Tio Pepe Restaurant

02/15/09

They lost my reservation but I think they really lost their heads.

by unmilkedcow at Citysearch

My wife and I went for Valentine's Day. What a disaster! I am tempted to start a support group called "Adult Children of Tio Pepe." I recommend that you don't go until the new owner gets his act together. We will definately not go back again.

The food was good but the service was lousy. We had to wait 1.5 hours for us to get our meal. My wife had to ask for her sangria three times before she got it. No one came by to refill my water glass.

Did I forget to mention that they forgot my Valentine's Day reservation? They lost it or something.

The owner knew it was Valentine's Day and he was short-staffed? This is inexcuseable.

For the prices we paid for this meal, we except good service.

The evening was a train wreck. The staff was getting all the orders wrong. The restaurant was full of angry impatient clientele that deserve better service than what they got.

I will not hesitate to tell family and friends not to go.

• Pros: The Food tasted great although I almost fainted from hunger
• Cons: The service was lousy. They lost my reservation.

12/16/08

Excellent Food

by resale1mama at Citysearch

Yolanda from Children's Collections invited me to this place for dinner when we closed her shop and walked across the street. I love the setting, but he amazing food was exceptional. I She has always raved about this restaurant and wed, they played my fav. songs for my birthday. I went home and shared this place with friends, my husband and can not wait to return. Who would have guessed Yolanda's from Children's Collections secret restaurant was across the street from her shop.

• Pros: To many wonderful selections
• Cons: Easier to find

11/21/08

Best spanish food & wine in town!

by Garenas03 at Citysearch

What a great surprise to discover this fully renovated restaurant. This new administration gave the place a renovated ambient, that comes along great with its superb food and exclusive wines.

My experience here was great and its definitely one of the best restaurants in Greater Houston.

You MUST try the PAELLA+LAMB dish!!!!! (ask for it, not in the menu)

• Pros: New administration, ambient, and definetely great food.
• Cons: Few parking spots

10/20/08

NEWLY RENOVATE - EXCELLENT AMBIANCE

by zapien at Citysearch

NEWLY RENOVATED. Tio Pepe Restaurant and Tapas Bar is undergoing renovation and the dining room is now complete with new flooring, ceiling, better natural light, art by artist Clemence Duval, tables dressed with white tablecloths, all new china, flatware, crystal wine glasses, etc. The traditional Tio Pepe recipes have been improved with higher quality ingredients and new dishes are being added by the new Chef - Owner. An improved and expanded wine list featuring Spanish wines is now also available. Service has also improved markedly. So, if you have not come to Tio Pepe before you'll love the food and the ambiance; the characteristcs that hev occassionally caused bad reviews have been eliminated. If you have not come to Tio Pepe for some time you will be presently surprised and truly enjoy your visit as so many others have recently. We look forward to serving you soon!

09/24/08

Vastly underrated and absolutely excellent

by LionSix at Citysearch

I am amazed at, and highly suspicious of, the few "we didn't like it" reviewers here who claim to have had Spanish cuisine in Spain and yet say this is not authentic. I beg to differ! Not only have I found the cuisine at Tio Pepe every bit as good as what I sampled in Spain, but I frequently take clients from Spain and Portugal there and they (sophisticated people, by the way, with sophisticated palates) rate it as among the best they've ever had.

The decor could do with a face-lift, I concede that. Yet it adds a unique ambience to the meal. One of the most pleasant things of all is that the proprietor does not try to "turn" his tables as often as possible, even on a busy night. I have gone there for lunch, spent the afternoon there, even stayed until the dinner hour drinking only coffee and wine, and yet there is never a rush to bring your your check and drive you out the door.

Be advised: You should have an appreciation of garlic, for it's in many of the dishes. This is not a complaint on my part.

Take advantage of this wonderful dining experience. It's well worth the time.

• Pros: Delicious food, wonderful service, excellent wine cellar
• Cons: Appearance is a little run-down

05/31/08

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT

by valenciano at Citysearch

Even though we had seen discouraging reviews, we had also read that this was one of Houston's best 100 things to do. IT IS NOT! The restaurant smelled so bad I thought about leaving, but we were there for great food, right? The best thing I can say is that the food was hot. Other than that it was tasteless. We had shrimp, lamb, and chicken. I even added salt to my shrimp, hoping to coax out some flavor other than the garlic (meaning one Should be able to taste the shrimp). The rice was definitely NOT authentic Spain. We lived there for 8 years and traveled much of the country. So our hopes were high and we were very disappointed. The service rushed us (no time to linger - not that we wanted to) The woman in charge was loud and ruined the "romantic" note alluded to in another review. When the waiter asked if the food was good and I responded NO, he rephrased the question and I again answered in the negative. So he asked for particulars. At first I didn't want to elaborate, but he was insistant, and so I explained about the tastelessness and the sauces that were thick and fake (I didn't use that word, but there was no taste of sherry in my dish which he had recommended). He stopped me and began to argue and say how good it all was.....TAKE OUR ADVICE, LOOK ELSEWHERE. THIS IS NOT ONLY NOT GOOD SPANISH FOOD, IT IS NOT GOOD FOOD.

• Pros: FOOD WAS HOT, LOOK WAS CHARMING
• Cons: SMELLY RESTAURANT, TASTELESS FOOD, RUDE/INDIFFERENT WAITER, LOUD PERSONEL

Editorial Review

by Contributor at Citysearch

Spanish cuisine including steaks, lamb, chicken, paella and gazpacho soup are served up at this warm, cozy family establishment.

02/15/06

The Best!

by gerhowzel at Citysearch

How can you go wrong? This place is absolutely the best. If y ou are looking for some sort of sloppy Tex-Mex this is not the place. If you want true authenic Spanish cuisine look no further.

Roxanne, the hostess is always pleasant. The Sangria was just perfect, and packs a punch that will sneak up on you. The Lamb Shank fell off the bone and melted in my mouth. My husband got the seafood medly in a flavorful red sauce that was just deilcious. Don't forget dessert. We had the chocolate mousse with an expresso and it was just wonderful.

02/14/06

Rebuttal was wrong, the other reviewers right.

by dluik at Citysearch

We've lived/worked/traveled in Portugal and Spain and missed the food. We hoped against hope that the other reviewers were wrong and went for the specialty, paella. Preparation was authentic, ingredients and taste not. Not a trace of saffron. Overcooked chicken. OK atmosphere but pretty run down by daylight.

• Pros: Decor has character, Friendly service, Has parking
• Cons: Blah food, Expensive for quality

08/12/05

Incredible

by angeloso at Citysearch

Ignoring the posts of the another people on this "service", I was go to this restaurant. And YES all theses people are wrong.

The PAELLA is exquisite, the better in Houston and in some places in Spain, and IS NOT REHEATED. The food in general is VERY GOOD and the prices THE BETTER (ex.: Group of SIX in Satruday night about $120).

The people that say that this restaurant is not good, is very clear that is from the competence, because all my friends that come under my recommendation speak very well about the place. And all the Spaniards V.I.P.S (Rocio Jurado, Placido Domingo, etc...) when come to Houston go to Tio Pepe (a complete photographics wall is the evidence).

• Pros: food, price, amability
• Cons: not found