Katz's — Restaurant in Houston

I arrived at the restaurant at around 1:00 a.m. the gentleman that greeted me said it would be a 30 minute wait. That was not a problem there were available seats at the bar and he said we could enjoy the establishment there while we wait. I ordered a few beers and viewed Katz menu. Their option at the bar were very limited. The lady bartending was very disrespectful and unprofessional. She seem to be intentionally rude when attending to me. I originally requested Coronas when she finally attended me. I suggested a few more beers that I thought I would enjoy like a Coors light as an example. I asked what did they have to offer and she named what the establishment had available and I told her and thought would have been content with the multiple Dos Equis I ordered . She said she was not able to complete that order due to running out after preparing the first Dos Equis. I was disappointed, but I told her I’ll take a Modello remembering that was something else she mentioned that was available. So during the experience I was having over 30 minutes elapsed. I watched people come in and request seating and receive it. I did not get upset or irate. We ordered food at the bar. I decided time was well spent and we would just take it to go. I called the greeter and reminded him that we were there waiting and his replied oh yeah and proceeded to prepare to seat us and we laughed and told him it was okay we already placed the order. I had been feeling dissatisfied with the service and especially the bartender at this point due to her lack of attending and 1 hour elapsing, but I had no intention of displaying it. I raised my hand to signal her that I required her attendance when she had time. I did that multiple other times, but this time I felt we made eye contact and she actually and finally showed some sort of acknowledgement that she saw me and would attend to the service ( which simply the request the check and to ensure I requested my food to go). I was in the process of conversing with ladies at the bar and out of no where I hear the bartender yell at me very aggressively “ Her name was not girl” again I was conversing and entertaining ladies at the bar. If girl was part of the word usage she heard me use in any context it was used it was definitely not pertaining to her. I confidently expressed to her that I was not talking to her and she made some comments that were definitely not an apology. I ignored that and asked for the check. She read through our order very fast and I could not understand her. I asked to read it again and she stated something that I felt was incorrect and when I mentioned the order she rudely stated I’m not reading again and turn the little totaling thing around at me. I have astigmatism and did not have my glasses on. I asked for the supervisor and called another male employee ( believe his last name was Powell) over immediately to start explaining the situation because I realized that this was escalating and I was in fear of how it could have a negative conclusion for me being a consumer at this restaurant. He wasn’t helpful or receptive especially when the lady bartender started yelling at me from the other end of the bar. I signal for the security that was there to attempt to explain the situation and how I felt unsafe. He did not care. I never got to talk to a supervisor. The lady who I was conversing with offered and did pay for my ticket, but I didn’t find real gratification from that. I could and intended on paying for my own meal. I was grateful, but was that pity from a stranger who witnessed my mistreatment firsthand. That’s a good thing, but that the not dismiss how horrible and endangering the service can be because of their employees perception of the customer. I never even said anything to the bartender disrespectful, but I was forced and escorted out by the same security guard I...

Let’s talk about accountability. I visited this location yesterday on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day ☘️. I arrived at Katz around 8pm to grab a late dinner with a friend. I haven’t been to Katz in a while and my friend suggested we go to try the potato pancakes, she liked them a lot the last time she visited there. When we arrived, I did notice no one was a the hostess stand so we had to wait a little time for someone to acknowledge our presence. Once we were seated, I noticed how much of a variety they had on their menu and I was looking forward to having something yummy. So our waitress shows up, Meredith. 😒 She seemed disheveled, and not quite happy, but I thought nothing of it. We told her to please bring us some hot tea while we perused the menu. Fast forward to 20 minutes later, still no tea. We did however see Meredith going back and forth to other tables basically ignoring us, at least that’s what it felt like. Then the manager, Whitney showed up and inquired if we were satisfied with our service and we thought, ahhh no, thank goodness you came. We explained to her that we ordered tea now 25 minutes ago and we were ready to order at this point. Whitney takes our order and apologized for the lack of service. Still Meredith was treating us like we were invisible, LITERALLY walking so fast and making a point to avoid us. We had 3 different tables orders sent to us, probably should have taken it because we were not going to get ours 🙄, but we sent them back. Finally the food started to show up. We got 2 orders of the potato pancakes, which we ordered one. I received my food, but my friend was left high and dry. When we saw Whitney again we told her that we didn’t receive one entree and she blamed the kitchen 😑. I couldn’t believe the lack of accountability with these people. So they prepared my friends food to go, bc at this point we had, had ENOUGH. Then who shows up, Meredith 😳, to give us the check, 🥴 like wow, really. So I asked her to get the manager, here comes Whitney again. I cannot say I was happy to see her seeing she didn’t resolve anything from the start. I told her that this has been one of the worse experiences I have had in MY LIFE, seriously. I wasn’t expecting much, only our order to be taken and food brought back fresh and hot. I explained to Whitney that Meredith is a horrible server, she either doesn’t give a f*

They say never meet your heroes. I wish I had listened.

I came into this experience genuinely looking forward to it. The place came highly recommended, and after hearing good things, I figured it was finally time to see what the hype was about. My party ordered one appetizer, three entrées, and one side. The final total came out to about $100 with the tip — not outrageous in today’s economy, so that didn’t bother me too much at first.

What did bother me, though, was the feeling that I got significantly less than what I paid for. I spent around $30 just on my portion of the meal, and what I received in return was nothing short of underwhelming.

Let’s start with something small but telling: the ranch. I had asked for a side of ranch dressing with my food — nothing special, just your everyday ranch — and was told it would be an extra $0.99. For a little condiment. At that price point — again, I paid thirty bucks for my meal — it felt absurdly petty. I ended up skipping it entirely on principle. If you’re going to charge almost a dollar for something that’s usually complimentary in most restaurants, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth before the food even hits the table.

And unfortunately, the food didn’t do much to turn things around. The fries were limp, soggy, and greasy — somehow managing to be both overly oily and totally flavorless. No seasoning, no crisp, nothing. My sandwich was even more disappointing. It tasted like whoever cooked it had never met salt or pepper in their life. The meat was bland, the textures were off, and worst of all, the bread was so soaked in grease it was practically disintegrating in my hands. I kept taking bites hoping it would get better — it didn’t. It felt like the kitchen had given up before they even started.

To make matters worse, I only discovered after the fact that they tacked on a $2 charge just for using a credit card. No signage, no heads-up — just a little surprise fee buried in the bill. In 2025, with the cost of meals where it is, I’d expect a place to just absorb that kind of charge. It wasn’t the amount that bothered me — it was the lack of transparency. It felt like nickel-and-diming at every turn.

Now, to be fair, the staff were lovely. Every single person we interacted with was kind, attentive, and genuinely welcoming. That’s the only reason this review isn’t harsher. The front-of-house team is doing their job well — but it’s hard to enjoy good service when what’s coming out of the kitchen is such a letdown.

All in all, this was a disappointing experience. I wanted to like this place. I really did. But between the bland food, the greasy textures, the upcharges for basics like ranch, and the hidden fees on the bill, I walked away feeling like I had paid a premium for mediocrity.

Two stars — one for the staff, one for the effort. But this place has a long way to go before I’d consider...