Home Care In Katy, TX

A few days before the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con, the Secret Sauce Society (which also owns a Hello Kitty pop-up, a few cafés and Trill Burgers), in collaboration with SEGA, introduced a pop-up restaurant dedicated to fiction’s fastest mammal, Sonic the Hedgehog. Now, one is coming to Katy. Temporarily taking the place of Craft Burger at 348 Mason, the Sonic Speed Cafe specializes in the titular blue speedster’s favorite food, chili dogs. Houston Food Finder was invited to a preview of the fast food pop-up, which runs from May 4 to August 4.

If you do not live in Katy, it may be a trek to the restaurant. However, the encompassing decor of the space makes the drive worth it for Sonic the Hedgehog fans. For the time, being the exterior marquee is relatively plain with only a simple blue sign and a few cardboard cut-outs of the main characters. The moment you open the doors, though, you are greeted with 16-bit classics from the series. The walls are painted with murals featuring several of the popular critters, such as Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Amy Rose, in front of what appears to be the iconic Emerald Hill Zone from the Sonic 2 video game. The bar top has a few video game consoles so both kids and adults can play the most recent Sonic games. The floor, which is fully decked out in green grassed carpeting, pulls all of the aspects of the room together, partially emulating the vibes in many of the settings from the games.

The Sonic the Hedgehog series contains an immense amount of lore. One important bit established in the original early-90s, cartoon series, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (yes, I am slightly ashamed that I knew that off the top of my head), and emphasized in nearly every bit of media since is that Sonic loves chili dogs. Sonic’s Classic Chili Dog is the signature item of the cafe, but there are a few other hot dog options available. The Chaotix Hot Dog comes topped with chopped brisket, crispy onions and BBQ sauce and the Ultimate Fearless Hot Dog with cheese, pepperoni and marinara are both exclusives to the Texas pop-up (as well as niche references to the series).

Hot dogs aren’t the only things on the menu at the Sonic Speed Cafe. Other entrées are the Knuckles Sandwich with spicy fried chicken, the Piko Piko (chicken) Tenders, vegan nuggets and cups of chili (both traditional and meatless). Sides include Fast Fries and Golden Rings — French Fries and onion rings, both renamed as nods to the game’s mythos. Zomom’s Hunger Buster Fries with chopped brisket, cheddar and green onions is a more-filling side option.

The selection of drinks include two milkshakes, Team Dark (Mocha) and Sweet Amy (strawberry), two slushies — Smashing Echidna (fruit punch) and Blue Blur (blueberry) — and Tail’s Spin Tea (which we can assume isn’t fox-flavored). Additionally, Sonic Speed Cafe has merchandise for sale, including shirts and stickers.

The cafe is small, but the decorations more than make up for the limited space. It is important to know going in that the food is solid, but not particularly gourmet, and a bit pricey for fast food. Prices for plain hot dogs are $8, and the chili dogs start at $12 and go up to $16 for the Chaotix (and that is without sides). That being said, the character-adorned food packaging and the overall immersion more than add enough value for true Sonic fans.

The Sonic Speed Cafe starts Saturday, May 4, and will be open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Remember, the pop-up ends on August 4, so you “Gotta Go Fast!”

Conshohocken, PA – [February 21, 2024] – IKEA U.S. is excited to announce that the Katy Plan & order point with Pick-up will open to the public on February 28. Opening this new format store, which is the second IKEA location in the area, will allow IKEA U.S. to meet the needs of today’s consumers and become more accessible and convenient to the entire Houston market. At the new location, customers can get support from IKEA experts to plan and order home furnishing solutions such as kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms, as well as pick up online purchases.

“As we hit the ground running in 2024, we are excited to continue expanding the IKEA footprint in Houston, TX,” said Javier Quiñones, CEO & Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA U.S. “IKEA Katy is the first of many Plan & order point with Pick-up stores to open this year, and we are thrilled to be expanding this concept to reach consumers across the state of Texas.”

Customers can book an appointment and sit down with an IKEA expert while they design, quote and order IKEA products. While customers are unable to take products home on their shopping day, IKEA co-workers will arrange for delivery or schedule orders to be picked up from the convenient Pick-up location on site. With the addition of an IKEA Pick-up point, customers will also be able to collect their online purchases when and where it is convenient for them, supporting both online purchases and those made at the IKEA Katy Plan & order point with Pick-up.

“The brand-new IKEA Katy Plan & order point with Pick-up will allow customers to receive extra support to design their dream homes with the help of an IKEA expert,” said Fredrik Rabe, Market Manager, IKEA U.S. “We’re so excited to welcome the community and be a good neighbor to the entire Houston metro area!”

The Katy Plan & order point with Pick-up will open on February 28, and Houston area residents are welcome to join for the grand opening celebration at 10:00 am with exclusive tours, giveaways, food sampling and more. The new store will be located in the LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch shopping center at 23501 Cinco Ranch Blvd, Suite G130, Katy, TX, 77494, and it joins a large-format IKEA store in Houston, TX.

In addition to opening new Plan & order points in city centers, IKEA U.S. has made significant investments to enhance its e-commerce experience and service offerings, including new IKEA Family benefits, lower priced shipping and delivery, Click & collect, and TaskRabbit assembly services.

For more information, please contact: IKEA U.S. Press Office [email protected]

What is the best internet provider in Katy?

Xfinity is the best internet service provider for most households in Katy, Texas. This popular cable ISP serves most of the area, offering low-cost service and speeds up to 2 gigabits. Fidium Fiber and T-Mobile Home Internet are also top-rated options in Katy for home broadband, depending on what’s available at your address.

Here at CNET, we’ve also found Katy's cheapest and fastest plans to help make your broadband shopping easier. Xfinity and Astound Broadband tie for the cheapest service at $20 per month, but Astound’s 300 megabits per second plan beats Xfinity’s 75Mbps. For speed, Fidium Fiber and Xfinity both offer 2 gigabits -- or 2,000Mbps -- for $75 and $120 per month, respectively.

Our methodology

CNET considers speeds, pricing, customer service and overall value to recommend the best internet service in Katy across several categories. Our evaluation includes referencing a proprietary database built over years of reviewing internet services. We validate that against provider information by spot-checking local addresses for service availability. We also do a close read of providers' terms and conditions and, when needed, will call ISPs to verify the details.

Despite our efforts to find the most recent and accurate information, our process has some limitations you should know about. Pricing and speed data are variable: certain addresses may qualify for different service tiers, and monthly costs may vary, even within a city. The best way to identify your particular options is to plug your address into a provider's website.

Also, the prices, speed and other information listed above and in the provider cards below may differ from what we found in our research. The cards display the full range of a provider's pricing and speed across the US, according to our database of plan information provided directly by ISPs. At the same time, the text is specific to what's available in Katy. The prices referenced within this article's text come from our research and include applicable discounts for setting up automatic payments each month -- a standard industry offering. Discounts and promotions might also be available for signing a term contract or bundling multiple services.

To learn more about how we review internet providers, visit our full methodology page.

Best internet in Katy, Texas, in 2024

3 Internet providers

Best internet provider in Katy, TX

Our take - Xfinity’s network serves roughly 99% of Katy, according to the FCC, meaning it’s a likely option wherever you are in the city. However, wide coverage isn’t the only factor Xfinity brings to the table. This cable giant offers some of the fastest and cheapest internet plans in Katy, starting at $20 for 75Mbps and $120 for 2,000Mbps.

Read full review

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Compare

Connection

Cable

Speed range

150 - 6,000 Mbps

Price range

$20 - $300 per month

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Best fiber internet provider in Katy, TX

Our take - With symmetrical speeds up to 2 gigabits and no required contracts, data caps or equipment fees, Fidium Fiber is definitely an ISP worth considering if your address is serviceable. Fidium Fiber’s plans start at $25 monthly and increase to $75 for its fastest speed tier.

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Compare

Connection

Fiber

Speed range

50 - 2,000 Mbps

Price range

$25 - $85 per month

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Best fixed wireless internet in Katy, TX

Our take - Although T-Mobile Home Internet may not offer the lowest prices or speediest plans in Katy, this fixed wireless provider does come with enticing service details. For $60 per month, customers can hit speeds up to 245Mbps, which includes unlimited data and equipment at no extra cost.

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Fixed wireless

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Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

How to find internet deals and promotions in Katy

The best internet deals and top promotions in Katy depend on what discounts are available during that period. Most deals are short-lived, but we look frequently for the latest offers.

Katy internet providers, such as Xfinity, T-Mobile, Astound Broadband and Rise Broadband, may offer lower introductory pricing or streaming add-ons for a limited time. Others, however, such as Verizon, run the same standard pricing year-round.

For a more extensive list of promos, check out our guide on the best internet deals.

Source: CNET analysis of provider data.

What’s a good internet speed?

Most internet connection plans can now handle basic productivity and communication tasks. If you're looking for an internet plan that can accommodate videoconferencing, streaming video or gaming, you'll have a better experience with a more robust connection. Here's an overview of the recommended minimum download speeds for various applications, according to the FCC. Note that these are only guidelines -- and that internet speed, service and performance vary by connection type, provider and address.

For more information, refer to our guide on how much internet speed you really need.

How CNET chose the best internet providers in Katy

Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every ISP in a given city. So what’s our approach? We start by researching the pricing, availability and speed information, drawing on our own historical ISP data, the provider sites and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.

But it doesn’t end there. We go to the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication.

Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:

While the answers to those questions are often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, though we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and also consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports.

To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.

Internet providers in Katy FAQs

What is the best internet service provider in Katy?

Xfinity is the best internet provider in Katy, offering cheap plans and fast speeds to most residents.

Is fiber internet available in Katy?

Yes. Fidium Fiber is the largest fiber provider in Katy, and fiber connectivity is available to about 66% of households.

Who is the cheapest internet provider in Katy?

Xfinity and Astound Broadband tie for Katy's cheapest internet service, offering plans as low as $20 per month.

Which internet provider in Katy offers the fastest plan?

The fastest speed available in Katy is 2,000Mbps, which Fidium Fiber and Xfinity offer for $75 and $120 monthly, respectively.

Home Internet Guides

Dinosaurs have returned to Texas, after a 65-million-year hiatus, in a larger-than-life production that is expected to bring thunderous receipts to the Houston area.

Jurassic World: The Exhibition opens a six-month run at Katy Mills Mall today. While it employs about 200 area residents, the exhibit is expected to sell more than half a million tickets, which start at $24 for visitors ages 3 to 15 and $31.99 for those 16 and older.

As the name suggests, the exhibition, which had its world premiere in 2016 in Australia, is inspired by the film franchise and designed to give visitors a taste of the fictional theme park experience, minus the disasters that have transpired in the movies as a result of those classic human weaknesses, greed and hubris. Dinosaurs on display include brachiosaurus, velociraptors and a Tyrannosaurus rex as well as Bumpy, a baby ankylosaurus who stars in a spinoff animated series, “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.”

“It truly is immersive,” said Kurt Baker, senior vice president of global marketing and PR for Neon, an events company that partnered with Universal Studios and NBC to create the exhibition. “You are entering Isla Nublar. You are up close with the dinosaurs to the point that you can touch some of them. It hits on all the emotions.”

The exhibition is family-friendly, he added, although children should keep their wits about them.

“The T. Rex is always lurking,” Baker said.

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES: Meow Wolf Houston enlists Houston artists for Fifth Ward space

Jurassic World: The Exhibition has, like the movie franchise, proved to have global appeal since it first launched in Australia in 2016 with one set, Baker said. Since then, Neon has built five complete sets, which are visited by several million people each year at locations around the world.

The set being used at Katy Mills debuted in Dallas in 2021, Baker said, and went to Denver, San Diego and Atlanta before coming to Houston. Transporting the set requires six containers, or 21 trucks, and building the robotic animatronic dinosaurs is a significant investment in the first place.

“We spend millions of dollars on each of the sets, so in order to recoup that, we need to have long-term staying power,” Baker said.

Shows are currently scheduled through October, and producers are expecting at least 500,000 visitors, although the show’s run could be extended if the demand persists.

“I would love it if it’s a million (visitors),” Baker said. “And we will come back with more exhibitions if it’s a million.”

The Jurassic World exhibition opens as “immersive experiences” have surged in popularity, to the point where some shows are not living up to the hype. A “Willy Wonka Experience” that recently opened in Glasgow, for example, drew the derision of the internet after pictures circulating on social media showed a ramshackle warehouse staffed by bleak-looking characters, like something from one of Roald Dahl’s more frightening short stories.

But post-COVID, thousands of Houstonians have flocked to shows such as “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” which ran for several months in 2021. Currently, art enthusiasts are awaiting the opening of Meow Wolf Houston, an art installation that originated in Santa Fe 15 years ago and is expected to open its Fifth Ward location sometime this year.

“Jurassic World: The Exhibition” is expected to be a hit here, having been well-reviewed and well-attended in previous cities. Since 2016, Neon says, more than 8 million people have attended around the world, and the company is building three additional sets to bring the show to more cities.

Like other immersive experiences, Baker noted, Jurassic World: The Exhibition has been boosted in recent years by the post-COVID demand for getting out of the house. But this exhibition is also helped by the enduring appeal of its stars, he added.

“Everyone just has a connection to dinosaurs,” Baker said.

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