Always a good experience dining in here. They are always busy and there is a reason for that. Great food and service. My experience with Leslie has been nothing but great each time I have interacted with her. She's very accommodating and willing to help :) read more

Lost our business and respect for good! This establishment has completely lost my business and the respect of all our friends and family. What happened is undeniable--we even took it all the way to corporate. As a frequent patron of Houston's, I was appalled by the behavior my sister and cousin experienced while dining at the bar/restaurant. And mind you, I dine there quite often myself between lunches and dinners. My sister was not on her phone, which was set to vibrate, when it rang. She simply reached to pick it up--no different than anyone else would do in a public space--and that's when the employee physically grabbed her arm. No warning, no explanation, - just grabbed her. Instead of a polite reminder or a verbal warning about the supposed "no phone" policy, this employee decided to touch my sister. My sister and cousin were stunned. They're both grown women, 45 years old--not children! You never, ever put your hands on people like that. The situation escalated when they asked to speak with the manager, who not only sided with the employee but also tried to justify the behavior by claiming that phone use is not allowed, and that it's posted on their website. Who checks the restaurant's website to find out about cell phone policies? If that's truly the case, there should've been clear signs in the restaurant! Instead, there was nothing. The employee could've simply approached them politely to inform them about the policy, and they would've gladly complied. But no, they kept repeating the same ridiculous excuse about the website and showed zero concern for how they handled the situation. No apologies. Just arrogance and bad customer service all around. As a business owner myself, I can't express enough how bad this is. The actions of the manager and his employee were completely unacceptable, unreasonable, and unprofessional, and I'll be making sure everyone I know hears about it. read more

We've been here countless times before, but this visit was special--we came to celebrate! So naturally, we ordered two sundaes!! While we noticed the sundaes now have a bit more whipped cream and less ice cream than they used to, the hazelnut chocolate fudge remains absolutely phenomenal. We sat inside--the space is classy, yet cozy and comfortable. The staff were very friendly (although my husband was asked to remove his hat when we sat down). The wait time was about 1.5 hours, but if you're a sundae fan like we are, it's totally worth it! read more

Houston's Restaurant - Hot Fudge Sundae - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

We have been patrons of Houston's for a long time. The food and atmosphere never disappoints, and we always leave happy. We made reservations for our 3 year anniversary and were looking for a nice quiet night out. (The Irvine location is always busy, so I suggest making a reservation). After a short wait were seated and immediately asked for a drink order. Shortly after we received our Martini and Old Fashion which were made to perfection. I ordered my favorite, the Prime Rib Dip and my wife tried out a new dish the Grilled Chicken Salad. Once again, Houston's served up absolute masterpieces! My wife makes an amazing salad, but had to state that this salad was hands down, the best salad she has ever eaten. (That's saying a lot!). Mid indulgence, the manager came by our table and stated that he understood we waited too long for our table and comped our drinks. We didn't ask or expect this, as we only waited about 15 minutes for our table. I know we had a reservation, but I don't expect to be seated right away in a busy restaurant. This attention to detail and level of service completely blew us away. Soon after our waitress stopped by and swapped out my wifes martini glass for a fresh frozen glass with new sugar rim! Again... blown away with the service. This level of service has unfortunately become extinct. We are grateful that places like this close to our house and we look forward to continuing to support Houston's. Well done. read more

Houston's Restaurant - Lemon drop Martini and Old Fashion. - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

Upscale (no shorts or flip flops, please), cozy and intimate for when you feel the need to treat yourself to a nice dining experience. I love Houston's! Dim, moody lighting, comfy booth seating or sit at the bar, gentle tunes playing in the background, excellent service, delicious food. Five stars plus! Funny story: my first time ever dining at Houston's was many years ago for a work lunch. I ordered the fall off the bone pork ribs. It was so delicious I ate the bone clean. My work friend was amazed and said "for such a little person you sure can eat a lot!" Lol! The ribs are still on their menu, but these days my main go to is the Thai Noodle Salad. The fresh ingredients of greens, noodles, mango, peanuts, basil, mint, avocado, and the dressing is amazing! Too bad they no longer serve it with that deliciously seasoned/marinated steak. Houston's, won't you please rethink this? We have eaten at Houston's in Irvine, Pasadena, and Austin. We always order that salad! Today I also shared the French dip sandwich with my sister. Au jus and horse radish on the side-so good! I also highly recommend their Apple Walnut Cobbler. Service that sets Houston's apart: half way done with our cocktails our server brings fresh new frosted glasses and pours our drinks into it! Then, clumsy me I knocked over my drink. A few minutes later, our server delivers a fresh new drink to me! I always say this after eating at Houston's: I wish we had one close to where we live! read more

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Food is what it is, service is good, Cosmos are fire but took way too long to be seated.

The overall ambiance was very good The service was very good. The spinach torilla was delicious, the Asian noodle salad and roast chicken are my recommendations. and cheese cake really awesome It was a good experience read more

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Dinner was great and servers attentive!! Great atmosphere! Steaks perfectly cooked and shrimp cocktail great read more

I wasn't informed about the dress code. When I arrived at the appointed time, I was turned away. It's really confusing and frustrating.

Party of 3 ordered the Hawaiian Steak. We all had it medium rare. It was done perfect and tasted good. However the steaks were tough, and there were many strips of sinewy tendons in each of our steaks. We spent more time trying to remove the sinews from our steaks than enjoying them. Rather poor quality "prime" steaks if you ask me. Service was so so, ambiance was nice, but not a place that I would cone back for low quality expensive steaks. No special birthday desserts when celebrating birthdays. read more

If you notice out of 75 yelp reviews, I have they're all positive. I couldn't find a positive thing to say about Houstons and that's saying a lot. Let's start with I called. They said if I come in at 4:30 I wouldn't have to wait. Got there at 4:10 had to wait an hour. They said I could bring a birthday cake. I got there. They said we don't cut birthday cake. I said I'm bringing champagne. They said there's a corkage fee I get there we don't do magnums. I order a steak. We don't have peppercorn or any steak sauce don't even have A-1.... They have no sauce I mean, are they kidding me? We ordered a tremendous amount of appetizers. Told the waitress. I told everyone who would listen to me. Please don't put our food in yet. We'd like to enjoy your appetizers. We didn't even have time to finish our appetizers and guess what all of our food came out when I tried to voice my dismay. No one wanted to hang out at our table and listen. I don't know what kind of place they're running, but this was beyond ridiculous. Maybe the worst customer service and lack of empathy we have experienced. If you notice we eat out 5/6 days a week so this is saying a lot. There are so many great options for steak and dinning out. This is the worst of the worst. read more

Tried to make a reservation for 5 for a business lunch, but was told we weren't welcome; they only want parties of 2. I would never consider this place for a party of any size. How arrogant. read more

Have been here several times and really enjoyed the French dip sandwich. Only beef is the deviled "eggs" appetizer. You get an egg and a half. That is not "eggs" and more of a misrepresentation. Also the side order of peppers with cheese is another misrepresentation since it is about three quarters of a full pepper. Both are worth skipping. Excellent service and strong drinks from the bar. Like the dark interior and lack of TVs. read more

Excellent! But hard to make reservations no matter what day you go. Rather disappointed! read more

I come here for lunch every once in a while. They're always super packed so make sure you make reservations. They also don't accommodate large groups. I think max is like 4 people per reservation. The food is always delicious. They serve a variety of dishes such as sushi, salads, sandwiches and steaks. I usually always get the yellowtail salad. The yellowtail is always really fresh and comes with a little side of kale salad. I must say the portions for their salads is really small for what they charge. But the food is good so it kind of makes up for it. read more

Houston's Restaurant - Yellowtail salad - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

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Came for a dinner last night. 3 people. Server and all service was excellent and polite. Food and beverage were mediocre at best. What's happened to Houston's? Lemon drop martini was ok but did the glass size shrink? I saw another patron with a regular dirty martini in a larger looking glass? Regardless it was just ok. Hendricks and tonic was good but uncomplicated so I can't give a star for that. Food: Traditional salad with blue cheese was good but seemed like a very small portion and barely any bacon and the croutons were stale tasting. Rainbow roll was made with imitation krab!!! I wish I had known because I wouldn't have ordered it. Just saw a documentary on the making process and how toxic it is. Yuck! Cheeseburger has changed and was disgusting - raw white onions chopped up smashed into the cheese so you can barely remove them. Told our server but it was too late and just ate around it. Mustard heavily applied and so much shredded iceberg lettuce! The meat was poorly seasoned and flavorless. When was the last time the owners or corporate folks ate this? Fries are not good! What happened to baked potato or plain mashed potatoes? Hot fudge sundae presentation used to wow! Now it's two scoops with some cream and a gravy boat of chocolate sauce and a few nuts. I would be so excited to come here and last night I was excited to leave. You've got to stop changing the classics and return to the basics. I see from other reviews that I'm not alone in my experience. I've been eating here, Hillstone, Rutherford Grill etc for decades and this last visit really disappoints like I won't be back. read more

Houston's Restaurant - Gross Cheeseburger - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

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Ribeye was great, cocktails were amazing, and the vibe was just right. Our server even brought out a chilled glass in the middle of my martini. That's real customer experience! Appetizers were good, specifically, the sushi. I'm defiantly coming back soon! read more

went with mother, fast and kind service, beautiful lighting and ambiance, food was delicious! would definitely be returning! read more

Houston's Restaurant - Famous French Dip Au Jus Famous French Dip Au Jus - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

Making reservations would have you think this is an upscale, carefully curated restaurant especially with the dress code mentioned, table limit enforcement and no to-go orders I've read in other reviews. We dressed up for a nice 730p date night and majority of the crowd was in jeans, tshirts and sneakers so we felt overdressed. They had party/club music playing and I also was confused by the popcorn on the wall... like they got their art work from a movie theater closing sale. Of all the food we ordered (it seemed like everything missed the mark), the only thing that was loved was the hawaiian ribeye. It also was really slow unattentive service from our server but other servers at least made sure we had water. I might consider a different hillstone restaurant and location because of how good the Ribeye was but I can't come up with a good enough reason to come back to this one. read more

Houston's is known for its service but sadly this restaurant missed training. Service was bad, it was a busy Saturday and the hosts were completely disorganized and rude. I had a dirty martini (delicious) while waiting for a table while seats/table sat empty and left after 30 minutes. I love Houston's but save your time on this branch and try some nearby restaurants. read more

Houston's Restaurant - Dirty martini - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

Amazing good, drinks, and service. It is my go to spot to people watch or relax or catch up with friends!

We waited almost two hours to be seated because we failed to make reservations. Who would have guessed it would be so busy on a Thursday night... the trout was burnt but I'm sure it would have been delicious. The deviled eggs were Amazing the cole slaw that came with my trout was delicious read more

Houston's Restaurant - Overcooked trout - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

Came for a dinner date on a Friday evening, the setting was very comfortable, dark with a mellow crowd, ideal for a couple. The food was excellent! Basic cheeseburger but was very good! My date ordered the catch of the day and truly enjoyed it. The service was ok. read more

Burger 5 Bryanna 10 Everything was on point. Training that they do for staff really pays off. Everyone in the restaurant walks around with good posture and great energy. Highly recommend and thank you Bryanna for making our dinning experience so great. read more

Last night, Shay & I had a dinner date here. Our server was Carley, who was robotic and not personable. Our dishes were tasty, but she would reach over and just take our unfinished appetizer dish without asking of we were still eating. Yes, we were still going to finish the brussel sprouts. It was like we were an inconvenience to her. Food gets 5 stars. Carley gets 2 stars. read more

We were really looking forward to dining at Houston's, but our experience was incredibly disappointing. Our food took over 40 minutes to arrive..When it finally came, we found pieces of fur stuck to my sandwich completely unacceptable and unsanitary. The manager here sucks. We brought it to her attention, hoping for some accountability or at least a sincere apology, but she was absolutely useless. She said a lot of words with very little substance, no real solution, no empathy, and certainly no care. For a restaurant with this kind of reputation and price point, the lack of basic service and cleanliness was appalling. To make matters worse, an employee named Nick Siegel approached me when no other staff were around. He was incredibly rude, cursed at me, and even threatened me, completely unprovoked saying I can't record. It was shocking and disturbing behavior, especially coming from someone who works in hospitality. There was no excuse for it, and it made an already bad situation even worse. The other times we visited were great. Unfortunately, this visit left a bad impression, and we won't be returning. read more

Houston's Restaurant - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

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Enjoyed our lunch at this location with friends. Was greeted promptly and seated soon after. Our table was situated in a quiet corner which was nice to catch up with old friends. Our server came over immediately to take drink orders. The lighting is medium and background noise is medium.I'm glad we were seated in our location so we could hear each other. Our food came out really quick. We ordered two of the fried chicken sandwiches and two prime rib beef dips. All the entrees were enjoyed. The chicken sandwiches were stacked well with lettuce, tomato on nice light bread. The beef dips were pilled high with plenty of juice. Parking is a little tryiing in a lot a little small. Would stop again if in area. read more

I'm not a big mall-restaurant girl, but I came in for the first time this week and was absolutely blown away. The service was impeccable! Anastasia was friendly, kind, and crazy accommodating. The martinis (and chilled glass service) were excellent, the food was beautifully plated and delicious, and the ambiance inside is kind of elevated steakhouse vibes. With the economy the way it is, prices are up everywhere but I thought everything was pretty reasonable. I've spent a lot more money to be treated a lot worse. I will absolutely be back. read more

Stand out service and great food. The thing about a hillstone is you know the food will be consistent and the service will be amazing. Last night we had the French dip which is delicious and the fires are amazing with the spicy mayo. The spinach dip and cheese toast are wonderful. My husbands Hawaiian steak was so so, it was a little charred and tasted burnt, it off nights happen. Service is quick and top tier. I have better service here than I do at fancy steakhouses. The ambiance is dark and moody and perfect for a date night out. Highly recommend for an easy night out. read more

Houston's Restaurant - Famous French Dip Au Jus, Hand-cut French Fries - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

NOT FAMILY FRIENDLY I typically love coming here for lunch, but I had the worst experience today, and I feel compelled to share. I understand this restaurant doesn't offer high chairs, and that's never been an issue. My toddler usually sits happily between my mother and me in the booth. Yes, he was wiggling a bit--as toddlers do--but he was content and quietly waiting for our food. A manager came over and asked that he remain completely seated. The challenge is, when he sits fully down, he can't see the table--he's two. Still, I did my best to comply and gave him my phone with a show on low volume to keep him engaged and seated. I rarely resort to screen time, but it was the most respectful option in the moment. The restaurant was loud, but I kept the volume on the phone at about 10%--so low I couldn't even hear it myself. Despite this, another manager, a male this time, came over and told us that all devices had to be on silent. At that point, I truly felt singled out and unwelcome, as if I was being discriminated against simply for bringing a child. We dine out as a family once a week, and my son is well-behaved. If he ever gets fussy, we step outside immediately. I've eaten here many times before without any issues, but today felt different. Unfortunately, this experience has changed how I view this establishment. I will not be returning to this location--or any others under the same management. read more

We love Houstons. Good Food and great service for years. Had a reservation for my husband's 85th birthday for 4 people on May 17th. Had to add our great granddaughter age 7 and after we were sat at our table our server told us we had to leave because we had 5 people. They had no other table to seat us. The general manager was very rude and said its a rule they can't seat 5 people. Unbelievable. We ended up leaving and walked to Ruth Chris Steak House and they put tables together with no reservation. Brought us champagne and treated us like we should have been treated at Houston's. Will never go to any Hillstone restaurant again !! Loraleek read more

They only take reservations for up to 4 people online. So, I called in and they still won't take reservations for more than 4 people. I was asking for a part of 5 and still said it is walk-in only. With their wait times that just crazy. Don't go here if you have more than 4 people in your party. Their food is great but this is not a good policy. read more

Service declined really quickly. Within the last 2-3 months, I've walked in, and ordered food to go. Tonight, I called to order food for pickup, and they said they don't do that anymore. Weird and disappointing! read more

Our server was incredibly warm and made us feel very comfortable. I ordered the salmon with sauce I didn't enjoy, and the waitress was gracious enough to make another one though the second salmon was unfortunately underdone in the middle, did want to be a complainer did not say anything about the underdone. On the brighter side, the spinach dip and cheeseburger were excellent, you can never go wrong with those classics. Overall, the kindness and attentiveness of the service made the dining experience pleasant despite the hiccup with the salmon. read more

Houston's Restaurant - Salmon - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

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Food was great as always. They were running behind and we arrived early for our reservation so we waited a while. All of the staff we interacted with was very accommodating and kept apologizing for the wait. I know they can't control how long other diners linger so the wait didn't bother me, but appreciated the extra attention. Again, great food. Wife had the ribs as always (never disappoint). I had the French dip (great as well). I forgot what my son ordered (probably because it wasn't on his plate very long). read more

Consistently Excellent Every Time! I've been to Houston's in Irvine a few times now, and it never misses. Every visit has been a great experience from start to finish. The food is always fresh, flavorful, and perfectly prepared. Some of my go-to favorites: the Coconut Shrimp Roll--a unique twist on sushi that's absolutely delicious, the Caesar Salad--simple but done right, and both the Trout and Salmon--cooked to perfection every time. The quality and consistency here are what keep me coming back. Highly recommend Houston's if you're looking for a reliable, upscale dining spot with great food and solid service. read more

The food is always wonderful, the ambience is quiet, so you can actually hear your companions, and the service is always courteous and responsive. We love their artichokes when they're in season, and the Hawaiian steak is a favorite as well. This is one of our places we like for special occasions like birthdays or hosting out of town guests. read more

What should have been a simple, pleasant meal turned into a frustrating experience. Unfortunately, based on this visit and interaction with staff we won't be returning or recommending this restaurant to others. I was trying to make a reservation for my boss, his 2 kids and 2 young grandkids. When I called to make the reservation I was told no party over 4 and they wouldn't give me a reason why even though their website give an option for a table for 5+. When my boss arrived he saw many table empty that could hold 6 people. My boss explained the kids are very small they can sit between they still refused. It seemed like a very simple request. read more

The food here is pretty solid for the most part. We ordered our filet medium and it was perfect. Our friends ordered medium rare and it came out more on the cooked side of medium. Still good flavor but you expect perfect temperature for a steakhouse. The grilled artichoke had good flavor but was super tough to eat. There was barely any soft parts to actually ingest. Rainbow roll was good and as expected. Nothing extra special but solid. read more

We love Houston's! We have been coming here since I was little. They have the best quality food! Their rib-eye is my favorite as they cook the meat perfectly (medium rare) which a lot of places don't do as my meat is usually too rare. The flavor of the rib-eye is so delicious- the meat melts in your mouth. Their bon choy is also fresh and they season it perfectly and add a little Parmesan on top. Their clam chowder is my favorite as well. I usually don't like clam chowder cause the clams are too chewy but at Houston's I can't even tell I'm eating clams. The flavor is creamy and they add bacon to it. Their service and ambiance is the best. This location is the best. Would recommend to everyone. read more

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