Had a lil dinner hangout with some friends from my edc group at mi luna in Houston. It's located in…read morea really nice area in the Montrose collective. Parking is pretty easy, there's a big garage that is pretty cheap, or you can park for free in the neighborhood. They have patio seating available if you wish to sit outdoors. This is a Spanish tapas restaurant, and their menu is very big it was pretty overwhelming to look at. Luckily for us, Richard locked in and ordered everything for us. If we were able to come a bit earlier we could've ordered during happy hour which has a lot of good discounts on their tapas What we ordered: - patatas bravas with chorizo - by far our fav dish of the night. The sauce is so so good. It's a must get, but I would pass on the chorizo next time - albondigas morunas - I enjoyed the lamb meatballs with cinnamon onions, couscous was good too - Plato de jamon Serrano - good app, love how you can customize it any way with the cheese, fruits, and olives - gambas al ajillo - shrimp in lemon garlic olive oil and red chili peppers, solid but not anything life changing or a must order - calamares a la plancha - grilled squid with roasted garlic and olive oil, very citrusy and unique - pemientos de padron - tasted just like air, really is just a Carrie for the lemon aioli which was really good - pescaditos Fritos - same as the pimento peppers. Came with harissa aioli and spicy tomato - sangria - we got some kind of jumbo size for a good deal. Good for sharing

This was a lovely tapas restaurant! We stopped by for happy hour. The benefit of such an exhaustive…read moreHH menu is that you can try so many different items! Our server Ray was really kind and explained the menu concept to us and was so helpful in pointing out some delicious orders. We decided on several happy hour offerings - the chicken and beef empanadas, croquetas de patatas, bombas de queso, toasta de lengua, and a full order of the raba de toro (oxtail). For drinks I had the happy hour house sangria and piña loca. The sangria came out first and was so refreshing and with such a lovely aroma and spice. The piña loca was more of a miss for me - it tasted a bit like pineapple candy and was overly sweet. We had all our happy hour appetizers next. I was a bit surprised at how small the portion sizes are - keep in mind that the happy hour orders are half of the tapas plates, which are already small and designed for sampling. We split the empanadas and I adored the beef cheek empanada - the meat was seasoned so nicely and was deliciously soft. I also really liked the flavoring of the toasta de lengua. The croquetas and bombas had a lovely crunch to them. The oxtail came out next and the meat really was coming off the bone - so deliciously soft and well seasoned. It came with a side of bread and dipping oil that was a fantastic complement. We were amazed at how fast the service was. The staff were quick to fill up our waters and Ray checked on us the whole time we were there and took trouble to make sure we had a great experience. It's quite spacious with both an indoor area and relaxed outdoor patio. Overall this was a really tasty restaurant and I'm glad we got to try it. I would just keep in mind on your visit that it is on the pricey side, though the happy hour lets you get a nice sampling of their extensive menu. Till next time!

I had an incredible experience here this past Saturday night and cannot recommend the team enough…read more Despite it being a busy evening, the staff was absolutely amazing!! Welcoming, accommodating, and attentive to every detail. From the moment we arrived at the host stand, we felt like a priority. I also inquired about hosting a future event, and the event manager was incredibly helpful, clearly explaining all the different options and layouts they offer. To top it off, the servers and their assistants that provided seamless, high-level service throughout the entire night. If you are looking for a venue that combines professional event coordination with a warm, high-energy atmosphere and good food, this is it!

You CAN NOT beat their Thursday happy hour special for G&Ts…read more My former editor (and now bestie) dropped in after a 3:30 flick at iPic (Devil Wears Prada 2). The patio at MAD was empty, and I don't know why, because their Thursday G&T special (5-7pm) is the best in town. They have $5 G&T (choice of the "Fresa" or "Flor de Sevilla" plus it includes a side of batatas bravas. That means our bill was only $10 for two drinks and two apps. MAD indeed. ;)

BCN had me at octopus... get it, get it, GET IT!!…read more The menu was honestly overwhelming in the best possible way -- everything sounded amazing, which made it so hard to choose. But that just gives me an excuse to come back and try more next time. We came here for my birthday dinner and it absolutely delivered: delicious food, beautiful atmosphere, excellent service, all tucked into one of the most charming neighborhoods. Highly recommend the octopus and the branzino. The bomba rice was flavorful, but a bit too rich for me because of the heavy amount of oil in the dish. Still, that wouldn't stop me from returning -- there are so many other menu items I already want to try.

Catching up with all my reviews and I knew I had to write one for this one as it was one of the…read morebest meals I've had in Texas! This place is a one star Michellin restaurant and I can see why. They have valet but we opted for street parking as there were plenty around the residential areas. When we went, they were super busy so they took out the tasting menu, however, given that we were not from the area, we knew we had to ask, and they were kind enough to accommodate us and offer it. We ended up getting Guava gin n tonic with a hint of matcha and chili. It was unique, different, and surprisingly delicious. As for the food, the lamb chop was delicious, flavorful, and cooked to perfection. The suckling pig was crispy, flavorful with a hint of cherry which helped enhanced the flavor, and cooked to perfection. The two salads was fresh, refreshing, and creative. The Iberian Ham and croquetas looked simple but it was actually delicious and not too salty with the right amount given. The Spanish octopus was delicious but my fiancé and I thought the potatoes could've been replaced with something else as the starchiness hinders the octopus. The branzino dish was delicious, soft, hot, fresh, and crispy. Honestly, would order this again as fish can be a hit or miss, and this was a hit without a doubt. We ended up with two desserts since we actually came here for our anniversary. The sorbet was very refreshing with all the unique citrus flavors. The chocolate cake and fillo dough was very soft and had the great amount of sweetness. Overall, I had a great experience. The foods were delicious and the staffs were knowledgeable, attentive, and kind to every customers.

Made a reservation and got it right away…read more Ambiance very smooth and romantic Service was amazing Food a solid 9/10

Absolutely loved this place! We came here on a Saturday night for our monthly date night. No…read moreparking lot, but there was plenty of street parking. Beautiful aesthetic inside and felt very warm/cozy. Our waiter was great. Attentive and gave us suggestions on his favorite dishes since it was our first time. We started out with drinks; I had a glass of the Esporao and my husband ordered the Rosemary Borrachón. Lemme tell you that Borrachón was DELICIOUS. It came garnished with a rosemary sprig and they lit it on fire. Love a good show. For starters we ordered the chicken curry empanadas and the Pimentas. The empanadas were nice and flaky. Good flavor. I absolutely devoured the pimentas! I could eat a thousand of those things. For entrees we had the Polvo com batatas and the espetada de carne. The octopus was cooked perfectly. So tender and practically melted in your mouth. Potatoes were yummy and soft! The beef skewers came out with great presentation but honestly were bit unimpressive. Not that flavorful. I did come with some amazing french fries though! We wrapped everything up with dessert. The Pudim de Banana was scrumptious. The passionfruit caramel was such a nice twist. We also got the Bolo de Bolacha. I highly recommend this dessert!! Instead of a ladyfingers they use Maria cookies and omg it makes a delicious difference. Overall, this was a fantastic dinner and we would absolutely come back

Bayla is one of the best servers I've ever had. That's coming from someone who only cooks twice a…read moremonth, and thus frequently eats out. I spend ample time at high ends / Michelin star restaurants, and so I am familiar with all star service. Bayla really made our time special by going out of her way to make us feel comfortable and valued. She made it all seem effortless and at no point did she ever make us feel like a burden. Thank you for everything! The food and ambiance were also amazing! Truly a top notch restaurant experience.

Barcelona is a cute wine bar (also serves sangria and cocktails, btw) serving Spanish and…read moreMediterranean tapas dishes. I joined friends for Sunday brunch, which was highly recommended. Our friend booked a reservation and was able to add a fourth person without any issues. It's on Westheimer where all the restaurants and shops are, so it's pretty busy. You can either park on the street or in the neighborhood behind. There's bar, small table and booth seating available. One of our friends who arrived early got to switch us to a booth since we'd have a few plates to share for the four of us. My friend and I shared the NA red sangria. I liked that there was a NA option for that, and you can choose either red or white. We ordered a pitcher since we were sharing. It was delicious and refreshing. I think I had about 3 wine glasses of it. Our group shared the red fish à la plancha, patatas bravas, spinach frittata, olive oil pancakes and bacon-wrapped dates. Some of the dishes were bigger than others. Tapas is meant to be small plates, and they were, but it's a little overpriced. For example, the red fish was $15.50 for maybe 2 oz of fish. The stack of olive oil pancakes were small and thin for $8.50. If you're sharing, it's not that much food. I was going to order another personal stack of olive oil pancakes because that cinnamon butter was so good! I decided not to after I let all of what we ordered and drank settle for a bit after. The valdeon whipped blue cheese under the bacon-wrapped dates didn't taste very good and seemed grainy to me. It was my least favorite. The standouts for me were the olive oil pancakes, spinach frittata that was actually loaded with more veggies and bell peppers and the patatas bravas which was piled with potatoes topped with mayo that melted down and looked almost like melted cheese on top. It's a fun place for friends to gather or a cute date spot. You may or may not be hungry after depending what you order. There are larger plates/entrees like paella and branzino to share.

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.

Absolutely exquisite! I love the open kitchen concept and how the menu is always new each visit…read more The service is excellent and the ambiance is so special. Every detail is beautiful.

The famous Nancy's Hustle absolutely lived up to the hype. Definitely the best out of the new…read moreAmerican, small dish spots in Houston (in my humble opinion). The ambiance and service is absolutely phenomenal as well! We started off with the Green Flag, a basil based French 75, and a glass of Tempranillo. Sooo good. The infamous Nancy Cakes definitely met my expectations as well. Somehow they're light and dense at the same time, and the butter and roe are so flavorful with the light cakes. I loved them! The most memorable dish was the lamb tartare. I was blown away by the absence of the usual gaminess of lamb meat, which always scares me with lamb dishes. There was a bit of spice with the base sauce as well, and the charred sesame naan on the side was amazingggg. Definitely a favorite! The yellowtail crudo was a little bit spicy, a little more smoky, and very deep in flavor. Unfortunately we got this dish a bit later in the rotation so we were super full at this point, but I would definitely order again!! The uni crudo was definitely memorable, but probably my least favorite bite of the meal. Everything meshed together nicely, but honestly nothing really stood out within the bite. Probably wouldn't get this again, but I did enjoy it! The beef sticky rice was a side dish that surprisingly stood out! The toasted shallots and onions on top were delicious, and the rice was a perfect chewiness. It came with a fermented chili beurre blanc sauce that paired nicely as well. It helped that the sauce came in a cute little cow container! Finally, we had to get a unique dessert to finish off the meal. We got the Parmesan cheesecake with honey and pepper - this will live in my head forever. An unexpected savory sweet combination in a crustless cheesecake, with plenty of honey drizzle and peppercorns that balanced everything out. The drink pairing was super sweet but a great balance to the dessert! I will never forget this meal. I cannot WAIT to come back to Nancy's Hustle!

In H town for a few days this was my first dinner on my list to try in downtown. Great experience…read more Service was on point. Hostess was incredible and our server took great care of us with some quick draw recommendations. Nice setting with a view of downtown. Quiet, which was perfect for catching up with an old friend. We got sushi, apps and a steak. All of it was awesome. Short rib tacos were awesome. The Angry Scorpion Roll was my personal fav. Can't go wrong.

Came here for my wife's birthday last weekend because all she wanted was a good steak. And that's…read moreexactly what she got! The restaurant is on the third floor of the Four Seasons hotel. It's warm, cozy and perfect for a date night. The staff is super attentive and nice, they really made sure we had the best dinner possible. We got the filets, potatoes three ways and asparagus. The steaks came with their homemade chimichurri sauce that I honestly could have just drank. It was so good and the perfect addition to dinner. The potatoes were a fun take on mashed potatoes with an absolutely unreal oxtail gravy. They brought out a sundae with a candle to celebrate the occasion and it was the best ending to a wonderful meal.

I've been to travelers cart several times. I've actually only visited traveler's table for…read morecocktails and to go food. I actually did an in person visit this time for dinner on Sunday. Just a note they close at 2:30 and reopen again at five for dinner service...some of the brunch items like the crab samosas and the oxtail empanadas are on both menus (dinner and brunch) The crab samosas are amazing. I wish I had more even at this moment. Everyone is always so welcoming and helpful here....Everyone but the rude ass valet drivers outside. I mentioned to my dining mate who arrived before me how rude the guys were. He told me that he got into it with them also and another person almost got into a fight with them Having a nasty attitude and expecting a tip for a free service is crazy to me. So it's wasn't just me they just have attitude. They also had attitude when I went before for drinks.

My husband and I came here for a much-needed date night. We've been to their sister restaurant a…read morefew times before and is our first time here at their upscale one. We had a wonderful waiter and gave us a lot of recommendation. But the treatment kind of fell off towards the end when he was held up by a huge party for a good while to the point where we changed our mind about desserts and after dinner drinks and had to go. The cocktail "come and take it" was balance and flavorful. The crab samosa is a hit. It is crammed with crab stuffing. It is amazing and you get two different kind of dipping sauce with it, Tartar and butter. This was the first that any restaurant has ever done for us, but they actually split our soup in half for us so what's pictured is the half the soup. The duck pad Thai was amazing!!! I wish I had that instead. I had the Caribbean braised oxtail. I wasn't a big fan. I felt like I was tasting more of the sauce and carbs. I asked for the mango and spices on the side. The mango was a nice plate cleanser in between bites. The ambience was really nice , definitely upscale compared to their Travis's Carr location and something that you should dress up for. This is good for a nice formal celebration dinner or date dates. Or fancy Bestie night. There is complementary valet at the front. They have a sign that says do not park across the street.

Service: Angelo the bartender was top notch. Attentive and very knowledgeable. My brother and I…read moreenjoyed him describing his plans for infused liquors and upcoming drink specials. I had a Fall Mule that was infused with chai and cinnamon- like fall in a cup! The caipirinha was a refreshing change from my usual margarita. Ceviche was fresh and I liked the corn nuts- unexpected and nice texture. Plantain chips and fried pork belly took the guacamole to another level. The empanada trio- all 3 flavors were great. Flaky crust. Will absolutely get again. Ambience- slow on a Tuesday at 6 pm but was picking up when we left at 7. Plenty of tables inside and out. Nice but casual setting.

1. Service - hostess, our waiter Victor, and the owner were all so nice. They were all kind and…read morefriendly. Victor was so attentive and he took good care of us. Ask for him if you ever go there. This is an A-La-Carte restaurant, so you order and pay at the table. 2. Price - inexpensive, but can add up. It's $10-$22 per tapas. For a family of 5, we had about 7 different tapas. 3. Ambiance - hip, cute, and cozy. Definitely a great place to bring a date, meet up friends, and even a family meal. Dress code here is casual, however most people here are dressed pretty nice for a Friday evening. There is loud Latino music that puts you in a party mood. This place is fun with good vibes. 4. Food - our meal was delicious, I highly recommend their STEAK A LA PLANCHA and their PATATAS BRAVAS. 5. Cleanliness - this place is well managed in both dining area and restrooms. OVERALL - I would definitely return. We had a wonderful experience, and I highly recommend this restaurant if you want some Spanish style food.