Café Poêtes — Restaurant in Houston

I had my daughter’s 10th birthday tea party at this beautiful place. I have been there several times before and really liked it. I booked a table for 10 kids (girls).

Long story short, I was very disappointed in their service. They were absolutely disorganized. They weren’t paying attention to children. They were more focused on adult tables. I needed to ask for everything, I needed to catch their attention somehow. They provided everything very late, servers were very confused, they were not prepared for the party I booked a month ago. In the middle of the party one of the owners was bringing a birthday cake to the table without my notice. Just like that, out of blue he was bringing it to the table. Of course I sent him back. In a little bit he came to me and asked me to ask children to keep it down because they were loud and people told him that they were bothered. I guess he was bringing the cake early without my notice because he wanted us to get out of there. I don’t know what did they expect from 10 ten years old children while booking a table. Actually I think even much older people, group of ten people would make a noise. Luckily kids still had fun (they are kids) but I am pretty disappointed in service. My advise to this place is that they need to have less tables because it is a very small place, they need to have more servers to provide service in a timely manner and they need to prepare themselves when they have a party reservation. Plan better, get organized. At least one server should be assigned to the party table. In my case I was chasing them to catch their attention. Asking: we don’t have plates, please bring tea, finally tea was served but spoons were missing, Sugar was missing, water was out and there was no one to notice that and bring more water without me asking for it multiple times.

It is a cute, nice place. When less people they are fine but with many visitors...... their service is a disaster. At least that is what I...

The coffee: The cortado is okay. It's pretty creamy and milky and bland. It has fruity notes which is a nice change of pace since most places kind of pass that point and go right to being too beany. Overall, it just left me wanting since the flavors were not as bold as I would like. They also serve wine and some sweet and savory eclairs.

The service: Also a bit average when I was there, but it is a new place. There didn't seem to be good coordination between the person taking orders and the person making the drinks and serving. We were told that we would just be under the same name since we were at the same table. That makes sense. When the server came out with my drink, she picked up our little name card and asked if we were waiting on anything. Our response was yes since we were waiting on the second drink that was supposed to be on the same name. She then said something like no that's under another name, ran over to the register to check, and then said it's coming, and then she just walked off. It wasn't a bad interaction per se, but it could have been handled better in my opinion. It was a very lackluster experience, but, again, this is a pretty new place. They were friendly enough.

The shop: It is very cute. It achieved the French vibe it was going for from before you even walk in, with music playing outside and the sort of cafe style outdoor seating. The inside had a very clean, organized clutter kind of feel. There are also lots of books to read and fresh flowers decorating the place. I think the greatest achievement of this place is the atmosphere it creates, which is pretty unique in the Houston coffeeshop scene. There's also parking which is a big plus in this area.

The bottom line: It's a great place, especially if you don't want to be bothered with a lot of young people. It has a bit of a more sophisticated feel with decent enough coffee. Being in my twenties, I may wait a while...

As a travel writer and blogger, I am shocked with the way I was treated. This establishment needs a change in management and customer training. Period. The staff treated me and my guest so poorly that it made the entire experience horrible. I overheard the manager speak rudely of me to our waiter after attempting to quietly take a photo of my food....THE FOOD I ALREADY PAID FOR. I understand that sometimes taking photos can be distracting, but I was taking photos discreetly from a far away table from the rest of the customers where no one even noticed. Best part? After I was told not to take photos, I noticed guests taking photos of the cafe very visibly and NO ONE SAID ANYTHING. Afterwards, the waiter and manager did not even come to my table to further help me or assist me. Instead, we ended up not having a fork, spoon, or water, like the other customers from our entire dining experience. It astonished me that an establishment would like to intentionally discomfort a paying customer. When I locked eyes with the head manager/hostess for help, she immediately turned her head away from me. The menu pricing was also too expensive for the quality in taste (The 25 value pack eclairs from Costco tasted better than the ones from this cafe). I also want to point out that many Yelp reviews suggested this place suggests racism from management....and being an Asian-American, I also question whether my mistreatment was a form of racism. Sure the ambiance is pretty, but the customer service reflected the complete opposite. I would stay away from this establishment 100%. There are better cafes in Houston to visit. My recommendation? Try Tout Suite or Common Bond if you are ever visiting Houston! These cafes not only have a great value for their food, but they have always been so kind towards me. Plus, they have a better variety...