Notsuoh—Houston spelled backwards—is filled with weird items that are guaranteed to get the conversations rolling.
Picture this: you’re having a great night out on the town filled with drinks, laughter, and dancing, when you stumble upon a bar with a mannequin on its sidewalk. This would pique anyone’s interest, so of course, you walk in, only to be greeted with even more unique décor items.
Notsuoh, the Main Street bar that got its name from spelling Houston backwards, is filled with tons of eclectic art and relics that should completely clash, but the way the bar does it, it just works. The multilevel downtown watering hole offers bargoers room after room to explore its collection. From taxidermy to antique and historical items, you never know what you’ll find, but whatever it is, it’s bound to start conversations.
We went into Notsuoh one night to document some of the weird, quirky items that stood out to us the most. Warning: this might leave you with more questions than answers.
Each table at Notsuoh is filled with different items, including antique relics.
Antique relics
Notsuoh screams antique and unique—and yes, the rhyme was intentional. Throughout the whole bar you’ll find tons of relics, including an old organ topped with a fake giraffe head, different knickknacks, lamps, chandeliers, what appears to be an old white wedding dress, an old record player, and even Victorian-style furniture in its upstairs room. No matter where you look, you’re bound to find a quirky item staring back at you.
A take on the Mona Lisa
The art collection at Notsuoh is always extremely interesting to look at. One piece, by Jeff Wheeler, was crafted with acrylics and powdered graphite on paper and is a twist on Leonardo da Vinci’s famous Mona Lisa. Wheeler displays 10 Mona Lisa heads placed on various women’s bodies who are dressed in traditional collar puff–sleeved dresses. Maybe Mona Lisa was a maid or housewife in another lifetime.
When you walk into Notsuoh, Dorothy is just to the right, with Toto in tow.
Cardboard cutout of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz
The new movie Twisters just came out, so it’s only right that the bar has a cardboard cutout of Dorothy (and her cute dog Toto) right now. Although worn down, it makes for great decoration. She’s a bit hidden, but when you walk in, look to your right and you’ll spot beloved actress Judy Garland in that signature blue dress and pigtails.
Notsuoh is filled with odd items, mannequins, and statues.
Mannequins…everywhere
Notsuoh loves its mannequins, and it starts before you even step foot into the bar—talk about freaky. On Main Street’s sidewalk, Notsuoh has a mannequin dressed in black feathers and black pants. Walking in, you’ll see another mannequin in its display window of an anatomical human body, showing the muscular system. Gross. Inside the bar to your left, you’ll see a mime—which by the way, is very realistic—then, next to the stairs, you’ll spot a mannequin that is poorly dressed like a doctor. But hey, at least it makes for an interesting photo opp.
Moscow mule chandelier
Head on upstairs and get a peek of a moscow mule chandelier that’s placed above the bar. Talk about smart and efficient. Who knew the cocktail’s signature copper cup could make for such great decoration?
New York Times article
While New York Times games like Wordle, Connections, and the Mini Crossword have been all the craze in the past few years, the newspaper has been around since the 1850s. So of course, it’s no surprise Notsuoh has a NYT front page from the 1930s displayed inside a table. If you sit in the booth with the newspaper, you can read about President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who at the time was governor of New York, and his order of an inquiry on district attorney Thomas Crowell Taylor Crain, as well as an earthquake in the Balkans, and a veto on senator Robert F. Wagner’s measure for work bureaus. Sip on your drink of choice and get in that history lesson.
Beware, but have no fear…Notsuoh is filled with taxidermy.
Taxidermy, again…everywhere
No matter where you go in the bar, you’ll spot some type of (dead) animal. During our visit to the bar in late July, we spotted an ostrich, a gazelle’s head, birds that are strategically placed so they appear to be flying above the bar, and a lion, among many, many others. The animals might cause a bit of a jump scare, but the way they’re placed among its other quirky pieces just adds to the fun.
