Daily Review Cafe

(713) 520-9217

3412 W Lamar St, Houston, TX | Directions   77019

29.757796 -95.401892 View Website
  • Hours

    Mon: closed Tue: 11am-2pm, 5:30pm-9pm Wed: 11am-2pm, 5:30pm-9pm Thur: 11am-2pm, 5pm-9pm (Happy Hour 5pm-7pm) Fri: 11am-2pm, 5:30pm-9:30pm Sat: 11am-2pm, 5:30pm-9:30pm Sun: 11am-2:30pm, 5pm-9pm
  • Menu
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Neighborhoods:
Neartown/ Montrose, Central

Cuisine:
Traditional American

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At a Glance ?
93% ambiance
“waiters/waitresses. It is ashame because it takes away from the consistently good food and wonderful outdoor ambience.”
75% dessert
“highly recommend the chocolate whisky pot de creme for dessert.”
84% drinks
“Great wine list!”
72% food quality
“took a few bites and then called the waitress over to explain that the fish was inedible.”
100% menu variety
“The waiter was friendly, but forgot to bring us water and forgot the dessert menu, so we skipped that.”
93% overall
“Everything is great about this place.”
100% return potential
“mourn the loss of my most favorite restaurant and wish it would return to its former glory.”
66% service
“waiters/waitresses. It is ashame because it takes away from the consistently good food and wonderful outdoor ambience.”
53% value
“Our party turned out to be a huge success due in large part to the restaurants' staff and food.”
56% wait time
“My tortilla crusted shrimp was a tad over cooked, but still good, and the salads were nice as well, but our empty plates (and water glasses) sat there for another 30 minutes.”

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Daily Review Cafe

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From The Owner of Daily Review Cafe

A bustling see-and-be-seen River Oaks cafe with a menu featuring comfort-food dishes.


 

Tips for Daily Review Cafe

5.0
December 19, 2008

Wonderful!. We have eaten at the DRC for many years and have never had a bad meal or poor service. I just don' t get the bad reviews. Every single brunch, lunch or dinner we have ever had has been excellent. We especially enjoy Sunday evenings on the patio, listening to the live jazz. Give this wonderful restaurant a try, you'll love it!

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4.0
December 09, 2008

What a find. My husband and I recently were driving up the down the streets in the River Oaks area to look at all the Holiday lights. When we stumbled across this little cafe for dinner. When we first walked in, we noticed the lovely holiday decorations that seems to give this restaurant a warm and cozy feel to it. Which we like very much.We were greeted by the friendly staff and seated right away. Amazingly, since it was crowded. After looking at the delicious menu it was time to make up our minds. I started with the baked goat cheese salad. A little bigger than I expected, but so tasty I ate the whole thing. The combination of the grilled apples, spiced pecans and an entire bulb of roasted garlic made this salad my new favorite. My husband had the tortilla crusted shrimp. YUM!! Crisp shrimp, savory sauce. What else could you ask for. Our waiter suggested a great bottle of wine to go with our entrees. He seemed knowledgable enough so we went with it. I had the Beef tenderloin. It was great, tender, and very tasty. My husband had the Lamb chops. They were cooked to perfection. I believe they were marinaded in honey and cumin so when grilled, the honey kind of caramelized which made for a burst of flavor in each bite. The pumpkin creme brulee was to die for. This little cafe is a treat to find. The food was great. Service very good and the atmosphere cozy and quaint. I will difinately recommend this restaurant to all my friends. Cant wait to go back!

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1.0
November 03, 2008

Raw Shrimp on the French Toast?? Gross!!. I went here with a couple of friends for Sunday brunch. We didn't have reservations, so we asked to be put on the list. After the host stared at us for what seemed like a few minutes he stuttered that it would be until 1:00 before we could be seated (Keep in mind that it is only 10:45am).However, he then quickly changed his mind and said a table would be opening up shortly if we wanted to wait at the bar. As we were about to walk up to the bar a member of the waitstaff walked up to the people who had walked in after us (also without reservations) and offered the same table to them while we were still standing there.The girl behind us had to tell him "Actually they were here before us." To which he just walked off with no response. So we were seated after about 5 minutes (so much for 1:00).The waiter finally came over.He was completely inattentive and "out-of-it" throughout the entire meal.He did not know the soup of the day (I was a server, this is an important thing to memorize).They didn't offer any kind of "bottomless" mimosa specials like so many other brunch restaurants and the Mimosa's were small, expensive ($4) and weak.The bloody mary tasted like sucking on the end of a poorly seasoned crawfish (disgusting).When we finally got our food I noticed something shiny on my French Toast.Upon closer inspection I discovered that it was a piece (nickel-sized) of raw shrimp!!Gross! I informed some random guy because I hadn't seen the waiter in quite some time.He didn't say anything just took it back to the kitchen.Finally the waiter came back and I told him about the shrimp expecting some kind of reaction to this horribly gross situation and he just said "Oh".I am horrified, this is a dangerous health code violation.I'm pretty sure all the kitchen did was scrape the shrimp off and cook it a little more because it came back in 3 minutes but now burned on the outside.He then mixed up all our credit cards and charged one of them twice-incompetent.We'll never go back.

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2.0
October 06, 2008

beautiful garden, average food, terrible service. I love dining outside, and the garden at the DRC is very nice. The service is terrible: we called ahead and made a reservation, but they lost our reservation and we were lucky to get seated. The waiter was friendly, but forgot to bring us water and forgot the dessert menu, so we skipped that. DRC had very few tables outside, and no one was seated inside when we were there, but the wait staff seemed so overwhelmed with the tables outside that they are either really understaffed or incompetent. The food is nothing memorable, just average, so in my opinion overpriced for what you get. I ordered the scallop entree ($28.50): the scallops and grilled polenta were ok, but I only got 5 or six small scallops for $28.50! The baby carrots it came with were strangely undercooked, so they were between raw and steamed. The sauce drizzled inbetween was strange and I have no idea what it was. The heirloom tomatoes were gritty and flavorless. I would not recommend this place- way too much money for below average quality. The garden is beautiful, so coming for just a drink with friends might be ok, but I am not sure it's worth putting up with the bad service and difficult parking. Most likely, I will not come back.

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2.0
September 06, 2008

Poor Service. Too much credit for too much money. We arrived at 7:30 (had a reservation). They were out of wine glasses, so we had to drink our wine out of champagne glasses. They presented the orders incorrectly, twice, the waiter disappeared, the scallops were tasteless, the waiter poured wine on our feet because he missed the glasses. No wonder we had not returned in many years. Again, too much money for too little service and taste.

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5.0
August 18, 2008

Wonderful food and atomsphere. A friend and I went for restaurant week on 8/17/2008 for the first time. My girlfriend and I did not know what to expect as we had gone to a higher end restaurant the previous night. We were pleasantly surprised. This tiny, little hidden bistro was fantastic! Complimentary valet parking, great service, the food was delicious and the atomosphere was amazing. There was also live jazz music and singing.

I had the flat iron steak and the black bean chili and it was delicious. The steak was cooked to perfection! The steak was served with this fried cheese and bacon and potato filled mini burritos (can't think of the proper name for them!) but they were yummy! The wait staff was attentive and answered all of our questions, he even suggested the perfect wine to accompany our meal. This place would make a wonderful romantic date location. I will definately patronize this place over and over

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1.0
August 17, 2008

Used to be good...not anymore. When I moved to Houston 6+ years ago The Daily Review was a gem and a great find. We took anyone who came to visit to this restaurant for either brunch or dinner. A few years ago we noticed a significant change in the quality of food. We stopped going after way too many bad meals.

Recently we decided to give it one more try. Maybe new ownership? or new management?? One can at least hope. But alas it seems to have gotten even worse. Eggs Benedict couldn't even be made correctly. One egg was perfect, the second "hard boiled." My simple breakfast of eggs and biscuit was inedible. The waiter didn't seem concerned or even want to be bothered by our problems. I mourn the loss of my most favorite restaurant and wish it would return to its former glory.

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5.0
August 13, 2008

Great choice - day or night. I've been here several times over the years and always have enjoyed it. Great place for weekend lunch in pretty garden amongst the many trees and flowers. And a great place in the evening for a romantic candlelit dinner on the lovely patio. Great food, great service, great ambiance.....

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5.0
July 22, 2008

Reception Success. I had to plan a farewell slash reception party in a very short time. I was very nervous about booking a place, catering etc. A friend of mine suggested I have our party in a restaurant. So, I looked around for those with a banquet room and open date. My husband and I chose the Review after visiting it once. Our party turned out to be a huge success due in large part to the restaurants' staff and food. Lee and Richard were both exptremely helpful and even comforting about my nerves. However, the food was the biggest treat. We chose our own menu, which included a chicken, beef and salmon plate. I had the chicken and it was great. My husband had the beef and said it was cooked to perfection. This means a lot, considering my husband is Brazilian and used to eating a lot of good, well-cooked beef. My mother had the salmon and she too was extremely pleased. Luckily, everyone else I asked was just as happy with their food. Finally, the waitstaff was wonderful. They were catering, polite and very professional. They were even patient and kind to the half dozen kids in attendance. Honestly, it was a fabulous night. I would recommend this place not just for a brief meal but for a celebration in the Green Room. They do not disappoint.

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1.0
July 17, 2008

Greasy and salty food. My friend and I went to this place as we drove by and noticed the patio. I was enchanted. Walked in and VERY quickly were helped to be sited. Almost as if the servers were fighting for customers. ? Not a good impression. The patio was not clean. It looked much better from the outside. THAT BAD. It took FOR EVER to get our cocktails... yet, it?s alright cus in other places it takes a while too. The food...poor! Big deception. Either too salty, too greasy, too unappealing. Keep the unclean patio for yourselves... and the poor food. We are not coming back.

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Won for:
Outdoor Dining (2008)
Comfort Food (2006)
Nominations Nominated for:
Brunch (2008)
Lunch Spot (2008)
Outdoor Bar (2008)
Comfort Food (2007)
Outdoor Bar (2007)
Outdoor Bar (2006)
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Vegetarian Food (2005)