Rainbow Lodge — Restaurant in Houston

Quite literally the worst restaurant experience I've had in a long time. Myself and 2 other friends went for their Restaurant Weeks menu, spent $130 per person, and a few dishes were inedible. Firstly, I am not a picky eater. I'll eat just about anything if it's prepared well. From the choices of ingredients to how they were prepared, almost every dish had problems.

1st, I'm not sure if they were short staffed, but there seemed to be 1 or 2 people taking care of multiple sections which led to significant gaps in when our dishes and drinks arrived. for example we received our first cocktail 20 minutes before our first course, then received the second course and didn't receive the second cocktail until we were done eating. I had the yellow beet and pear salad which was very good say for the odd choice of dill on top for garnish. Dill is super pungent which fought with how light the yellow beets and stone fruit were. I like them a lot but it just didn't work for this dish, I had to remove it. I then had the redfish which had to have been sitting under a heat lamp for at least 30 minutes because it had turned rubbery and not something that I wanted to eat. I maybe had half of that before I got to the side that the heat lamp was probably directly on. Redfish should be fairly light and flaky and this was pretty inedible. The dessert course was fine but ruined after what I would consider the worst drink I've ever been served at any restaurant. With the main they served a bourbon cocktail that was so sweet that it was like drinking syrup. I added a little water to thin it out and it was at least drinkable. The star of the show however was a upside down White Russian which was essentially straight coffee liqueur and vodka. I took a sip and had to put it down. It was the most unbalanced drink I'd ever had and it had to have been made improperly. I think our server was making the drinks because I can't think of a self-respecting bartender that would put that out and call it good.

All in all we paid our $130 each bill and each tipped quite well because we're not monsters. Obviously we won't be going back but I'm willing to assume that they may have just had a...

Initial impressions: difficult to see from the road until you're almost on the place, but the entrance has valet parking. Beautiful little sitting area outside the restaurant next to a fountain. Once inside the restaurant it definitely has an upscale lodge atmosphere with stuffed animal heads and fish as decor. I like the wood lodge walls with found wood accents. The floor continues the found wood theme so some tables require leveling feet but the staff is quick to help out. Customer service: excellent. The wait-staff is attentive (high regards for Israel "Call me Izzy") without being overbearing. He actively listened to my nine year old son in conversation without rushing him or talking down to him, which I hugely appreciated. He was unfailingly polite, well mannered, and treated my wife and me with respect. He took my allergy information well in hand and had an active discussion with the chef and checked back in with me on multiple options for replacing items that would impact my allergy. Food: sublime. I enjoyed every bite. Initially I wasn't entirely impressed with the coffee but it paired extremely well with the dessert at the end of the meal. I was minorly disappointed they were out of Earl Grey for tea, and the mint, but they had other tea options in a box for your perusal. My wife loved the drink she got, pineapple thyme cassis, especially with the pesto shrimp bruschetta. It also went well with the pan seared duck breast with foie gras and wild mushroom. I greatly loved the Taste of the Wild. The seared Alaskan halibut was perfectly cooked. Price: wow. The last time I had a meal that pricey was at the Space Needle in Seattle, although that was a bit more because it was for two people (2 adults), not three (1 child and 2 adults). It was well with the price of the meal though, unlike the Space Needle. Overall: This is fine dining at it's best. The staff is swift to help when anything isn't up to expectations. Even with the price, I would definitely be willing to...

Took my wife here for her birthday. Made a reservation and requested outside because she's nuerodiverse and has stimulation issues. They went above and beyond. Made sure she was comfortable. Kind and polite even when she stumbled over some of the social stuff. Made her feel special without being overwhelming. We've been together for 6 years and this was the first time she's actually seemed happy and comfortable going out.

The food was out of this world. We got the red snapper and the wild game mixer, then ordered the bread pudding for dessert and they brought my wife a slice of berry cheesecake (probably a coincidence, but that is her favorite dessert, so thank you again) for her birthday. Everything tasted good. The wild game mixer came with venison, bison, quail, boar, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and some sort of chutney. The snapper was blackened and came with a pasta that "tasted like bruschetta, only better." The bread pudding was warm and rich. The cheesecake melted in our mouths. My wife has already asked me to take her back for our next special occasion.

Our server (young Hispanic woman with tattoos. I don't remember her name. I'm sorry.) was awesome. Very kind and knowledgeable and helped my wife pick out a cocktail. The busser working with our server was polite and patient. The hostess with the ladybug pendant brought our food and managed to subtly check that my wife was comfortable without giving away that I had let them know about her Asperger's. They made the night special and exciting for her and neither of us can thank them enough.

Edit: Have just been informed that the hostess was not a hostess, but a service manager named Mary, and that I needed to come back and give her the proper respect her position and leadership deserve. Which, given the experience we just had, is hard to argue with. Thank you, Ms. Mary! You and everyone at Rainbow Lodge...