Potente — Restaurant in Houston

The valet LOST MY CAR or in their words, “misplaced” it!!! I only did valet because it was my birthday and I wanted to wear a nice, shimmery dress with heels without having to walk in the streets at night. I ended up standing outside in that dress and those high heels (my feet were killing me) at night for over an hour!!! This not only means that they LEFT MY KEY IN MY CAR, but it ALSO means that they do not lock the cars! My car is the type to not lock if the key is inside the vehicle. THE ENTIRE CAR could have literally been STOLEN. Not only that, but they didn’t bother to do damage control. I was wondering why everyone was getting their car before mine when I was FIRST in line and they just stayed quiet the whole time, getting everyone else’s cars without saying a word to me. If it wasn’t for me having Apple Air Tag on my keys and letting them know that the keys are missing (I was trying to ring it), then they would have gotten everyone’s cars until the very end of the night (closing time). Luckily, I was able to tell them which streets my car was parked on and they managed to look for it and eventually find it. I was supposed to enjoy part 2 of my birthday with friends (who already left to our next destination without knowing the situation), but unfortunately, the event was short-lived, since my night had been ruined and my feet had been super sore. I was very excited to host an intimate birthday dinner here because I am a huge fan of truffle and enjoy dressing up. I made a reservation with the kind hostess who told me the dishes they are known for and how you can get them in petite sizes. The waiter unfortunately said that only the truffle dish came in the petite size. He seemed annoyed that nobody at the table ordered wine. Some of my friends didn’t like the aroma of the truffle pasta, and it’s not for everyone, but I especially enjoyed the shaved fresh truffle aspect. The portions were rather small although the hostess said they would be big. One of my friends enjoyed the steak, so I was glad to see that. I had 2 friends who wanted to split a dish, but the waiter wanted to upcharge because he couldn’t split 3 shrimps so he wanted to add an extra shrimp..my friends said they would split it themselves. The bread/appetizer arrived after everyone was done eating, but we were all grateful because we were still hungry. We wanted to split the check, but the waiter said that they couldn’t do that, so one of my friends ended up paying for the whole table and luckily we took a picture of the receipt to pay him back, so when we got home and my friend looked at his statement, he saw that he had been OVERCHARGED $40 for absolutely no reason. Make sure to always keep a copy of your receipt! All in all, it was not the experience I was looking forward to, but I gave 2 stars since I...

It’s not often that I leave a review so quickly after dining somewhere but Potente deserves one. This restaurant was amazing on all fronts. We showed up early to our reservation for some happy hour beverages at the bar and Rachel took great care of us. We tried the deviled eggs, which were fantastic. She made a delicious margarita for me and crafted a mocktail for my wife off the cuff with ease. Both were delicious and a great way to start the evening.

We were then seated for our dinner service with both chairs pulled out for us and greeted with a smile by at least 3 different people including our server Patrick. Patrick walked us through the menu offerings and mentioned the specials for the night. Soon after, the head chef Danny Trace stopped by to introduce himself and welcome us to the restaurant. Very nice touch and personal.

I asked Patrick for a red wine recommendation and he helped me narrow down my choices by offering more tannic wines versus softer wines. After selecting tannic, he brought out two offerings and let me sample both to help make my decision. For dinner,I ordered the Spaghetti al Tartufo Nero which features fresh truffles shaved tableside. I added some lump crabmeat as well. The dish was phenomenal, easily one of my top 5 pasta dishes ever. My wife ordered the diver scallops which were cooked expertly with a nice risotto. We were celebrating some recent news for our dinner which I had forgotten I mentioned when making the reservation. Patrick brought out some complimentary pralines and a card signed by the restaurant staff congratulating us on the news. This was icing on the cake following an already excellent experience.

We finished the evening back in the bar to watch the Astros game and tried their crème brûlée which came with two macarons and was delicious. I had the campfire old fashioned for my nightcap which was also delicious with just enough smokiness to taste it without it being overpowering.

If you’re looking for a top tier restaurant in downtown Houston, look no further! Everything was great from the service to the food to...

First, Potente is not cheap. It is also not for toddlers, but that doesn't mean someone should give it a 1-star review...because they were honest and up front on the phone and suggested other options.

You can have a great meal with two people for $250, but that won't get you the full experience. If you appreciate fine dining and are prepared to put down $400-$500 for two...welcome to the jungle. Ball out here, it is worth it.

From start to finish, the experience was absolute top notch. We were seated immediately at a huge plush booth; in fact, so huge that it was awkward. Within 30 seconds, someone saw the look on my wife's face and asked if they could move us to a more intimate table. Sommelier was helpful with advice, but never pushed a specific bottle. Server was informative with good suggestions but not smothering. Most importantly, the food was out of this world. Be adventurous here, everything is incredible so you can't go wrong even if it's out of your comfort zone. Grilled octopus appetizer was straight 10/10. If you're thinking of fried calamari, this is not on the same planet. Black truffle pasta. Insane good...plus the experience of having them shave the truffles is worth the price of admission. Another adventure was the veal cheek, on recommendation from the sommelier. Outstanding dish, and I would typically never order an entre with the word cheek. Not only is this the best Italian restaurant in Houston, it is one of my top 5 dining experiences. If you want quiet and intimate, avoid Astros home games...the bar can get loud when the game lets out around 10-10:30.

This was our plan of attack and we had a memorable experience:

$80-120 bottle of Italian red... open right away for breathing Round of cocktails while the wine breathes Shared appetizer (octupus) Shared pasta (have to get the truffle pasta, even just for the experience) Two entrees (veal cheek, frutti di mare) Shared desert (creme brule) Round of...