If you noticed that the Houston’s on the corner of Wishire and 2nd in Santa Monica quietly changed its name about 3 weeks ago and were wondering what was going on, here’s the skinny.  No, it’s not a new restaurant, it’s still the same Houston’s and menu but with a new sign out front.  It was explained to me by an employee that Hillstone, the parent company of Houston’s, Gulfstream, R&D, South Beverly Grill, and Bandera has been upgrading its higher-end Houston’s into the original brand name of Hillstone.  The name change is an attempt to draw more attention to the Hillstone brand, or as it was told to me, “To get the name out there.”  So there you go…