Hillstone

01/20/11

Great service, good food

by b0ssladie

My friend and I frequent this location and usually have our meal at the bar. The staff is always super friendly and cater to your every need. The decor is nice and lighting is dim, good for romance. The dining room is big, but if you want to be cuddled up to a date, sit at the bar instead because the tables are huge in width. The food is freshly prepared, comes quickly, and tastes good. I recommend the mango sushi roll and the French wine martini. I didnt give them a 5 because no one is perfect and I'm sure they have room for improvement.

04/12/10

Hillstone, not Houston's

by EvanG

The Hillstone restaurant group decided to change the name of its NYC Houston’s locations and the rumors as to why have been flying. One says that keeping the name Houston’s (at their multiple locations) would have caused them to have to list calorie counts on all menus. The other invokes the long standing confusion with the fact that Houston Street contains neither location.

Calling to check the wait time late on Saturday night, the Midtown location had no wait. Although I did not want to wait, the 20s location’s 15 minute wait made me wonder if I was missing out on the better scene. Not waiting won out. After visiting (and enjoying) the DC area Houston’s restaurants, I was expecting much of the same. What I found were the staples I was looking for: the Spinach and Artichoke dip (probably one of the reasons they don’t want to show calorie counts, but delicious nonetheless) and the bone-in half Roasted Chicken. Adding some glazed carrots with mint and peas rounded out the meal nicely. I found what I was looking for, but the menu was much smaller than I had remembered and could be disappointing for first timers or veterans with favorites that do not make the menu.

12/01/09

Super all around...

Contributor

Live jazz, friendly yet polite waitstaff, good food and an attractive, warm space. For us, a lucky accidental find, but we will definitely return!

06/23/09

give this a miss and head to park ave location

by speakyourmind

dont walk passed... RUN

poor excuse of a houstons restuarant, goto the park avenue location.. the difference is for all to see.

staff not friendly here, or the least bit helpful, and whats with the limited menu. Really cant stess enough goto the park ave location,

went here at the weekend to give it the benefit of doubtand walked out after waiting 20 mins for our drinks.. and it wasnt busy forget it

• Cons: limited menu, location, service

02/07/09

How can you say no to a paying customer?

by pgluck

We went to Houston's on 53rd Street. In all my years of eating in NYC, I experienced a first. At dinner, my friend ordered a second glass of wine and the waitress insisted she finish her first before agreeing to bring it. There was one sip left in the glass. No one was drinking excessively or acting inappropriately. When we expressed our dismay to the waitress (who otherwise did a very fine job by the way), she told us it was corporate policy and was clearly uncomfortable talking about it. Who makes the rules in this place? This is New York. If you order a glass of wine, you shouldn't be refused or given ridiculous conditions.

Last year I went there on a cold day and the hostess insisted I remove my winter hat. Company policy. Before she even got us to a table. I thought that was rude, and potentially embarrassing. What if I had been disfigured or undergoing chemo? I dismissed that as poor judgement, but after the wine incident, I can say they've lost a table full of customers.