La Strada Restaurant

11/04/09

Are you kidding me with this place?

by RobMC at Citysearch

This place has gone downhill big time. I used to go pretty regularly, but went a couple Fridays ago they were closed. I went back and my food sucked so I asked the manager who seemed to want to remedy the situation when some 50-something has been 'cool guy' trying to act 20 interrupted the manager to talk about something. I guess he's a friend of the owner or something (I've seen him there other times) thinking he runs the joint and can twitch around the place like a junkie.

Needless to say I was pissed at 'cool guy' and told the manager to forget it as I'd never come back to their random-houred crack house. Don't get me wrong, this place USED to be a decent hangout with a good vibe, but it looks to be on the way out if they can't even keep regular hours, and have a strange guy bothering everybody... oh yeah, and for whatever reason I couldn't get a drink!! FROM A PLACE KNOWN FOR THEIR DRINKS!!

• Pros: Used to be bellinis but they can't sell them anymore
• Cons: Food and Service, Random hours, no booze

10/03/09

Loved It!

by londie1 at Citysearch

This was my first trip to La Strada and it was great. The service was good, we sat upstairs and enjoyed great music and a little breeze. The waiter was great and allowed us to lounge as long as we wanted (this was a plus after being asked to leave some restaurants for sitting too long). The food was amazing, some of the best pasta I have ever had. The only negative is that the manager would not allow us to use our coupon. La Strada has a company selling coupon books for them. After paying $30-$35 to get to purchase this coupon book, we arrive and the manager basically says "not today". We don't accept coupons on Sundays. What the F@!#! Why is that not on the coupon? That does not make any sense at all. If you have a coupon, you may want to check WITH THE MANAGER to see if you can use it before you dine there; otherwise, beware. We gave the coupon to our waiter when we arrived so he was fully aware. It was only after we ate and drank and ran up the bill that the manager decided not to use the coupon which would have saved us about $15 bucks (big deal!) Since the food was good, we didn't have a problem paying full price. However, they do need better management. This place could be a lot more profitable if the had honest people running the place.

• Pros: Great Food and Atmosphere!
• Cons: Don't like coupons even though they market them!

09/25/09

Food was alright, but manager was rude

by MBP at Citysearch

My friend and I bought the "GROUPON" for La Strada last week and we went on a double date with our husbands. The groupon said "one per two people" so we thought we could each use one. However, when we paid, they said they would only accept one coupon. The manager came to our table and explained that since it said it was not valid with any other offer and they don't split checks, we would only be able to use one coupon. He was very rude and condescending about the whole ordeal when we tried to explain that we thought since it said "one per two people" and not "one per table" we should be able to use both. He also said that if we had come separately and been at different tables, we would have been able to use both coupons, which we just thought was absurd. We ended up not saving any money and spent part of our evening annoyed by this manager and his rudeness. We could have gone to any other restaurant in Houston that night and frankly there are so many others with better food and nicer staff. We will not be going back there.

• Pros: location, ambience
• Cons: rude manager, parking