Houston's / Hillstone

12/01/09

Super all around...

by CSMobileUser at Citysearch

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 at Citysearch

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 at Citysearch

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.

Roomy banquettes and hefty portions typify this polished American grill that's popular for business deals and special occasions.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
Burnished brass and stained wood complement roughly mortared brick and the occasional plant. Amid ubiquitous earth tones, corporate types and small parties (celebrating or simply living large) occupy deep booths done up in fine upholstery and lit from above by pin spotlights. Burgers, prime rib and steaks are the specialties of the house, but the menu also includes salmon, salads, pork chops and roasted chicken.

01/04/08

Bad for large groups & questionable kitchen practices

by mattmm13 at Citysearch

Six months ago, I dined at this Houston's location and really enjoyed my meal. The food was good and the atmosphere was cozy with dark wood cubicle-type tables. Although the restaurant is a bit dark, my visit would have garnered a 4 star review. Last night I had a completely different and uncharacteristically poor experience. This review will focus on this most recent visit.

WE CALLED TO MAKE A RESERVATION for a table of eight. We were only told that they do not take reservations. At any other restaurant, that wouldn't have been a problem because we were willing to queue for a table. However at Houston's, they don't have a table that can hold eight diners. The reservation operator failed to mention this fact. So after we arrived and waited about 40 minutes, for what we believed to be the forthcoming table for eight, the hostess said the largest table they have will only hold seven. She also said, "It's a tight fit."

THE MORE DISTURBING PART OF THE EVENING occurred while we waited for the table. Houston's has an open kitchen were you can see almost everything that happens there. A waitress brought a plate of food back to the grill chef. The plate was obviously from a diner that was finished with his/her meal and not eaten the lettuce, tomato, or the remaining the french fries. I personally observed the chef throw out the leftover fries and then he removed the lettuce and tomato from the dirty plate and placed them on a clean plate. The chef served ribs on the plate with the "returned" lettuce & tomato and sent it out to a different customer. I was unable to wait to speak to a manager about what I saw, although I will be returning to make the complaint.

I REALLY DID ENJOY MY FIRST VISIT six months ago and I am terribly disappointed about what I saw. I'm not sure if I'll return to eat there or at the other locations. I'll speak to the manager and listen to what s/he has to say before I make my decision.

• Pros: Romantic atmosphere, Good value, Portions are good size
• Cons: Chef reused food from other diners, Loud jazz band, No reservations, No tables to hold more that six, Crowed bar

11/28/07

Nice atmosphere & fantastic customer service

by purplebanana at Citysearch

I had been to this particular location a few other times--to meet friends for drinks--but this was my first dining experience. After a day of shopping, my mother & I went for a late lunch. I didn't realize they only served local/small brewery beers (which I don't generally drink). Our server, CARA, was very accommodating and brought me samples of 2 beers to try (I went with a glass of wine). My mom ordered the Asian chicken salad(?) and I went for the Black Bean & Rice veggie burger. I asked our server a few questions about what it had on it. When it came, I noticed right away there was mayonaise on it. (I hate mayo.) Okay, so I scraped off the mayo and was planning to make the best of it. I took a bite--it was awful. There was some sort of barbeque sauce on it. I took another bite to see if maybe I could like it; but it was really bad. I took off the "burger" and was just going to eat the roll & toppings (b/c I didn't want to be a pain in the a** customer who sends things back) only to find there was also mustard on the bottom (hidden underneath the 'burger'). Yuck. Just as I was trying to salvage something from my meal, CARA walked by and asked how everything was. I said I was discovering all sorts of toppings that I did't realize were going to be included. She was so apologetic and offered/insisted having the kitchen bring out a new 'burger' without the mayo, mustard or bbq sauce. She brought it out about 5 minutes later (and it came with a whole new order of fries too!) and it was 1,000% better tasting. She came back a couple minutes later to check and see if I was happy with it. When the bill came, they did not charge us for the second 'burger.' The fries were awesome and my mother said her salad was great too. When we left everyone from the host to the other servers were extremely friendly. I don't know if I would re-order the same meal, but I would definitely go back because the great customer service made up for what could have been a very bad meal.

• Pros: Very good customer service, spacious booths, quiet.
• Cons: Lighting was too dark for the afternoon.

04/05/07

Great Food and Service

by renee_james at Citysearch

Service was great. Spinach dip is a must have. Everything looked good, but alas my eyes are bigger than my stomach and wallet. Good for couples, dark and mysterious.

• Pros: I was full and I enjoyed everything I ate. And wanted what everyone else had on their plate, lol.
• Cons: Kind of pricey, but you get what you pay for.

03/12/07

Horrible Hostess, Blah Food!

by rrojo at Citysearch

My friend and I went there at 4:30pm for an early dinner. It was not packed at all and the hostess wanted to give us a tiny booth. I notice that there were plenty of empty larger booths available and requested one of the larger booths being that we had tons of bags from shopping all day. This blonde hostess must of had her hair bun too tight, gave me the look of death for requesting a larger booth. She then rolled her eyes and guided us to the booth requested and did not say a word. If she was paying for our meal I would have taken any seat but her attitude was unbelievable!

Our waitress was nice but very slow on the service and it wasn't a busy day at all. I asked for the prime rib, medium rare and I received the steak totally raw!!! I have been to Houstons before because of work gatherings. But I never experienced anything like this and I was pretty shock to know that they actually hire people that are unfriendly and unprofessional.

• Pros:  Great drinks
• Cons: Bad service and disappointing prime rib steaks!

01/19/07

Consistent great fresh satisfying American comfort food! and cozy ambience.

by foodie_22 at Citysearch

On a rainy or cold day, there is nothing more reliable than a cozy satisfying meal at Houstons with some friends. Share some spinach dip, have a gigantic glass of wine.... Dig in to the knife and fork ribs (so named because the juicy meat just falls off the bone, so you eat it with a fork rather than picking up the ribs). and substitute the fries (which are a little too stringy for my taste) with a baked potato with the works. Wow. I've met quite a few baked spuds in my days and Houston's makes the perfect specimen. They top it off with a pat of butter, a dollop of sour cream, some shreds of cheddar, a shake of moist bacon bits, and a sprinkle of chives. There's nothing better.

if you can fit dessert - go for it. 5 nut brownie warm with that creamy sauce. The apple crisp a la mode?

hey - yes houston's is formulaic. it's a CHAIN - it's supposed to be like that. The place is run like a well oiled machine. But what's wrong with that? it's consistent, reliable, fresh food, served by a professional staff. It's great to be able to rely on more than just death and taxes.

• Pros: Fresh high quality comfort food. Professional staff. CONSISTENTLY EXCELLENT.

09/18/06

So-So-food and not really worth the price!

by kellysan24 at Citysearch

I've been to Houston's several times. I can't figure out why this place is so popular when the food is so-so and not really worth the price. You might as well go to Smith & Wollensky's for a few extra bucks if you want a really good steak. The spinach appetizer is good but you can get the same dip at TGIF...big deal! The wine menu also needs some improvement.

• Pros: Service was good!
• Cons: So-so food not really worth the price! Terrible wine menu too!