SLATE TABLE + BAR — Restaurant in League City

I've had this on my list of places to try since it first opened and was in the area today and stopped in for lunch. I think though the plates that I was most interested in trying were on the dinner menu. Kudos to the staff for being willing to make adjustments to menu items based on consumer food allergies. I started with a small spinach salad that had pecans and fruit will a watermelon vinaigrette dressing and it was pretty good. The ingredients were largely fresh looking and it had a good light flavor. Ordered the hot honey chicken sandwich and was able to get grilled chicken breast instead of the fried option which had milk and / or eggs and is therefore something I can't have. The menu indicated an interesting variety of components to the sandwich that meant I'd get to try something new. It was all right but there was no hot or spicy flavor to it at all so I'm not sure what the name was actually indicative of the chicken was okay on mine but my son said his seemed rubbery but the biggest disappointment was the bun I don't know if it wasn't toasted or if it was just because it was so thin and the sandwich was so heavy on wet ingredients but the bun ended up being a soggy mess before you could even get two bites of the sandwich in. The sandwich came with what was touted as potato chips made there on site, although I was unable to get them without added salt. :-( my son said they tasted okay to him and they did have a nice crunch but for some reason off and on I was getting a hint of a fishy taste?? I'm not sure why but I didn't care for them on the count of that. Would have rather had an option for some sort of healthy grilled or steamed vegetable on the side. Maybe that's something that can be considered for in the future. The menu is pretty limited as it is. Finished off with the grilled pound cake with lemon and Thyme sorbet. The sorbet had a really good flavor although I'm hoping it wasn't made with milk because I'm not really understanding why it didn't look like a traditional sorbet and had a whitish creamy look to it. I guess we'll find out. LOL My son said the cake was pretty good and the grilled taste is an interesting addition, however it's not pound cake it's more of a sponge cake. As others have said, service was kind of slow even though there was only one other table in use when we got there about 11:15a.m. there were four tables in use when we left so I'm not real sure why the service seemed sluggish. I had to ask someone about getting my check so we could pay and leave when we were ready to go. We were there about an hour and a half. The atmosphere is kind of hit or Miss. I'm not sure in the end exactly what the intent was with that. Of course, like many people, I'm not really big into the atmosphere, and I'm more concerned with overall cleanliness food quality and flavors. I might would go back at some time and try the dinner items but I'm kind of iffy on that right now...

First things first, this place is undeniably Instagram-worthy. The ambiance and presentation had me sold the moment I walked in. As someone who loves a good vibe, this was right up my alley. Unfortunately, that was the high point of our visit.

There were only five tables occupied during the entirety of our stay, yet the service was shockingly slow. With three servers, a host (who may or may not be a manager), another manager, and a busser, you'd expect quick and attentive service. Instead, we saw our server only a few times—once to bring our drinks, to take our order, and not again until we flagged him down to pay. I managed to finish my entire meal without anyone coming to check in (the busser/food runner brought our meal). If I'd been given the chance, I could’ve easily had two drinks in that time.

Speaking of drinks, let’s talk about the prices. I was tempted by their "spooky" themed French 75, but the $18 price tag for a drink that simply had rock candy as the "special touch" felt absurd. And nowhere did they specify what kind of vodka they were using. For that price, they should at least tell me what brand I'm getting—otherwise, I’m left imagining some cheap well vodka in an overpriced glass.

Food-wise, I ordered the boudin Benedict. I’m usually someone who can barely finish a kid’s meal, but I ate every last bite of this dish and was still hungry. There was one egg, a meager smear of boudin over four tiny pieces of bread, and one sad, raw broccolini on the side. And when I say raw, I mean so raw it felt like munching on grass. The flavor was great, but the portion size for the price? Absolutely laughable.

My boyfriend had the brunch burger, which looked amazing—until we saw the patties. Combined, they were thinner than a McDonald’s kid’s meal patty. Again, visually appealing but majorly lacking in substance.

To top it all off, when it came time to pay, we waited over 10 minutes for our server to bring back the receipt. It looked like he was waiting for the manager to apply a discount we had, but the manager was just sitting at the bar with his coffee and laptop, feet away from the POS system. By this time, there were only three tables left in the restaurant.

I really, really wanted to love this place. It’s got the looks, but everything else—the food, the service, the value—is a letdown. Definitely not worth the time...

Our first visit to Slate was fantastic, from the moment we walked in the door with the host, and Stephanie, our server, was absolutely wonderful. She knew her stuff and she provided personal recommendations, was extremely attentive throughout the evening and just overall made us feel so at home. She wasn't rushed at all, allowed us to ask questions and was so incredibly patient.

The food was beyond delicious. Stephanie told us of the specials and we started with the pork belly boudin, which was absolutely to die for. For our mains we went with the steak stroganoff and the lobster beignets and words cannot even describe the flavor and the presentation of both of these dishes. The steak was cooked to perfection and melted in your mouth and the sauce in the stroganoff was not heavy and super flavorful. I believe it had fresh dill on it as well which added a fabulous touch to the dish. We also indulged in the special dessert that was a caramel bread pudding. It was such a comfortable dessert and I am not even a huge fan of bread pudding but this was spectacular. The host stopped by several times during our stay to tell us what good choices we were making in our selections and was just a fun guy. We even got a visit from the amazing chef himself, which made us feel special and was a great end to our meal.

The atmosphere at Slate is relaxing and casual, making it the ideal spot for a memorable dinner. We felt so at home, the whole place was just a vibe. All of the customers were at ease and enjoying themselves and all of the staff just seemed genuinely pleased to be there. We can't wait to go back and highly recommend this place to anyone looking for an exceptional dining experience. Thanks to Stephanie, honestly one of the best servers I have ever had the pleasure to have, and the Slate team for a...