Upper Kirby Bistro — Restaurant in Houston

UPPER KIRBY BISTRO/Five Central we were confused upon driving up. Once you get closer to the door, you're able to see the signage for Upper Kirby. The Bistro is nestled in a Residential/ Commercial area of River Oaks Area, the building is magnificent. It has alot of character. We love the orginal wood floors, reminds me of California homes that were built in the early 1900s. The brick entry ways quite lovely when you see them hidden in the new renovations. Multiple themed areas, the red & black room looks grown & sexy and lastly, the outdoor patio looks like a fun time for young people (Hookah set ups)... lol, yes we saw all of that on our requested tour.

We arrived ( Open Table) as soon as they opened. We were immediately greeted and seated. Our server Elmahi was efficient and extremely helpful. He placed our napkins in our laps. We immediately knew this was going to be a nice dining experience. On Tuesdays it's Happy Hour all day. With suggestions and many questions later, we ordered several dishes. We all love the Chicken, Mash Potatoes & Green Beans. The Spicy Shrimp appetizer which was $4 for one shrimp was really good and flavorful. We wished there were two shrimp because it was hard to share. The burgers were good especially the Applewood smoked thick bacon. The Gumbo was delicious. We love the rice that was served with it (forgot the name)... The doughnut bread pudding was fabulous. Elmahi was so polite without being overwhelming. He checked on our table just enough. Our last and finally HOORAY, our leftover food was packed table side. Because Texas is Texas, not everyone wore mask, we did when we weren't eating.

FYI, if your bill is more than $100, the restaurant automatically adds 20% gratuity, which was fine for us, but we like to tip our servers in cash. We...

My friend and I came kind of last minute. The valet parking $20 (very unorganized) so of course we paid. We didn’t have reservations but was able to be seated quickly. Sat down and was greeted quickly. Looked over the menu I wasn’t really hungry so I asked my waiter if they had something light and she suggested a fish fillet and fries for $16. Asked if they could make it crispy and she said yes. My friend ordered the pork chop and our food was delivered rather fast and fresh. I tasted her pork chop and it was a bit over cooked and dry but kept it. My fish was crispy but definitely over cooked that the batter broke apart and very hard to chew. It was Seasoned ok and the fries tasted like they warmed them in a microwave. That waitress handed me the electronic pad to check out with just the price. I was a bit confused because my food was $26. So I asked her how and she said oh no just the fish was $16 and the fries was $5 plus your coke. I felt mislead because I asked her specifically was the $16 for both and she said yes. I paid for it bc I ate it but I won’t be back. For the portion of fries I for it could’ve been considered a kids meal. The prices for the quality of food wasn’t worth it. Then we get outside only to see the valet guys losing their minds bc they parked a lady vehicle on the side of the road and it was towed. This wasn’t worth my night to say the least. My friend was visiting out of town and this experience...

Let’s start with parking, the parking situation is a stupid! Only street parking available at 1:15pm on a Saturday. I had to walk across busy Westheimer! And I had to parked my car at the Chuy’s restaurant parking 😤😤! As there was no other parking available. Any restaurant that will charge $14 for a margarita, and have a $$ for as price point on Yelp and Google should have better parking PERIOD!

Secondly the appetizer menu was a ridiculous only 3 items. None of the appetizers choices seemed appetizing. So we ended up choosing two sides as an appetizer the yams and greens (both were good)! The menu is not very well put together in my opinion. Just little odds and ends of a dinner/breakfast menu. The restrooms didn’t have significant signage to say where it was located! I had to ask the hostess who was nice enough to tell me where it was. Now me and my friend both ordered the jerk salmon Caesar salad. The salad was ok but the croutons were horrible (cornbread) more like old stale bread made from cornmeal. And we both had the Peach cobbler which was ok but took 20 minutes to receive at our table after ordering. I was not impressed by anything about this restaurant. This place should not be considered upscale at all. So in my opinion it’s not worth the money. The best thing they have is the waitstaff whom are very nice and polite. Also keep in mind that all checks that quantify over $100 has automatic gratuity...