Bacaro Kitchen & Wine Bar — Restaurant in Houston

Let me preface by saying the food is amazing. Some of the best Italian I have had in a long time. Restaurant is small and quaint. My sister and I drove to Houston for a quick getaway. We looked for a nice restaurant to have dinner near our hotel. This restaurant had great reviews so we decided why not. So we made reservations. Upon arrival the hostess was nice and sat us quickly. The restaurant was empty. There were 3 other tables that were occupied. The server (unfortunately I did not get her name) was very dry. She didn’t even bother to greet us and ask us how we were doing. She was very flat seems as though our presence was bothersome. The first thing she asked us was ”do yall want any wine?” We both replied no thank you. She then proceeded with “the kitchen is closing in 15 minutes so I’ll need to get your orders” We already had an idea of what we wanted since we viewed the menu before arriving. The restaurant was dimly lit. A nice ambience. Another server noticed my sister and I taking pictures and she stopped and asked if we wanted her to take a picture for us. She was very polite and personable and even made small talk. Once she took our picture my sister asked if we could have the candle on our table lit. We just wanted to experience the entire ambience the other patrons were experiencing. Another server possibly the bartender came over to light the candle. We both thanked her for doing so and she did not respond nor acknowledge us. We requested that our dessert be made to go because we felt rushed. We also requested to go boxes for our food. The server responded sharply with “I’ll box it up once you’re done” and walked off. She never returned to the table to check on us until we were ready to leave. As she is collecting our plates to have the food boxed up and she places the bread plate on top of my food that was needing to be boxed. Disgusting!! Once she returned to our table with the food that was boxed and literally threw the containers in the paper bag along with our desserts. Mind you, we might have taken 5-7 bites of our food so we had plenty left over. The picture attached shows how our food was boxed. I would have thought she would have boxed it in a larger container instead of the container used. There were 2 other tables that were there still conversing and they were not being rushed out. She very rudely asked “do you want the check now?” By this time, we have had enough of feeling as though we were not welcome. She placed the check on the table and we left a 100.00 bill in the sleeve and left the restaurant. All and all even with the horrible service, we still left a tip just to get in the car to see her and the other 4 employees passing the bill around and taking turns holding the bill up to the light to validate the bill was real. I never expected to receive this type of service from an upscale restaurant. Aside from that, if the kitchen closed at 9 then perhaps you shouldn’t take an 8:45 reservation. I expected more from a fine dining establishment. If the restaurant describes themselves as being an “upscale” establishment then there should be a level of service that is expected. Save yourselves the headache, do NOT go to this establishment unless you like being treated poorly and rushed. It’s really unfortunate because the food was truly amazing but the...

What should have been a 5 star review turns into a 1 star review. Great food and highly trained staff. Lets be fair. It's good food. After spending an average of $100 per hour for three hours while celebrating a birthday we are asked to leave by the owner because our time limit had expired. This is Houston where we are trying to build a tightly knit community with mutual respect and acceptance. We don't treat people like that. I treat my guests with great respect when they come to my home and don't expect anything less when I myself are a guest in someone else's establishment. There are things that are more important than "Restaurant Standard". George from George's Pastaria would never kick us out, or Brio, or Carmelo or Urban Kitchen or the Devine Affair which was in this locale not too long ago... take note. The restaurant business is fickle enough without owners insulting good patrons. We have been supporting local businesses and restaurants for 20 years in our neighborhood and not once have we been asked to leave because we are taking up space. After ordering two bottles of wine, appetizers, 5 meals and dessert (after the pandemic and countless restaurants closing we are trying to do our part) the owner comes to our table and with a lack of tact tells us our table is reserved so it would be great if we left. My wife is blindsided by this and jokingly says "so you are kicking us out?". It was no joke, we were being kicked out and we still had open wine at the table and were having a delightful conversation with my family. During the evening I even commented to my wife how happy I was to see the place busy once again. To be clear at this time there were at least 4 or 5 open tables that could have been used to accommodate future patrons but apparently the best option was to kick us out, to make us feel unwanted while we celebrate my father's birthday. Thank you for that. My wife and mother talked to the owner at length without receiving so much as an apology. I guess we live in the era where it's perfectly normal to double down on bad decisions. The owner has every right to treat the patrons like garbage, the patrons in turn have every right to never come back when they are treated like garbage and in addition, have a duty to inform other future patrons so this does not happen to...

I gave a 2 star because of service. A friend and I were in town for one night and was looking to get dressed and go to a nice restaurant. The latest reservation was 845p so we reserved that. The restaurant closed at 9p. We arrived exactly 845p. There were 3 tables occupied by other guest when we arrived. From the moment we arrived we felt as though we were being rushed. The 1st thing the waitress said to us was "The restaurant closes at 9p so if I could just hurry and take your order I can get it in fast". My issue is why take an 845p reservation if you are going to rush your guest. The while time we were made to feel like we needed to rush. In the end we asked to have our desert to go and to have our dinner wrapped to go. The waitress came to get our plates so that she could pack the food to go. She grabbed both plates and the bread plates. She placed the bread plate on top of the plate with my friends food on it which was alarming. The plate was on the table and she placed it on top of food that she was about to pack to go. Then she packed all of the food in a very small container so that all of it was just mushed together. Everything was just done in a rush. Even at one point the waitress asked if we want the check but the way it was said and the urgency in her voice was just rushed. It was not an inviting experience at all. To add insult to injury the bill was paid in cash with a $100 bill. When we got in the car to leave we could see all of the waitresses and we assume the manager passing the bill around to each other and holding it up to the light. That is understandable in most establishments (a 100 bill being held up) but the mere fact that it was passed around to multiple people is also just in poor taste. It's sad because the food was in fact very good. The service was just so poor that I would not recommend to anyone new in town and looking for a nice night out. Suggestion to management...please do not take late reservations if you plan to rush your guests. Also, the waitresses are young which is not the issue...I say that only because maybe training in food business and proper...