Hugo's

Recommends

tony z.

Joined 1 year ago

great service. by far my fav place in houston from when in business trips from europe.. i am never disappointed with a meal here

Recommends

mojo rising

Joined 3 years ago

great ritas. Some of the best upscale Mexican food in the state.

They have been very accommodating to us and even let us order pitchers Don Julio ritas.

My favorites are the chicken taquitos on the appetizer side and the carnitas.

Recommends

blue eyed80

Joined 3 years ago

super delicious lobster taco!. Been there once whatsoever but definitely will come back for a lobster taco and a dessert.

I can't eat onion which is difficult when you think about Mexican food but waitress was super helpful and she managed to find sth for me which was possible to make without onions.

I strongly recommend lobster taco and duck taco - they are delicious.

My friend loved seviche and octopus taco.

They have really nice drinks and the dessert menu is wonderful. I had crepes with dulce leche and they were so good.

Only "but" - very cold air conditioning - I will bring a jacket or a sweater next time.

Doesn't Recommend

SaxCO

Joined 3 years ago

Expensive Tex-Mex without the cheddar. After living in Mexico for almost 35 years, having traveled extensively in the country, with experience eating at restaurants where only locals go, and having good cooking experience, my friends ask for my opinion about some restaurants.

After requests from some of my friends I decided to go to Hugo's a couple of days ago. Before that I took a quick look at their published menu and saw ingredients used in Mexican food. I did not pay much attention to the plates. I wanted to see which ingredients they used. What I saw was encouraging.

The place is OK. Nothing to write about. We were promptly seated. Once we ordered the food we had to wait, and wait, and wait to be served.

The food is presented in a conventional fashion, not the Mexican style. The entrees were cochinita pibil and cabrito. I had not had cabrito in years, so I got excited about a restaurant serving "real /Mexican food" in Houston.

To say that the flavor was bland is a compliment. The cochinita, piglet plate from Yucatan, and the cabrito, a plate from northern part of Mexico were served in pretty similar plates. Both wrapped in banana leaves. You never do that to the cabrito in Mexico. The cochinita was just edible, but tasteless. Then do not know that there is a condiment called achiote, and do not know anything about the sour oranges or the other ingredients to prepare cochinita.

The cabrito was simply awful. It was something that I could not identify. It was either shredded beef or pork, deep fried, with no flavor at all. Cabrito is a plate that takes hours to prepare and does not use oil. What they brought me, wrapped in banana leaf as well as the Cochinita, was something disgusting.

I was tempted to order some nopales but after looking at the poor quality of the nopales in the cabrito plate I decided not to order the nopales. Also, both paltes, cochinita and cabrito, were served with the same sauce. Something that pretended to improve the taste but was just as bad as the plates.

We decided that maybe the desserts could save the day. No way!. The capirotada was really bread pudding and the chocolate mousse with pepper was bland and poorly done.

The food is not Tex-Mex. It is not Mexican either. A friend described it as really expensive Tex-Mex without the cheddar.

This place is expensive. Extremely expensive for the quality and work involved in what you get. They do not use authentic ingredients and the plates are not Mexican.

In short, save your money and your taste buds. If you want authentic, flavorful Mexican food keep looking. I shall do the same.

Avoid the valet parking. They parked my car really close to other cars. There were only six cars in the lot. I had to keep an eye on the driver so he would not hit my or any of the other cars. And then watch him "fly" for about 30 yards and slam the brakes in front of the restaurant and expect a tip. Enough said.

Recommends

El Matador

Joined 3 years ago

Haute Mexican, Haute Prices. The man across the table from me was staring into my eyes with the steely resolve that only an abundance of hard years in a hard life can bring. I returned his gaze, trying to instill as much determination into my own. I knew he meant business, but so did I. My jaw clenched, I loaded up; praying to all the gods I knew that he would back down, the clatter of steel against ceramic let me know that I would not be so lucky. The tension and testosterone, so thick in the atmosphere, could almost be seen. The dame in the low cut dress next to us started blabbering incoherent sentences, dames usually are.

"Oh my god! you can see the legs!"

"The faces! Look at the faces! How can you do this?!?!?"

I reached for one of the two guns that I keep on me at all times; one, a .45, I keep it loaded. The other, vodka, it keeps me loaded. The shot of liquid courage hit the back of my throat with the fine caress of a sledgehammer but did nothing to calm my shaking hands. I knew it was now or never. My honor had been called to question, and in my line of work, your honor is all you have. I raised my hands, full with the instrument of death, never taking my eyes off the man mirroring my motion. I brought it my mouth, and for the first time, closed my eyes; it would all be over soon.

I expected the crunchiness, but the nut-like flavour took me by surprise. Across from me I saw my father carefully bring his napkin to his mouth and spit out the crickets, declaring, "I can't do this, I can't get over the texture!". Victory was mine! It was quickly followed by copious amounts of vodka in an unsuccessful attempt to erase the memory from my brain.

The rest of the meal followed in a much less dramatic fashion, my parents and I enjoyed the haute Mexican cuisine that Hugo's offers, but we came away with the impression that the food did not quite command the steep prices they demanded. The drinks were pretty good though, and I thoroughly recommend trying some of the delicious tequilas that are stocked. The Don Eduardo Blanco is amazing in that velvety burn kinda way that only good tequila can deliver. If you're ever tempted to go way outside your comfort zone and try something different, the fried crickets are certainly different.

Recommends

KitchenInc

Joined 3 years ago

Don't believe the Hype. Hugos is considered to be Houston finest Haute Mexican restaurant. Honestly, I don't think It lived up to the hype. Yes, it has some pretty good food, and it even has some pretty obscure offerings, such as the fried crickets. But once the novelty wears off, you find that Hugo's isn't really the kind of place you feel comfortable parting with $40 a head of your hard earned cash. Yes, the fajitas are good. Yes, the enchiladas are flavorful and elegant; but no, they're not worth the $20 Hugo's charges for them.

What Hugo's does have that is vastly superior to anything in the city is a great Tequila list. You'll find tequilas that will transform your preconceptions of the drink. These are meant to be sipped not chugged. The velvety burn that only a good tequila can give you is achieved amidst beautiful decorations in a very hip part of town, but does nothing to hide the fact that you feel a little gipped when the time comes to foot the bill.

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Ostun

Joined 4 years ago

BUEN RESTAURANT. DONDE ESTA EL POZOLE Y TACOS A LA HUITLACOCHE EN SU MENU?.NO LO ESTÁ, ENTONCES NO ES TAN AUTENTICA COMIDA MEXICANA.LA RACIONES MUY PEQUEÑAS.ORDENAMOS TOSTADAS DE POLLO SOLO SIRVIERON 2 ,TAMBIEN GUACAMOLE Y LA PORCIÓN EXTREMADAMENTE PEQUEÑA .EN RESUMEN : LA COMIDA ES BUENA PEROOOOOOO

Doesn't Recommend

SpringTx

Joined 4 years ago

Beware of Reservations. Had reservations for Sat, 11/7, to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. Upon arrival was told the facility had been rented for a wedding reception and my reservation was invalid. No phone call advising of this, not apology from anyone, not even a "we are sorry" was heard. This was to be our first time to dine here, and certainly was the last. To add insult to injury, when writing a note to them in the comment section of their website, the comment would not be sent because the e-mail address was picked up as being "gibberish" and blocked sending. Beware of people who treat others like this. Spend your dollars with them if your chose to. However, they will see none of my dollars!!!

Recommends

Foodie Friend

Joined 4 years ago

I can't wait to go back!. My family and I went to Hugo's for my brother's birthday and absolutely loved it. The food was authentic and delicious, and the service was great. We went to the bar while we waited for a table and the bartender even came out from behind the bar to take our drink order (we were standing because the bar was full) and made great suggestions. Because I come from a Hispanic background I don't like to pay too much for something my mom can cook at home, but Hugo's was well worth the cost. If you really like wine then you should definitely check it out and be sure to save room for dessert because the menu is awesome!

Recommends

CSMobileUser

Joined 5 years ago

OMG!. First, let me start off by saying that we are food snobs. So, for us to give this restaurant a 5 is truly a compliment indeed. As already stated, this is not tex-mex. We have been traveling to various cities in mexico for the last ten years, so you can trust that we recognize the real deal. We had pan de cazon, sopesitos, baracoa, and fire roasted eggplant puree. All top notch. Margaritas are home made. Also very good. We were there early for dinner, so they were not busy when we arrived. Service was pleasant, but seemed to take a long time for the entrees to arrive. Parking on the street is bad so use the valet. we plan to make the hour drive back on a regular basis.