Agora
(713) 526-7212
1712 Westheimer Rd
Houston,
TX
77098
29.743
-95.4026
Neighborhoods: Neartown/ Montrose, Central
Reviews & Ratings for Agora
30 reviews
What users are saying:
Showing 1-10 of 30 reviews
Awesome Coffee House
by Krysti22gym
January 02, 2009
This place is so awesome! I go have coffee and occasionally a beer or glass of wine with friends. The atmosphere is great. In the evening, the lighting is dim and almost romantic upstairs. It's a good place to go on a date. Their coffee is delicious! Will keep going back.
- Pros: Atmosphere, coffee
- Cons: parking
A MUST place to visit!
by zoiPlat
October 16, 2008
I have to say I am really surprised by some of the negative comments about Agora. For one Agora is my favorite coffee house and wine bar. You should check out their beers; it?s not your run of the mill establishment. At night you can go and drink wine, chit chat with your friends, and maybe even meet a few people. They have this retro jukebox that has a variety of music from all over the world. I have been a customer for such a long time that over the years I have gotten to know the staff. It is not a Greek ONLY place. They welcome anybody that is willing to consume. If people are going spend only $5 in coffee and have been sitting there 6 hours, I suggest that you should find another place?..like McDonald?s!!! I hear they also have wi-fi!! There are 2 Greek bartenders and the rest are from a variety of places. It is a very international scene. You have college students to corporate lawyers digging the atmosphere. By the way, there was a comment made below calling the owner racista. Eso es pura mentira! He always treats them nicely. He also makes sure that the little Latina cleaning ladies that close up at night never walk home alone. He makes sure that some gives them a ride to their front door! There is all this drama from cheap people. The bottom line is that, they, in my opinion are the best coffee/wine place in Houston. BY THE WAY?..they also have belly dancing on WED. Check it out!
- Pros: nice place to study in the morning
- Cons: n/A
Worst costumer service!
by brandi222
July 26, 2008
Me and my friends were drinking the overpriced coffees, and working on our laptops when the owner approached us and literally started yelling at us for ?rearranging? his furniture. We explained to him that we asked one of his employees for permission to only move another chair to our area. However he was still angry, and said that she was nobody in there, and made fun of her own employee commenting she couldn?t understand English. Actually, one of my friends asked for her permission in Spanish. He didn?t care about any explanation and just bragged that it was his place and if we didn?t like it we were welcome to leave. Neither of us will ever go back and give any more business to such a rude and raciist guy.
- Pros: Location
- Cons: Owner/staff, parking, prices
Unfortunate
by youasked
July 12, 2008
The old-world feel is great. It would be great if the menu were expanded to include food...like salad, soup, sandwiches and/or small appetizer plates.
I initially went there with a greek friend. We were treated warmly as she spoke with them in Greek.
Last time I went (alone), the girl at the register seemed catty, hostile and indignant to have to assist me with my order...until she noticed me search through several hundred dollar bills to retieve something smaller to pay for my order. Unwelcoming, exclusionary vibes. Condescending attitude toward non-greeks. Very, very unfortunate. Just be aware.
- Pros: Ambience
- Cons: Pervasive exclusionary attitude among staff
Staff unplugs internet when they want laptop users to leave. Extremely rude environment, staff eyeballing you constantly.
by bhype
June 14, 2008
When I first moved to Houston a friend recommended Agora as a nice place to go have a coffee. Initially things were fine, the two of us regularly met up, had a few drinks while we talked and then left. After I started hanging out there much more frequently, 3-4 evenings a week, to study and work on my laptop, I started noticing how the owner (the frowny old greek man with the untucked shirt and short gray hair) constantly kept eyeballing me, as if he were making sure I was sipping my drink and making him money, otherwise it was time to leave.
It really started getting bad when a handful of us would be working on our laptops (also working on our 2nd or 3rd $4 coffee) and the wireless internet connection would suddenly disappear. It always happens around the same time, and is always accompanied by a ramp-up of the owner's eyeballing as he watched closely for his high-tech management skills to take effect and run all the laptops out of the establishment. I often stayed around a while just out of pure amazement at this guy's antics.
I will not be back to the establishment.
LONG STORY MADE SHORT: IF YOU VALUE COMFORT AND NOT BEING RUSHED, DO NOT GO TO AGORA. IF YOU DON'T LIKE BEING EYEBALLED BY THE SHOPKEEPER WHILE TRYING TO ENJOY YOUR COFFEE, DO NOT GO TO AGORA.
- Pros: pro's? hmm... profane prodding produces problems.
- Cons: micromanaging, eyeballing owner. terrible espresso quality. overcrowded chairs that are impossible to navigate without disturbing everything.
great date spot or cute place to catch up with friends
by addy722
March 15, 2008
i always go on this website, but i have never wanted to take the time to write a review. however, after seeing a number of negative reviews about agora, i felt obligated to interject. agora is the best place for a date or to catch up with friends. i love the layout of the cafe and the decorations. i have been there a number of times and have never had to deal with any rude staff- members. i finally met the owner the last time i visited agora (two days ago) and he was extremely nice and conversational. i live in the area and i love that i am so close to agora and can visit greece whenever i want to...
- Pros: great ambience, nice staff, the decor
- Cons: parking, sometimes seems like a high school hangout, steep stairs
Staff and Owners very rude, overpriced...
by tammyv
January 22, 2008
We used to go to Agora all the time, to have coffee and a smoke with friends. We have always complained after leaving there each time, but still came back because we hadn't found a better place to hang out yet. Well, we've found better, quieter, less pretentious places to hang, and we give them our business. I won't go into all of the examples of the extremely rude behavior by the owners and staff, but I will say that I dont' think they could care less about their clientelle. Not recommended.
- Pros: It's far from where I live
- Cons: Staff, Owners, Way Overpriced, Only Sell Beer and Wine, Limited Bar
Best Coffeeshop in Houston
by miniman
January 17, 2008
Ambiance: Fantastic.
Location: Almost perfect (only problem: I don't live closer)
This is NOT Starbucks (which I like okay). Agora is one of the most beautiful places in Houston. If I lived closer I would probably visit it at least five times a week. (BTW, the owner has always been completely pleasant & charming to both my wife & myself.)
Need to learn the value of customer lifetime relationships
by kbunyi
November 28, 2007
Management should consider allowing the establishment to have a natural flow of order. We bought drinks sat on the couches and studied. When a friend joined us the owner came over yelling at us to buy drinks. We had already bought drinks, but I understand he doesn't want people just using his couches so my other friend was going to buy a drink. I mean can we have a second to sit and settle? Then the manager comes over and tells us the area we are in should be for larger groups, I'm sorry I didn't know we had assigned seating at a public establishment. We decided to leave after this and I don't plan on going back. So the owner should know that it takes a lot more to get a new customer than to maintain a healthy relationship with an existing one. As for the latte it was cold within 5 minutes of ordering it. I couldn't even enjoy it...I would suggest going to Basil's across the street or even your local Starbucks before I would ever step foot in this establishment again.
- Pros: The ambiance
- Cons: The owner
