Jack in the Box best place to eat: mayoral hopeful

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As a world-class city, Houston has established itself as a destination for foodies, with a flourishing array of restaurants sure to please every palate.

Time and time again, we've heard from ABC13's audience about where they love to eat, but Thursday, we got the chance to find out where Houston's mayoral hopefuls like to dine.

Eyewitness News anchor Erik Barajas hosted a mayoral forum with the East End Chamber of Commerce Thursday morning, and in a lighthearted moment before closing the event, he asked what Mayor Sylvester Turner labeled "a loaded question": Where is your favorite place to eat on the East End?

"Oh man, that's a hard one. I'm not losing any votes," Turner said, to laughs. "Every restaurant in the East End is a favorite."

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Former Houston City Council member Sue Lovell and attorney Tony Buzbee weren't about to take the bait, either.

"I haven't agreed with Mr. Mayor in a long time, but I'm agreeing with him now," Lovell said. "It's like judging a Halloween costume contest. One person likes you, and everyone else is mad at you."

"This race has turned into a two-person race, and this is the only time I'm going to agree with the mayor: I'm not going to go there," Buzbee said. "So whatever the mayor said, ditto."

But then, without hesitation, two remaining challengers answered the question directly.

"I'm going to stick my neck out here and say Dona Maria's," Bill King said, adding he likes the tacos at the Navigation Boulevard restaurant.

"I go back to the Jack in the Box across from Austin High School," Houston City Council member Dwight Boykins said, to raucous laughter across the Marriott ballroom.

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