Heights & Co. — Restaurant in Houston

As a chef, my kitchen keeps me very busy. It's not often that I get the opportunity to dine elsewhere. When I do get that opportunity, I leave all but my most basic expectations behind. Even then, I try to imagine my worst days and I factor in even more grace for the establishment I'm patronizing.

I was invited to Heights and Co. by a group of friends last week for a drink and snack. My point in being there was to escape my kitchen for a while. The time with my friends was the most important part. Good thing, because the food was absolutely terrible across the table.

Steak Frites - ordered medium-rare / received medium-well and un-seasoned. Advertised in the menu as a 'petit tenderloin'--but was actually improperly-cut eye of round steak. It is served with a sauce that tastes like warm chocolate truemoo. The fries tasted like buttery dirt, yet had no seasoning whatsoever.

Brisket Grilled Cheese - This is Texas. If you are offering brisket as a part of any menu item...especially in Houston, make sure you step up to the plate. My advice is to step away from this plate.

Burger - ordered medium / received hammered.

Drinks were decent.

Now I have been in the position many times of having to cook AND serve. I get it--somebody has to do it when others don't show up. Had our server informed us that this was the case, that would have resulted in complete understanding and no further complaints.

However, when we kindly pointed out to the server that nobody took more than two bites of their food, we were met with a rather childish attitude about it. After he had an instant scowl come across his face and then prissed away from our table as if we had insulted him personally (which we insulted nobody), it became evident that HE was the one who cooked our food. After that, the 'manager' (so as he was) came over to take money. He said nothing to us about the incident, but rather hurried us away from the table. I was told later on that small discounts had been applied to a couple of the dishes on a couple of my friends' tickets.

As a chef--I've learned to have thick skin in general. As a customer, I've also learned from experiences like this one how NOT to run my...

I was really excited to visit Heights & Co’s Christmas Pop-Up with my boyfriend for a festive date night. I specifically reserved a table because they were showing The Grinch (2018), which is my favorite holiday movie. Unfortunately, the night didn’t quite go as planned.

We arrived 30 minutes early, but the host seemed unhappy to be there, which immediately dampened the holiday mood. When we were seated, I noticed that the movie playing wasn’t The Grinch as advertised, but How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A little heads-up or clarification beforehand would’ve been nice, as I’d planned the night around watching my favorite version.

On top of that, the audio for the movie was a bit hard to hear. Luckily, we had a clear view of the screen and were able to follow along by reading the subtitles, but it did take away from the experience.

We decided to make the best of it and ordered the “Naughty/Nice” shots ($15). However, they came in regular whiskey glasses instead of the cute Christmas-themed shot glasses they’re known for. When we asked about it, the server explained that the Santa shot glasses were being stolen, but it would’ve been nice if they’d mentioned this upfront because then we would’ve chose to order a different drink. My boyfriend also ordered a beer with his shot, and when it finally arrived, there was a bug in it. While they replaced it promptly, it was an unpleasant start to the evening.

The food was pretty good. The fries were amazing—definitely a 10/10! However, getting ketchup took forever, and the staff seemed overwhelmed and overworked, which rubbed off on us. To end the night, we ordered the famous s’mores board, which was fun and delicious.

Overall, while there were some enjoyable moments, the experience didn’t live up to the hype. The staff could use a bit more holiday cheer to match the theme, and it’s important to clarify the actual movie being shown to avoid confusion. Improving the audio for the movie would also make a big difference. I really wanted to love this event, but unfortunately, it fell short of...

First visit for me and the husband. Took a detour to avoid 5 o'clock traffic and stopped in for drinks and lights bites. Seat yourself. All comfy curved booths. 2 other tables were sat and bar was empty. Server was nice and bartender was accommodating. It was happy hour so we order an Art Car draft for $1 off and a Basil Collins from happy hour cocktail menu. Beer was cold (a little heady). Collins was way sweeter than I like but bartender worked with me to try to make it right. We then shared a Bourbon Mint Ginger (can't remember the name). We made sure to ask for not sweet. It had a nice bite from Ginger and was refreshing. Still on the sweet side.

Nice variety on menu. Ordered the steak salad (Side note: my #1 fav dish to order when I see on the menu anywhere) and sage fries. A well portioned Steak was cooked well (they didn't ask how we'd like and forgot to tell them). It was a tiny pink but very tender. So it turned out good. The salad was dmall but very tasty by itself but overpowered the flavor of the steak. Fries were perfectly crispy and seasoned.

Easy parking at 5pm. Sat ourselves immediately. Super cute outdoor patio but...Houston on July. Cute spot for casual...