Taste of Texas Restaurant

07/10/2008 Posted by Houstongurl

I have never had a bad experience here. We dine out and entertain often. This place is great to take out of town guests if you want to show them a little bit of Texas. Its not overkill...but warm and inviting..like a nice upscale hunting lodge. Mounted wildlife, crackling fireplaces, fully bricked interior, and a wine cellar to die for. They offer fabulous, high grade meat...you can even pick out your own steak if you'd like. I don't ever stray from my favorite...the 6oz garlic butter filet. OMG...to die for..this is like cotton candy dancing in your mouth. Have it prepared medium rare. Steaks are prepared with 2 different seasoning options...lemon pepper...or garlic butter. YUM! Only downfall is there is always a wait and they won't seat you unless your entire party is present. My husband and I visit Taste on random nights just for a good steak.....birthdays...Mothers day...dining out with friends. We are regulars and have NEVER been disappointed. Also...its decorated beautifully at Christmas time.

Pros: great steak, salad bar, cinnamom butter, decor

Cons: always on a wait...thats to be expected at a place this good

07/10/2008 Posted by agarza78264

well I unlike my husband ordinarily don't fancy steakhouses but this one has impressed me i am an avid cheese eater, I love the STUFF!!!! they have huge cheese blocks at the salad bar, so I definetly would recommend the salad bar. We did also try an appetizer we tried the jalapeno and cheese stuffed shrimp, they were delicous. My husband tried the new york steak and I ordered the hamburger. we shared each other's food his steak was extremely tender, it was magnificent! I was very pleased with the customer service from the staff. when we arrived we were told it would be a 15 min wait and just when i thought "oh your 15 mins are up" they called on us. I would reccomend this restaurant to anyone it's excellent

Pros: excellent atmosphere excellent service timely manner

Cons: didn't last quite long enough

06/28/2008 Posted by Czcz

I've been going to the Taste of Texas (ToT) since 2004 and always felt they had great steaks. My wife had never been to ToT, therefore we decided to go for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. Throughout the years, I always talked a good game about this place, but became concerned when my wife mentioned the negative reviews on this website. Well......... we went on a Friday night and only waited 7 minutes to be seated. Our waiter, Jared, was phenomenal and constantly kept folding our napkins whenever we had to get up from the table. (Yeah, a little fu-fu for my taste, but made our night memorable) My wife was not disappointed with the salad bar and bread. My wife is an occasional steak eater, unlike myself, and felt her 10 oz filet was great. I had the 10 oz filet medium and felt it was cooked perfectly - tasty and tender. I'm in agree with another post that stated appetizers should be skipped. When we were done with our steaks, we barely had room for dessert - it took a great sacrifice to finish our special celebration dessert, which is always on the house if one is celebrating a special occasion. Needless to say, we were not disappointed with ToT and plan to return during the year. Warning to all, ToT is not one those especially fancy steak houses. The setting is EXTREMELY casual and their bathrooms are unique as they have several Houston sports memorabilia on display. All fu-fu diners should stay away because this is not a place that kisses your butt. If you're looking for great steaks in a friendly environment and good service, then this is the place to go!

Pros: Awesome salad bar, bread, and steaks. Great service

Cons: Pricey steaks, but comparable to most steakhouses.

05/26/2008 Posted by philipssweetpea

My husband had talked up Taste of Texas for months, but since it was a little beyond our newlywed budget, I did not have the chance to eat there until my sweet hubby splurged for my birthday. I was so excited, and eager to sample such a highly recomended restaurant. To make things festive, I dressed up in a formal dress, and hubby wore his tux, and we went out on the town. We were seated promptly, and the good service stopped there. We orderred the prime rib to split, because I wanted to save room for dessert, and I guess the waitress figured we would be a low tip tabe, and wandered away. I will say that th salad bar was very good, but I was not offered any ground pepper. The waitress took care of the table next to us, and passed by me, glancing at my salad, and then kept walking! When the food arrived, the prime rib was very good, but the hollandaise was just okay. Our water glasses sat empty for half of the meal, and although I was sitting with my back to the bar, my husband told me that he was watching our waitress hang out there eating maraschino cherries, and ignoring our empty plates. When she finaly came to clear the plates, she ungraciously offered dessert, adding "It's free on your birthday" we were planning on paying for it, but whatever. The deep dish pecan pie with cinnamon ice cream was very good, but had my hsband not known about the cinnamon coffee, I would not have gotten to try it! It was also good, but by the time she brought out everything, and a polaroid camera, it was hard to smile because of her abrupt attitude. It was as if taking our picture was a huge chore, and she wanted to get back to her cherries. The only time our waitress showed any friendliness, was when she brought back our credit card, and it was time to write in a tip. Hubby wrote a letter to the owner, but we never heard any sort of appology. Bad service is unpleasant and disappointing, but the lack of any response from the owner assured us that we will never return. What a shame.

Pros: very good food, the ladies bathroom is cute.

Cons: hard to enjoy the food when the waitstaff doesn't want you there.

04/15/2008 Posted by sctexas

The owner of the Taste of Texas" has a 30.06 sign posted on the front door. This sign prevents law abiding customers who are licensed to carry a handgun concelaed from carrying in the place of business. It does not prevent criminals from carrying handguns in the place of business. Therefore, No matter how good the food is, I will not spend my money at an anti gun rights restaurant. Especially when the owner has a concelaed handgun license himself and carries a handgun. Sullivans, Pappas, Flemmings, and Vic and Anthony's don't have these signs.

Pros: Nice looking place form the outside

Cons: 30.06 sign posted on front door

02/25/2008 Posted by tx_rsr

I love this place. The steaks are AWESOME and the service is great. You can walk up to the butcher counter and choose your own steak. Unfortunately, the average wait to get a table is just a little over an hour if you have 4 in your party. Anything over 4 and the wait increases by about 45 minutes to an hour. I have come to accept this as part of the dinning experice at the Taste of Texas so I don't go there often. So, if you and your guest can live with the waiting time to sit down, I highly recommend it.

Pros: The Steaks are AWESOME!!!!

Cons: Takes for over an hour to get a table on a busy night

02/21/2008 Posted by gmalone

I'd heard about this place for years and finally had a chance to dine there with friends and was sorely disappointed. We were there on a Tuesday night and it was very crowded and loud. Cocktails were watered down and the service was chaotic (waiter was watching a movie on a child's laptop at a neighboring table). I ordered the porterhouse which was the toughest steak I'd had in years. I would have a very hard time recommending this to anyone and probably won't go back unless someone else who is paying the tab insists.

Pros: Good wine list.

Cons: No ambience, like dining at McDonalds.

02/20/2008 Posted by liss337

I use to be a big fan of this place.. I love the salad bar and soups and my husband loves the steak. The customer service is usually great except when i called to make reservations for 2 for 730 the hostess was like you dont need to make reservations then when i asked her "are you sure? is it normally slow?" she yeah its busy but you can come in and wait, and im like i just asked you to make reservations. shes like well were bz at that time but if you could come in around 5 that would be great. im sitting here thinking to myself i get off at 5 and on top of that that is 2.5 hrs earlier then i planned to eat then shes like well if not we close at 10 so come in around 930 and there is no wait. then finally shes like we dont take reservations for under 10. i even offered to put down a deposit to guarnteed that we would be coming. i know this place isnt romantic but geez give me a break. i told her dont worry about it. in all honestly there salad is great but there steaks are not that gooD. IF YOU GET IT ON THE SIZZLING PLATTER GET IT UN KNOTCH MORE RARE BC THE PLATE COOKS IT MORE. (TEHY FAIL TO TELL YOU THIS) ALSO I COULD MNEVER UNDERSTAND WHY THEYRE FOOD GAVE ME THE CRAPS UNTIL ONE DAY I ONLY ATE TEH SALAD.. TEH REASON BEING---THE PUT MEAT TENDERIZER IN THEIR STEAKS! SO THERE STEAKS ARE NOT NATURALLY TENDER. I AM ALLERGIC TO IT AND BREAK OUT IN HIVES AND ITS LIKE MY STOMAC IS DYING OF FOOD POISIONING BC OF IT BUT THEY DONT TELL YOU THEY PUT THAT IN THEIR FOOD ETIHER. THIS PLACE IS GREAT FOR VEGANS.. FOR THEIR SALAD BAR AND IF YOU HAVE A BIG PARTY, NOT GREAT IF FOR ONLY 2 PPL.

Pros: GREAT SALAD BAR

Cons: NO RESERVATIONS FOR COUPLES AND THEY PUT MEAT TNDERIZER IN THE STEAKS

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02/07/2008 Posted by LarryBrown

More than $10 per drink is simply ridiculous. It took the guy about 12 minutes to make 2 margaritas and a pina colada-that's inexcusable. That ice shaving machine you've got is silly, slow, and loud, especially since bartender is inept. My wife complained that her drink tasted like ice water, but when she saw the look of disgust in my eyes when I thought of going to get the drink remade and missing another ten minutes of my birthday party, she backed off. Mumzy complained that her pina colada had no liquor, and my margarita was bland and had no liquor. Mumzy had the filet on the sizzling platter. It did not come sizzling, which is a pet peeve; however Mumzy reported that she liked the steak. Mumzy reports that her asparagus was cold and not good. Alicia and I had the medium well porterhouse for two with portabella and scalloped potatoes. The steak was inedible. Neither one of us liked it. It was full of fat and inedible nerve that we had to cough out, and we had to send it back for raw disgusting bleeding on our plate, which makes Alicia nauseas. There's no excuse for serving a bleeding steak that was ordered medium well. And at over $60? This steak was not tender, it had no seasoning, mine tasted like water and I had to ask for A¬1 sauce to cover the objectionable flavor so that I could eat it. The portabella mushroom was inedible, tasted like water, and did not have a char-grilled flavor like the wonderful one at Cheesecake Factory. I said the scalloped potatoes were inedible, Alicia said they tasted raw. Neither of us ate them. Someone else also complained that the potatoes were raw. Jimmy said that your variety of steaks was too limited for a steakhouse and that “Texas Land & Cattle” has a better selection, is much better than you, and is an infinitely better value. Also note that the Margaritas at “Texas Land & Cattle” are the best, and strongest, we've ever had. Susan had the stuffed shrimp. She didn't like them.

Pros: Beautiful, impressive place, museum decor.

Cons: Waaaaay overpriced, lousy, slow, inedible.

11/08/2007 Posted by cpede

We first tried Taste of Texas when a friend from out of state visited and wanted to go. We were pleasantly surprsied then, and have been thoroughly pleased ever since. Being a meat eater, and a huge fan of steak, I won't settle for the run-of-the-mill (fill in your own chain steak house here) steak. The steak is phenomenal, and the rest of it is great (but you really go for the meat). It is expensive but well worth it. The desserts are awesome too; but with hardly enough room left over after our meal, we usually take it home for later. (just a note: you get one free desert if you are celebrating a birthday...including a polaroid of the birthday person) The wait staff, hostesses and servers are always cordial, even when busy...and that's just about every night. There's no doubt that this is a great place to eat given that the line is pretty much always out the door. They provide free munchies (chips, popcorn) and drinks (sodas, tea, and water), though, while you wait. The best time to go is before 6:30 or after 8:30/9. They do not accept reservations, and usually won't let you take a number until your entire party is in the restaurant. We recommend this to all of our carnivorous friends, and will continue to be faithful patrons for many years to come.