Lomontes Italian Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Houston

Last night we visited this fantastic gem with a great friend of ours. First of all, I am so excited to have found this place. Talk about a hidden treasure! I made reservations to be on the safe side and they seated us about 15 mins early with absolutely no wait at all. In fact, we had our choice of two tables. The ambiance is unmatched. It makes me think of a tavern style, quiet, romantic restaurant from somewhere in Europe from years past. The menu is exceptional and the prices feel like they’re about half of what they should be! I know that we’ve spent more at sub-par chain “Italian” style restaurants in the past. I got the pistachio crusted chicken and it was like a true flavor explosion with every bite. The chicken was crusted with finely ground pistachios, and the sauce was a light lemony white wine covered with a perfect flavor combination of sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and other amazing textures and flavors. It was served with perfectly steamed bright green fresh broccoli and perfectly cooked angel hair pasta. My husband got the lasagne and he said the sauce was spectacular, as was the entire (huge) piece of lasagna. Our friend got the tenderloin medallions which had a similar artichoke, sun-dried tomato in a light cream sauce. He, too, raved about everything!

They even brought us toasted ravioli, ON THE HOUSE, since it was our first visit to the restaurant! Like, come on?!? There’s MORE?!?? Being greedy little Guses, we had to try the spinach artichoke dip and I am sooooooo glad we did! It was a huge, piping hot plate of the best spinach artichoke dip I have ever had! Nothing will suffice again in place of what we had last night! And again, the prices are just sooooo reasonable!

On to the service - TOP NOTCH! There was a sweet woman that diligently kept our drinks filled - we never even had to think about needing a refill! Our waitress was amazing! She did an excellent job, she was so friendly and helped me decide on what to order and she was spot-on! A manager checked on us and multiple other tables from what I could tell. We stayed for 2 hours and had the very best time! (Before anyone says anything - we made sure to tip her way extra for holding her table for an extra hour 😉 we always give kudos where kudos is due)

Soooooo…it doesn’t matter if you’re on a first date looking to make the right impression, taking your girl to prom, proposing, apologizing, celebrating or just want to impress company - THIS IS IT! From this point on - this is our spot! Our friend agreed! He cannot wait to take his family here too!

Side note: this whole block has gems tucked away from what I understand, multiple other well established eateries and we plan on checking...

Don't like giving negative reviews, but nfortunately have to now give only 2 stars for service. Very dissapointed in this old favorite. I have been lunching clients here for years, and have had them catering/ delivering lunch on many occasions for Lunch & Learn Presentations at customer offices. We have always been happy with the quality of the food, and generous in our gratuity for the person who delivered. Now however, I regretfully have to say that I called today to place an order for 20 people to be delivered next Tuesday, only 9 miles down I-10. They have historically delivered orders the same size or larger, to further locations. This time whomever I spoke with tried to tell me they don't deliver, then changed to, "only if close", then kept saying I must have ordered from the Sugarland location, even though I made it clear that I never ordered from the Sugarland location. Then said they needed to check with the manager for the particular day. Seriously, how much patience do you expect from me? Then this fellow said they were going to pass on the order, which would have been at least 650-700$ plus tip for the delivery person. Very dissapointed. Do you think long time customers are going to beg to give you business? How much closer do you need a delivery to be to qualify for this obviously new "not an actual policy"? Well, nevermind then. I am still in a state of disbelief. Sorry to say I won't be coming for lunch anymore or bringing my clients. My family owned 3 successful restaurants, and my old man would have clubbed me like a Baby Seal if I deliberately refused a customer service like this. The clubbing would have been especially hard if it was a long time customer. Just wow! What hapoened...

Being my first visit, I'm always a bit skeptical of a restaurant, usually assuming the worst of most Restaurants...

Though fortunately I was pleasantly surprised with excellent service, fantastic food, and incredibly attentive wait staff. I say incredibly attentive because usually when I eat at a restaurant with an average meal costing $20 I "occasionally" receive refills on my drink. I was absolutely impressed by the amount of times my drink glass was checked and refilled. Very subtle, and quiet, my glass was always full. Especially impressive because the glass of water I was drinking was what I would consider half the size of a normal glass, thus needing refills much more frequently.

Down to the good stuff, the food. Whenever I visit a new Italian Restaurant I like to try a traditional dish to measure how creative a particular location is with a generic recipe. For me the dish is Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. Typically most Italian Restaurant do a respectable job at preparing this dish, staying close to the generic recipe. However, Lomonte's Fettuccine was absolutely fantastic, unique, and flavorful. One particular part of the dish I was especially impressed with was how the chicken was prepared. Usually long strips, grilled and sparse, Lomonte's Fettuccine was a generous portion of chicken, diced, and lightly grilled. Nearly every bite I took, had a good chunk of chicken. In fact after completely finishing the pasta, still I had chunks of chicken left over!

On a side the bread was fresh (served before the meal), butter plentiful, and atmosphere perfect.

If you're looking for a fresh Italian Restaurant to try, do not pass this one up, it's a small place, but absolutely...