Sophie — Restaurant in Houston

When I first arrived to the Sophie there was no one to be found at the hostess podium, and I waited for a good few minutes to still not be greeted by any staff, so eventually I decided to head upstairs. Upon entering upstairs I found some women wearing floral dresses, to which I asked them if they worked here, and instead of being given a simple answer of "yes" or "no" I was very rudely and condescendingly responded to with, "do you have a reservation?". I in fact did have a reservation, but that is besides the point. The first interaction of high school level snarkniess would've been something I could've easily glossed over, had it not been for the secondary condescension and rudeness of the next female employee, wearing a black dress, to yet again repeat the same accusatory commentary to me. "Do you have a reservation?" I'm not sure why people have to be questioned as if they are wild animals. Anyways, I will digress, I tried to toss aside the pathetic "mean girl" attitude and let myself have some patience for what would hopefully improve once I was actually served- I was severely disappointed. What I had hoped had been a simple passing moment of staff immaturity turned out to be a foreshadowing of what the rest of my experience would entail. Although he was immensely more kind than the female staff, our waiter took ages to come back to our table and forgot countless things that we had ordered. To top it all off, when we did place our orders, things were not brought to our table in appropriate timing. Entrees were brought out before appetizers, some appetizers were late/forgotten, and dessert had been forgotten. We had to remind our waiter numerous times of our missing items. Overall, the food itself was lackluster and bland. I'm not sure what vindication the staff seemed to have over our specific table, considering I noticed nearly every other table besides ours was receiving impromptu service, but this was quite honestly one of the worst experiences I've ever had in Houston. If you want a place to just have cute photos for social media validation, then go ahead, but if you want a place that actually has great service, a great product, and great vibes, then absolutely skip out on this establishment. The dead "fresh flowers" I saw as decor should've been my immediate give away that this place is reeking of toxic and...

I've seen Sophie all over the socials so I was excited to book my 25th birthday here with a group of 10. Unfortunately, I did not get to even see my rez through.

I made a reservation on OpenTable for a group of 10 on a Saturday. A couple days later I got a phone call from Tiffany, the Event Coordinator, stating that groups of 8+ booked on a Friday or Saturday are required to meet a $75 person minimum ($750 tab for a couple hours). I was confused because this wasn't posted on their website, Yelp, Google, or OpenTable. I told her to cancel my rez because if that's their policy I simply can't guarantee that. She said to call her back tomorrow because she was going to lower the min spend.

I have never heard of a min spend requirement from a cocktail bar before. I was expecting her maybe to ask for a deposit or disclose that there will be an auto-gratuity applied. If you look at the menu, the drinks and food are reasonably priced so to meet a spend minimum of $75/person would require 4-6 drinks (within a couple hours) each which is an unsafe and large amount of alcohol for some people in my party (one of the reasons why I couldn't guarantee to meet the min spend).

I called Sophie's back and asked for a manager because if a manager could reinforce that the policy is legit & explain the reasoning behind it then I would understand & consider my options. However, Tiffany called me back. During our conversation she asked "what number did I tell you before was the minimum spend?" and at this point I knew it was a faux policy because there's not even a set price. I asked her if she could pass along the message that I wanted to speak to a manager and she agreed.

Four days went by and I had heard nothing from this place. I decided this isn't worth the headache and cancelled my rez on OpenTable. Once it was cancelled, that's when I got a call back again...from Tiffany (not a manger). She acted surprised that a manager never reached out and wished me well since I already decided to book somewhere else. I have to chalk up the no manager contact to either a manager wasn't notified of my situation, & if they were then that's poor customer service.

Hopefully others get a better experience than I did. I'm actually bummed this...

What an awful experience, from the moment we stepped foot inside the place until we finally got to leave. Hostess could not be bothered to get up from the table where most waitstaff was sitting around on their phones. Finally got up, to answer the ringing phone and assist with a reservation and finally asked if we had one once getting off the phone. Waitress was no where to be seen for 15 or more min, while many waitstaff were sitting around on their phones. The bar staff seemed more interested in lifting their shirts to show off their abs to each other and the waitstaff, then adjusting their under garments and then handling beverages. Yuck.

Our waitress finally arrived apologized stating she was unaware we were her table. Another 15 goes by after we put drinks in, still no water at the table. Finally a table busser offers us water. Wait staff, still leaning against the wall staring at their phones by the bar.

We get drinks after what seems like an eternity after our order, mind you bar staff still admiring each others bodies.

We were asked if we want the check, and our waitress is gone for good. A new waitress comes by, after another 10-12 asking if we’re ready for check. We close out. And leave for good. On the way out, more wait staff engorged in their phones. People looking around waiting to help helped, and I’m nearly positive another table just straight up left.

I can’t imagine their big “cocktail experience,” is much better if this upstairs experience is this bad. To top it off, they have the audacity to change a 20% fee from the start. I hope this place doesn’t make it. There’s far better experiences in Houston and we don’t put up with this. Good riddance can’t come soon enough.

Update, because I’ve had more time to think. The BEST part of this experience was checking “no” on ADDITIONAL tip because they already charged 20% for awful service. I hope the 20% gets these young ladies the activewear clothing they seemed so interested in on their phones. Once this place goes under, they’ll need it to run around looking for...