Moon Tower Inn — Restaurant in Houston

This is by far my favorite bar/restaurant in downtown, maybe all of Houston!!

The bartenders are super knowledgeable about the beers and always have fantastic recommendations for drinks as well as food, and if you're nice, they usually let you sample the beers if you're not sure what to get. I've never had a beer I didn't like, and they have a ton of different rotating craft taps with a big variety of beers, sours, and ciders.

There's no inside seating, but since they've remodeled, the outside is pretty nice. There's a really big covered area with heaters, and I'm sure they have fans in the summer. There's a ton of picnic tables with plenty of seating, and the uncovered area has firepits. It still gets pretty cold, though, so if you're sensitive to cold temperatures, I'd recommend bundling up.

Monday nights are mug nights! For $10 (price may have gone up since I bought mine) you get a glass mug with the drink of your choice in it and endless $5 refills every Monday night when you bring your mug back!! (Or get a new mug when they come out with new designs if you're like me!) I think the mugs are either 16oz or 20oz.

The food is also INCREDIBLE. Everything tastes fresh, and the cooks are pretty fast, too. For appetizers, I highly recommend the stuffed jalapeños (I can't remember what they call them) and the pimento cheese (again, I can't remember what they call it). For entrées, I highly recommend, in descending order, the Willie Burger, any of their hot dogs with chef's choice toppings, and the Chong burger.

I will say, make sure you park either right in front or in the parking lot across the street. Back in January 2015, I parked on of the side streets, and someone shattered my car window, jammed a screwdriver into my ignition and broke it off in there, and was rooting around in my trunk when I was walking around the corner with my now-husband. I still highly recommend this place, just park where you can...

I tried the Cheech burger and their Hot Stuff Boudin. My first impression was I was intimidated by the ridiculous pretentiousness of their menu considering where I was visiting. It is a completely outdoor venue and I believe most of their exemplary reviews are based solely on their beer selection in which bears no regard in my observations. I came here solely for the food. Let’s start with the burger. I don’t know what a Cheech burger is but it came with chèvre and some kind of sambal mayo. I have never heard of sambal but I thought I would try it although I was initially turned off by the $13.50 price for one hamburger. The burger was of decent size with two 4 oz. patties. Although, the patties themselves had absolutely no flavor. The goofy sambal mayo and the goat cheese in which i never found added little flair to the sandwich. The $8.95 hot stuff boudin was served in a tiny stryofoam cup with white onions, your standard fare jarred pickles and maybe 7 zesta crackers and had NO flavor to it whatsoever. It was terrible. If you took some unseasoned cooked white rice added a little liver then this is the best way I could describe this dish. No flavor at all. Needless to say, after all the hubbub spouted to me by my coworkers about this place I was wholly disappointed and will not return. Also, the pagan decor, the visiting feral cats and the invited dogs by other patrons to the establishment was a disgusting turn off for me. One thing I do not look for in my dining establishment are wildlife anywhere near my table or in the restaurant. The bathrooms were nauseating considering the door will not even completely open without you contacting...

Background: Myself and two of my friends went to three different hot dog joints one Saturday evening to find the "top dog" of Houston (moon tower, good dog, and happy fatz)

Our first stop was Moon Tower Inn, so being full wasn't a factor.

THE FOOD: the wiener quality and flavor was great, we had the lamb and venison. also, the size of the dog was large. the pretzel bun was big enough to hold everything but it was not too bread-y. The problem came when we got to the toppings: We asked the guy at the counter to set us up with the best two dog combos they had. I'll give it 10 out of 10 on creativity and innovation, but there was so much going on that the flavors were indistinguishable.

LOOK and FEEL of the place: I understand this is a hot dog restaurant, but when I'm dropping $9 on a dog, there should be reasonable accommodations. That being said, 1) be sure not to go after a rainfall because it gets very muddy 2) the water provided was lukewarm (heavy on the warm) out of a water cooler with no ice option 3) ALL seating is outside and there are no fans...did the owner forget this is Houston?

Overall: The wiener and bun quality and flavor were great. The topping options are unique, but sometimes simple is sufficient (and less expensive). Bring outdoor clothing and leave your favorite shoes at home because it's primitive out there. Don't expect the food to come out anytime soon (they had by far the slowest service of all the hot dog restaurants we went to).

I personally think every hot dog restaurant should be required to offer sausage dogs, but...