a long criminal history that includes violence, theft, and fraud.
Lynn Price, the co-owner of the Turkey Leg Hut restaurant in Houston with wife Nakia Price, is awaiting arraignment for felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Price was charged in February for attacking someone with a gun, resulting in bodily injuries (screenshot of charging document here and here ). Price, an ex-felon, was (and still is) on felony federal probation when the assault took place. He’s out on bond and ordered to wear a court-mandated ankle monitor. His next court appearance is set for June.
The Price’s Turkey Leg Hut has become a local sensation overnight. In less than 5 years, it’s one of Houston’s most publicized restaurants. The restaurant brings in over a million in net sales monthly, according to court documents and news reports.
Since its short time on the Houston restaurant scene, Turkey Leg Hut has received accolades from the local press and national press. In fact, last week, there was a puff piece about the Third Ward restaurant in the Washington Post. It also attracts local and out-of-town celebrities, as well as a legion of diehard supporters.
Nevertheless, the Turkey Leg Hut has its shares of problems.
Recent lawsuits include neighbors alleging the restaurant is a neighborhood nuisance to claims of fraud and theft from its business partner, Steve Rogers veteran nightlife promotor, former F.E.E.D TX Restaurant Group investor, bar owner). The media covered both fervently.
For all the press Turkey Leg Hut receives about its food & community outreach, strangely news publication haven’t said a peep about this recent charge. It’s strange because Lynn Price is propped up as a business and community leader.
What’s troubling is this isn’t Lynn Price’ first run-in with the law or violent offense. Price’s rap sheet includes theft, physically abusing his girlfriend-now current wife, choking his pregnant girlfriend in 2013, and a tax fraud scheme using stolen identities of Third Ward residents that landed him in federal prison in 2016.
But none of this is discussed when covering the couple or itheir restaurant’s fame. Also not included in the Turkey Leg Hut’s origin story, how Lynn Price stole a Third Ward business’ food trailer to use for TLH’s pop-ups held across from the Houston rodeo. By the time the case was taken up, Price began his federal prison sentence so the court dismissed the case. You can view a screenshot of the charging document for that case here.
Sources: Harris County court records & Lipstick Alley
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Read MoreThis also includes a list of the most notorious organizers hiding behind their event names, and their festivals to avoid.
Depending on the pages and friends you follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, chances are you’ve seen social media ads for OMG Food Fest. There’s also the possibility you’ve seen linked articles about the festival shared on Facebook. If so, don’t fall victim to this festival and its shady practices.
https://www.facebook.com/events/222145518790055/?active_tab=discussion
OMG Food Fest is being marketed as the world’s first hip-hop music and food festival. It’s taking place in Houston this Saturday, March 14. It was planned originally for March 7 at either Peggy Park or Emancipation Park. The organizers announced a venue change in February, moving to the event to Midtown Park because of ticket sales and demand. The festival is organized by Green Light Events. Amanda Sapp of Asapp Productions was hired as the event’s publicist (she’s also a radio personality at KMAZ-LP 102.5 FM) .
The food festival promises “tons of food vendors, shopping, outdoor games, [and] activities,” while they “keep you entertained with the city’s best Djs and bands playing hip-hop, rap [and] old-school [music].” Here’s the real deal: it’s all smoke and mirrors.
First of all, there isn’t a website for the event. It’s not just this event either. Many if not all of events and festivals from Green Light Events don’t have a website. The events all have web domains redirecting to Eventbrite. And the Eventbrite ticketing pages lacks lots of information. That’s a huge warning sign.
To date, there isn’t a list of food and beverage vendors for OMG Food Fest. When tickets went on sale in January, the festival didn’t provide a list of participating food vendors. That’s a major component to know being it’s a food festival. It’s also a warning sign many should have taken into account from the beginning. Another warning ? Green Light Events asked for food vendors the day tickets went live and a couple of weeks leading up to the festival. Food vendors and participants should be in place the moment the event and ticket sales go live. That wasn’t so with OMG Food Fest.
Some food vendors were announced later by Green Light Events on OMG Food Fest’s event page on Facebook, but none are listed under the description or on the ticket site powered by Eventbrite. The vendors posted in separate posts were: Krave Funnel Cakes, Foreign Policy, Kono Pizza, and American Lobster and Seafood. Other food vendors that will supposedly be in attendance are Tila’s Tacos, Toros Barbecue, A Diff Swirl, Peirre’s Cajun Creations, and Skillet Cajun, per each of their Facebook pages. I found those after performing various Facebook searches. None have been confirmed or listed as vendors by Green Light Events. Basically, it’s a glorified food truck festival with a handful of known food trucks and the rest unknown food vendors.
After months of requests for food vendor information, Green Light Events began deleting comments and blocking people. The organizer or its publicist responded rudely to ticket holders and those wanting to buy tickets but wanted answers. One reply from Green Light Events in response to why they haven’t released the list of vendor with the event a week away,was this: “For reasons that we don’t need to explain. We will get it up either tonight or tomorrow morning.” The response from Green Light Events was Friday. It’s Monday and still no official list of participating food and beverage vendors in sight.
Another shady practice of Green Light Events? Using photos found on Instagram of food from non-participating restaurants that won’t be available at their events. No trustworthy festival would use photos of foods from restaurants, chefs, or other food vendors that aren’t participating. But that’s what Green Light Events is doing:
https://www.facebook.com/greenlighteventshouston/photos/gm.222508628753744/3682012238483033
The photo of the chicken pieces served in a waffle cone are from Chick’nCone, which is not participating in this event at all. The other photo used to promote this event is of a burger that’s from from Bleecker St. Burger, a restaurant in England:
https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/news/g2765/all-things-meaty-best-8-burgers/?slide=1
Last week, a week before OMG Food Festival takes place, Green Light Events adds a VIP package. The VIP is $500 for 8 or more people. What credible food festival does that at the last minute? And for what’s a glorified food truck festival that won’t have anything special?
One glance at the event page filled with grammatical and spelling errors, and it’s clear this not a professional event. It is certainly not one deserving of anyone’s money. But that hasn’t stopped people from shelling out for tickets. It also hasn’t stopped this event from getting a lot of publicity.
Channel 2 ( KPRC) and Narcity wrote about this event. Each of the articles were shared over 8 thousand times on Facebook alone (Narcity closed to 40k), thereby giving this event legitimacy without doing their due diligence in making sure the event and its organizers are trustworthy:
https://i.imgur.com/Hh12gC1.png
Other digital magazines and website have publicized this event with articles also posted to Facebook. Because of the reach of those article, and the reach due to promoted Facebook and Instagram posts and ads, news of the event has spread all over the state and across the country. From the comments on the event page, people are flying and driving into town, purchased lodging accommodations because they’re attending this festival. Sadly, they’re in for nothing but disappointment.
And with so many questions surrounding OMG Food Fest , the biggest should be who is Green Light Events. Green Light Events is the same organizer behind the disastrous King of Crawfish Festival held two weeks ago in Houston.
It was discussed on Reddit the day after the festival:
Green Light Events didn’t apologize for the event on Facebook. Instead, they wrote rude replies to angry patrons, deleting comment on both Facebook and Instagrams, blocking people, and ultimately deleting the Facebook event page for King of Crawfish Fest and the Facebook page for King of Crawfish Fest. These measures are always taken to make it seem as if the event was a success. Or if people try to look at the event from the previous year, they won’t find much about it ot many negative comments.
Interestingly enough, Green Light Events sent ticket holders a recap letter through Eventbrite where they claimed the event was a success, for the most part:
https://i.imgur.com/Jz9S1j6.jpg
The organizer did admit there were issues, which were glossed over. But what’s more surprising is the gall to blame most of the failures because it was their first King of Crawfish Fest. That is not true. This was the second year Green Light Events produced the King of Crawfish Fest. Last year, someone asked Reddit about King of Crawfish Fest and the event was also publized on Facebook (the page was deleted after the festival) and Eventbrite:
https://old.reddit.com/r/houston/comments/aqapdx/king_of_crawfish_festival_216/?sort=old
There is no transparancy with Green Light Events. The general public do not know who’s behind Green Light Events. That’s because the organizer goes out of their way to hide their identity. But knowing who is involved with Green Light Events is important for the public’s sake, and because the continued practice of organizing fraudulent festivals should be reported. A name is needed to report this organizer to the city’s Special Events Office and the state’s attorney general. If more of these organizers are brought to light, then the more they will be held accountable and people can avoid them altogether.
So who makes up Green Light Events? Christopher McMurray or Chris McMurray for short . He also goes by the names Chris Mac and 713ChrisMac on social media. He operates his events under the entity Space City Events LLC (his name and entity’s name are key information if reporting his events and shady business practice to the city and the state).
The extent of McMurray’s hospitality expereince is as a club promoter. He promotes parties for Access Lounge. In the past, he promoted parties for Bar Republik. McMurray has ZERO hospitality experience in the food and restaurant industry in Houston. Other food and beverage festivals produced by McMurray include
◆ Trap Wine Fest
◆ Taste of New Orleans
◆ The Houston Food Fest
◆ Midtown Wine Fest
◆ Wine on the Green
◆ King of Crawfish Fest
McMurray goes out of his way not to link himself or Green Light Events to the Houston Food Fest and Midtown Wine Fest. Green Light Events is not listed as the organizer on either event’s Facebook event page or Eventbrite. However, permits and records, including a DBA for Texas Wine Events filed in January (there’s a Facebook page too), link back to Chris McMurray of Green Light Events.
McMurray and his shadow company Green Light Events also organizes music festivals. I have not attended the music festivals he’s organized in the past, but if they’re anything like his food festivals, it may be best to avoid:
◆ Houston Zydeco Fest
◆ Reggae in the Park
Last year, CultureMap listed a number of ways to sniff out a food festival that’s a rip-off, a scam, or will under-deliver. It’s a good starting point in gauging whether or not a food festival is a scam or will be a total $%^show. The list could also apply to music festivals, cultural festivals, or any niche festival.
Houston Food Finder also lists red flags to look for in an article about Houston Brunch Fest (or HTX Brunch Fest, organized by Bruce Bray of Bray Consulting Firm and Diiverse Entertainment):
https://houstonfoodfinder.com/news/inaugural-brunch-festival-left-many-attendees-feeling-ripped-off/
A rule of thumb is do your research before handing over your money (and credit card information) to people you don’t know. Look at past events organized by whomever is producing the festival if available. In doing so, it’s possible to distinguish if the festival will be worth your money or not.
Each festival has an audience they’re targeting. One festival may appeal to one person, while it won’t to another. Not every food festival in the Houston area will be a Chris Shepherd produced Southern Smoke or Houston Barbecue Festival, but that doesn’t mean they have to be a bait and switch either. Regardless of a festival’s target demographic, no one deserves to be duped of their money. People attending a food or beverage festival want to experience the food, they want to meet the people behind the food, they want to enjoy themselves while getting their money’s worth. It’s as simple as that. However, some organizers are money and fame hungry, throwing festivals to line their pockets without caring about the consumer or vendors.
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I put together a list of organizers and their festivals that are either questionable, proved to be scams, or turned out to be complete disasters. Reference this or pass it along so others are informed. Maybe local news stations will look into this further since almost all the major local news stations have helped legitimized many of these festivals by promoting them to their viewers.
Other food festivals and their organizers to stay away from:
– Timothy Hudson
Remember the debacle of Houston Beer Fest’s inaugrual festival? If not, Hudson organized the event. There are countless articles about the festival, Hudson, and others involved:
https://www.google.com/search?q=%22timothy+hudson%22+%22houston%22+%22beer%22
He also organized the Houston Food Truck Festival around the same time as Houston Beer Fest’s duration. He’s still in the food and beverage festival business bilking people out of their money with subpar events. Below are events and food festivals he’s organized in recent years, including this year. You wouldn’t know he’s involved because his name is not listed in any of the event’s descriptions. The events also don’t provide the organizer’s name on Eventbrite and on their Facebook event page to inform the publc the festivals are from the same organizer:
◆ Houston Wine Festival
◆ Houston Food & Wine Fest
◆ The Urban Food & Wine Fest
◆ Houston Cocktail Fest
◆ Houston Seafood Fest
◆ OktoberFest Houston
◆ The Crawfish & Music Fest or may go by the name Houston Crawfish & Music Fest
◆ Houston Cider Fest
Further digging uncovered the entity TBK Holdings listed as the producer and organizer of Houston Seafood Fest, Houston Crawfish & Music Fest, the Urban Food & Wine Fest, and Houston Cider Fest. TBK Holdings is not associated with TBK Holdings Inc, the parent company of the Breakfast Klub, Reggae Hut, Signature Kafe, the Alley Kat, and Kulture.
Hudson may also have involvement or is associated with EW Media Group (or EWMedia Group) who are involved in some way with these food festivals and drink festivals in the Houston area:
◆ Brazilian Food & Music Festival
◆ La Izquierda Surf & Music Festival
◆ Houston Reggae Fest
◆ Woodlands Margarita Festival
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Jordan Cummings and Ta’ Whitmore
Cummings and Whitmore make up Late Nites Early Mornings or LNEM Events. Like Chris McMurray of Green Light Events food and drink festivals organized by LNEM Events are more about a party atmosphere than the food. Past events on Facebook and Eventbrite list more parties than anything food related. The organizers are not involved in any aspect of Houston’s food community. It’s evident from their events with obscure food vendors. Their events also have restaurants, food trucks, and chefs that aren’t well known in Houston.
Last year’s Nola Boil was cancelled over the weather. Refunds weren’t provided to ticket purchasers. LNEM Events provided tickets to their Hennything Fest instead of refunds, much to the dismay of angry ticket holders. Duplicating the pattern most failed festivals or festival rip-offs, LNEM Events deleted much of negative comments and posts, blocked people, and removed the review portion of their page preventing people from leaving a review.
LNEM Events also hosts the Hennything Fest, a festival for all things Hennessy purpotedly. Their most recent Hennything Fest was held in Dallas. Many complained of the festival being a scam and a rip-off. Many of the original comments were removed from the event page and Instagram, but some complaints can be found on public Facebook profiles. Last week, Narcity wrote an infomerical article promoting LNEM Event’s Henneything Fest, further helping spread this festival to people on Facebook and Instagram.
Most of the food and drink festivals from LNEM Events are listed below.
◆ The Nola Boil
◆ Hennything Fest (a Hennessey festival)
◆ The Houston Daiquiri Fest
◆ Funtober Fest
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