Katz's — Restaurant in Houston

Terrible service.

We (party of 5) were given a waiter who was doubling as a bartender, even tho we weren't seated anywhere near the bar area. Thus making him unaccessible to actually attend to us

Spoke to the "manager" on duty requesting another waiter that could actually attend to us. Perhap, one of the 7+ waiters that did not look busy as they were either just walking around or gathered in a group chatting

Ordered Chips & Queso as an appetizer. Once it was served, Queso was cold, so we had to send it back. When it was brought back to us, the cheese was just as cold as it was before.

One of our guests ordered the street tacos. When the meal arrived, 2 of the 5 tacos did not have any meat on it. The manager asked if everything was okay, told her we were not at all trying to be complicated, but to please take a moment to examine the tacos to which she agreed that 2 tacos were literally just tortillas with cilantro and onions she apologized and to it back to get them remade.

Half an hour went by, no refills were offered, and the tacos never came back out. The rest of the party finished their meal, so the waitress finally came around to pick up plates and asked if everything was okay. To which we reply by saying, "No, still waiting on the Tacos to come back out to which she was completely unaware of and had to go check on them. The manager comes back out to say, "Yeah, they are coming, remember we are remaking them for you" at this point, obviously, very unhappy with thr service we asked well how long does it take to make tacos it's been nearly half an hour and the rest of the party has finished their meal. Just say you forgot.

Told her to forget about the tacos at this we didn't want them anymore, to which she replies, "ok I'll take them off" and walks away no apology given or anything

The check comes out with a surprising gratuity surcharge. To which we weren't aware of, apparently, at this establishment, it's automatic for partie of 5 or more. We were familiar with the common party of 6 or more, but tomatoe-tomato... we express to the waitress and manager that we felt it was ridiculous that we were being charged gratuity when A) The service was terrible, B) The food wasn't up to standard, C) One of our guests never even got their food so technically it was just a party of 4 guest.

To which she decided to argue that that is the restaurant's policy and it is what it is. Instead of being understanding, apologetic, nor trying to make to ammend the situation as if we were the ones at fault.

After going back and forth, the manager decided to go ahead and remove the gratuity surcharge from the bill. No further customer service or apology...

Katz's use to be outstanding. It sold the best of Jewish culinary fare to the mainstream population. Now, however, their menu has recently changed to reflect a quick, watered down version of a soul-less Applebee's combined with a Cheers-like mega bar that is designed to increase profit margins by providing less food fare and more alcohol. (I went with the wife to Katz's for breakfast, with visions of either, chicken and dressing, turkey and dressing or possibly salmon and lox. I may have added a cheese stuffed potato and a salad; all iconic Katz's menu items. I have been a Katz's devotee for over 30 years. Instead, I walked into a beautiful Shepherd location, of which looked ultra modern. Half the interior devoted to a massive bar that screamed sports bar; the other half was a tasteful dining area. The server was Evan, who was outstanding in every way. My first shock was a revamped menu that had a sprinkling of basic menu items.. matzo ball soup.. but everthing else screamed Applebee's with a hint of Dennys. I was visibly shaken and upset at the changed menu. I called other locations to see if the changed menu only reflected this location, to no avail. Everything had changed forever. My wife thought my reaction was funny. I did not. I sulked for a moment. Then tried to make the best of it. It did not get better. I settled for steak and eggs. (I recieved a nub of a steak. It was the size of a Kennedy dollar. Remember those?) My wife saw my expression and immediately gave me half of her chicken fried chicken to compensate. The food tasted great, but was not Katz's fare nor Katz's expectations. Now, I understood that the menu changes was an attempt to increase profit margins and decrease preparation time and increase customer foot traffic for less effort; but now there is nothing to differentiate Katz's from any fast food place anywhere else. They give you 2 menus. One is a trifold drink menu with more choices than the food menu. Profits over substance. How much did my breakfast/brunch set me back, with tip? $80+ My heart hurt. But, my allegience will no longer be to this pseudo deli. I'm in search of a replacement with a truer deli feel.. like Mannyhatten or Ziggys; someplace where I can get authentic jewish food and not a...

Before going on to read the rest of my review I’d like to mention that I’m not a fan of mentioning anyone by name however the service that was provided was subpar. Nesto, the bartender was probably the worst bartender I’ve ever experienced. When I choose to sit at a bar I do so for the experience and with the idea that I will be receiving full service. And to be extremely clear that’s NOT what I got. The only thing he did right was greet us right away and then it all went downhill from there. After that he stepped away several times for long periods or went to chit chat with the only other guest at the time. Then another guests arrives and takes their food order first instead before deciding to check on us. Mind you like I said earlier at this time there’s only maybe 4 people at the bar including myself and my husband. Our food finally arrived after ages which is absurd given the lack of clientele soo I’m guessing it just sat at the window much longer then needed. Nesto didn’t even bother to offer napkins or silverware until we finally got his attention and he gave us beverage napkins. Cool. Then he leaves again for another 15-20 minutes and 2 more people show up and I felt kinda bad for them because of how long they had to wait to even be greeted. Finally after coming back once more we ask for the check and it takes him literally 10 minutes to get back to us. He was just hanging out distracted by the servers. Oh and did I mention that my sandwich came out burnt? I ate some of the parts that weren’t so bad but at that point I was too tired and annoyed to even ask for a manager. You’d think that with him only having 4 guests at his bar he’d try to do better and actually try to make some tips. As an industry person Id totally understand if this happened and he was swamped however that was not the case. At least mention to the few guests you do have that you’re stepping away and will be back in a moment. Or just try to even care about your job. Don’t think I’ll be returning there’s plenty of others places to eat and if I do I won’t be sitting at the bar....