Tony's — Restaurant in Houston

I live down the street from Tony’s. I’ve passed by it approximately 900 times in the last 3 years that I’ve lived in the area, but never dropped by for dinner. I was always curious about it so I tried it tonight. Please know the only reason why I’m giving 3-4 stars is because the food was delicious + the busser and attendant (not the waiter) were kind and welcoming. First we came in and sat down - the hostess was accommodating though we ran late and I appreciated that, though the restaurant wasn’t very full. We ordered our drinks and waited more than 10 minutes for a menu. The manager just happened to be walking by so I pull him and asked for menus. He then proceeded to point blank look at me in the eye and tell me: “this is fine dining, we don’t force menus on people” . Then both him and the waiter scrambled to organize menus. First of all, if this was “fine dining” my wine glass wouldn’t have been infringing on the set up to the right of my seat and my napkin would’ve been automatically placed on my lap once I got seated; once we didn’t order wine the wine glasses should’ve immediately left the table (which they did not). The server would’ve been warm and welcoming, an expert in the food and history of the restaurant…and in some incredible places I’ve dined, the server takes it upon themselves to refer to guests by name. It was patronizing and downright foolish to say that to a guest - especially one that has dined in everything from a delicious taco stand in the streets of CDMX to Michelin Stars in Europe and Asia.

Now, the food. Delicious. The butter was to die for. Bread was good. The employee that passed out the bread and boxes our food was wonderful and so sweet and respectful, as well as the attendant that provided our martinis and dessert. That service was much better.

All in all: management, please get ahold of yourself. Providing a menu is BASIC. You’re re-defining luxury service in the wrong way. Upon reading these reviews, I’m not the only one with the issues. For an almost $300 bill even with the Houston Restaurants Month menu, the whole thing could’ve been better. The restaurant is dated inside, and you’re officially in a new field: Houston is spearheading the future in dining. Where...

Service gets 5 stars but at the end of the day one goes to a restaurant for the food. And the food wasn't good. I had a lobster bisque. Clearly a mistake in Houston. Lobster bisques are only great in the northeast. Go to NY, CT MA, Maine, etc or even NJ for a terrific bisque. My wife and son in law had a green salad. I tasted it, it was awfully salty and the dressing made my mouth pucker. It was tart to the extreme. My daughter had the artichoke salad and all I can say is the lest said the better about it.

Moving on to the main course: wife and daughter had the sole. The fish was cooked perfectly but the sauce it was served with was salty to the extreme and the vegetables it came with were inedible because they were very bitter. Son in law had the branzino which was overcooked. It was obviously so bad that it made the sole look good. I had the truffles filet mignon. If I hadn't eaten filet mignon at different restaurants I might have considered it very good. But all I can say is that it was good and cooked to order, again pretty salty. We ordered sides of silken potatoes, rustic potatoes and brussel sprouts. I strongly suggest no one should ever order these.They were disgusting. Also any fine dining restaurant that has mac and cheese as a side should be avoided all together.

Desserts: Awful, awful, awful. Panacotta - not cooked properly and covered with bitter mandarin citrus. Tuxedo cake - obviously not made in house. Would have been better at Krogers. Tiramisu that was horrible. Poached bosc pear. Aagh.

We decided on Tony's because of the reviews and the high rating. Disappointing. Maybe it was just our taste buds. That said when the breads served at a restaurant are stale you know what the rest of the meal is going to be like. I was impressed by the fact that they gave us butter knives but towards the end of the meal I just had to ask our main server about the purpose of the butter knives especially when they didn't serve any butter! His reply was completely nonsensical. He told me that they could also be used for spreading. Spreading what, on what? They did bring the butter out but the meal was over.

The overall presentation was good and the service excellent. The...

So I have been wanting to come here for the last year and have been to almost every high-end steakhouse in Houston: Pappas, Peli Peli, Mastros, you name it. This was probably the worst fine dining experience I have every hadl!! Now the place has great customer service and a unique (older) decor but everything food wise especially for a tab for 2 people over $400 was literally awful.

Firstly, they sent a sommelier over and I asked for a recommendation of an Amarone or Red Blend by the bottle... he replied French and Italian wines do not put half percentages on the bottle. Wrong it was 14.5% like I guessed; basic sommelier knowledge. It was a 2010 and from what I gather wasn't stored properly because the acidity in it burned down like Tequila.

Then we ordered the Duck Liver as a starter... it was undercooked even though they made it right in front of us. Then we ordered the muscles (way too much chopped garlic and small amounts of meat for the size of the shells) and a wedge salad. They brought out the wrong salad then came back with the right one...it was incredibly too salty and the bacon was not sweet (personal preference try Eddie Vs.)

Then my date and I ordered the ribeye medium plus and the crab/sausage pasta to split. The steak was closer to medium rare, very fatty, the olive oil topping didn't do much so I requested Bearnaise sauce 3xs... which was good but cold. The pasta was ok.

So we thought we could hopefully finish the night on a better note with dessert... they brought a giant piece of cotton candy in a martini glass and a lemon souffle which was cool to look at but too tart to really enjoy.

If this was my restaurant, I would have fired the chef on spot. It's hard to mess up a basic salad and I am so disheartened that every single dish and the wine was a miss. Even the music was hippy/alternative when there should be something more like classical/jazz.

Don't waste your money here. They really have a LOT to improve on and frankly need Gordon Ramsey. I was at Flemings a few days before and gave them 5 stars. Lol

EDIT: WAS NEVER CONTACTED BY THEIR MANAGEMENT AFTER...