Empire State Jazz Cafe — Restaurant in Houston

We bought tickets for their Valentine's Day dinner and jazz show. A pre-fixed three course menu was included with the ticket. I was really excited for date night and just found out about this jazz club on eventbrite.

Doors opened at 7, and we arrived around 7:30pm. It is located in a plaza and had plenty of parking.

We checked in with the hostess at the door and she escorted us to the table. The ambience was nice, dim table lights and lights on stage made a romantic setting. So far so good....

We waited at least a solid 45 min after we sat down to be greeted by a waiter. We had to flag someone down to say we haven't been asked if we wanted to order drinks. A guy finally stopped by and said he was unaware we were his table and asked for our drink and appetizer order. We asked if he wanted our entree orders as well and he said he would come back for it. Drinks took another 20-30 min to come out and the appetizer (gumbo) came out 40/45 minutes later. We thought that was unusually slow for something that is premade. We soon realized that service here is extremely slow. All the tables were sold out, but it wasn't a big place and they had 3 waiters. Yet two plates were coming out of the kitchen every 20 minutes. Once again we had to flag down our waiter to take the rest of our meal order. I asked for a lemonade three times before he finally brought it. He kept forgetting and it's already bottled. All he had to do was get it and a cup of ice, but that took him 45 min.

The band (Sounds of A&R) started right on time at 8pm. They played a few sets with a couple intermissions. They sounded good and had a different style. Instead of singing regular covers, they put a jazzy rendition to it. Some were hit or miss, but overall enjoyed them!

But if only I could have enjoyed my food while watching them. After we finally got our appetizers, it took another hour to get our entree! It was 10pm when our steaks came out. I cannot blame this on the waiter, it was the kitchen that was moving extremely slow. So many people were upset at the end of the evening because of the dinner service. The couple across our table didn't even get to eat. The band had packed up and left around 10:30pm and they had to wait for their food to go. We also had to ask for our desserts to go. We could not sit and enjoy them when the whole event was over. It really is a shame that we got our dinner plate 2.5 hours after being seated. And the food was actually pretty good (like 4/5 rating).

Hubby had seafood gumbo which was right on point with flavor! I had the chicken and sausage gumbo. It was just a teeny tad salty but still flavorful and very meaty which I liked.

My steak could have been hotter (not sure how long it sat before I got it) but it wasn't cold. It was made to order just as we asked, which we were surprised they got the temp of the meat right. They didn't have steak sauce but it was seasoned well where you really didn't need it. Mashed potatoes were good.

I took a couple bites of the chocolate cake while it was still hot before we left. It was yummy. Disappointed it did not come with ice cream because it was advertised as a La mode, but we couldn't take the ice cream with us anyway.

I really would have given this place 4 stars if it wasn't for the terribly slow service. Maybe it was an off-night. I'm not sure since this is my...

This place has all the ingredients to make a restaurant TERRIBLE. Overpriced, super poor service, average food and average drinks (if it actually gets to the table)…more on this later). Several people left early or cancelled their order because the wait was so long. The ONLY saving grace was the music. The jazz artists (Southern Dialect) who performed were amazing? They are the only reason our night was not completely ruined.

Food: It took TWO hours to get our food and it was overpriced left overs. It was clear the food was NOT fresh. Mashed potatoes looked old and the asparagus was hard to cut. I ordered the jerk lamb chops…they were very small….3 small pieces and definitely not worth $40. We ordered the “Mardi Gras” pasta? Basic ziti pasta is a wet Alfredo sauce with bell peppers and some Cajun seasoning. No meat or seafood: $16. We also ordered the steak (which was huge) but smelt spoilt and we had to have them take it back. The “gourmet” fries? You know it was Ore Ida lol. The catfish tenders were a 7/10 so that’s a plus I guess. Oh please note, if you have a closed tab they cannot take any order off your bill…only open tabs.

Drinks: It also took 2 hours for the drinks. Also overpriced and served in skinny glasses with ice to give the illusion of fancy. Long Island Ice tea? They gave us strawberry lemonade but you know that it was Tropicana.

Service: The waitresses were polite but clearly not trained. They did not know how to carry food properly: they had no trays and fingers touched the food because of how they carried the plate. They were disorganized and did not know who ordered what and forgot to put in orders…with all these issues there is a MANDATORY 18% gratuity.

Music: As I said this was really good and helped us get through the night. However they make you make a reservation for 7pm but the artists do not come on until 9pm. I’m sure this is done to encourage you to order the overpriced food or drinks

In conclusion, do NOT come here for a special occasion or if you do not mind waiting 3 business days for your order…but do come here if you are not hungry or thirsty and love jazz music…then again you can go somewhere else to get better food,...

When looking for a special place to take my wife for her birthday I came upon the Empire State Jazz Cafe and boy was I glad I did! First, the dark, thoughtfully lit atmosphere was great, intimate and romantic, with clear views of the stage. Before the performers took the stage, music was provided by a live DJ who set the mood. Each table was tastefully set with black on black table cloths and our own personal lamp. The menus were attractive as well as informative. Secondly, service was outstanding. Kind, efficient, and professional, our waiter and hostess were extremely accommodating and helpful. They do add an 18% gratuity charge to the bill but for us it was well worth it. We were so impressed with the service, we added an additional 20% tip. The food was absolutely incredible. We really enjoyed the blackened salmon with crawfish etoufee and the seafood gumbo was some of the best I’ve ever had. We rarely have dessert but we had to try the peach cobbler and we were glad we did. It was really delicious. Portion sizes of our entire meal were generous. Although we just had wine with our meal, they offer a wide variety of specialty drinks that we will definitely take advantage of next time we go. Finally, the headline performers provided us with some of the best live music I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Playing tight, soulful jazz for 2 and a half hours was the Jeff Magnus Band. I can’t fully explain just how absolutely incredible and entertaining the show was. It was obvious that all five musicians were extremely talented and experienced but their showmanship was off the charts good. The vibe, the groove, and the choice of tunes were very impressive and enjoyable. If this is a prime example of the entertainment that gets booked, we will definitely be returning. The whole special experience provided by the Empire State Jazz Cafe was not only...