Grotto Ristorante — Restaurant in Houston

I would say this place is pretty average. From the appetizers to the entree to the desserts to even the service. The servers seemed a little pretentious and worked very quick, but was always able to get some black pepper or cheese on me or hit me with one of their napkins. I was fortunate enough to be treated out by my company and was able to order multiple things. I ordered the calamari, mozzarella cheese with marinara, shrimp with head and dipped bread, and a salad for appetizers. I got the clam linguine for an entree. For dessert, I got the tiramisu, angel cake, and chocolate layered cake.

The calamari was like any other calamari you would get. It was good, some pieces had some type of cheese like ricotta in it. Is very heavy, salted well, marinara sauce served hot, but like I said I can get this thing anywhere and nothing was special about it. The mozzarella cheese with marinara sauce sounded delicious, it kind of tasted like the cheese you would buy at a convenience store that was baked with the marinara sauce that I had with the calamari. Probably not worth the money or the calories. The shrimp with head and dip Brad was probably my favorite appetizer. The flavor was a little spicy, had great flavor, and the bread that was dipped in that sauce was just delicious! I wish there were more shrimp, but being an appetizer I understand. I would get this appetizer again for sure! the salad was chopped up extremely tiny. As if they wanted it to look very full. I had to use a spoon for my salad which was very odd. Dressing was good though.

The clam linguine was a little bit of a fail. I really wanted some good flavor from here and it literally tasted like they boiled some pasta and threw some clams in it. Although the portion size was quite generous, the flavor was not there. I went home and made my own alfredo sauce and threw in some crispy bacon and it was perfect. I wish it was like this when I was at the restaurant though.

so the tiramisu it was the traditional dessert that our server recommended. This was good, but I am not much of a tiramisu lover. This was overwhelmingly coffee-flavored. I think people would enjoy if they absolutely love coffee. The angel food cake tasted a little like cough syrup. I don't recommend anyone getting this. The dark chocolate cake is definitely one to share. Rich, decadent, and oh so chocolatey I would recommend this being my favorite. You can literally only get three or four bites and you are good to go. maybe putting some vanilla gelato on top, I think that would be the perfect ending to a night!

I wish I had a better experience because this was the same experience I had when I came here two years ago. I'm fortunate that they had a purse holder and the restaurant was clean, but again the service could have been proved or the food could have been better. Instead of paying top dollar, I could be going to Olive garden for the same thing...

Another average restaurant in the bog of averageness that pervades the Landry's restaurant empire. The restaurant neither shows passion nor imagination in the food that it serves (which is quite generic).

Location: 5/5 Good location near the Galleria.

Service: 5/5 The staff is wonderful - from the perks of valet parking, to those at the front desk who were very accommodating of my request to change my original reservation time, to the waitstaff. They were all very good and made us feel welcome.

Ambience: 3/5 The ambience seems dated and has the vibes of a convention center or a lower-end cruise dining hall that uses decor from the 80's or 90's. That description is also fitting because the floor space is huge and the place does have a hall for private events. The over-the-top light fixtures, the murals depicting stereotypes of Italian life, the bright colored rug and seating options, and the large Italian words emblazoned on the walls : all give the impression of kitsch. It is clearly a popular as the place and was quite packed when we arrived for a late Friday dinner. The noise was quite loud and at first we were struggling to hear each other.

Food: 2/5 We took the suggestions of the waiter and ordered the following- Bread: The bread in the bread basket looked like flat bread and were so insipid that both of us did not try them Pescatore: 2/5 This was recommended because ostensibly the pasta was made in-house. The dish was quite uninspired. Shrimp, the mussels. and other seafood were just overcooked and chewy. They were not bursting with flavor or freshness. The tomato sauce had very little of the light-footed zing that one expects of a seafood sauce. It tasted heavy, ponderous, overwrought by garlic and cheese. There is a reason why the Italians rarely add cheese to seafood.

Ravioli al pomodoro: 2/5 This was an uninspiring dish. Both pasta dishes were not very good examples of either authentic Italian or American-Italian cuisine. The recipe, the cooking technique, and the ingredients were all sub-par.

Cheesecake: 3/5 While the cheesecake itself was not bad, it could do without the goopy topping of strawberry sauce.

Overall, we found the food very uninspiring. We felt that the standard of food was comparable to Olive Garden, but served at higher prices, with better service, and in a large convention-hall like space. With some many good options for Italian food in Houston, why this place is popular is a...

on 11/26/17, myself and a friend wanted to try Grotto for the first time. it was a nice day outside so we decided that we would sit outside in the patio area. I ordered the Pappardelle Con Verdura (chicken), and my friend he ordered the Paglia E Fieno Con Pollo. There was only two other customers on the patio area and we were seated, and ordered before they did. However they did receive their food about ten minutes before us. After about 30-35 minutes a waiter by the name of Miguel brought out our food. The food looked delicious. I started eating my food and realized that the pasta was extremely clamy(meaning sticking together ) and slightly over cooked. The chicken was ok. I simply decided that I would inform my waiter Miguel of my experience, I was not expecting anything in return just wanted him to know I was not satisfied with my meal. Well I informed him and he said nothing in response. He just immediately took my plate as though he was frustrated. After about 5 minutes a man came over to the table and identified himself as a manager. He was very polite and professional and apologized and informed me that he would not charge me for the pasta. I told him thanks and he went back inside. Well while outside drinking a bug flew in my friends glass of wine. So my friend asked Miguel if he could replace the wine and he did. Well immediately after the second glass of wine came another bug flew inside the glass before he could even get a drink. Well once we told Miguel he immediately became frustrated. He then went on to say well I can't refund your money for the wine because we have no control over what happens outside. I was in disbelief. He then said the manager and the bartender both said we can not replace the wine. We have just spent over 80.00 dollars and your going to lose a customer over a 7.00 glass of wine. Well guess what thanks to Miguel and his horrible customer service you just lost two customer and I will definitely spread the word about my horrible experience. I think that Miguel need a customer service training. I will suggest that in my letter to your corporate office. I am extremely disappointed with the service that I received on yesterday thanks Miguel I will...