The Kennedy — Restaurant in Houston

Where to start… actually. For starters I made an 11:30 reservation and was told once seated that the kitchen wouldn’t open for “another 20 minutes”. Ok, fine our group just thought maybe they had a staffing issue.

The restaurant itself was not busy. There were a couple of tables sat. And about 3-4 people at the bar.

Once we were allowed to order food at noon, (mind you, we got there 1130/1140) we ordered pancakes for the table and truffle fries to share as we waited for the last of our party to arrive. About 20-30 minutes later after being assured a few times our food was being plated up — our “truffle” Parmesan fries make it to the table. While we appreciated that they were hot, they were unsalted, sprinkled with Parmesan and did not even have a whisper or truffle oil. Fine. We were starving, and ate them. About 5-10 minutes later we were promised that our stack of pancakes were being “plated up”. Only to be told about another 10 minutes later that they actually couldn’t serve them because they couldn’t make the syrup work. (Whatever that means). So the waiter kindly offered another dish free of charge. Fine. We ordered the crab cake dish to split while we waited for our last person to arrive. This now puts us at about 1240 and we’ve only had our drinks and truffle-less fries.

Around 1245, all those in our party accounted for, the crab cake dish arrives and we immediately order our main courses.

The crab cake eggs Benedict was very meh. It had a kiss of hollandaise and the poached eggs were over cooked. The crab was slightly fishy. The seasoning was nice. The waiter offer to fix it the eggs but at that point it had already been an hour since we sat and we were hungry.

We order 5 main courses from their very limited brunch menu. Only 5 of the 7 main courses were available on the day we were there. But at 1:15 (we ordered around 1245) when our dishes hadn’t arrived.

Normally if this was a busy Saturday brunch spot, I could excuse it. But at this point, there was a table of 6 other ladies, a table of 2 ladies and a handful of people at the bar. Surely the kitchen could manage 5 dishes from a limited menu.

But lo and behold. At 1:15 our food still hadn’t arrived 30 minutes after ordering. I politely asked for the check of the drinks and the fries. Our server, Taylor, who also claimed to be the manager brought over the bill for all the drinks, the fries and all the food we did not receive , and even the food that was “not available” due to the syrup issue.

Taylor tone and demeanor changed once I told him I would not paying for food that did not hit the table. He had an attitude and tried to list all of the dishes we ordered. However we never received them. After this attitude change I asked for a manager, for which then he claimed he was. After insisting I wasn’t paying for food we did not receive, he said he’d be back.

He then came back and said we’d only be charged for drinks. The bill was still incorrect and he went back again to correct the bill. He came back with what looked like a correct bill. Once I paid the bill , I asked for the itemized receipt, which the he told me “left” the pancakes on. Even though they were never available for purchase?? He assured me he issued a refund but did not provide a receipt. (No worries, that’s why I paid with my Amex).

Also credit card payers beware. They added a “cc surcharge” to the bill. Will have to go back on the website to check if they state they prefer cash. But they did not tell us that upfront when paying.

So overall, the food was very meh. The drinks were fine. The service was awful. Worst service I’ve had anywhere in the...

I hate to say it but this was pretty terrible experience. My husband and I finally got out for a date night and we were excited to try the Kennedy for the first time on a friend’s recommendation.

After being seated (which was prompt at least since we had a reservation), but at first she attempted to seat us at a table that was quite literally part of another couples table? Hard to explain but they are far too close together on the low tops with the bigger chairs. Why would you try to sit us directly with people we don’t know when there’s plenty of tables to sit elsewhere? So awkward for both couples as we stared and she tried to sit us with them?

Finally she sat us elsewhere at a half booth half chair small table and I’m not usually one to complain about AC, but it was blowing directly on me, blowing my hair in my face and with a coat on I was pretty cold. But whatever, I let that go.

we waited around 15 minutes before anyone came to our table. No menus, no waters, no waiter etc. we looked around too many times and realized no waiter was to be found anywhere!

Finally we got a waiter, who then couldn’t hear us order due to the loudness of the music, which …okay - but I had to repeat my order several times (the literal first drink on the menu, the lavender French 75) and he still returned twice to confirm what I had ordered, brought the drinks out to the wrong table, went back, confirmed my order again, then finally brought my drink. We then clocked it - 18 minutes before they brought out my husband’s drink after they brought mine (a simple manhattan).

We asked to pay out because we could 100% tell things were going to go south. He even took my glass away before I finished drinking it - my husband kindly asked for it back so I could finish it. Not to mention again I couldn’t even hear my husband from across the table as we tried to chat while we continued to wait.

The waitstaff needs some serious training. This restaurant has been open long enough now that you need to get it together. I’m disappointed that some previous reviews were accurate when I was hoping that wasn’t the case. It really was an overall vibe for us and for those around us that we were not being well taken care of. Everyone looking around like…what is going on?

We left and went to a nearby restaurant and were greeted immediately with impeccable service and care. WOW. What...

Hi I never write a review but I needed to make one. As a business owner we want to know what is good and what we need to improve on.

My wife and I had dinner here last night for the first time. The place is beautiful. A 50s/60s atmosphere. Most customers were dressed up which we were pleasantly surprised. You felt like you were dining with the Kennedys and other stars.

The restaurant needs to decide if it s restaurant with a piano bar or a piano bar with snacks.

We were seated promptly since we had reservations. I ordered an Old Fashioned and my wife ordered a Cosmo. The drinks came a little slow but were both good.

For an appetizer the waiter suggested the fried mozzarella stick. Mozzarella stick should not be served at a restaurant this nice. It reminded me of Bennigans. The mozzarella stick was one small piece for $26.00. Yes one piece. It was covered with Caviar. For that price at least give us 2 or 3 and no Caviar.

For second course, I ordered the wedge salad and my wife ordered the lobster bisque. My wedge salad came out right away however we waited over 15 minutes for the lobster bisque . I waited patiently so I could eat with her. Once it did arrive, it was basically water with some type of crawfish boil and 2 pieces of lobster. It was not good. Sounded like they ran out and put something together. 5 minutes later I heard the waiter say to another table they were out of lobster bisque. I wish they would have told us that in the beginning. The wedge salad was good. it had a creamy jalapeno dressing.

For entrees I ordered the petite filet and my wife ordered a smash burger. The smash burger was surprisingly good but should not be served at this caliber of a restaurant. My petite filet came in some type of souffle bowl with sauce. The filet was sliced in 4 chunks. It was overcooked.

This place is beautiful and we need a restaurant like this in Houston. Their menu needs to be more traditional. Steak dishes, seafood dishes, something Italian and salad/soups.

We ordered ice cream for desert which was good.

They did comp my wedge salad.

I understand they just opened and we will give them a try again. I hope they make a...