Fielding’s Wood Grill — Restaurant in Shenandoah

First and last time trying Fielding’s Wood Grill. Food may have been decent(ly overpriced) and spicy, but the service was sour.

Sat down with my group and we were informed about the happy hour drink specials by our server. She said she would be right back and brought us each a water before taking our drink order. Few minutes pass by and she returns to tells us, “Sorry, I was busy talking with you all and it’s no longer happy hour so there’s no special on your drinks.” We initially thought she was joking and waiting for us to laugh since she stood there silently and stared around the table.

“We were seated and ordered our drinks before 6, though?”, one of my group asked her. “Yeah, it’s over though.”

It was 6:04pm at that moment. An ounce of tact and hospitality apparently was no longer on special either, since her demeanor changed for the rest of the evening after that question.

I’d like to add that my group and I have worked in the food service industry for years and I’ve never known any of us to complain at a restaurant. If whatever food or drink is brought to us is even slightly close to what we ordered, we’re totally content. The person in our party that decided on Fielding’s for our coworker’s celebration dinner told us he felt embarrassed and apologized - not a fun thing to hear from a colleague.

One of my group canceled their drink order and we had to convince two of them to even order entrées. It wasn’t even really the inconvenience of the situation, I guess it was the principle? Our company was paying for us to have a nice outing and each of us knew we had no budget. Instead of going “all out”, most of us just ordered salads and split the two appetizers that we ordered at the same time as our drinks - we didn’t bother to order another round or more food. Also doesn’t help we were (jokingly, maybe?) told by our server to leave her a “fat tip”.

One of my coworkers broke away silently and spoke to a male manager. The manager honored the HH special and said that’s “strange” since they sometimes run HH pricing until 15-30 minutes after. He never came by and spoke with the table like he said he would, but as we were almost finished a female manager helped pre-buss some plates out of the way and asked how everything was. We collectively gave some head nods, grumbles of “good”, and some thumbs-up. Not sure what could have been said at that point to make the situation any better for a group that walked in wanting steaks and scotch and instead had salads and sobriety.

Well to answer her question to anyone reading: the appetizers and the server were greasy but the salad and chicken were actually great. Also, after trying one I can see why the cocktails are half-off during HH. I’d have buyer’s remorse at that menu-price, even on someone else’s dime.

We did still leave a “fat tip” because we care and appreciate anyone in the service industry. But here’s another: if you’re considering Fielding’s then I’d like you to know that after searching for a place to redo our friend’s dinner, there seem to be plenty of other great dining options in this area. You may want to consider...

Please note that this review is intended for Fieldings Kitchen in Creek Side. Not Fieldings on Research Forest which has maintained its quality and offering at a great level.

I've tried this location 3 times. Once for brunch, once at late happy hour, and once for dinner. I honestly don't like to leave poor reviews, but this place is overpriced, underserved, and seems to think itself a cut above, which it's note. For example, take something basic like eggs Benedict for brunch, you would think that you can order the classic, but instead they pair with chopped brisket, likely leftover, which doesn't really jive with the classic flavor pallet of the original. They swapped for bacon which was over cooked and over salted. Bottom line, can't get a simple classic right. Coffee priced by the cup, really? And the prices? Not worth it with many other better options in The Woodlands like first watch.

Let's look at their happy hour menu. Here we tried their version of a classic bistro favorite, steak frites. The cut is a sirloin, not a NY strip, and the sauces are the usual butters or peppercorn turning into a au poivre. The fries are fine, the beef is a bit on the hard side as it's a cheaper cut, but ok if cooked right. And the price, acceptable. The service at the bar though leaves mucho to be desired. Not attentive but reactive and hurried. Given the ambiance, would expect a much friendlier and warm experience.

Going to dinner and ordering the same meal, price almost doubles for the same dish! Really? And this time the temperature was way off. Sent back to correct, came back burnt. Someone wasn't happy in the kitchen. Left it and gave up. My wife ordered the "Amazing Wedge", which was probably the worst execution I've ever seen of this classic. A half a head of iceberg, stuffed hard with stilton inside, piled with soft bacon, not even cooked, but cured with a horrible mouth feel, and zero finess. How can you screw up something so simple. It was returned as well.

I give it three stars ONLY because I know the owner who used to be associated with Hubble and Hudson, and I know what he can do. A Cornell hoteling graduate, this is way below his standards. I hope he takes note and pushes a return to basics, cuts out the experimental fusion nonsense, and provides a more honest, higher quality experience. At present, not worth the price or the experience. Pretentious and expensive might work for many in The Woodlands, but not for me. And please, put some towels in the bathroom, paper or cloth,...

I’ve been coming to Fieldings for quite some time now, and normally the service is always good. However, today was something I have not experienced before. When we sat down our waitress didn’t come immediately after about 10 min another waitress showed up apologized for the wait and offered to order us drinks and let us know Taylor would be with us in a moment. After about another 10 min a manager showed with our drinks. Then Taylor showed up... right away she seemed irritated, frustrated, and rude. She was short and seemed to want to rush us in ordering our food. At first I thought man maybe she’s just busy or swamped (I’ve been there before) but over time I began to notice a vast difference in her behavior with her other tables v.s. ours. With her other tables she was spending 3-5 min chit chatting, smiling, and laughing. When our second round of drinks came out they were brought by a manager. When the manager asked how everything was? We told her that the service was a little off and she just laughed and said oh we are a little busy. We continued to plead how it didn’t seem very busy and how our waitress was being kind of rude and again the manager just kept giving an awkward laugh and seemed to just want to avoid the complaint all together. We told her not to worry about it. The behavior of Taylor continued. She continued to be friendly to all her other tables and seemed to respond to their request immediately. However, when she got to us her whole persona changed and she took her time to bring us anything. Taylor’s behavior was completely unprofessional as well as her managers who only seemed to be concerned about making excuses for their waitress as opposed to listening and doing something about it. We normally tip over 15 dollars at minimum regardless of the price, but today she got 5 dollars, and if it was my choice that money would go to the people cooking the food and not Taylor. 2 stars was earned because the food is always on point. I hope they do something about their selective service...