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A walk on the wild side

Walk into the Rainbow Lodge in the Houston Heights and you might think you were magically transported into a hunting lodge in Africa.

As you pass through the doors of the log cabin structure you are immediately hit with walls filled with stuffed trophy heads of every kind of imaginable hoofed beast, along with stuffed water fowl and fish.

You'll be equally greeted by wild meats as you peruse the menu.

Food blogger Mai Pham recently sat down to talk to the people who bring the wild side of the world to Houston.

Owner Donnette Hansen says the stuffed trophies represent the theme of the restaurant, wild game meat and fish.
"Believe it or not, every one of these trophies came from family, friends, or customers," she said.

"The Rainbow Lodge is all about wild game," Chef de Cuisine Mario Valdez told Pham. "We have elk, deer, buffalo, and antelope."

One of the special treats at the Rainbow Lodge is the wild game burger, which is only made on Fridays. It's made from whatever meats they have around, mixed in with pork belly to give it fatty flavor. The day Pham visited, the burger included elk, buffalo, and rabbit meat.  You have to get their early to get in on the wild game burger. Valdez only makes a dozen of them, and it's first-come, first-serve.

The Rainbow Lodge is located at 2011 Ella Blvd.

For more information on the Rainbow Lodge, check out:   
www.rainbow-lodge.com

To read Mai Pham's blogs, go to:
www.examiner.com/fine-dining-in-houston/mai-pham
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/author.php?author_id=2696