Taking life by the bottle (or glass) on McKinney Ave

At long last, Max's Wine Dive has made its way up I-45 from Houston. Opening Wednesday in Uptown, the brick-walled spot's dominated by a 50ft bar running almost the full length of the place, with chalkboards up above, and booths positioned opposite, so hopefully you'll be able to ask Powers what he thinks about the Red Dawn remake. What the joint's all about

Vino: All of their 150 wines are available by the glass and bottle, and you can also buy bottles-to-go at retail prices. The list's still being finalized, but Dom's definitely on it, and Franzia's definitely not, because that's too classy for dives

Max's Classics: Their full-time menu runs from pulled pork- & cotija-stuffed peppers, to a ciabatta pugliese sammie with three sea-salted, truffle-oiled fried eggs (plus bacon & gruyere), to Max's Kobe Beef Burger: a Wagyu patty with Belletoile triple-cream brie, house-pickled jalapenos, tomatoes, and hydroponic lettuce, which apparently really is lettuce, and not just something you tell your mom is lettuce

Regional Seasonals: They've tasked former Craft sous chef Patrick Russell to concoct locally sourced action like a veal sweetbreads pot pie (w/ parm cream, carrots & Nicoise olives) and torchon foie gras sliders with endive and ketchup made from Concord grapes -- developed in the 3rd-most patriotic town in America, right behind Hollywood (where Red Dawn was developed), and Lexington.