Toulouse Cafe and Bar River Oaks — Restaurant in Houston

TLDR: don’t go here. It’s not worth it. Food, service and management failed at every level. Inside was uncomfortably warm

Good: atmosphere in that the indoor dining area looked inviting crisp and clean, hostess was good and nice

Bad: pretty much everything else.

Misc: Menu only denotes vegetarian options (no food allergies/ vegan options listed)

Indoor dining We opted indoors because we thought it might a little bit cooler than outside and you avoid the bugs. Turns out it was hotter inside. The AC could not keep up with all the people in the room. It wasn’t even hot for the day. Maybe it’s more crowded because it was mother days weekend? Regardless it was uncomfortable.

Service: normally I’m forgiving but here’s a list of things that happened

Manager went around to other tables asking how everything was. He skipped ours and we did not seem him ever come back. It’s important because we wanted to complain About the food (see food review) Our waitress was new which is ok but you should have a trainer be next to a new server. See the following on how we guessed she was new Ordered wine but took our wine glasses away but realized her mistake and brought them back, so except she forgot 1 persons glass Pouring the first taste to 1 person who approved the wine and she poured all glasses except the tasting sip of the person who tasted it. I had to pour her glass I got my steak but it didn’t come with a steak knife, I had to ask for it. 6 friend ordered a cocktail but got a beer My martini had a sip left with an olive I was saving. It got taken away without asking if I was finished 😭 Service seemed slow but that could be kitchen and bar

Food and drinks Overall the food was mediocre. There were a few good dishes but more were forgettable

Here’s what we got: Charcuterie appetizer both the fromage and meat one- the meat one had good prosciutto but the rest of the meats the entire table felt like it wasn’t memorable. For example the terrine tasted bland, pate had very little pate flavor, blood sausage others ones were just ok. We also got a rotten grape that was split and had mold on it. That’s what we wanted to show the manager but he never came. It eventually got taken away before we could show it.

Beet salad: I didn’t have any but I noticed the microgreens were wilted, as in not fresh. See picture

Escargo, I didn’t have any but my friends said it was just ok.

Mussels- tasted under seasoned. It was cooked ok.

I ordered the steak frites which is a NY strip cut. The steak was cooked to the right wellness but it came to me uncut. I’ve always had steak frites sliced. Either way it’s fine, but they never gave me a steak knife at first. I had to ask for knife

The fries honestly tasted like fast food fries. I’d expect more effort at a French restaurant. Some suggested mc Donald’s would be better

I did taste my friends dishes which actually turned out ok. The tenderloin was cooked perfectly with a flavorful mushroom sauce. I also tasted the bermundi fish dish which comes in a comically large roasting pan but the fish was seasoned well and tender. The roasted veggies in the dish was good too.

Drinks, they took a while to come after ordering. I would say they are sufficient but nothing to write home about. They brought them out in 2 waves where half the table got it first and the rest got it...

Toulouse deserves zero stars for an experience that left me deeply traumatized due to a racist remark from a waitress. While I enjoyed the food and loved the patio, the encounter with this waitress left a bitter taste in my mouth. After finishing my meal, I asked another waitress—who was setting a table—to take a picture. Although she initially smiled, she later compared me to a Black singer, PinkPantheress. While PinkPantheress is a talented artist, I am neither Black nor do I resemble her. The waitress delivered this comparison with a condescending tone, followed by a smile that felt like salt in the wound.

At first, I didn’t fully process what had happened, but when it hit me, I was shocked and heartbroken. The encounter brought back painful memories of past bullying. I left the restaurant feeling humiliated and hurt. I didn’t even have the courage to tell the manager. Initially, I remained silent, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I couldn’t just let it go, which is why I’m leaving this review.

As a Pakistani woman even with fair skin, I’ve faced racism throughout my life, and it was devastating to experience it again as an adult in a place where I was a paying customer. I felt like I had paid to be insulted. This waitress, who should have been there to serve, instead decided to belittle me based on my ethnicity. Her remark not only insulted me but also Black women, who deserve far better than to be spoken of in such a derogatory manner.

Toulouse, why do you employ staff who make customers feel inferior? How dare a waitress insult a paying customer? If she didn’t want to take the picture, she could have simply declined. I cannot recommend Toulouse, as I’m still haunted by the humiliation I experienced. My husband wanted to speak to the manager in person, but I insisted we simply spread the word to our friends and locals instead. As a leader of a club in River Oaks, and member of many others I will be alerting our members not to patronize Toulouse as well as our friends and family.

I hope this review prompts a change because no customer deserves to be treated this way. This incident occurred on August 2nd at 5:03 PM. The waitress in question had brown hair...

I went to your restaurant yesterday and I have to admit I was disappointed. When we arrived I noticed several of the employees were wearing their mask below their nose which kind of defeats the whole purpose. Also, the tables were all full and very close together so there definitely was no social distancing! On top of that, they never asked if we minded smoking but I guess it is allowed in the outside area and unfortunately they sat us right next to 2 different tables that had several guys smoking cigars. Lastly, we ordered the Steak Tar Tar and it was bland and not much flavor at all and we also ordered the Beef Bourguignon and the Chilean Sea Bass. The beef was delicious but it was dark and hard to tell when I cut into the fish but it was not really cooked all the way through. Also, it was not hot when it came to our table and I would rate it as barely luke warm. Our party of 3 actually shared both meals and 2 of us did not finish the fish. The dinner was a gift from my friend for my wife and I so I did not want to make a fuss during the meal so I waited until she had gone to the rest room and mentioned some of the above to the waiter and his reply was just that we ate most of the fish. I told him I was not really looking for compensation I was just wanting to make sure he told the chef or manager or both that the fish was not cooked. He did not really reply and never mentioned it again and never sent a manager or anything so my guess is he did not mention any of the above to the manager. On the plus side, they seated us quickly and the server and service was good and we did enjoy that the wine was half priced. Also, as I mentioned, the Beef really was delicious and also the setting was really nice and the ambience was great. In hindsight I wish we had sent the fish back based on the temperature and that does fall on me that I should have done that. Anyway, all of this is to say that we all had very high hopes for our visit to your establishment and we ended up leaving with a much lower opinion and I just thought you all should be aware of all the above concerns and issues. Ultimately we did have a mostly a nice evening and hopefully we can return soon and will have a...