Laurenzo's Prime Rib — Restaurant in Houston

Laurenzo’s is an interesting restaurant concept from the same family behind El Tiempo Cantina, The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation, and more. The Laurenzo family has been in the restaurant industry for over 50-years through multiple generations. Domenic Laurenzo, the founder of Laurenzo’s, is the grandson of the late Mama Ninfa, the restauranteur who started it all in 1973.

This restaurant is all over the place. It feels like a sports bar with all of the sports memorabilia decor and TVs. However, it’s more of a local American steakhouse with influences from Italy and Mexico. They are specifically known for their Prime Rib, but they have pizzas, pastas, fajitas, burgers, and more.

They have a free private parking lot with plenty of spaces in the front and back. Depending on when you come to dine, you may need a reservation, as it was quite busy on a random Saturday night. When we were seated, they immediately gave us some complimentary bread and butter.

+Complimentary Bread and Butter - 4/5

As I am a big fan of the margaritas at their sister restaurant, The Original Ninfa’s on Navigation, I wanted to check them out here as well.

[DRINKS]

+Blood Orange Rita (Herradura Reposado tequila, Chambord, Grand Marnier, blood orange, and cinnamon) for $17 - This didn’t do it for me. It’s big and boozy, but I wasn’t a fan of the flavor. - 3/5

As for food, we went with a Greens salad, Prime Rib, and French Fries.

[INSALATE]

+Small Greens (greens, smoked bacon, egg, croutons, tomatoes, carrots, roasted corn, and red cabbage) with honey lime vinaigrette dressing for $10.99 - This was a regular salad. - 3.5/5

[PRIME RIB]

+12 oz Prime Rib (sub small salad for sides for an extra $4) for $47.99 - We replaced the small salad with the French Fries. The French Fries were excellent. They tasted like the thicker, wedge potato fries, but they remained thin. I personally liked them a lot and would give them a 4.5/5. As for the Prime Rib, it was definitely juicy. The taste of the meat was just okay, nothing crazy. - 3.5/5

Overall, Laurenzo’s was a fun dining experience. My favorite part was the French Fries. The margaritas and prime rib were okay. They do have other items on the menu I would like to try next from the Prime Rib Quesadillas and more. The service is hit or miss. The host was incredible at his job, but the servers dismissed our multiple requests to get a straw for a drink (we asked 3 times).

If you want to experience an interesting local steakhouse from the same family behind the best Tex-Mex restaurants in Houston, check out Laurenzo’s. Come for the...

What a terrible disappointment this restaurant was. I called to make reservations the day before my husband's birthday and told them it was his 65th birthday. I asked to have a bottle of champagne chilled and at the table? Well, we got there, and no champagne. I made the reservation for 6:15 pm on purpose. I hoped that by making it earlier in the evening, it would not be so crowded, which it was not, lending itself to good service, which it was not! The entire meal was mediocre, at best. My son's dinner was so disappointing that I cut my burger in half and split it with him. My other son ordered the chicken pesto panini. What he got was a chicken breast on the exact same bun as my hamburger, and it was neither grilled or toasted, it was not even warm. They even forgot to put on the fresh mozzarella. We repeatedly had to ask for a beer that was ordered when we 1st got there and we continually had to ask for our water to be refilled. The final straw was this: when I made the reservations I specifically asked if they could please bring out a slice of their Italian cream cake with a candle so that we could wish him "Happy Birthday" vs me bringing a cake? I was told “yes” it was no problem. Well, that did not happen either. I should have said something right then and there but did not want to ruin his bday dinner anymore than it already had been, so I waited until I got home and called Laurenzo's. I asked to speak to the manager on duty but was told he was busy and wold return my call "shortly." I waited 1 hour before I called back only to be told that the manager had left for the night and I would have to call back tomorrow! So, my husband’s 65th birthday dinner was nothing short of horrible. Edited to add: I called again and left 2 addit'l messages for the manager to call me. I am still waiting......... We will...

Very disappointed with meal last night.

This was a takeout order, as we live about 1 minute away. I arrived before order was completed to ensure getting it home hot.

We ordered two of the 14 oz.Rib Eye Steak meals costing $41.49 each, along with a couple of other meals. Laurenzos is billed as a steakhouse.

We were rather surprised when we opened our steak meals. The steaks were cut rather thin, and there is just no way they began life as 14 oz steaks.

I am not a big eater, but was left wanting on this steak.

The problem with cooking a thin steak, is that it is not possible to get a good flavorful sear on the outside and maintain a med-rare inside. That sear is really important for flavor. These arrived light brown on the outside (but perfect inside temp), but lacking flavor. Now the steaks were supposed to be supplied with a garlic butter sauce that they forgot to include in the take-out order. They just needed something more on the flavor side, and even the butter I added at home just did not cut it.

Between the small size and lack of sear-flavor or topping, this ruined my meal.

In fact, just down the street is Hickory Hollow BBQ, and they offer a similar Ribeye for half the price, not to mention a Saltgrass close by. For nearly double the money, I had expectations of a higher-end steakhouse.

More disappointing, were the artichokes we ordered. We had gotten these on a previous sandwich take-out a few weeks earlier, and they were fantastic.

This order of three artichokes arrived at our home, all three undercooked, and hard, with no ability to get any pulp from the leaves. We threw them out.

The other food was good, the Ahi Tuna salad and crab cakes were excellent. But not good enough to mask the major disappointment in a $200 meal (no drinks, just food for four). Not...