Eight Row Flint — Restaurant in Houston

We've been a couple of times and i don't know where to begin...

-Parking is not great. Mandatory valet which is really annoying especially on a busy night. -The "boozy" drinks are mediocre at best. My husband did really like the old fashion nothing else is that great. the "happy hour" sucks. There are only 3 drink options... that's not very happy if you ask me. The regular price drinks are over priced. I get $8 a drink for the area but its more like $10-$12. -The quesadilla is the best thing on the menu. The cheese dip is good too. The tacos are not good at all. The brussel sprout one was the best but at the end of the day it was still a brussel sprout taco. -The inside is very nice. Outside is super cute but all the seats are very uncomfortable. The waitresses have always been nice. The last time we went ( and last we will ever go) it was cold so we were outside by the fire pit and heater. The place was empty. 3 people came outside, stood right next to us, and proceeded to start smoking. We VERY kindly asked if they would move down a little bit since the smoke was bothering us a little... they said no, the heater is on right here and its cold... so i walked 15 ft over to another heater, turned it on and went back to them and again VERY kindly said that i get its cold out, i was able to turn on that heater for them so they could smoke over there.... then it got ugly. They were nothing but rude, refused to move down. I fixed the one reason why they said they weren't going to move but they were being jerks and very unreasonable. Then one of the guys says to us that he can smoke wherever he wants since he owns the place to which we replied if you really own the place you're a crappy owner who doesn't care about his customers and that we will never be back. By this time they were done smoking so they went inside. Our waitress came out to apologize and she confirmed that he was in fact one of the owners. We told her how disappointed we were in him and that we will tell all our friends not to come here and support a person like that. about 5 min later he sticks his head outside and says your drinks are on the house and went back inside...didn't really care about us just wanted us to shut up... about 15 min after that here they come again... smoking right next to us in this big patio. Again we asked them to please just move to the other heater so we didn't have to smell the smoke and again they refused. We started getting our things together to leave and he was trying to make small talk... then he pulled out and offered us DRUGS... This guy is ridiculous and does not deserve our business. We will NEVER go...

I came here for all-day happy hour on a Wednesday. Excited to go, because I've had a great experience at carousel and indianola. Unfortunately, eight row Flint let me down. From their appealing prices and atmosphere, the tacos were soggy as ever and reminded me of Chinese take out. I ordered the following:

Chicken nachos Eight row Flint margaritas Shrimp tacos Beef cheek tacos

The chicken nachos were good to say the least. With black beans, actual nacho cheese, guac, and sour cream. The chicken was a bit dry. Everything else was good. This was the best out of all. But who can really mess up nachos?

The eight row Flint marg was also nice. With that hint of eggwhite, I can say that it was a nice twist and these were tasty! Nice and strong too!

Now the tacos. Shrimp tasted like orange chicken from Panda Express. For me, they were edible and flavorful but not my cup of tea to put in a taco. It's different but not bad.

The beef cheek was a major disappointment. I've had the beef cheek taco at poitin for their happy hour and that was the best thing I put in my mouth. I could be comparing hard core but this particular one was greasy, too hard to eat in one piece, every bite leaves you in a hand of oils and the tortilla falling apart. The beef cheek was nothing but fat. 80% fat. That gelatin in my mouth was purely disgusting.

Other than that, there is complimentary valet, service is okay and prices are great for okay food. Drinks were good and the ambiance was very...

Eight Row Flint has some really delightful aspects, but also some really glaring flaws. Some of their drinks are really good, especially their frozen ones. Some I've had were not, including a $5 happy hour old fashioned which tasted cheaper than that by half. None of their beers are served in sizes greater than 12 oz, which is weird and disorienting, and obscures how much they're overcharging you on that front. On the other hand, their whiskey selection is outstanding, and their flights are great. Drinks aside, I would say their food was overpriced even if everything was a couple dollars cheaper. Most things sound impressive, and look like they should be good, but just aren't. I do like their Brussels Sprouts taco and it's very unique. The atmosphere is ok, the all white exterior is a bit annoying but overall it's fine. The aesthetic doesn't really feel like the Heights to me, and when combined with the lackluster offerings at high prices it feels like a bar that should've opened in Midtown. Eight Row Flint is really close to where I live, and I love their other two places so I keep coming back hoping I'll like it more the next time I try it, but most times I leave feeling a little...