CRISP wine.beer.eatery in The Heights — Restaurant in Houston

If you drink wine, Crisp has a happy hour for you.

Atmosphere = * Parking is available in the attached lot and on the street when the bar is crowded. Valet, which I believe is complimentary, is offered on busy nights and weekends.

The interior is divided into several spaces, including a bar with separate seating area and rooms that can be reserved for private parties. The dining space is dimly lit, lending to a more bar-like ambiance.

The patio in the back is also divided into several seating areas, some covered and some exposed, with a swingset for kids and an area for games in the back.

Service = * Service is always great. Although every server I’ve met is friendly and helpful, Daniel is easily my favorite! He’s lively, willing to answer questions and make great recommendations.

Generally, I can come to CRISP for two glasses of wine at happy hour and receive great service. When you don’t order food at many places, you expect lesser service, but the staff here is just as willing to check on you and refill your wine and water glasses.

Food = * The first dish I ever tried was the truffle fries. An order is $9.00, but could easily feed a hungry couple as an appetizer. Anything with truffle is often overrated, but these fries are worth every bit of hype. I even eat the little burnt ends at the bottom.

The pizza is incredible. After carrying a “San Fran” to a nearby table, one of the chefs described the meat-loaded pizza. We tried it on a later visit and I must agree, it’s one of the best pizzas you can buy. Pzzas are fairly sized, not giant, but one pizza can make two meals for two people.

Brunch is the only meal with a mixed reputation. Our first ever visit was during brunch. We ordered the chicken and waffles, which were good, but accompanied by an awkwardly-spiced sauce that I didn’t care for. We also ordered the hash, which was okay, but very very small in serving size. The disproportion between our meals was incredible; we finished the hash still hungry, but we ate chicken and waffles three times.

On subsequent brunch visits, we’ve had much better luck. The breakfast margherita pizza is delicious. The classic breakfast platter is also really good and generous in size. Mimosas are served by the glass or carafe; they’re nothing fancy, but a mimosa is a mimosa. And for the record, you can order truffle fries at brunch too.

Value = * The deals are unbeatable! Happy Hour from 3:00 to 7:00, Sunday through Thursday, offers a $2.00 discount on all wine and beer. Friday Night Flights offers a flight of beer, preassembled or customized, at a special cost. Reverse Happy Hour from 10:00 to 12:00 on Friday and Saturday also offers a $2.00 discount. I expected Reverse hours to be crowded, but was pleasantly surprised that the space was not...

When my friends and I came to this restaurant last Saturday (11/5/22), we were treated like royalty. JC, our server, was on top of his game, attentive, and kind. He did not miss a beat. On top of the excellent service, the food was exceptional, as were the drinks. The food and service were so great that my husband and I talked about it all week and decided we wanted to bring our kids here to try it. Today, when we arrived, we were greeted promptly by the charming hostesses, but that is where the hospitality ended. I could not tell you who our server was because he did not introduce himself. He seemed rather annoyed that we had kids with us. His attitude was so sour I couldn’t tell whether he hated his job or life. Either way, the minute we arrived at his table, he made it clear that he wasn’t happy we were there. He brought us our menus and then disappeared. I had to wave him down while he walked by to order my appetizers. The appetizers took forever, and we had to flag him down yet again to order our food. We already knew coming to the restaurant what we wanted to order, so if he hadn’t rushed off before I was done ordering my appetizers, I could have ordered it all together. He never came by to check on us, never let us know why the food was taking too long, or the ETA on the food, zip zero nada from this man. The food finally came out, and, surprise, he never came by to ask how everything was. He was hanging out on the patio whenever I turned and looked that way. We had been done eating for at least 10-15 minutes, and our server was nowhere to be found; finally, he walked in, and we flagged him down for to-go boxes. I wanted dessert, but without asking, he brought our check on the machine to us, which to me was his way of telling me that it was time for us to go. Crisp lost out on profit tonight. My husband and I would have easily ordered two drinks each if this guy had even asked us what we would like to drink; he saw us looking at the menu after we had ordered our food because we felt like we wanted to order more food, but never came to ask us what we decided on or to give us any suggestions, nor did he ask if we wanted dessert. Last weekend we spent 200.00 at crisp, today we paid less than 50. Money is not a problem, and we are happy to take our money where it is appreciated. Like I stated earlier, I don’t even know this server's name, but he was a stocky African American with ear-length braids and glasses, I believe. And yes I understand that I could have spoken up and asked for more food, drinks, etc however I already felt from the start that he was annoyed by us just being there that I didn’t want to bother...

We visited on a Friday night and had a reservation and were seated in a timely manner. The atmosphere is nice and a little loud but ok and kinda fun. There was live music and it was very nice. The server was extremely busy and I think it took 4 times for him to get our drink order because he wouldn't actually stay and listen to what we wanted. We ordered the drunken bread to start with and it took extremely long to come out. However when it did make it we did very much enjoy it. Our food also took a very long time. No fault to the server who told us sorry a few times that the kitchen was backed up. It happens so we were ok. Once the food arrived my husbands pizza still took some time. When it arrived he had ordered it to be light cooked and it was over cooked and even had burned spots on it. It was sent back to be remade. After waiting over 30min for it we finally asked for a manager. She was super sweet and apologized for the wait and took it off the check without us asking. We were all done eating and my husband had still not received his pizza. When it finally came it was delivered by a man that we assume was the owner who was super rude and condescending. He says your pizza before was perfect and I don't know why you sent it back! I said i'm sorry that wasn't how it was ordered. He said well it was perfect! The check was sitting there from the previous manager and he said would you like me to check you out? I said no thank you I was thinking about dessert. He said well what do you want?!? I said the tiramisu would be great please. He said well did you order from the restaurant week menu? I said no. He said well then you can't order it! I had assumed it was on the menu and apologized. At this point I was over upset with how rude he was and just said its ok we will go get dessert somewhere else. He walked away obviously irritated. I was just so shocked at his attitude as I also work in the restaurant industry and have never seen a owner or whatever he was speak to guests the way he did! We packed up our left overs and my husbands still over cooked pizza. Paid and made sure to take care of our flustered server. At this point I do not know if we will return. The food was very good though and that's the point of going there. The owner however needs to learn to not be such an a$$...