Willie’s Grill & Icehouse

We originally went to Willie’s Grill & Icehouse several years ago with my husband’s cousin. We where hooked and had to go every time we where on his side of town. We where excited when one finally opened up in our area. It’s a great place that has a little of everything. We took our niece and nephew there for their first time to celebrate their birthday’s. Every year we buy a discount card from the local High School athletics teams. The card has various discounts to local places including food, clothing and services. The card only cost $20 and you get your monies worth pretty easily. The discount for Willie’s was half off an appetizer.

You order your meal from their big board then go sit yourself. We started out with an order of Onion Rings (small $4.95, large $5.95) and Fried Jalapenos (small $2.75, large $5.25). The jalapenos where not a hit with the kids because they where too spicy, but D and I love them. The onion rings on the other hand where a huge hit.

3 of us got the Willie Burger with cheese $7.25 (1/2 pound burger served with fries) Again a huge hit at our table. The burgers are nice and juicy and really filling.

My nephew ordered the Fried Catfish served with fries ($7.75 small, $9.95 large). He said he loved it and the fish was cooked perfect. His favorite part was the breading on the fish.

The place was a hit with them and I’m glad we could share somewhere new with them. Can’t wait to go back.

Las Alamedas

We’ve been to Las Alamedas before you can see what we had last time HERE. We found another one of those discounted offers Houston offers daily. I really enjoyed our meal this time and I would defiantly order the same thing next time.

I went with the Carne Asada Tampiquena $25 (Mesquite grilled open tenderloin served with a chicken enchilada, guacamole, grilled onions, poblano slices and refried beans.) Wow was this meat tender! The enchilada has a really nice spice to it. The guacamole was a little odd with the dish since you didn’t get tortillas with it, of course that’s how they probably get you to order more. I just ate it with the chips. Yummy dish!

D ordered the Huachinango a la Talla $23 (The pride and joy of Pie de la Cuesta, Acapulco. Butterflied boneless red snapper marinated with roasted guajillo ancho peppers and herbs cooked over mesquite grill. Served with roast cut corn and potatoes.) He said he would order it again. The fish was cooked perfectly and the sauce really makes the dish, but you’ll have to ask for some extra because they don’t put enough on there. I loved the potatoes they had a nice spice to them too.

Can’t wait to go back and try some other dishes!

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse

As I mentioned on my last post, once a year the month of August turns into Restaurant Weeks. One of the best ways to try new restaurants is dining out during this month! For a set price of $35 for dinner you get regular size portions at a very discounted rate and restaurants donate $5 per dinner sold to the Houston Food Bank. It’s a win win for everyone! You have to be sure you ask for the restaurant week menu when you sit down, because they don’t just hand them out when you can pay full price on the regular menu.

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse is another place we haven’t been in years. The one thing we remembered most was not their steaks, but their scallop appetizer. It was this huge scallop on a mushroom cap and tasted like heaven. One thing not to miss is their meat display right as you walk in. My pictures are going to be a little dark, because the lighting was really low.

We where seated hear the entrance in a row of booths that looked over the kitchen. Personally I love this view, maybe because I’m a foodie and watching the kitchen is like watching an artist paint.

As we looked over the menu we munched on their freshly baked bread. I must say out of all the places we’ve ever been I think they have my absolute favorite bread. There’s a nice thin outer crust to the bread and then the inside is pure fluffy cloud, this is what true bread should taste and look like.

Sadly they didn’t have our scallop on the menu, but we decided to try another one they had. Bacon-Wrapped Scallops $16.95, was hardly worth the cost. I don’t recommend this appetizer. The bacon was thick so it seemed by the time they cooked the bacon through it overcooked the small scallops. The only thing that saved this dish was the garlic butter soaked French bread that the topped.

Now onto our choices from the Restaurant Week Menu. We started out with the Caesar Salad (regular menu price $9.95) and The Soup of the Day (regular menu price is priced daily). Today’s soup was Tomato Basil. Usually you can’t go wrong with Caesar, this salad looked and smelled like one, but didn’t taste like anything, it’s the strangest thing ever. The soup was really good and piping hot.

For the second course we ordered the 8 ounce Filet with Smoked Mushroom Ragout & Jumbo Grilled Shrimp (regular menu price is $37.95 for the steak only) and the 12 ounce Dry Aged Prime New York Strip (regular price starts on the 14 ounce $41.95 and up). I loved the mushroom ragout, but the shrimp was overcooked. D really enjoyed the Strip as well. One good thing is this is one of those steakhouses that can really cook a good steak. Both of our dishes came with mashed potatoes & haricot verts (basically a fancy word for French green beans).

We did order an extra side not listed on the menu which was a Crab Macaroni for $16.95. While you might say that’s high for mac and cheese, this one was filled with lump crab meat and just melted in your mouth.

For dessert we chose New York Style Cheesecake (regular menu price $8.95) and Chocolate Silk Pie (regular menu price $8.95). Both desserts where excellent. The cheesecake had the best crust I’ve ever had which was perfect on thickness for the cake. There was also a really good sour cream sauce drizzled onto too, which really balanced out the dessert. The chocolate silk pie I thought was nothing special, until I tasted the coffee crust. It’s really been updated from a simple chocolate pie to something I would order again.

Would I come back again, of course. Overall you get what you pay for here (except that scallop appetizer). We saved around $45 with the Restaurant Week menu which covered a bottle of wine. Oh, if you’re looking for an extensive wine menu, this is your place with over 600 bottles to chose from. The wine guy walks around and offers you help if you have any questions as well. Service is amazing here (we liked our waitress Kelly she did a fantastic job) and everyone was really friendly. The only complaint is that they advise you to dress nice, yet we still saw people in t-shirts and shorts, which makes you feel a little awkward when you go out to a nice dinner and feel like your over dressed.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House

(photo from houston.com)

As I mentioned on my last post, once a year the month of August turns into Restaurant Weeks. One of the best ways to try new restaurants is dining out during this month! For a set price of $35 for dinner you get regular size portions at a very discounted rate and restaurants donate $5 per dinner sold to the Houston Food Bank. It’s a win win for everyone! You have to be sure you ask for the restaurant week menu when you sit down, because they don’t just hand them out when you can pay full price on the regular menu.

We haven’t ever been to Ruth’s Chris so we wanted to see if it was as good as what we thought it would be. We went to one of their older locations off of Richmond Avenue. I forgot to ask the waitress when they opened. You could tell it was an older place. I also found it odd that everyone from the hostess to the wait staff where all older too or maybe it’s because we went on a Sunday afternoon at 5pm. Either way everyone was really friendly. I didn’t like that it’s valet only, but what can you do?

While I noticed that usually the manager makes the rounds at some point during the meal, the General Manager, Jason Perkins, made bee line to our table. The waitress said she told him I had a big camera on the table and thought he should visit. I didn’t mention I wrote a review blog, just that I did photo contest and wrote a food blog. Now why she would tell me that is beyond me. He could have at least greeted the other 3 tables seated near us rather than run back to his office, but that’s just my observation.

Anyway, the bread was a little on the firm crusty side, but the butter was nicely whipped and softened.

Since we hadn’t eaten anything all day we where starving. We ordered the Tempura Onion Rings $7 (With a honey Thai sauce) Yummy I love a good tempura batter and I really liked the twist of a honey Thai sauce instead of ketchup. My disappointment – the photo online shows 7 onion rings we only got 5. D told the waitress it was fantastic, but would be better if we had more onion rings. She responded with no problem I’ll go get you more. Yeah she comes back with an additional sauce. LOL we kept the sauce to the side in case we needed it later which I’m glad we did.

We also ordered the Lobster Bisque $9, which was to die for. Really good and I recommend ordering it.

Now onto the Restaurant Week menu. We started out with the Caesar Salad (regular menu price of $7.50) (Fresh crisp romaine hearts tossed with romano cheese and a creamy Caesar dressing. Topped with shaved parmesan cheese and fresh ground black pepper). Nothing too fancy and tasted like a normal Caesar. I liked that the lettuce was already pre-chopped into bite size pieces. The Seafood Gumbo (Not on their regular menu) (Classic Gumbo with Andoille Sausage, Shrimp and Crab Meat). I have to admit it’s pretty good and tasted like one I’ve made. If anything I think it could have used a little more spice to kick it up.

The second course and most important course is where it all went wrong. They are proud to tell you that the steaks are broiled at 1,800 degrees, each aged, corn-fed USDA Prime steak is seared to perfection and delivered on a sizzling hot plate. I ordered the Petitie Filet (regular menu price of $40) comes with a 6 ounce medallion of our filet topped with 3 jumbo shrimp. I was excited until tasting it. The meat had a really funky taste to it. You might be thinking it’s because it’s dry aged, but I’ve had that before this just had a bad taste to it. The shrimp where overcooked, probably because they where topped on the the 1,800 degree steak.

The Market Fresh Seafood Selection regular menu price of $38 (Your server will describe the seafood our Chef has selected for today) wasn’t much of an option for how you wanted it prepared. It came out as a broiled salmon. All I can say is super bland. I’m glad we saved the Thai dipping sauce from earlier, it really made the dish better.

We had a choice of 2 personal side items so we went with the creamed spinach and sautéed mushrooms. I liked the creamed spinach, but the mushrooms where a miss. They didn’t taste like anything except softened mushrooms. Needed some butter and garlic which would have made them better.

Dessert was back on the positive side. The Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce (Our definitive version of a traditional New Orleans favorite) was so good. The serving sizes where huge so we took half of that home as well as the whole cheesecake.

The Cheesecake (Creamy homemade cheesecake served with fresh berries), wow was this rich, but boy was it good!

I’m really upset that for a steak place that was the worse part of the meal. If they nailed that I would go back in a heart beat. Maybe we had an off day there or something, but personally I’m on the fence about going back. I’m glad we got to use a gift card because I wouldn’t have paid for that steak. Thank goodness for Restaurant Week, we ended up saving around $38.

Del Frisco’s

As I mentioned on my last few post, once a year the month of August turns into Restaurant Weeks. One of the best ways to try new restaurants is dining out during this month! For a set price of $35 for dinner you get regular size portions at a very discounted rate and restaurants donate $5 per dinner sold to the Houston Food Bank. It’s a win win for everyone! You have to be sure you ask for the restaurant week menu when you sit down, because they don’t just hand them out when you can pay full price on the regular menu.

Neither my husband or I have been to Del Frisco’s. We’ve heard rave reviews about this place so there’s no better time to try it out then when it’s at a discount! I didn’t like the fact that it was attached to The Galleria, because parking is a pain. Walking in I felt a little overwhelmed. #1 there’s 20 people crowding the door all looking you up and down as you give the hostess your name. They where eager waiters who looked like they where taking bets as to who got to seat you. I’m also used to getting looks carrying a larger camera with me, but the hostess tried to be funny and say “oh wow everyone watch out she’s got a big camera better have your smiles on tonight”. I’m sure she meant it as a joke, but I didn’t laugh. #2 the service was fantastic for our 6pm reservations, but as they got busier towards 7pm the waiter seemed to stay at the tables who where eating off the regular menu and ordered several cocktails. #3 was personal….we weren’t offered the grand “may I grind you pepper” service. Oh yeah I watched we where the only ones on every course who weren’t offered pepper. I should have asked just to point it out, but decided it wasn’t worth it.

Ok on to the food. We where there for the pre-planned menu, but had to try the Fried Calamari $15 (Shanghai Style). By far the best thing we had all night. I highly recommend ordering this. There’s a nice sweet, heat, Asian sauce that goes really well instead of the traditional marinara. I could have eaten several orders of this. It’s a little on the high end for an appetizer, but it’s really good.

The bread offered while you look over the menu was really nice, warm and soft. I appreciate the soft butter too, I can’t tell you how annoying it is when you get butter as hard as the plate.

For our first course we ordered the Del Frisco’s Dinner Salad (regular menu price $9) (with avocado dressing). The idea behind the salad is really good, I liked the dressing. The part I didn’t like was all the bacon. Normally bacon makes everything better, but here it didn’t. You couldn’t taste the delicate avocado dressing. I wouldn’t order this again.

We also got the Roasted Poblano Bisque (with pico de gallo). It was just ok, nothing too special about it.

For the second course I chose the Prime Strip 10 ounce with Chateau Potatoes (regular menu price $40 without side). They add a nice peppered crust to it which tasted good. For me I thought they where just ok for being the price they charged. Very glad to be having this during restaurant week and not all out of pocket. I really liked the potatoes.

D ordered the Prime Rib 12 ounce with Chateau Potatoes. (regular menu price is $49/22 oz or $41 for 16 oz, the 12 ounce wasn’t listed on the regular menu). The meat tasted the same as my strip. We each ate half of our steak and sides and took the rest home for leftovers.

We also ordered the Jalapeno Bacon Mac and Cheese $12. Nice and creamy and you could really taste each of the jalapeno and bacon. I would order this again.

I was disappointed that they changed the dessert menu from what was on the restaurant week menu, I was really looking forward to cheesecake. Instead we got the Banana Bread Pudding and Lemon Doberge Cake. I honestly wouldn’t order either one of these again. The Banana Bread Pudding while I know has bananas it tasted like they left out the bread part. We didn’t see the dessert menu so I’m not sure how much they charge for them on their menu, but I can only guess $8-10. The lemon cake is one of their signature desserts so I’m disappointed to report it’s dry.

Would I go back to Del Frisco’s? More and likely not unless a friend or family member was having and event there. We saved around $50 from what I could calculate by going during Restaurant Week, which I’m really glad we went then. If anything I would go for happy hour and order the calamari that’s all.

Chuy’s

We’ve always been a fan of Chuy’s, last time we went to the one in town (click HERE for details) and since then they have opened up a new location closer to us. Since my mom was in town we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take her there after we kept raving about their food and green sauce. 

I think we are gonna have to give them a little while to season the grill because the “grill taste” we love at the other location is just not developed here yet.

Since my mom doesn’t eat much the 3 of us split a Combination Beef and Chicken Fajita for two $22.49. The chicken was by far better than the beef.

We’ll be back for sure, but might give this location a little while to season their grill.