Barnaby's Cafe — Restaurant in Houston

I recently visited Barnaby's Cafe with my family after a long and exhausting day at the hospital. Despite our weariness, we were looking forward to a comforting meal. The food and service at Barnaby's did not disappoint; both were excellent, providing a much-needed respite after our trying day.

However, what could have been a completely positive experience took an unfortunate turn. After my sister and I went to retrieve our car from the garage, my parents settled the bill, opting to leave a generous 20% cash tip along with payment on their card. It was at this moment that the manager, Thomas, made an unexpected and rather embarrassing intervention.

In a condescending tone and in front of other patrons, Thomas stopped my mother as she was leaving the restaurant and questioned whether she had forgotten to tip our server. This awkward confrontation arose because Thomas had noticed that there was no tip written on the card receipt. However, his assumption was quickly proven wrong when he discovered the cash tip tucked discreetly beneath the receipt. Instead of gracefully acknowledging his mistake and apologizing, Thomas merely uttered an "Oh" before my mother left the establishment feeling understandably uncomfortable.

Disappointed by this unprofessional behavior, I decided to call Barnaby's and speak directly with Thomas to seek an explanation for his actions. His response was to justify his behavior by citing his desire to advocate for his staff, particularly the college students who may be too timid to assert themselves, along with an insincere apology. While I can empathize with wanting to support employees, publicly confronting a customer in such a manner is completely unacceptable.

In conclusion, while the food and service at Barnaby's Cafe were commendable, the incident involving Thomas's handling of the tipping situation left a sour taste in our mouths. Such unprofessional conduct tarnishes an otherwise pleasant dining experience. I would caution others to be wary when patronizing this...

I took my granddaughters there because they like this place. We had the sliders, Mac and cheese from the kid's menu, and I had the falafel salad. The burger patties are made out of fresh lean ground beef, and they have a good flavor and cooked just right. The mac n cheese looks like it's from the box, but my granddaughters liked it, and the portion is really big, enough for 2 kids. The French fries appetizer is HUGE, and the fries are good. The Falafel Salad is good, the falafel have a good flavor and are not dry and over cooked. The salad dressing on the salad is very very heavy though, it would have been nice if it had less dressing because everything was drenched in dressing. The salad has olives in it, feta cheese, grape tomatoes, red onion, carrots, and it was good. The dressing has a good flavor. It is served in a wheat tortilla shell. They don't have sweet tea, but they do have sweeteners at the tables. Dogs are allowed here. They have a Foosball table outside, to play a you wait for food. The waiter was really nice and did a good job serving us. We didn't have to wait too long for our food, and it was hot when we got it. We did have to wait about 15 minutes for an outdoors seat. The parking along the street is free but limited. Overall, this is a nice place to go have lunch, the menu has a variety of options. Sitting outside on an overcast cool day was really nice! I DO...

I don't know if it's this location - I've been told the Barnabys downtown is great- but our experience at this location was lackluster at best. If you don't want to read the whole review , our takeaway would be to stick to pub food and away from any items featuring fresh produce or skill in cutting/selecting.

I had a salad. My salad was primarily wilted iceberg lettuce, and it was topped with a dark brown spotted avocado. The other toppings were great, but were stacked so tightly on top of the salad that it was really hard to eat. I had to ask for an extra plate just to be able to be able to eat. At $15 for a small salad, it was pretty gross to have wilted iceberg lettuce and partially spoiled avocado on my plate.

My husband had a steak that was cooked really unevenly. Red in some parts, med-well in others. Most concerning was the quality of the cut of meat. It is not an exaggeration to say that the steak was at least 50% fat. While not expecting a perfect cut of meat, it was pretty gross to pay that much for a cut of meat that really should only be used to season stew. The fries served with the steak were good.

Our son had a chicken tenders kids meal with fries. He had no complaints. My husband helped him eat the last of his tenders and seconded that it was tasty.

Overall, prices were high for a low...