K1 Speed - Indoor Go Karts, Corporate Event Venue, Team Building Activities — Restaurant in Jersey Village

A Disappointing and Discriminatory Experience at K1 Speed in Houston

I recently visited K1 Speed in Houston with my four children for what was supposed to be a fun evening of racing. Based on their height, two of my children and I qualified to race as adults, but my youngest son, Santiago, could only run in the junior category due to his height. Unfortunately, a staff member informed us that the junior races were suspended on Friday and Saturday nights. Santiago, who had been excited about racing with us as a family, was heartbroken and began to cry. I explained that we had to follow the rules, even though it was disappointing.

Santiago and I walked around the shopping center while his two older brothers prepared for their race. However, during the second race, close to 11 PM, I noticed a much more minor child, with less physical stature than Santiago (12), racing in the adult group and even causing incidents on the track.

I asked the staff why my son was denied the same opportunity. The manager responded unprofessionally, stating that the minor child was a frequent customer and that they knew he was capable of racing with adults. I was shocked because I had seen how poorly the child performed compared to my son, who has been racing on tracks all over Texas since the age of nine and has proven his skill, precision, and conduct on the track, much like an experienced adult.

The assistant manager’s response reflected blatant discrimination. Despite Santiago being more significant than the other child, they favored the smaller one, ignoring the size in their decision-making process. Another manager, José Guerra, joined the conversation and confirmed that their rules are selectively enforced. He implied that the child racing had an advantage over Santiago due to physical appearance and race.

At that point, I pulled my two racing children from the event and requested a refund, which was declined. I refuse to support an establishment that shows such classist and racist behavior, especially toward a child.

Additionally, I am concerned that if the managers are willing to ignore franchise rules so blatantly, this likely reflects failures in other areas, including safety and consumer protection. A place like this, where rules are disregarded, raises alarms about broader issues, especially in terms of public safety. I plan to bring this to the attention of local authorities, including the fire marshal, and request a surprise inspection of the venue’s safety and mechanical standards.

The sadness they caused my son, who is just a child, amounted to mental and moral abuse.

I do not recommend this place or its unprofessional staff. It was heartbreaking to see my son cry for following the rules while another child was allowed to break them with the support of three managers. I believe the K1 corporation needs to reevaluate its principles and guidelines and ensure its staff, from cashiers to managers, enforces the rules equally for everyone.

I am sure this review will be seen by other parents and families looking for a fun experience. But let me warn you: they will ruin your family plans and unity with their classist and racist...

False advertisement of height requirement.

The REAL height requirement is about 56”, NOT 48” as falsely advertised.

First, I want to say that I’m not one to spend time on writing reviews, but my son asked me to do it so other kids don’t have to go through the same grief he did.

For the full details read on…

I took my 49” (50” with shoes) tall son for his first go-kart experience, which he had been looking forward to for a very long time, only to be told his legs weren’t long enough to meet their length requirement…by a whole 4 inches.

He is very proportional…very average…and definitely doesn’t have munchkin legs. So, 4 inches of deficit in leg length for a 49” inch height on a very proportionately built child is a huge discrepancy. Something is not adding up.

To add 4 inches to his leg length would probably add another 4 inches to his top half, since he’s proportional. That would be a total of 8 inches added to his current height, which would bring his height to 57” (49” + 8”) by the time he meets their leg length requirement.

So the REAL height requirement for an average proportional kid is 56”/57”, but definitely not 48” as they are falsely advertising.

Btw, 56” is more in line with the height requirements for most go-kart places. But most go-kart places don’t false advertise like K1 Speed.

So the main question is why are they purposely lying and deceiving ppl (aka false advertising), since they obviously know it’s a recurring issue, as the manager of this location admitted? My best guess is that it’s probably a cheap tactic to lure ppl in the door and hoping they would settle for spending money on their arcades or whatever, since they can’t race, just to console their disappointed grieving child.

But beware of ruining your child’s day, like it did to mine….not to mention on his birthday of all days.

We hope this review helps to avoid other kids from the grief of disappointment and we hope even more that K1 Speed changes its advertised height requirement to a realistic one or maybe use a more appropriate measurement metric, such as inseam length, since the length from the seat to the pedal is what is really measured.

It’s amazing to me that such a large, internationally wide outfit has been getting away with such blatant false advertising for height requirement for such a long time (since 2003). I hope this review helps to correct that. And if not, I hope someone out there with more means than I will sue them in order to stop them from deceiving and disappointing anymore people just for the sake of making a...

We had to make a last minute pivot for my son's birthday party, and K1 Speed came through for us. I submitted my request online through the website and was contacted the next morning by Lupe Salcast from the main office in California. She clearly explained all of my options and was able to reserve the day/time that I needed. Because the guest list was fluid at this point, she recommended guaranteeing the 8 racer minimum, and we could add any additional guests when we settled the bill at the end of the party.

The confirmation notice included a link to the online checkin/registration page, which was very convenient for all of our guests' parents, since they could then just drop them off without having to come inside. Checkin was easy as they arrived, and we were set for the first race shortly afterwards.

We had a room reserved where we could set up while the races were going on, and the staff had set up the tables and chairs for us with table cloths and plates/napkins/utensils already on the tables. We opted for the pizza and wings for the food, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were. Big thumbs up there!

The facility itself is very clean, and the staff are all very helpful and friendly. One of our guests had never driven go-karts before and was a bit nervous, but they set his mind at ease during the pre-race briefing. He ended up coming in 4th overall!

The go-karts are electric, and they have two types -- one for younger kids and one for adults. They are pretty fast, but without the gas smell or noise of ICE go-karts. In the event of a spinout or crash, they can remotely limit the speed of the cars to enforce the Yellow flag and ensure the safety of everyone on the track. It's a nice setup.

At the end of the race, they announced the results and the Top 3 racers were put on the podium, awarded medals, and provided photo opportunities. The only thing missing was the huge bottles of champagne to spray on everyone!

My son and all of his guests had a great time. We had no issues the whole time we were there, and the staff even gave us a little extra time in the room since there wasn't a party immediately following us. I highly...