Verde Garden — Restaurant in Houston

Really disappointed with this experience. The atmosphere seemed like it would have a really cool vibe, but we were ultimately really let down. We didn’t even get the opportunity to try the food or drinks because we literally had 0 service. After grabbing our own menus and eventually flagging down a server, we were told that it would be faster service to go to the bar and that they don’t really have servers there. She justified this by saying they operate the same way as their sister bars, but this helps literally no one if you haven’t been to their sister bars. So instead of taking our order, she went back to standing at the front. At this point we just wanted to at least have water and an appetizer since we had been waiting so long. My boyfriend went up to the bar and it took 10 minutes for one of the bartenders to acknowledge him. Please note that he was the ONLY ONE at the bar. This place was pretty empty still as it had only just opened up an hour before. The bartender told him she would be right with him. She was not. He stood there for another 5-10 min waiting to order. It honestly seemed like no one knew what they were doing. After over 30 min of waiting for someone to take our order we finally decided to leave.

My advice to management is to figure out what you want to do. You can’t decide to have servers in some areas and then leave the rest of the restaurant without servers. It creates a LOT of confusion. Especially for first timers. I have no problem ordering at the bar, but if that’s how you’re going to do it then the bartenders need to be available to take orders. Not make eye contact with a customer who has been standing there for over 10 min with a menu in their hand waiting to order. This place has so much potential, but I can’t see us returning for a while. They need to figure out how to run this place more...

We had a reservation for largest group for a birthday for about 20 people. They had set up a table outside with 4 long tables pushed together. The server stated he would unable to split the bill in more then 6 cards. Which I can understand since we are a lot of people, but when I told him I could pay for the people sitting on my table he said he couldn't do that. He would take the total 20 person bill and split it into 6 evenly. Which does not make sense. If I buy more then someone else they everyone would be paying for it. So we decided to just keep tabs on what everyone ordered and put it on my card.

I have been to verde garden a couple times before and never had this issue. Food and drinks are always good. During the first round of drinks one of the servers helping out the main server spilled a cocktail on two girl's laps. There was a lot of apologizing and she stated that she would comp 2 drinks from each of the girls. At the end of the night everyone gave me their orders.

I went home to do the math and found that we had 3 drinks that were not comped. The server only comped 1 drink. I called and spoke to manager Stephanie (I think? Her name started with an S) she stated she would submit a refund by that night and i should get a text later and see the refund within a couple of days. I left for out of the country after that and when I got back I realized I never got a refund.

I know the POS system they use is Toast. I went to chicago this year and their restaurants used the same system. They gave us a QR code and we could split the bill and pay it then and there. Please upgrade ur system. Makes no sense when you know you have a party of 20 reservation have no game plan for check splitting. Or at least allow us to split it by table. The whole thing was messy and...

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I decided to try Verde Garden for lunch, intrigued by its charming aesthetics. It's undeniably picturesque, making it a delightful spot for photo opportunities, which seemed promising at first glance.

However, our initial impressions were quickly overshadowed by an unusual service model. At Verde Garden, the dining experience is technology-driven with minimal staff interaction. Orders are placed exclusively via a QR code system, which also serves as your digital menu. This modern approach, while efficient for some, left us without the chance to seek recommendations or ask questions, subtracting from the traditional dining experience.

The food, unfortunately, mirrored our feelings of disconnect. Our selections included a torta, charro beans, shrimp quesadillas, and Brussel sprouts. Out of these, only the Brussel sprouts managed to deliver on taste. The rest of the dishes were underwhelming in flavor and, considering their price, disappointing.

As we concluded our meal, the lack of staff engagement continued. No one checked on us to gauge our satisfaction, nor were our dishes cleared. The staff congregated amongst themselves, which had us questioning the restaurant's operational dynamics. We did tip as we ordered, but wondered where the tip goes, as we didn't have a server.

Verde Garden operates on a model that departs starkly from the conventional dining experience. It's a system I find alienating and sincerely hope it does not set a precedent for the industry's future. In its current state, the restaurant leaves patrons like us pondering the value of their expenditure against an...