Watson's House of Ales — Restaurant in Houston

This was our first time coming to this place. I was looking for a pub type atmosphere with food, a good beer selection, and laid back feeling, and this place has it. It goes for a neighborhood British pub feel, with a little bit of Texas thrown in, of course. On the day we went, a Saturday, there was a DJ on the patio and they were boiling live crawfish by the pound at a reasonable (but not cheap) price of $7.99/lb. This was great, as my wife was in the mood for crawfish and I was in the mood for a British pub. Where else but Houston, Texas, right?

Little did I know that this pub is actually one of the Baker's St. pubs around the Houston area, which evidently each have very different looks and feels from one another. This one has a somewhat traditional feeling British pub interior, and what I'd kind-of call a Texas hill country vibe on the patio, which has comfortable tables with umbrellas, sitting underneath large trees. It was a sunny day and we sat outside with no direct sunlight hitting us. PERFECT.

I ate the Fish & Chips, which was good, although I question whether their recipe, as claimed, is world famous. It was good, but the batter didn't have any special zing to it. It was cooked properly, not overcooked or dry. I think it was probably Tilapia, which is okay, but I'd prefer a nice big flaky cod for fish & chips. I also prefer thinner fries, whereas they have the medium thickness fries. The fries had no seasoning on them except maybe a little salt. So I guess a fairly bland dish, but it wasn't bad.

Wife had the live cooked crawfish, which were fantastic, big, perfectly Cajun-style spiced, and corn & potatoes were available. It was on the moderate level of spice for a Cajun. Maybe a little too spicy for someone not familiar with Cajun crawfish, but it was NOT as spicy as a real Cajun would do it, so most people can enjoy it.

Beer selection was good, but not fantastic. I would like to see something more along the lines of the old Richmond Arms in Houston, where they had about the same number of taps, but had an EXTENSIVE bottle list. I wasn't even offered a bottle list, and I'm pretty sure the "list" was like Ultra and Lite, not real beer. Equally, some of the bottles and at least one tap should be a BRITISH beer. They had Guinness, but folks, that's Irish. :) Bottles stay for a long time in dry storage or refrigerated storage, so there's literally no reason not to keep an extensive selection on hand. Just buy 6 packs or even 4 packs of slow movers, but you can advertise your extensive selection. Liquor drink selection seemed ok, but I didn't look closely at that, as for me a pub experience is beer, not cocktails. That's probably the Houston / Louisiana influence on the pub menu choices.... but for future reference, pub-goers, real pub-goers, want beer in large quantities and selection. If someone comes in for an Ultra and a hamburger, they didn't probably get the memo about where they are right now.

For what it's worth, I will for sure go back here. Again great vibe, good food, decent beer selection, comfortable outdoor seating with SHADE (I hate, HATE pubs/bars that only have narrow metal stools as "seating"... I just refuse to go to them. Equally places with un-covered outdoor patios and no shade ... why would I sit out in that?!).

Highly recommended, and again,...

I have been to Watsons countless times, and they all have been memorable. This review is based on my personal experiences and a magical Saturday eveining, April 16th, 2022, my group of family and friends had an AWESOME evening under a full Pink Moon sitting outside on what may be the largest outdoor patio at any bar in Houston, for sure the largest in West Hou on. Õ

The temperature was around 72°F with low humidity and a gentle breeze. Travis Lance was playing live music all evening; he is an amazing awesome musician with a magnetic personality. Towards the end of the evening I shook his hand to thank him and we wound up talking for about 10 minutes

My partner and her sister-in-law were drinking Dos Equis Draft in cold glasses (salted top and with fresh lime juice). Her brother was drinking Shiner Bock Draft. As the Designated Driver I was not drinking.

The Bartenders were on point. I made many trips to the bar to get more drinks for my party and was always served quickly. NOTE: There were servers working in the patio area, they seemed busy, and I did not mind shuffling back and forth from the bar to the patio. This allowed me to make sure that my group never had to wait for their next drinks.

In addition to their amazing patio, they have pool tables, darts, and great food. My favorite is the “Dos Tacos” served on warm flour/corn mix tortillas with a choice of carrot habanero, serrano mayo, or mango habanero. Served with fresh house-made salsa and warm tortilla chips grilled shrimp with homemade slaw and cotija cheese. My favorite cocktail is their Patron Rita on the rocks

General Overview: Dress code is “Come as you are’,, dogs are welcome on the patio, cuisine type is comfort food, lots of choices for draft and craft beers, specialty cocktails, and a great selection of Tequila, Rum, Scotch, Gin, Bourbon, and Whiskey.

Located right by I-10 and Highway 6 with plenty of parking, it’s laid-back atmosphere is perfect when you want to share with friends and have a good time at this West...

Been coming here for almost a decade now, and tonight was actually my first really disappointing night.

I came here with my wife, 4 month old (who never fussed), and two friends. We sat in the back dining area in the larger booth and were there for 3 hours. In those 3 hours, our server Trishelle only came to us 3 times. Each time she would rush leaving our table mid-order, and we were not able to get some of our orders in and just gave up. That was the first problem.

The second problem was she sat at the table probably 20ft from us with her co-workers on her phone (this is what she did in in-between the 3 times she came to serve our table). Which being so few times, she never really even took away our plates or glasses. Now I don't know if she was on a break or what not, but given how long it was it did not seem so. But if it was, some simple communication of it would be good and maybe not sit in the serving area on your phone.

The third problem came at 9:50pm, when she told us that we have to leave at 10:00pm because it is 21+ only. That is understandable having the policy, but what was completely unprofessional was her going back to her table of co-workers and the manager(?) walking by making annoyed gestures that we were still in the bar after 10:00pm, only for her to say "I toooold them". What she didn't tell her manager was for 15 minutes after 10:00pm she still never gave us our checks. Whether the manager knew that detail, I am not sure. But had he, maybe he would have been less aggressive about our presence and not dart a snare at us for being there still as we waited for his lulling server to give us our check.

I really hope something gets handled about this service, because this was an enjoyable place to go and I truly hope this is not a foreshadowing of decline in quality...