Taste of Texas Restaurant

11/20/09

STAY AWAY...SAVE YOUR MONEY

by TheBestCritic at Citysearch

The place is a tourist trap, plain and simply put. The steaks don't come near Pappas Brothers, Flemings, Capital Grill and etc. The salad bar is the only redeeming value. It's amazing the place does so well, except for the fact it plays off the TEXAS motif. Don't waste your time or money, you can get the same quality at Salt Grass for half the price. YES, I said Salt Grass, that Fertittatized chain that has a much personality as Jack in the Box.

• Pros: NONE
• Cons: PRICE, WAIT, QUALITY

03/01/09

TRULY AMAZING.....NOT

by lzlmt at Citysearch

Simple and to the point....a group of us went to celebrate my Nephew's Birthday...it was very early 5:30.pm...They told us we would be on 2 different tables...no problem....What they did not tell us the Tables would be far away from each other....!!! We left....walked over to Papasitos...we were seated in about 20 min....Had a GREAT time.

I will never return to Taste of Texas....

• Pros: free coke
• Cons: they do not care!

01/10/09

very over rated!!!

by megnix02 at Citysearch

i made reservations there for my mothers birthday on the 29th of december a monday! There was absoultly no parking what so ever! the whole parking lot was full and had a lines of cars following the others around the parking lot in circles!!! with 3 cars coming to the party it was impossible so i found one parking spot in a parking lot behind the restraunt to get in a hear that they have no reservations for our party of 15!!! people where hanging out the door and around the entrance!!! awful!!! so the others headed back to katy and we ate at saltgrass instead should have went there to begin with!

• Pros: good menu
• Cons: no parking!!!!!

12/22/08

The Worse First Impression!!!!!!

by Tony210 at Citysearch

I am not much of a complainer but this is by far the worse Steakhouse.

To make this review short and strait to the point; I went to Taste Of Texas Monday night with friends, and waited for 1 1/2hrs to get a table. When I ordered the Cowboy Steak (24oz Ribeye bone in) med-rare it came out med-well. For a $40 steak I expected great steak. I complained, and the second time around it came out RARE. I was very upset with the food, so I talked to the manager to put the steak in a to-go box since all my friends had already finished eating before I had a chance to enjoy my steak. He said he will give me compensation for the trouble, and I get a discount $25. I personally think a slab of steak from Chili?s for $15 bucks would be better. Spoke to the manager again to take the to go box and the cost of my steak off the bill, and I came home empty handed after driving and waiting for a disappointing steak.

Overall, management team needs to learn the importance of satisfied customers, and for a well known steakhouse I expected great steak.

• Pros: atmosphere was great; waiters/ waitresses were great
• Cons: Steak were bad; managers doesnt know how to satisfy a customer

05/26/08

Don't bother

by philipssweetpea at Citysearch

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.

04/15/08

Couldn't get in the Front Door

by sctexas at Citysearch

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

02/20/08

No reservations and not TRUELY natural tender steak

by liss337 at Citysearch

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

02/07/08

Used to be good - now it's a rip-off living off of a formerly good name. Avoid.

by LarryBrown at Citysearch

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.

09/11/07

DO NOT GO AFTER 9 BETTER YET EVER THE CS IS TERRIBLE

by thefoodanddrinklover at Citysearch

I have been to this restaurant before and had a fairly decent experience, this last time I do not know what happened. The service was good and the waitress was really attentive, however I have had better FRESHER food at a steak house. The lobster sucked, was over cooked and had a nasty charbroil taste to it. The steak was full of fat and not cooked properly. Lets not talk about the stuff they try to pass off as butter (think heart attack to-go) it wasn't melted and didn't melt with a little help. Basically what seemed to had happened was someone ordered the same steak and lobster (earlier that day) and they did not want to get rid of it.

Taste of Texas, if you are going to charge someone $70 for ONE meal could you at least make it a decent one. I called to speak with the managers (we took the meal to-go) and to no avail I received no call back what so ever--I'm still waiting by the way. I have always heard the expression you get what you pay for--this was no cheap meal. They have lost a customer because of the poor manner that it was handled. I guess that is what you get from a place that you pay $125 for two meals in one sitting. I will make sure I tell everybody that asks me about this place NOT TO GO.

• Pros: The waitress was very attentative
• Cons: The customer service is not good, the food is expensive and prepared good.

08/09/07

Big disappointment!

by NYC_Brunchers at Citysearch

I'd been wanting to try this place, but am so sorry that I did. The experience begins with a nightmare of a parking lot. It took my husband 20 minutes to find a spot. The worst part, though, is the food...it is flat, boring and completely without flavor. The salad bar is tiny and uninteresting, the prime rib thin and leathery, and the sides completely tasteless. Even the cheescake tasted frozen. For the same price I'd go to any of the other fine steakhouses in town, Pappas Bros., The Striphouse, or even Smith and Wollensky. One mildy redeeming thing was the wine. We had a nice reasonably priced cabernet that we enjoyed. #36, I believe. The service was also slow and borderline rude. After an hour wait, we were shown to our table and I asked for a highchair to put my infant seat on. The hostess chastised me and refused to give me one saying it would tip over and pushing two chairs together was safer for the baby--fine if that's their policy, but don't comment on my parenting choices please. There was a much nicer way to approach this. Overall a bad experience we won't be paying for again!

• Pros: Nice wine list
• Cons: Awful food, way too expensive for the quality