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    Cafe Piquet

    4.2 (528 reviews)
    ModerateCuban
    Closed Closed

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    CAFE PIQUET ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Happy hour specials
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Cafe Piquet

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    Limeade
    Latashia G.

    By Amy! Ask for Amy! Every time I'm in Houston, I come to this place and it is so amazing. I went to college in Miami Florida and I always found Cuban spots like this. I am so glad there's one in Houston.

    Empanada
    Brandon D.

    Went with my uncle to Cafe Piquet Cuban Cuisine in Houston. They have plenty of parking and actually had quite a bit of people dining inside during mid day. I tried their empanadas and tostones rellenos. For my main dish I got the vaca frita. The vaca frita had shredded beef with onions and garlic sauce. I chose Maduros (ripe plantains) and yuca con mojo (yuca with garlic sauce) as my sides. The vaca frita itself was ok. It's like shredded beef with some crispy pieces. It was like moist and dry at the same time. I really liked the garlic sauce it came with though. The maduros were delicious and the yuca con mojo had an interesting texture but was good as well. The empanadas were good and came with a cilantro sauce and a hot sauces the tostones rellenos are stuffed with fried green plantains, cheese, and your choice of protein. I got the ropa viejo. I really enjoyed my uncle's bistec de cerdo. It was a marinated pork steak and it was soo soo tender and juicy.

    Bar
    Jeff W.

    Food was very quick to come to the table. The vibes there were really nice, I liked the decoration and how lively it felt. I ordered a cubano, which was really crispy and well balanced. The sousop smoothie was also very good before I had my meal. Would recommend checking them out if you have a craving for cuban food!

    Menu
    Bradford G.

    TLDR: Service and Freshness is lacking... but the flavor was satisfying! Visit: Weekday (lunch) Order: La Rumba (entree sampler) Rating: Vaca Frita (shredded beef with/ onions and garlic)- 6.9/10 Flavorful and fairly tasty! That garlic makes the dish. However, it was barely even warm upon arrival. Pernil (shredded pork w/ garlic)-5.1/10 Ooof this was insanely dry and was the coldest of the trio... the only saving grace was the garlic. Picadillo- flavor was good, but again cold. Yuca Fritas- 8.1/10 THE BEST item of the day! Not only did these have an amazing crispy texture, but that garlic sauce over it was outstanding. While it was the hottest thing on the plate, I can't claim it to be more than warm. Platanos- 7.4/10 your average fried plantains. Overall, this establishment is better than average. However, this being my 3rd visit, I've noticed some inconsistency. On this occasion, service is spotty because I had multiple people visiting the table throughout the meal, which was a bit confusing. Also, I wasn't given bread until requested (maybe it's only upon request?). Lastly, I wasn't followed up with for the entire time until I had finished (refills/follow up not offered until I was finished). The glaring downside for this particular experience was that all of the food, every single thing on the plate, was on the cold side. Nothing was served hot/fresh. If it had been fresher, I could see the scores bumped into the 8-9s.

    Picadillo
    Alexandra P.

    I had been craving Cuban food and a friend recommended this place. It was pretty empty on a Saturday during brunch time. A waiter came over immediately after we sat down and took our drink order and told us the daily specials. To drink I ordered a spicy mango margarita. It was so strong I couldnt taste the mango :( it did the job though LOL. For my entree I ordered picadillo with congri rice and a salad. The picadillo was amazing! So much flavor!! It is exactly what I had been craving. The congri rice was also soooo good. It was the perfect combination. I am Puertorican and it is so hard to find authentic Caribbean food here but this place really delivered. I will be back for sure!

    M.A. B.

    Amazing sandwiches and wonderful Mojitos. Good service. Atmosphere reminded me of the Cuban restaurants in Florida.

    From entrance with patio
    Joel C.

    Food was so good Cuban sandwich such and original and perfected here it tastes so good and had the best pickles the mojito tastes so good and seems like it's made with various fresh ingredients server was super sweet and attended us to our needs the environment is amazing and love how there is outdoor seating!!

    Black beans
    Maria S.

    We were a group of eight. Mabel was a great waitress and gave us separate checks. It was pouring when I arrived. Rogelio, the manager, brought me a plastic bag to put my umbrella. Two of the eight in the group are regulars there. Everyone liked their food. I had a passion fruit juice which was refreshing and delicious. My black beans were also really good. And they're vegetarian. There's yuca with garlic sauce, both fried and boiled. I had the boiled one. It's delicious. A friend ordered a coconut flan to share with us. It's quite possibly the most delicious one I've ever had. It's dense. They have happy hour through 6. They didn't have a menu for that. I wish they did.

    Tostones Rellenos (fried grn plantains stuffed with ropa vieja & picadillo
    Erika G.

    For the last 10 years, I've visited this restaurant (mostly during lunch/late afternoons) and it's been pretty consistent. The staff have always been friendly, polite and knowledgeable with the menu items. The service has been amazing, very attentive to our needs and also frequent stops at the table refilling drinks. The atmosphere is fairly quiet. Appetizer: Tostones rellenos (fried green plantain stuff with Ropa Vieja and picadillo) ** first time trying these 6 out of 10 came with a mild creamy sauce and a spicy salsa good flavor overall Ropa Vieja (shredded beef, slow cooked in tomato and wine sauce) ** my go to dish - flavorful and delish 8 out of 10 Cubano sandwich (Swiss Cheese, ham, pork, mustard and pickles) ** not much meat in it but good flavor, could've used some sauce or something other than mustard 6 out of 10

    Shrimp Camarones al Ajillo
    Jay D.

    Cute ambiance. Great for dinner. I came for lunch with my coworkers. I'm docking one star because the service could have been better. The waiters seemed overwhelmed so we waited a bit for basic things like refilling drinks and checks. I also wish they had a lunch menu because it is a little on the higher price for what you get. Either way it's good solid Cuban food.

    Bistec pork with mushrooms... huge plate
    Long T.

    Overall, Cafe Piquet is a decent neighborhood destination for some classic Cuban flavors in Houston. My favorites included the garlic shrimp and rice (full of flavor and aroma) as well as the delicious apps like the fried cheese with guava sauce and the tostones rellenos stuffed eith ropa vieja. The cubano sandwich was a solid option as well for those classic flavors.

    Bistec Empanizado
    James S.

    It's been a while since I've been back, and was craving some breaded beef and plantains. Bistec Empanizado - huge and delicious! Beef was pretty tender, perfectly breaded and with a good crunchiness to it. I ordered with black beans and fried plantains. Multiple ways to mix it up, all of which will hit the spot! Mariquitas - overflowing basket, and comes with garlic dip. Flavor is spot on. Service is great, and place has ample parking. Highly recommended!

    The Bigs split a Cuban sandwich and a media niche
    Susan H.

    Made the hour drive to meet our son & dil for lunch. Decided to sit inside. We were seated near the tv. Not sure why. It was on extremely loud, I guess because the World Cup was on. Server promptly took our orders. Ordered the fried yuca al mojo for appetizer. Perfectly fried. We all decided on sandwiches. The kiddos shared a media noche and French fries. Hubby & I shared the media noche and the Cubano. I got a cappuccino to go along with my sandwiches. I grew up drinking them with my Cubanos. The sandwiches were good. I wish the cappuccino(not pictured) would have been a little bigger. Service was good. We will always come back.

    The congri was excellent! And the yuca was satisfying :)

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    Page 1 of 14

    Cafe Piquet Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - Cafe Piquet

    Do you still sell a whole pernil?

    Yes we do

    Do you serve bacalao or pargo frito?

    Hi Chris, We do serve bacalao as a special on certain days. You can look at our calendar on our… Read more

    Does the staff speak spanish?

    yes

    View All 6 Questions

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    El Meson Restaurant - Calamari

    El Meson Restaurant

    3.6(310 reviews)
    4.1 miWest University
    $$

    I had a very disappointing and frankly unacceptable experience at El Meson Restaurant in Houston. I…read morebooked this reservation through Resy. From the moment we arrived, the valet experience was unprofessional. The valet demanded payment upfront in a rude manner, did not return the correct change, and responded with a disrespectful tone when I asked about it. This immediately created a negative and uncomfortable impression. Unfortunately, things only got worse inside. The staff were unwelcoming and dismissive from the beginning. Despite multiple empty tables, we were seated right next to the entrance where cold air was constantly coming in, making it very uncomfortable for my family. When we politely asked for a different table, we were refused without any reasonable explanation. Instead, we were told that because we had a child and needed a high chair, this was the only table available, which made no sense at all. The table itself was cramped and clearly unsuitable for four people. What made this even more concerning is that a manager appeared to be present, yet no effort was made to resolve the situation or assist us. At that point, we decided to leave. This experience was not only frustrating, but also embarrassing in front of my family. I expected a much higher level of professionalism from a restaurant listed on Resy. I chose this restaurant based on my trust in the Resy platform and its association with American Express, and I expected a certain standard of professionalism that was clearly not met. I will also be reporting this experience to both Resy and American Express. I do not recommend this place.

    Man, this was one restaurant that I was really looking forward to trying, and it simply didn't live…read moreup to what I was hoping for. As with several other restaurants I've reviewed recently, this is one that I normally wouldn't frequent, but since they were participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks they were on my radar. We got a table for three for the volunteers in one of my service groups to check it out. One of us had been here before, but the rest of us hadn't. The appetizers were pretty good, but nothing spectacular. The tapas variadas were more of a charcuterie plate than actual tapas, but were still a nice appetizer for the rest of the meal. The calamari was different from what you normally see (fried and served with marinara). Instead, this was boiled in garlic butter and onions, almost like a shrimp scampi type of dish. It made the calamari a bit more gummy than we'd like, but still worth trying. The item I was looking forward to most was the paella langosta, which I'd heard amazing things about. I'd been told that this was one of the best places to grab paella in Houston. Sadly, out of four different restaurants, this was by far the worst paella I'd had. It was lacking in flavor, seemed to be thrown together at the last minute, and just didn't live up to the hype. The atmosphere seemed like it would have been nice if not for an absolutely obnoxious table right next to us. They were boisterous and completely oblivious to the negative experience they were providing to the people at neighboring tables. On more than one occasion they got up and bumped one of our tables. The worst part is, we later found out that it was the owner entertaining some friends. You would think he'd have known better than to have other patrons treated like that. Service was a bit of a mess also. The waiter disappeared several times, never refilled our drinks, and we practically had to go searching for him after 20+ minutes of sitting around waiting for our checks. At least two of us were completely disappointed in our visit, and even the third, who had been there before, acknowledged that it wasn't quite what he'd experienced in the past. Oh well, he might be back, but we definitely won't.

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    Gusto Gourmet - La Reina (shredded chicken and avocado with cheese)

    Gusto Gourmet

    4.4(362 reviews)
    4.9 miUpper Kirby
    $$

    It took me over a year to realize Gusto Gourmet was more than just a cute cafe but a legit option…read morefor Venezuelan cuisine. Their unique position as one of the only Venezuelan spots in the loop becomes even more niche when one realizes that part of the menu is also Mediterranean / Middle Eastern (#1). If that's not Houston in a nutshell, I don't know what is. The place sports a casual vibe with a clean and bright interior. It's been practically empty with every visit, but I suspect the takeout game is strong here. There is limited parking in the back of the restaurant and the narrow alleyway entrance is somewhat easy to miss. Food wise, I am not disappointed. Their cheese cachapa is the stuff of dreams and includes a number of stuffings from ham to shredded chicken / beef. My vote is for their pabellón, which is a nice combination of shredded beef, black beans, and sweet plantains. For cheese lovers, the double cheese is perfectly indulgent with the sweetness of the cornmeal. The main draw for me was the arepas, which is something I missed having had so much of it back in NYC. La Pelua (shredded beef, mixed shredded cheese) is one of my go-tos, but my all-time favorite is the reina pepiada, a shredded chicken mixed with avocado topped with sprinkled salty white cheese. It's a staple in the Venezuelan arepa game and while their version is very solid, I'm just extremely thankful that it's available. Their breakfast platters are a big draw, which mainly consist of scrambled egg combos paired with arepas and various proteins. I think their yuca buñelos, tequeños, patacones, and especially their mandocas are incredibly underrated. The latter is practically dessert since it's mashed plantains with the cachapa stuffed with sugar and cheese. While they're not known for their empanadas, I do think their cazon (#2) is unique and their potato and cheese is always hearty. The shredded beef is a nice alternative to their arepas or arepitas (side) and make for an excellent snack on the go. Fans of Venezuelan cuisine who find themselves in the inner loop owe them a visit and I highly recommend calling ahead of time to ensure they have items available and to get a jump on the wait time for takeout. They are a slept on gem in the neighborhood and one that I hope sticks around for a very long time. _____________ (#1) The owners are Venezuelan and Syrian. The sweetest couple. (#2) Dogfish? It's really a mini shark.

    Great Venezuelan food! I have celiac (gluten-free) and I'm vegetarian and they have multiple…read moreoptions available. They even have a gluten free fryer separate from a regular fryer, which is great! The restaurant itself is very casual, few tables and friendly staff at the counter for helping decide. I tried the caxapa with cheese, 3 empanadas with various fillings, and the plain mini areas. All the items were good especially the caxapa and the empandas, though I think the combination of items I picked was definitely fryer-heavy. The sauces they were served with with are also a nice accompaniment. We got to go and excited to try out more of their menu!

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    Gusto Gourmet
    Gusto Gourmet - Cachapa

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    Cafe Piquet - cuban - Updated May 2026

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