Hobbit Cafe

04/11/08

Great food, attentive service, and helpful waitstaff

by RuggerBoy at Citysearch

My wife and I are from the UK, and my friend took a group of us last night to the Hobbit Cafe. We were fascinated about the history of the hobbit cafe, and the patio was perfect for a night like yesterday. The interior design was incredibly simple but imaginative with the earthy pastels and the "Gandalf" chair. My wife thought it was inventive to use shower curtains in the women restroom stalls. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive, a few of us had specific requests (it gets embarrassing sometimes), but he was patient enough to tend to our needs. We didn't have to wait long for our drinks, and we ordered burgers, black and blue burger was my favourite! I love blue cheese and bell peppers with cajun seasoning together.

We also ordered other items like black bean nachos, the hobbit wraps, and also the carribean salmon entree (among other burgers), which came highly recommended by our waiter. How rightly so. If you like salmon, this salmon portion was huge and our waiter got it grilled just to our specific request as we described. My wife likes it seared and it flavors well with the sweet mildly spicy jamaican sauce and mango pico.

More importantly, our waiter didn't chase us out. He was always there whenever we needed help, even when the restaurant got busy. The patio seating fills up very fast, and the lit candles make it very mystical like the Hobbit in the movies! We had a great time for first-timers, and although our waiter included a gratuity (6 and more pple), he informed us about it, and let us know that ultimately, we were welcomed to leave whatever amount we were comfortable with. Needless to say, we took care of him, and some more. We come to Houston to visit our families and their friends maybe 2 times maximum a year, and this will always be our first stop on our first night in Houston. Amazing. My wife cannot wait for the next time! Keep it up. Cheers!

• Pros: As a first timer, I'm surprised to be well-impressed by the service, the food, and the experience

03/30/08

A rodent at my table!

by jassyk84 at Citysearch

Ok, so before yesterday this was one of my favorite restaurants in Houston. The atmosphere is cool and comfortable- it's a great place to go to catch up with friends. I loved the shrimp rolls, hobbit wrap and black bean nachos. That is until yesterday as I ate dinner a huge rodent (I cannot use the other word, this site won't accept it) climbed down the wall and stood on a wall fixture about a foot above our table. I immediately went to tell the people at the front. The reaction was unbelievable in the fact that there was none! Our waiter even tried to say that since we were sitting on an enclosed patio that it was to be expected! There was an A/C- we were definitely inside. The manager just kind of walked away so I had no choice but to return to my table to try and gather my things. After that, various members of the staff came in to look and then went on about their business. To top it off I was handed a bill to pay for a meal that was interrupted by a rodent. It was completely and totally ridiculous. I will NEVER go back there!

02/29/08

DIRTY

by BaristaLJ at Citysearch

This place is full of six legged creepy crawlies, my husband loves their burgers because he doesn't like spicy things, I think this place is too bland. They need to get their parking lot fixed, they need new chairs, they need to take care of the rodent issue, seating is cramped, and their bathrooms are gross! The ladies room stalls have shower curtains for doors...

• Cons: everything

02/07/08

Tasty Different

by WORD76 at Citysearch

Nice, relaxed atmosphere with healthy comfort food. Great for vegetarians, with alot of options but also more traditional casual food.

• Pros: Good Food, Interesting Atmosphere
• Cons: Parking sometimes

02/02/08

cute restaurant! mediocre food

by littlebit0863 at Citysearch

I loved the atmosphere here! It's like you're in a hobbit's home, sitting at their table! They have the cutest decor and little lamps on the table. That being said, the food was ok at best. No one in my party really enjoyed their meal. It was made up for with dessert, though.

• Pros: cutest place to eat!
• Cons: food is bland

10/15/07

Easygoing with good service

by chilmin at Citysearch

First, my friend and I didn't like our sandwiches at all. He got an avocado (Gandalf) sandwich which looked like it contained about 5 avocados and a tiny little bit of bread, while I got the Thorin Oakenfield tabouli sandwich which was not so tasty. I also got the "default" side of shredded carrots, and let's just say forget healthy! I'll get the chips next time. With that aside, I still enjoyed my meal mostly because of the service and ambience. The servers are really cool and helpful, and the actual restaurant can be described as easygoing and comfy. This is definitely a place I'd go to again if I just wanted a place to relax wtih a friend. Though I dissed the food earlier, I think that this place has better food than that and my friend and I just chose the wrong dishes.

• Pros: relaxing, comfy, service
• Cons: parking

10/08/07

cozy joint - great for vege/pescatarians

by allenej at Citysearch

Amazing: mahi mahi sandwich with dill tartar sauce;

Good: ahi tuna sandwich;

Ok: egg salad

...The atmosphere is unique & homey, but very crowded every time I've gone for lunch. The menu has great variety.

• Pros: interesting atmosphere & mahi mahi sandwich
• Cons: crowded & a lil pricey

09/14/07

Slather me with avocado

by kilts at Citysearch

I'd hate to say anything bad about this place, because I love it so much - the quirky ambiance, excellent patio, nice staff ... but, man, I wouldn't recommend the cooked cuisine. That is, most of the entrees. They just haven't worked well with me so far.

However, the sandwiches and burgers are excellent. Very excellent! Especially if it has avocado. Perhaps my most favorite fruit (well, the jackfruit competes with it), maybe I'm easy to please when it comes to a dish with avocado involved. But, the Hobbit does it right, and plenty too. I absolutely can't finish the large Gandalf sandwich -- must settle for the slim. It is by far my favorite sandwich. If you want meat, though, you can get it -- some juicy, fresh-broiled burgers. Of course, the one slathered with avocados is the best :)

Excellent staff too -- though they seem to keep changing; its a young crew, and I guess gets a rather transient employee base. No matter, they must be guided well, in attitude and efficiency. I'm always done right with them, either when I'm alone, with friends or a date.

This place doesn't quite have the ambiance for business, so I wouldn't recommend it for that.

One thing though: they need to FIX THE DANG PARKING LOT! Some of the holes their can nearly swallow my car. I understand they've been nagging the landlord for quite a while. Well, I'm a customer -- let me nag some more: fix the PARKING!!!

• Pros: Excellent sandwiches, great atmosphere, great outdooring dining
• Cons: broken parking lot

07/12/07

Nothing I can say will justify it

by engineerlisa at Citysearch

I am visiting Houston for the summer and have made it my goal to eat in as many only-in-Houston restaurants as I can find. Being somewhat of a Lord of the Rings fan, I was immediately excited to eat at the Hobbit Cafe - although somewhat unsure of what I would get. The restaurant is in a kinda crappy old house, but that is more than made up for by the wait staff, who were amazing- incredibly personable and helpful, friendly, talkative and fast. The food was probably the best I have had since coming to Houston, although not to Lord of the Rings oriented. I would actually venture to say that the avocado buffalo burger I was served was the best burger I have ever eaten. My friend had a fruit smoothie and Jamaican-jerk burger that were both excellent as well. If the Hobbit Cafe was a little closer to my work and apartment I would without a doubt be a regular.

If you are looking for a relaxed place and an excellent meal I would absolutely recommend the Hobbit Cafe.

• Pros: Great Food, Superb Service, Relaxed atmosphere
• Cons: House the restaurant is located in isn't the nicest, there's not too much parking

06/28/07

Full House, Great Food!

by big_matt at Citysearch

We arrived for lunch on a Thursday around 12:30 and it was a full house. The wait was only about 5 minutes though. The service was very good and the food was great. I had a angus burger and it was delicious. Very large burger too. My girlfriend had the veggie enchiladas and they were tasty too. Lunch for two was around 20 bucks. Black beans and brown rice instead of refried and Mexican rice knocked the calories down too! I will go back for sure.

• Pros: Food and service
• Cons: Packed House and Parking