House In The Heights

10/11/08

Nasty,nasty, nasty

by ladyspanky

They overcharge what they quote for pricing over the phone. Our dining took 7 hours, yes 7 hours. The owner was rude and the food was gross.

• Pros: Not a thing
• Cons: Everything

08/11/08

NEVER AGAIN

by NikkiR08

What was meant to be a celebration for a friend turned into THE WORST dining experience of my life by far. Our party called to make reservations and we were quoted a price of $35 per person by the owner/chef himself. We were informed that dinner would last about 3 hrs in reality it stretched on for over 6 hrs; 85 % of that time was spent waiting for our food to arrive. When the meal was finally served, we were starving and the food was mediocre and tasteless. Our party was informed that the price would be $45 per person instead of the quoted price only after we had been served. The over priced dessert was a stale store bought brownie with ice cream in a martini glass. The corking fee is a joke. At first, we weren't told about the fee and we uncorked our own wine with a cork screw we brought. We also had sparkling juice that we opened by hand. At the end of the night they tried to charge us for all the unopened bottles of wine, and the juice. The service was poor, the only time we really saw anyone was when they came in to count the wine bottles we had opened over the course of the night, and to occasionally bring us tap water in recycled wine bottles. Shabby, chic...I think not, just plain shabby. After tracking down someone on staff and much debate some of the charges were taken off which brought the total to about $1,020 plus a ridiculous tip they automatically added to the bill. To leave, we had to find the owner/chef to unlock the gate around the parking lot across the street where our cars were. We escaped the madhouse sometime after 1am and were made to pay a ransom just to leave. Our bad dining experience added up to be a little over $80 per person. When all was said and done, our bill was enough to pay the mortgage for a standard house in Houston. House in the Heights is considered to be a bad word in my circle of friends; we couldn't speak of this experience for months after it happened. At best House in the Heights is a highly effective money trap.

• Pros: None to speak of
• Cons: You name it ... poor service, long wait for food, corking fee, dishonest prices, parking

07/12/08

House in Heights

by kiraayden

The worst experience ever! I was in the restaurant industry for years and I am completely offend that someone would try to pass this off as dinning experience! Part of a dinning experience is to have good service which we did not, we had no service. Who is writing these good reviews are they just friends of the Chef's or what.

• Pros: No Pros
• Cons: Everything

06/13/08

Imagine Dining at a very good friend's home...

by msanaonesq

And said friend is a very accomplished chef. Patrick greeted us at the door like we were old friends and showed us to our table. One thing Patrick stressed to us once we were seated is we were to dine, not eat out. There is a difference. Dining is an all evening affair, something to be savored slowly, not rushed. I would not make other plans for the night if you go to dine at the House in the Heights. It is a place to get comfortable and enjoy 4-5 hours with your loved ones and friends. Don't come here and expect to be in and out in an hour or two. That is not the point of coming here.

As many others have said, the bread is wonderful. An aromatic creation stuffed with herbs and cheeses. It is a meal in itself. As my husband loves duck, we were pleased to find ourselves presented with Muscovy duck dumplings. It was a good thing we didn't have to share; I think I would have been missed out on the flavorful little morsels. After the richness of the bread and the duck, we had a delightful and refreshing salad with lime and popy seed vinegrette and japanese cucumber relish. Patrick is a believer in balance and it shows. Our entrees were pork loin (mine) and chicken breast with fire roasted vine ripened tomatoes (my husbands). Both of our entrees were terrific. They were well seasoned, the meats were juicy and perfectly cooked and they were classics, creatively prepared.

Our evening was about more than just the food. We chose to dine because it was our anniversay. We wanted to sit at our table for four hours, sip our wine and reconnect. The House in the Heights and Patrick allowed us to do just that.

So, come here for a good meal. Bring good wine and good company. Be patient and relax, because after all, here you come to dine, not just to eat.

• Pros: Bring your own wine, comfortable environment

03/15/08

Still laughing about the experience

by travelingfoodie

My husband and I went with friends to House in the Heights twice, once years ago, and once in the new location. The first time was a nice, ordinary dining experience. The second time, though, was so bad we are still laughing it, and judging from some other reviews, it wasn't unique. We arrived at 7:30 and were the only patrons for the evening. The owner was serving, cooking and cleaning up himself with no other help. We waited over an hour to get our bread, then another hour for the first course. Talk about being held hostage! We didn't get to leave until after midnight, at which point we would have paid extra just to get out of there!

• Pros: Could have been charming
• Cons: Dining ordeal