02/15/09

Great place for European food.

by RotoWii

The lady and i went for Valentines day dinner. We had reservations at 6pm so the restaurant was not too packed yet. Service was exceptional during this point. As time went by, the service started getting slower and slower as the restaurant got up to full capacity. As once being a waiter myself, I understand waiters being busy but tonight seemed like they were understaffed. Although the food was exceptional, the desserts were not up to par. I expected something to sweep me off my seat at the end of my meal as our main courses and appetizers were excellent. Overall, this is a great restaurant to go to when they are not busy. Free valet and the restaurant is within a shopping strip. Once they hire 4-5 more waiters/waitresses, I'm sure this restaurant will become one of the best places in Houston.

• Pros: Ambience and Food
• Cons: Desserts, Service

12/21/08

Wonderful Quaint and Awesome Food

by wifeandi

Last night my wife and I were looking around on the internet for somewhere to eat, and LOOK what we found, a little spot of HEAVEN, the restaraunt is in a strip center but very lovely inside and accomodating, there is a sit up bar if you wish. The service was absolutely second to none. The food was incredidle tasty, tender, hot and very filling. The woman who wrote the last review of this place must have been out of her mind, if TV dinners are this good, where does she shop!. We eat out at least 3 to 4 times a week and this one is one of the best. THIS IS A MUST TRY FOR EVERYONE. Thank you Maria for the great evening, hospitallity and steller food.

• Pros: great food great service customer is appreciated in this place
• Cons: mentally get past he strip center location and you will return many times

11/22/08

I wish I could give 0 stars.

by mck28

Did I miss something here? I moved to NYC and then SF and used citysearch to find some decent food in Houston because yelp isn't popular enough. I must say that something is very wrong in Houston if Charivari is one of the locals' favorite restaurant here. I never write reviews, so you know this place must have been bad. First of all, I should have canceled the reservation when I was able to get a table for 4 on a Friday night (I called one hour before leaving). BTW, you can get one for Saturday easily. When we arrived at the strip mall location, the hostess said our name wasn't on her reservation list and gave us attitude even though the restaurant was half empty. The food was expensive for Houston. We had a salad that was $15 each (spinach with pear and goat cheese. the pear wasn't even cored or peeled) and several different entrees that ranged from $20-$35, which included super dry chicken with cranberry yogurt, one small lamb chop with bread dumplings that were as hard as rocks and a pork chop that look and tasted like a tv dinner. Also, all red wine is stored at room temp (if you care about that kind of thing.) Desserts looked good, but we couldn't get ourselves to stay any longer. It's not a surprise this place was empty.

10/07/08

Best European and Fine Dinning

by garcai

All I can say is WOW! Charivari consistently delivers outstanding and authentic European cuisine and ambience year around. Right now they are featuring an Octoberfest menu that includes the Roasted Pork Shank or Schweine Haxe that is just unbelievable. This is absolutely the best I have ever eaten here or in Europe. If you want to have a nice evening out and experience genuine european gourmet food Charivari is a must!

You can also try them for lunch, they have new lunch specials everyday and they are always fantastic.

Check the weekly lunch specials and events here www.charivarirest

• Pros: Fantastic food, great service, excellent value, authentic
• Cons: none

08/25/08

A very special place

by DLSims

Charivari has become a place very special to my wife and I. We have dined there on numerous occasions, a number of which were special occasions. We always end up choosing Charivari because we know that we can count on the service being second to none, the food outsanding, both making for a wonderful dining experience. When the goal is to have a perfect evening, Chariviari will no doubt hold up to their end of the deal.

• Pros: Food and service are second to none
• Cons: Ambience, while good, does not match the food and service.

08/13/08

Fantastic!

by abbeylicious

Yes it is located in a strip center, no it's not in an old house or renovated church, but the menu BY FAR makes up for that. I had the lobster and after my first bite and had to sit back and take a moment because it was so good. Dined with a large party and every person raved about their meal. The chef/owner actually came out to make sure our food was prepared properly. Would definitely go back and highly recommend it to a friend.

• Pros: FOOD
• Cons: Expensive (but worth it for special occasion)

04/15/08

Truly Great Food

by cb326

First off the atmosphere isn't great. It's in a strip center (albeit an upscale one) and other than having white tablecloths doesn't make much of an impression inside either. But what it does have is great service and food.

It's a good mix of various European dishes(French, German, Romanian, etc) and everything I've had has been well above average. Presentation is very nice and the service has been impeccable each time. The food is definitely worth it and I'd recommend it to anyone.

• Pros: Service, Presentation, Tase
• Cons: Located in a Strip Center

02/24/08

Slow service, but great food

by bmwm5driver

Food presentation, quality, value and portions are great - Highly recommended!! Service is sloooow. I went twice in a week - once for lunch on a Tuesday and once for dinner on Thursday evening. If you have / need a lot of time to talk with your guest, you'll enjoy this meal event. That was my lunch expereince.

I returned for dinner and it literally took 1 hour after arrival to receive my table of three entree's. There was one other table in the restarunat of 5 people. My lunch service experienc was better. The food was always outstanding - Meatloaf entree and Red Snapper entree.

Parking was super easy. Restaruant room was simple and elegant enough. Men's restroom was clean.

02/22/08

Not for people in a hurry, but definitely worth the wait.

by akitalady

Fine European-style dining with fabulous service and delicious food that's unique to this restaurant. They've got seasonal specials, like their fall mushroom festival which we never miss! It's great for a group of friends who want to share good food and conversation because they don't overwhelm you with loud music and people trying to talk over it. I've never had anything I didn't like, but the mushroom kugel, spatzel, and risotto are really special. Oh, and the garlic soup is to die for. So is the garlic butter and bread they bring before. In fact, those are so good, you have to watch that you don't fill up on that.

02/15/08

Very Disappointed

by snipdoggydog

After reading all the glowing reviews about this restaurant, my husband and I were excited to try it on Valentine's night. What a huge disappointment! There is nothing romantic about this place. It is one big room with lots of tables and lighting that is barely lower than operating room level. The servive was terrrible. It took 10 minutes for anyone to even approach us and ask what we wanted to drink and it never improved throughout the meal. It was clear that they were grossly understaffed for such a big night. The "special" Valentine menu was very limited with only two seafood options (I don't eat red meat) and very expensive. As if all of that were not bad enough, the food was very mediocre. The famous garlic soup was good, but my husband's rib eye was tough (he overheard someone else complaining about the steak) and the salmon, redfish and lobster (small and tasteless) combination that I had was unexciting. We were so disappointed by the end of the entrees that we skipped dessert and went for ice cream! We will definitely not be going back.