Nomad — Restaurant in Houston

DISAPPOINTED! We were so excited to try a new place out until...

Pros: The hookah lounge is in a great location and is super cute from inside. The food looked delicious from what I saw, however, I can't say if it was since I didn't eat here.

Cons: The were understaffed for a Saturday night. There must had been at least 100 people in that small location. There were only two waiters and everyone else (their staff) was in the kitchen. When I arrived, which was for a birthday party, the owner did not have the party's name or reservation. Everyone seemed confused. We were seated after 10-15 minutes.

The restrooms (both men and women) were disgusting. They had plumbing issues and there was dirty water everywhere and it smelled horrendous. Even after telling the staff, they did not close down the restrooms or put a sign on them to keep customers out and did not control the situation from getting worse. Water kept spreading everywhere.

The waiters and waitresses had awful customer service. We had to consistently ask for our waiter to come back because we needed to either order something or needed something from him. We ordered a refresher, which he forgot and then lied about forgetting, that took 40 minutes to get. Completely understaffed. The refresher he mentioned and recommended to us, was suppose to be FRESH. What came to us from the kitchen was a Big Red soda poured into a cute light bulb cup. IT WAS GROSS and the entire light bulb glass was STICKY!

The worst part of all this was the hookah was not good. Our party ordered 4-5 hookahs and none of them were worth returning to. One of our guests even said hers did not have any pan flavor, even though the menu said it would. Also, the guy that was passing out coal had an attitude and every time we asked him to get our waiter, the waiter never came. He definitely portrayed a bad attitude and didn't want to be there.

Lastly, parking sucks. This isn't there fault necessarily, but I would recommend that EVEN after reading this review you decide to go, get there early!!!!

I wouldn't come back here again. I've been to many hookah lounges that are cleaner, which I had a much better experience at. I hope this review helps this business grow, but unfortunately they have lost...

I’m on the fence about this place. To be honest and fair, the food is great and the vibe is nice once the Sunday Brunch DJ gets started. I tried the salmon and eggs $26 and my companion tried the fried salmon sandwich $20. Things were seasoned well and cooked perfectly. A few things that prevent me from giving more stars. It was disappointing to walk in and find out your sitting options consists of old tore up office furniture. The wall decor is pretty, but the seating is a miss. My table was significantly lower than my chair and made it difficult to eat.

Also, at $15+ a plate why am I eating off of plastic silverware and only offered canned soda like I’m at a food truck. The waitress didn’t even offer us a cup with ice to pour the soda into.

Next, the service. The waitress was not pleasant or helpful. She barely checked on our table, despite there only being 2 other people in the entire restaurant. When it was time to pay she didn’t let us see the actual bill, just handed us the card processor. Also, we were not allowed to split the bill between our 2 parties, she didn’t bother to explain the reason. Instead she insisted one of us pay the entire bill and “get it back from the others.” We let it go and paid, but asked for a receipt so we could see the full amount. She agreed, but never came back. Please note that they charge an automatic 18%. It’s becoming more common at these types of places, but not made very clear. Also, it costs to park on Sunday so beware.

The DJ is so good, and the food is tasty. Unfortunately, the service and seating could use major improvement. Not sure if I’d...

I genuinely had a great time here. The food was absolutely outstanding! The service, on the other hand, wasn't top-notch, but the staff was friendly, even though they weren't very attentive. I visited on a Monday night, and they had specific rules about the duration of your stay and a minimum spending requirement. Initially, for two people, it was $100, but later on, another friend joined us. The waitress informed me that there would be an additional $10 charge for BYOB, which was $10 per person. I was fine with that. It's a BYOB place, but strangely, you end up spending more than you would at a regular bar.

My final bill for three people came to $232, which included an 18% gratuity charge. This bill covered various items, such as a lamb chops appetizer ($33), fried cauliflower ($12), blackened loaded pasta ($24), Salmon Sliders ($18), hookah ($29), BYOB Fee x 3 ($10), 3 cans of pineapple juice ($12). I wasn't aware that the gratuity had already been added, and I felt pressured to tip generously if I wanted to stay longer than two hours. The payment process felt rushed, and I inadvertently tipped an extra $42. Our service was quite minimal, as we had to flag someone down every time we needed something.

In summary, the food was delicious, and you can have a good time, but the place lacks an elegant or hospitable atmosphere. I can only imagine that the costs are even higher...