Tunnel – Downtown Loop – Red

This place looked super cool on the map, so being out-​of-​towners, we wanted to explore it at least once. Unfortunately, it was a nightmare just trying to find parking. Ended up paying $ 10 for 30 min of parking on a public lot. When we finally got in around 1:30−2pm, a lot of the stores/​restaurants weren’t even open and bathrooms need access codes. The tunnels system may be essential for downtown workers but I wouldn’t recommend it as a tourist spot.

Neat and nice and a unique place for work or play. Get ready to enjoy your day as soon as you hit the underground!

I have worked downtown for over 3 years and this has become (along with everyone else’s) my favorite spot for lunch. Especially during the summer where you want to avoid heat. which was the purpose of designing this. You can find any food.Mexican.Chinese. Indian.burgers. and even a bar in here. Along with a mall which only consists of like 4 stores (Dress Barn, sports store, souvenir shop, and a cell phone store) There’s even a Kelsey Seybold down here. All in all it is really great and convenient for employees but other than that nothing special. Houstonians should all visit at least once to see for themselves though.

A large tunnel map can be found here.
Tunnel in the downtown has a huge attractive magic to me. It is somewhere makes me feel nervous and excited.
The restrooms in the tunnel are locked. Have to go to Starbucks to ask for code.

If it’s your first time visiting, I hope you have a great sense of direction and memory. There’s no cell phone signal so you can’t rely on a GPS to guide you!
I used to work in downtown houston and walked the tunnels frequently for lunch. If you’re willing to walk far enough, you can find any type of cuisine that you’re craving!
However, around the 11:30am to 12:30pm timeframe, lines tend to get super long, since every single downtown employee goes to the tunnels for lunch. And the tunnels are dead after 2pm, with many places closing right after lunch.
So, if you’re looking for a peaceful stroll in the tunnels, after 2pm is the way to go. Just note that when empty, some portions of the tunnels seem like those long corridors in horror movies where murders take place.

The Tunnel system creeps me out. It’s just wrong to live below ground. Let’s look at the types of people who live below ground:
Morlocks — a future evolutionary path of humans from Houston who work in the CBD, never venturing out into the sunlight who feast on the flesh of surface dwellers
Gollum — He’s a bit whacked, if you ask me
Vampires — Cool and homoerotic? Sorry, they drink your blood and turn you into ghoulish slaves. This is REALITY people. Forget New Moon, it’s bloodsucker propaganda. Think Gary Oldman in Dracula.
CHUD — Yes, you guessed it: Cannibalistic Human Underground Dwellers
I mean, let’s face it. In every horror, fantasy, and sci-​fi story who lives underground? Nice people? No. Crazy, scary, nasty, evil things.
Now grab your cross, your holy water, and your sword and go to work.
And if you see Gollum, tell him Karen says «Hi.»
[Karen’s Note: This is a reprinted 2010 review which I had inadvertently put on the wrong business]

The tunnels are a great place to walk for lunch and avoid the ever-​changing Houston weather (100+ degree heat, wind, rain, 50 degree winters, etc.). There are many restaurants (many more than you will find on the street level) where you can grab a burger or sandwich, a coffee, some BBQ or fast food, etc. Be prepared to wait in long lines at places like Beck’s Prime, Which Wich, Salata, Subway, etc., but the lines do move fairly quickly. Once you receive your food, you may have to fight for a table as there sometimes aren’t enough to accommodate all diners. Inside the tunnel there are also plenty of clothing stores, gift shops, nail & hair salons, dry cleaners, and doctors offices, as well as a CVS pharmacy, which means you can knock out some errands during your lunch break without having to drive across town.
I personally have not eaten at many of the establishments in the tunnels save for Wendy’s, Whataburger, and the restaurants I mentioned previously, but I find that the tunnel loop is a great place to squeeze in some mid-​day exercise. A couple times a week I will throw on a pair of tennis shoes and take a nice 40 minute walk from my office, around the loop and back. It’s about a 2.5 mile trek and a good way to get in those steps without sacrificing evening couch-​lounge time. It can be a bit of a chore zigzagging around the oblivious lunchtime wanderers, but that’s the price you pay when walking during peak hours (11a-​1p). If you haven’t been down there before, you should definitely check it out! Just be sure to print a tunnel map because it’s easy to confuse your location. When in doubt, take the stairs or an elevator up to street level to reorient yourself.

Not being originally from Houston, I had no idea there were tunnels downtown, but then again… most people that grew up in Houston also have no idea about this awesome underground city! lol
I’ve worked downtown for about 6 years now and absolutely love the tunnel system here because they’ve got pretty much everything you’ll need on any given workday. You can literally get your haircut or a latte and quite possibly go shopping at The Shops if you feel like having a little «retail therapy», as my sister puts it, during your lunch hour.
Need to get to the eye doctor? There’s a tunnel business for that! LOL
You can literally find any kind of food in the downtown tunnels and if you can’t find what you’re looking for… well, then, you just haven’t walked far enough!
don’t worry though… if you get lost, either ask someone walking past you or just look for some stairs or an escalator up because they all reach out to the city streets.
ENJOY!

I gotta concur with the other Unilocalers — it’s pretty cool to have an underground tunnel in Downtown, especially when it’s scorching hot in the summers.
I took a few out-​of-​towners through here during lunch time to catch sight of the rush. We literally had to wait a few beats to enter the stream of people rapidly walking through. This is the speed of those well-​trained mall walkers! I love the fact that all the tunnels connect to each other and can get you all the way east toward Discovery Green. You just have to look out for those elusive tunnel maps to navigate.
There’s also an exit that leads you through a few feet of garage parking before you enter City Hall. Come on a Tuesday and you can sit in on public session and grab a bite to eat nearby.
Be forewarned, the tunnels are DEAD after 1:30 pm. A lot of places are only opened for lunch.

A tunnel in the city = super cool. I know it’s not secret, but I like to pretend it is!
Ever wonder why there aren’t that many restaurants downtown? It’s because you are above ground, silly!
It’s a great way to get around the city in the heat or in the cold, safe and sound. Plus, there are so many places to go if you need to get things done. Dry cleaning, barbershop, nail salon, photo processing, you name it.
If you haven’t been to the tunnels, you are missing out on a huge part of what it means to be a Houstonian.

For those that work in downtown Houston, we all pretty much know that there’s a tunnel system that connects the buildings, so if you’re a rookie, be prepared to get lost. Well okay, it’s not that crazy, but you can get lost if you don’t know which direction or where you’re headed. The tunnels are open during the weekdays during business hours. The tunnels have a range of restaurants, convenience stores, and much more. I used to dread paying for parking daily around downtown, but having the ability to walk to Discovery Park for a quick R&R is awesome, or checking out the Farmer’s Market, or people watching in the tunnels, or having some good eats, or having a Macy’s nearby to browse around, I really don’t mind at all. Especially in Houston with its crappy weather, it is very convenient to have the tunnel system as easy access to a lot of things.

…and around we go! This is like the 610 of downtown but underground and without a car. It connects major arteries of the underground system which is dotted with shops and restaurants. It’s always fun to get lost down here in your spare time.

If you ever find yourself with some free time while visiting Downtown Houston, check out their tunnel systems, especially the Downtown Loop. You’ll find that the tunnel system is definitely a blessing when days are hot (there are plenty in Houston!) or when bad weather would otherwise keep you indoors.
At first it might appear to be intimidating, given that their are numerous people below Houston’s streets walking up and down the tunnel system, but there are plenty of maps and signs to help you get to where you need to go. Restaurants are a plenty, ranging from burgers, sandwiches, BBQ, cajun, salads, asian… the list goes on and on. Hair salons, gift shops, and coffee shops also frequent the tunnels.
Lunch time is normally your busiest time for foot traffic. Many workers from various downtown buildings venture the tunnels for their favorite lunch spot. Be prepared for long lines at some of the nicer restaurants, like Treebeards and Post Oak Grill.
On one of my ventures through the tunnel, I’ve noticed people having scavenger hunts. Interesting, as there are a lot of things to hunt for in the tunnel.

One of the coolest and least known about things to check out in Houston is the underground tunnel system. On a scorching hot summer day, you can travel across downtown through the tunnel system. The main red loop has the most shops and interesting atriums to discover. I wish it was easier to look stuff up online, such as available stores and even maps, but they are hard to find online. However, once you are in the tunnel system, there are lots of map stations and arrows pointing you in the right direction.

What? There’s another loop in Houston?
Besides, 610, Beltway, part of Hw6, and now a chunk of 99?
Houston is all about loops and the loops just don’t stop on the hwys, one of the unknown loops is the Downtown Loop.
It is a means to get to all of the other tunnels, there are lots of food options is a great way to get around.

My children were so funny when I first took them to the Tunnel. «Will we need hard hats?» They asked: o) It was great to go exploring «outdoors» without all of the harsh Houston elements. As a mom of three, looking for inexpensive, fun things to do with my children: The Tunnel was great. If you want to spend the money– try out all of the restaurants underground. I did get lost a few times — but it just made our adventure even more exciting.

Oh Downtown Tunnel Loop, you have saved me. You have saved me on the hot and sweltering Houston summer day when I had to walk across the Downtown district to meet a friend. You have saved me on the rainy days when I needed lunch but didn’t want to eat my soggy sandwich from the day before. You have saved me on the cold and blustery day when I didn’t have a heavy coat and needed to get to my husband’s work to end the day and go home. You saved me when I needed to buy my friend a nice gift for her birthday but forgot to bring the one I had at home. I love you Downtown Tunnel Loop, you are my friend.
As you can see, the Downtown Tunnel Loop has saved my hinney a number of times. It also has just come in handy for taking a walk as a break from a stressful job. The loop connects a number of spur tunnels and can be used to traverse the downtown district from corner to corner. I have been able to take it from Lamar and Dallas to Wortham Center. Quite a hike above ground, in the heat. The shops lining the tunnel are varied and useful. There are the ubiquitous eateries, like McDonalds, Alonti, Ninfa’s, Droubi’s, Subway, Beck’s Prime. There are also optometrists, convenience stores, florists, gift shops, just about anything you might want or need.

For the downtown workers, the loop is a great place to go for lunch and meet friends or run a few errands. For those not jaded by the downtown experience, the loop and spur tunnels can be fun, futuristic adventure. Heck, put on a costume and do some LARP. You might have fun and make some jaded downtown toilers happy.

This is the heart of the Houston underground Tunnel system and is just as the name suggests, a Loop. You can get to the green, purple, yellow and dark blue tunnels from this loop. It has both restaurants and shopping.
Resturants:
McDonalds
Frontier BBQ
Beck’s Prime
Ninfa’s and Ninfa’s Express
Subway
Kolache Factory
Murphy’s Deli
And many, many more
Buildings:
Wells Fargo Plaza
El Paso Building
Travis Place Garage
919 Milam
Esperson Building
Two Shell Plaza
One Shell Plaza