Tago — Restaurant in Houston

PART 1: Disappointing, Discriminatory, and Unprofessional Experience at the Door :

We were extorted by a racist at the door. His name is Rob. He's tall, white, bald headed with a beard. He was hired by the owners and not the hospitality group. This wasn't my husband's first encounter with him in over 20 years of residing in Houston: for perspective.

I had high hopes for Tago and was genuinely looking forward to enjoying dinner there. Unfortunately, our experience was tainted before we even got inside. When we arrived for our reservation, we were stopped by the doorman, Rob, who immediately scanned my husband from head to toe and told us he wouldn’t be allowed in because he was wearing colorful Jordans. This was incredibly confusing and frustrating, especially since we had carefully reviewed the restaurant’s dress code policy in advance and made sure his attire was appropriate. My husband was dressed very dapper and stylish overall.

What made the situation even more appalling was what happened next: we were ultimately let in, but only after my husband paid Rob $40 at the door—just to be allowed to eat dinner. It felt more like we were entering a nightclub than a restaurant, and this unprofessional “fee” was never mentioned on the website or by the restaurant beforehand. It was egregious and left us feeling taken advantage of.

To make matters worse, as we were leaving, we noticed other gentlemen of a different ethnic background being welcomed in wearing Air Force Ones—a type of sneaker that is, in our opinion, no different from Jordans in terms of formality. They were not stopped, questioned, or asked to pay anything. This double standard made the experience feel not just unprofessional, but discriminatory.

As someone who considers herself a restaurant connoisseur—and someone who travels the world for food—I can confidently say this was one of the worst initial first impressions I’ve ever encountered.

Tago needs to seriously reconsider how its staff handles dress code enforcement—and more importantly, how guests are treated at the door. No one should be made to feel profiled or pressured into paying an unofficial fee to enjoy a dinner reservation they rightfully secured.

I will now be posting a separate review detailing our overall dining experience after being "let in", including our interaction with the co-owner/hospitality guru, Will.

PART 2: Inside Experience – A Slight Recovery, But Still Subpar

Once we were finally let into Tago—after the unprofessional and discriminatory ordeal at the door—co-owner/Hospitality guru, Will made a sincere effort to address the situation. He was apologetic and acknowledged how unacceptable the experience was. He took $80 off our tab to help make up for the entry door heist, which we appreciated. While I believe the entire meal should have been comped given the circumstances, his gesture did help soften the initial sour taste. He also assured us that Rob, the doorman, would be held accountable.

Unfortunately, the service inside didn’t quite redeem things. After being seated, no one approached our table for over 15 minutes. My husband had to get up and find a server himself. When she arrived, she was pleasant, but clearly inexperienced.

He ordered a screwdriver, which somehow came out with pineapple juice instead of orange. I ordered pasta with shrimp and specifically asked—five separate times—that it be made with no cheese. She reassured me each time, yet it still came out with cheese and had to be remade.

The ambiance and scene were aesthetically nice, but the overall experience was disorganized, unprofessional, and far from what you’d expect at a restaurant trying to present itself as upscale.

As someone who dines around the world and takes food and hospitality seriously, I was very disappointed. If this is how guests are treated in their own city, it’s no wonder many of us prefer to travel elsewhere for quality dining...

Review: 0/10 – Beautiful Ambience, Terrible Experience

I visited this restaurant on Friday evening with a friend, and unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing from start to finish.

We had an 8:30 PM reservation but checked in at 8:50 due to a long valet line. Upon arrival, we were promptly greeted by four hostesses who seated us at an outdoor table. While the ambience was undeniably beautiful, I was confused as to why a party of two was placed at a table meant for eight.

Shortly after being seated, water and menus were placed on our dimly lit table. Then… nothing. Twenty minutes passed with no sign of a server. Meanwhile, the table next to us had two waitresses assisting them. I politely asked one of the servers if anyone had been assigned to our table. She said she’d find out and send our server right over. Another 30 minutes went by—still nothing.

At this point, frustrated, I stood up. The same server noticed and quickly approached, surprised that no one had helped us yet. She offered to take our order herself, admitting she wasn’t sure if anyone had been assigned to our section, which was concerning.

We ordered right away: two appetizers, two entrees, and drinks. The drinks arrived quickly, but were terrible—mine (a margarita served in a martini glass) tasted like medicine, and my friend’s drink had a strange aftertaste. One appetizer (the ceviche) came out, but the second never did. The server repeatedly passed by without checking on us, and there was no manager in sight the entire time.

By 10:30 PM, still without food or service updates, my friend and I decided to leave. We approached the host stand, explained the situation, and requested to cancel our order. The hostess was very apologetic, and we let her know the service experience—not her—was the issue. We asked to pay for only the ceviche, and we wanted to return the drinks.

Then came more confusion. The server returned with the handheld payment device but said she needed to “go close the tab.” She left again for 15 minutes. Finally, a manager came out—very apologetic—and said we didn’t need to pay for anything. We appreciated the gesture and left.

But it didn’t end there. While waiting for valet, the same server returned with a security guard asking again if we were her table, clearly not aligned with what the manager had just resolved. It was awkward and unnecessary.

To top it all off, after pre-paying and tipping valet, we were told to walk to our car five cars back instead of it being brought to us.

All in all, the only positive thing I can say about this restaurant is that the ambience and the DJ were great. Everything else—from the lack of service to the disorganized staff and poor communication—was a mess.

I do not recommend this restaurant and would give it 0 out of 10 stars. A beautiful space is wasted without good service...

Giving this place zero stars. By far the worst experience I’ve ever had. I’ve never had an experience as bad as I did at this establishment. My friend and I had reservations for 8:30 this past Friday but we didn’t get checked in and seated til around 8:45ish because the valet was very chaotic and unorganized. There aren’t enough people working valet for the amount of people that were going to the restaurant. The check-in process was quick & easy and once we got inside, we were seated outdoors by a host but the host seated us at a table for 8 when there was only 2 of us. We were given water once we sat down and then no one ever came to take our orders. After sitting there for about an hour, we had to ask a waitress serving another section to help us since the waitress assigned to our table never came to take our orders. We ordered 2 appetizers, drinks and 2 main courses. Our drinks came and they were disgusting. My friend ordered a margarita and it tasted like medicine. The drink I ordered had a weird after taste. The only food item we got was the ceviche we ordered which actually was good but none of our other food items ever came. After being there for a total of 2 hours, we got fed up and let one of the hosts know that we were leaving. We spoke with one of the managers and let her know what happened and she handled the situation well. She apologized & advised us that we didn’t have to pay for anything because of everything that happened. While we were waiting on my car, the waitress that helped us ran outside with a security guard and demanded that we pay since we “left without paying.” We had to explain to her that we spoke with one of the managers and she said we could leave without having to pay since we had such a bad experience & the waitress finally left us alone. So the communication is also bad at this establishment between the employees. We were starving since we never got to eat so we ended up having to go to a taco truck after we left (which was incredible). Overall, we had a horrific experience and won’t be going back. The only thing this establishment is good for is taking pictures. Other than that, I wouldn’t...