Turner's — Restaurant in Houston

The arrival and entrance were reminiscent of a speak-easy type bar/restauraunt. The thought and feel of entering a door into a speak-easy was quite cool, at first of course. Then, when my wife and I entered, we instantly felt uncomftorable.

The entrance was not reservation friendly, no receptionist, no greeting, confused, chaotic, obnoxious, tight, cramped. This might be one of the worst feelings as you enter a restauraunt, unsure where to go, where to stand, blocking the entrance and walkway to and from the dining room and kitchen. I was left feeling incredibly awkward and uncomftorable. Only then after standing idle for 5 minutes, we were approached by what seemed to have been the reservation coordinator, who we had spoke with just 30 minutes earlier, stating that our table was soon to open, which is why we arrived earlier to our late reservation.

We were told the bar was available for seating, which was completely packed when we arrived. There are 8 seats at the bar, and two table top's against the wall of the bar, all of which were fully occupied. As we stood around, waiting idlely, I considered multiple times to just leave the restauraunt, as I felt unappreciated, unattended to. But then, a seat opened up at the bar, which I approached to have a small area where we didn't feel so incredibly cramped. I ordered a glass of champagne, the Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve, (incredibe might I add), crisp and dry with peach/apricot notes. A wonderful delight to take off the edge of the awkard and uncomftorable feeling we had of standing around in a over-crowded, packed, and tight space.

Until, just 10 minutes later, two ladies walked in, and we were told that the bar stool, which finally opened up for us to sit/stand near the bar, was reserved in advance, and we were asked to move from our seat. How incredibly rude and unprofessional... Again, the urge to leave was incredibly tempting, if not for the fact that we were so hungry, I would have left instantly. Expectations were low, to say the least thereafter.

Finally, after 30 minutes of standing, and being removed from our seat at the bar, we were escorted to our table. Let me add, a couple entered after us when we initially arrived, and was greeted with Champagne and an escort to their booth/table that sits four towards the middle of the dining room. We were seated at a very small table, packed jam like sardines inside the dining room, elbow distance away from the table next to us. Further, there were two open tables next to us.

I asked the manager to kindly put another table together so that we can have more space, and not feel like we're in the conversation of the table next to us, and also to feel intimate with my wife on our date night. To which no avail, and unsuprisingly, the manager of the floor stated that "we are fully booked tonight" that table is reserved. We waited patiently, greeted by a wonderful waiter, a kind gentleman, with a great sense of Wine Pairing, I had the most delightful Chablis that paired well with the oysters on the half shell we ordered. The food was not bad, I ordered the 12 OZ Ribeye, (medium rare) and my wife ordered the Filet, with smashed potatoes. A mediocore presentation and taste was to be as expected for a well aged steak.

The wine pairing for the meal was a 2019 Vintage Madame de Beaucaillou, from the Haut-Medoc region. A wonderful cabarnet, full bodied, fruit forwards, notes of blackberry, rasberry. A great pair for the fatty Ribeye. Overall the food/wine was great. The concern was the service, which we felt underappreicated, and the staff were confused and overbooking seems greedy. We sat next to two empty tables for over 30 minutes, which I asked the manager and the waiter to put one of the tables together, but they were "overbooked" which I am questioning the integrity of that statement, since the table next to us was sat by two women, that were later moved to another area of the dining room, which I had asked again for them to combine the tables, to which they stated that they are overbooked. All in all,...

Lets get straight to the main points. The atmosphere of this place is incredible and would highly recommend just on that point alone. The service was on point. Not too needy but our waiter Juan was there when we needed him. The food delivery timing was perfect The only downfall for me is the food did not match the price point. I gotta be picky if the steak cost a 100 bucks and the entire meal was well over 2 bills for two people. The food was good but nothing spectacular. But the portions were great sizes to share

Alright so let's get into the deets, (deets is slang for details, this is what kids these days say #GenZ) The restaurant is very cozy and gives a rich grandma vibe. 👵 . I love me a rich grandma. The Christmas decor was classy 👌 Then oh my word! The freaking live music was so freaking romantical I could feels it in mine ball sack. The piano player and singer really set the place to next level quality atmosphere. The waiter we had ,Juan, was so cool and was there when we needed him. He had this cool move where after he took our plates , he would take a small brush or comb thing and clean the table. That guy was clean with that move. Alright now the FOOD! So me and my wife split the meals , so we had the same thing just shared . So goddang I could only imagine what that bill would have been if we didn't do it that way. But it was definitely plenty if food for the both of us. We got the wedge salad. It was good . The lettuce was fresh and not old. Nothing too crazy about the dish. The bacon on it was 🔥 . Then we ordered the Mac and cheese and the 20 oz waygu rib eye. That Mac and cheese was good, a little thiccccc for my taste and bruh why they gonna use the kraft Mac and cheese noodles?? Get some grown up shells. The steak was seasoned well and cooked to medium rare. But overall the steak was missing something I don't know what it was but something. Sorry go ask Gordon Ramsey if you wanna better review! Then we got the cherry tart. This was the best thing we got , I recommend this for a dessert. It's was a little crusty (in a good way) a little creamy, sweet...

Just took my bride to Turner's for our 33rd anniversary. We dine out a lot and our preferences may not be yours. First of all, the service and beauty of this restaurant is top notch. Amanda and Lucas at the bar were informative and great to chat with as we enjoyed a cocktail or two prior to dinner. Try the butter-washed martinis.

Vic and team were our servers and the team didn't disappoint explaining the menu and process of how we will be served. Never rushed, we enjoyed multiple courses. Impressive was Vic noticing the wine we ordered needed to chill a bit before serving. His solution was a couple of comp'd glasses of wine. That was much appreciated and creative.

Now to the food. The menu is diverse and has something for everyone. We were a bit boring tonight and ordered the wedge salad, shrimp cocktail, Scottish salmon and whole Branzino.

The wedge was delicious, however, the "bacon" item was more of thick cut pork belly and was not a well paired item for this salad. I appreciate the creativity, but a mouthful of salad which includes a soft slab of pork belly wasn't our favorite. A crunchy bacon would have been a better addition, in our opinion.

Both fish dishes were perfectly cooked. I should have begun by saying my bride and I typically let the server decide the best way to order our dishes and welcome their suggestions. In this case, the addition of the lump crab sauce was suggested and we agreed. The sauce was delicious, don't get me wrong, but the Branzino already comes with a mussel and broth topping and adding the lump crab sauce was a bit much for this dish. If the chef suggested it this way, as a rule, then why not have it that way on the menu? Adding it, just to add it, may not have been my choice but we go with the server most of the time. The perfectly cooked fish dishes turned into more of fish stews ruining the crispy skins on both the salmon and Branzino.

You must order the coconut cake! Period!

We will definitely be back due to the service alone. This place is doing it right from the service side. Bravo. Thanks for a great...