Snooze, an A.M. Eatery — Restaurant in Houston

Hmm

I don’t really know what to say other than WOW! Before I explain you will need a little background.

It’s Memorial Day weekend (2021) I just walked into Snooze AM Eatery in Houston (CityCenter) and the restaurant is PACKED. The only seat I can get without over an hour wait is at the bar. Frankly, I was excited to be be able to get seated so fast. So far, so good right?

Well. After I order my amazing Bravacado Toast, coffee and water I cannot help but notice the heroic job the two bartenders are doing behind the bar as they literally are moving non-stop, filling orders for the entire restaurant, taking food orders from all of us at the bar and making all of that look super easy. They were doing a fantastic job in my opinion.

Then, randomly, out of the blue drama starts.

I thought it may have been a deranged and possibly drunk person initially because what caught my attention was not what I saw but what I heard. It was angry shouting that incredibly included the loud use of the f-bomb (with lots of kids around!), and someone yelling about chairs at the two guys working behind the bar?

To my genuine surprise the guy yelling obscenities is not some random drunk guy, but it’s Ryan Combs the restaurant manager and he is the one yelling while there is a full restaurant of paying customers and kids, Ryan Combs is berating the staff (yelling) at the bartenders, swearing using the f-bomb and generally loosing his mind at them loud enough that the entire restaurant can hear.

I have never seen a manager actually yell obscenities in public in front of patrons like that.

This was not a “quick” outburst from Ryan Combs. It lasted for a few minutes. Then Ryan Combs left stomping away like a child, banging chairs and banging doors yelling obscenities at the staff as he went.

The staff looked petrified, shocked and scared. Although, they did not stop working or taking great care of the paying customers for a moment. They persevered through Ryan Combs temper tantrum without missing a beat. This probably means this is not the first time this manager has verbally abused and attacked the staff. That is very sad.

Regardless of “what” caused the manager to be upset. What Ryan Combs did was the single most unprofessional thing I have seen a “leader” do.

I tried to honesty forget what just happened and tried to finish my meal as quickly as I could so I could get out of that tense situation.

Unfortunately, Ryan Combs did not stop. He came back and continued for a while at the other end of the bar, berating and challenging the staff all while saying f-bombs and yelling obscenities that were easily heard throughout the restaurant.

Again, it’s a PACKED Memorial Day weekend and the restaurant is very busy with dozens of people waiting outside to get a table and even with the Ryan Combs, the manger, loosing his mind on the staff the service is awesome. The food is awesome. How that staff kept their cool after that I do not know.

What I personally will never be able to forget is how I could see the staff is ashamed of the manager and genuinely terrified of Ryan Combs and frankly so we’re all of the people eating at the bar, including myself.

The owner of the Snooze AM Eatery Comapny frankly should give the staff of this location all a raise and the two guys at the bar a bonus for not yelling back or feeding the frantic and obviously disturbed mental status that Ryan Combs was in. The staff handled the situation like a professional team.

Please, please. Get Ryan Combs (the manager ) an anger management class and/or a new career. He is effectively crushing the Snooze AM Eatery Comapny culture at this location, and destroying employee moral of the staff, he is obviously not mentally in a position to be in a leadership role in any capacity.

How or why the General Manager of the location, David Hulsey, would leave a store to be managed by someone as volatile as Ryan...

Plenty of parking around since it's a shopping plaza. The wait was about 30 min to 45 min on a Sunday around noon. They will text you when your table is ready.

Although the inside wasn't as spacious as I expected but they made use of every space possible from indoor booths and tables to outdoor seating. The services here were excellent. Our waiter was knowledgeable of the menu and recommended us good choices. He took time to chat with us and check on us every now and then. We ordered the Benny Duo and OMG French toast. The Benny Duo option gives you two choices of your desire Benedict. We went with the Benny Goodman and the Chilaquiles Benedict.

Benny Goodman: A lox style salmon topped with a poached egg. While waiting for the food, the manager came to our table to inform us that the salmon was taking longer to cook. The waiter also checked on the progress of the Benny Goodman and said it will be out soon. I appreciated the attentive service at Snooze. Although it was very busy at every hour, the staff remain attentive. The lox style salmon was worth the wait. The soft texture of the salmon just melts in your mouth.

Chilaquiles Benedict: A barbacoa style beef with green chili hollandaise and cotija cheese. Good texture on the beef. Their poached eggs were perfection. When you cut into it, the yolk just come oozing out beautifully. The portion of everything was just right. The Benny duo also came with their classic hash brown that was crispy and crunchy.

OMG French Toast: This is probably the best French toast I have had. The creamy sauce that accompanied it literally had me saying "omg". The milkiness of the vanilla creme and the soft texture of the French toast were amazing together. Now I know why it's called the OMG French toast. A must-try at Snooze.

The Mmm Mmm Mimosa was an orange-based mimosa. Very rich in flavor and a great way to spice up your brunch. The iced mocha had a dark flavor and not sweet. Everything from the service to food were splendid. It was well worth the wait. Overall, Snooze goes down as one of my favorite brunch...

We waited an hour outside in the heat to be seated. When we were finally seated, the server didn't introduce herself when she came to our table. The menu was very limited and nothing appealed to me. When we placed our orders, I told the server that we were going to order mimosas but to give us a moment. The meals were delivered by someone else who automatically put my meal in front of my husband and my husband's meal in front of me. That told me they either don't use pivot points or one of them doesn't know which pivot point is which! The meals themselves were bland and didn't have much of a flavor until we added salt, pepper and salsa. Our server came by our table when we were done eating to ask if everything was good. This should have been done earlier. I reminded her that we wanted mimosas! The good things about this place were: the serrano salsa, which was delicious, but it's not made by them; the coffee was palatable; and the mimosas were excellent! We tipped our server her 20% even though I felt she was lacking in attending to the customer. Cynthia gave me her name when I asked but she rushed away from our table. Also, when we were sliding out of our booth, another server was walking in the aisle and didn't give us, the customers, the right of way. My husband was already standing in the aisle and was made to wait for the server to walk by. I suppose they don't practice CROW (Customer Right of Way) here. Maybe my expectations are too high for a place like this, but even Avalon Diner I rated a 5 star because of the extensive menu, delicious food and excellent customer service! These are my opinions and my experience at Snooze. I also believe everyone should try something for themselves and form their own opinion. Just because it didn't meet my expectations and I more than likely won't be returning here, does not mean others should avoid...