My favorite Restaurant by far, service and food are always on point...! my usual is typically two sushi rolls and the chicken sando. What I love so much about this place are the employees they just make you feel like you're somewhere special ! read more

It was our first time to Houston's. My wife had the Ahi Tun Tartare and I had the Rotisserie Chicken. Both were excellent as was our service. We will be back! read more

Didn't even get a chance to eat here because the greeter told us about so many rules and regulations to be able to even seat us that we felt unwelcome. Never going back. read more

Great ribs and a beautifully designed space -- the restaurant itself really makes an impression. The experience, though, can feel a bit hit-or-miss. The atmosphere leans a little snobby at times, especially if you're not a regular, and the staff can come across as rude and rigid while enforcing some quite stodgy house rules. I stopped in for a business lunch with my boss and ran into an odd moment when they tried to take away my water bottle I carry with me everywhere and told me I would have to drink theirs. Then tried to take my water. Invasive and rude overreach. Just wish the hospitality matched the quality of the ribs. read more

We had a hard week. We live near Houston's Irvine and went there this last Friday to start our weekend. First of all, any time we've been to Houstons- never had a bad experience. You can just tell the staff take a lot of pride in their work, and you really can't go wrong ordering literally anything on the menu (though if you start with an appetizer I'd strongly recommend the seasonal artichoke, and if on a Friday, the clam chowder is out of control). Shout out to the GM Charlie- really made it a special evening for us and completely erased the difficult week we had. Appreciate you and your amazing staff. read more

We have been coming to Houston's for over 20 years. Food and service are always excellent. Unfortunately, they separated us from our children last night as we had a party of 6. Not just separate tables, but had our daughters at a table across the restaurant from each other. Despite asking the manager- he said that it was policy. I would only recommend for parties under 6, and don't go here unless you want your family separated like ICE. read more

Review for drinks and snacks only! Always a good place to stop in for a drink or two! This restaurant in Irvine features a long bar to curl up to. If you seek a professional cocktail done right then this is the place for you! The cocktails, in particular martinis are done right! And they keep it cool for you as you sip through your cocktail: if warm they will replace your glass with a cool martini glass. You don't a warm drink! We appreciate the great service! To accompany our drinks, we ordered some light snacks. We ordered a side of fries and deviled eggs eggs. The fries are ok, McDonald style with less grease and salt . The mayo sauce with the fries make the dish. As for the devil eggs, I never understand why serve three halves. What happened to the other half. The eggs were ok: I don't like celery in my eggs. Other things to note: make sure you uphold the dress code. Dress code online: no baseball hats. The restaurant gets quite busy on weekends. If seeking a table, make reservations. The parking lot is large but shared with other restaurants so gets busy as well. There is a cover parking lot across the street if you don't mind the short walk. Due to the great drinks and service we provide the bar five stars! read more

See all

I love Houston's! It's my go-to when I know I want a good, healthy meal and a comforting place to regroup. It's my work restaurant and personal place! My personal favorite is Irvine! Jill has been my server for the last 2 times I've been here and she has been great! I've been dining at Houston's for over 40 years!!! Wow! It was my date place in College in Atlanta and my family and work spot while living in California! Thank you for staying consistently great!!! I'm a loyal customer!! read more

We waited over 2.5 hours due to a check-in error, were told '15 minutes' multiple times, and the food didn't meet expectations (tough steak, underwhelming beef dip). Disappointing experience. read more

Went here for my birthday dinner with my family and it was just okay. I've also been to their location in pasadena. That was my first time when I fell in love with the restaurant and had the Hawaiian ribeye which made me want to come here always. Unfortunately, this visit at this location & this specific visit made me realize that this will be my last visit ever. I was disappointed because the Hawaiian ribeye isn't what it used to be. Even the key lime pie was too tart for my taste. The graham cracker crust had no flavor. & My dad ordered ribs that came cold. Also, upon arrival he told them it was my birthday and they marked it down and the hostess said they would tell our server but we got the check & our server did absolutely NOTHING. honestly the worst birthday dinner. I didn't want to remind the server that it was my bday because that's just weird. The ambiance was just off already. From the moment we sat down, because I had a party of 4 and they gave us a small table and we had gifts for my bday and it was hard squeezing the bags in and everyone in the seats. Let alone all our plates on the table! Me and my family just wanted to leave. The check in hostess was really nice in the front and my mom loved her salad. That was the only pleasant parts I can say about coming here, which is sad cause it has nothing to do with my personal experience or my birthday. Never again. I'm giving 3 stars even though I would give 0 but I'm giving 3 because there was really nice employees there and that doesn't go unnoticed by me and the place was very clean and I can appreciate that. Especially the bathroom was clean. So 2 stars for cleanliness and 1 star for some nice employees. read more

I wasn't expecting much from this place as I do not usually go for older looking chains but I was genuinely surprised with how good it was. Ordered: Brussel sprouts Artichoke dip Ribs Steak Everything was very good but I would hold off on the sprouts as it was steamed rather than typical baked or fried The MEATS OMG. Quite honestly the best ribs and steak I have had in years. The flavoring was perfect. Even good the next day as leftovers! The baked potato was alright, I would suggest the fries. Parking is in a shopping center with security walking around. No valet available read more

See all

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

Houston's Restaurant is one of the BEST places to dine in OC. The menu and service is consistently outstanding and I've been coming here for more than 15 years. Special shout out to the GM Charlie who makes sure every guest is greeted and enjoying the best dining experience. read more

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

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.

Outstanding service from beginning to end. All the food temps were perfect. Flavor, portions, presentation were spot on. It was clean, cozy and comfortable. Thank you 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

So as an avid foodie and wine drinker I've got some very sad news happening with The Hillside Restaurant Group, including Houston's. Myself and a group Of friends dined there recently and enjoyed the food and the service. Some major disappointments including not being allowed to use our own stemware. This is the first I've ever heard of a restaurant not allowing a patron to bring and use their own stemware. I brought two very nice wines and their lobby glasses with a thick lip just didn't cut it. On top of this they are now charging $25 per bottle corkage. IMO, if a restaurant is going to charge $25 corkage they need to supply decent stemware. Not some crappy Libby glasses that do the wine no justice. I'm not sure what the line of thinking was here, but clearly someone made this decision that doesn't enjoy a fine glass of wine. The message is very clear here and I'll be dining at home with my wine instead of visiting Houston's. Pricing has gotten way out of control. Again, the food was excellent, but we won't be back any time soon. Also, Just a note, that we did purchase a cocktail before dining as well. They clearly don't need my business, as they seem to be doing just fine. On to the next.... read more

This restaurant used to have the best service in the industry. I recently came in for ribs and the Ahi tuna salad... I asked him to bring the tuna up to a medium, which they did not I never even got the hot towel for the ribs and the bartender acted like she couldn't even see me as I sit there and ate my $150 meal. The lack of awareness from the servers was astonishing. I don't know how they ever got to be bartender. I thought that was supposed to be the best of the best. I don't need you to ask me how I am every five minutes, but can you please look over my way once or twice why I'm having my meal in case I need something. I was not impressed and they need to upgrade to the desert menu at least once a decade Good Day read more

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

Always a great time! Everything on the menu is amazing , but some favorites of mine are ~ Thai tuna roll, pan seared salmon, pan Asian noodle salad with chicken and the grilled chicken salad. I love sitting at the bar and the staff is super classy and friendly. It truly feels like "where everybody knows your name" (Cheers) read more

See all

Hostesses need better training. We asked for bar seating, confirmed and she even said great I'll put you down for first available. Somehow she still put us down for dining table. We waited 20 minutes until I checked in and another hostess said we were on the wait for a table. I said no we had asked for bar and she said oh ok well there's still a party ahead of you. No ma'am we should be next because you messed up. No apology or anything. We left. Then the table was ready in 10 mins. It should have been a 10 min wait but instead we wasted 30 mins there and ended up leaving. read more

I'm a regular guest at Houston's and typically dine here two to three times a week for business dinners. This evening, I was dining with a client at a two-top and we were seated around 4:50 PM. At approximately 6:55 PM, a manager approached our table and asked us to vacate the table due to upcoming reservations. We were told that two seats were available for us at the fire pit so we could continue our business conversation there. However, when we stepped outside, there were no available seats at the fire pit as promised. Unfortunately, this left us with nowhere to continue our meeting, and we were forced to end our conversation abruptly and leave, despite still having two martinis we hadn't finished. As regular patrons, this experience was both frustrating and disappointing. We understand the need to manage reservations, but being asked to leave under the pretense that alternate seating was available--when it wasn't--left a poor impression, especially during a business engagement. read more

The cheese burger meat Pattie was three times smaller than the bun. The bun was large with lots of lettuce etc. 3 inches high with all the stuff. Meat was non existent. Big disappointment. read more

My group was attempting to make a reservation in a few weeks and was told they would not accept reservations for 6 people. We were taken aback as this is a standard party size. We have never heard of this policy from any other restaurant before including spots that are smaller or more upscale than this one. Very frustrating but trying to work to find a solution, we figured we could do take out and eat at home. Nope. Houston's also informed us that they will not allow take out orders! Again, an unheard of policy. If you have a medium sized party just note that you will not be eating here nor at home. I've never seen such an unaccommodating restaurant especially given they have 3 weeks notice. We will make it a point to not return here or to any of the affiliated restaurants read more

We went here for our wedding anniversary last night. I was slightly apprehensive because the last time we were here our Hawaiian Ribeyes were just ok. Well this time our ribeyes were perfection! We brought our own bottle of wine which our lovely server Presley opened with ease. We also had the coconut shrimp sushi and Caesar salad, all were amazing! Service was excellent from start to finish. We will be returning sooner and more often! read more

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

Fantastic restaurant. We love coming here. Incredible food and service. Highly recommend for a consistently bomb meal.

We had a wonderful experience! The staff was very professional, and the atmosphere was excellent. I don't recall the manager's name, but he was tall, very welcoming, professional, and kind. I noticed how involved he was throughout the evening moving between the kitchen and dining area, checking on staff and guests, and making sure everything was running smoothly. He's clearly doing a fantastic job leading his team and creating such a positive environment. The food was outstanding. We started with a sushi roll and the spinach artichoke dip, both of which were amazing. For entrees, we had the salmon and the chicken, with a side of fries and the rice and beans (since brussels sprouts were no longer available). Everything was flavorful and perfectly prepared. Our drinks were also exceptional. Overall, it was a true five star dining experience, and we'll definitely be returning to Houston's! read more

First time coming to this restaurant. I loved it. The staff was friendly and welcoming. We went on a Friday night definitely recommend you to make reservations. Even though it was busy we got our food/drinks in a very time efficient. Truly enjoyed our dinner here. read more

See all

Houston's never misses. The food is consistently excellent, the service is polished without feeling stuffy, and the vibe is perfect for a date night or a relaxed business dinner. The menu is classic and dependable everything tastes like it was executed with care. Expect a wait at peak times, but it's worth it. I'll be back. Especially great for business meetings during the day or early afternoon. read more

On a recent visit to the OC with my daughter for her orientation at UC Irvine we popped in for dinner. Houston's was a go to for us when we lived in Orange County. The thing that stands out about this chain is the level of service. It is always top-tier. The amount of attention to detail of the service team gives at this particular restaurant is outstanding. The food is always consistent. And the decor and ambience of the restaurant has a high level of sophistication and comfort. I've been to the other Houston's and Hillstone's and they all set a standard quality. read more

See all

Defiantly worth a visit I have loved everything i have tried so far with emphasis on their sushi french dip and key lime pie I have my eye on the pork chop next i'm not sure i have seen a more warm and friendly manager at work Eilish i think read more

We used to eat here all the times, either with family or staff from the office, but haven't been back in a while. Came in tonight and were so disappointed. Menu is limited. For grilled chicken salad, I asked if they can put the dressing on the side, waiter said no since it's already all mixed in. So are they serving all premade salad instead of freshly made? So trying to pick the kale salad per his suggestion, as I can get the dressing on the side. However, I do not like rotisserie chicken. Asked if I can get salmon as protein instead. He said no. How about another salad, can I do salmon instead, as I just had chicken twice yesterday and chicken again at lunch today. He said no again. So disappointed as I have always been able to swap out the protein from the entree salad everywhere else, we decided not to order anything else other than our meal. I ended up ordering the regular salmon entree. So it came with this super rich mashed potatoes, which was not listed out on the menu. As we were waiting for the foods and eating, I was watching my YouTube (visual) show. The phone was laying flat in the inside corner of our table, behind the partition divider, so no one can see it other than myself and/or the bus boy & the waiter. The manager came to our table and told me I was not supposed to be on the cell phone since it's disturbing others. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't even loud. My husband, who sat right in front of me couldn't even hear a thing since the restaurant was super noisy and people are loud! I later asked the couple who sat next to us if they heard anything from my visual show, they said they couldn't hear a thing. And the few tables around us were talking loudly and laughing out loud non-stop! We ate quickly and left. Service wasn't great & the manager was rude, we decided to leave 15% tip only, which was much lower than what we would normally tip. The salmon was good, as well as the burger, so hence the 2-Star. Mashed potatoes was super rich and full of butter. No for me. We have dined at all other restaurants from the Hillstone Restaurant Group, Bandera, Gulfstream, R&D Fashion Island, Houston's Boca Raton (numerous times), etc. and had never been treated or seen anything like that. Needless to say, we will not return and will let our family, friends, coworkers know. read more

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

See all

I've eaten at this restaurant many, many times going back to January 1996. The service is always excellent and the food is tasty, well prepared and consistent. The vibe of the restaurant is also very nice, and has been through all these years. Last night, my family went for dinner and Bella was our server. While all of the servers we've ever had have been very good, Bella really stood out as exceptional. Our favorite dishes include the nigiri plate, artichoke/spinach dip (Bella brought out extra chips before we needed to ask), kale/chicken salad, cheese burger, veggie burger (best veggie burger I've ever had. The buns used on the burgers, as well as the the items placed on the burgers are always very good. Thanks for all of the memories Houstons!! read more

I just had the most delicious belated Birthday lunch. Thanks first to a powerhouse team of Hostesses Maddy and Leslie! You ladies were a flawless team. They navigated that busy lunch rush with ease and so much grace. The new Manager who just transferred from the Scotsdale location was busy on the floor too making his presence known. This is always so nice to see! Al Shanaa was our server and she anticipated everything we needed before we asked for anything. She was so kind and lovely and attentive. My Dad and I split the traditional salad with blue cheese dressing. I LOVE their salad here, the corn and real bacon bits are more delicious than I can tell you. We also split a cucumber avocado roll and Al Shana brought us extra spicy mayo without having to ask for it. She set it down with the ketchup for our fries early. More points to AL Shana for that power move as well. Speaking of fries, the entree we split was a delicious and tender French dip sandwich. We also got a side of brussels sprouts that had fresh parmesan on top. The creamy horse radish was such a wonderful addition and the fries were shoestring and so light and crispy! Even better with a Lil spicy mayo! I wish I had saved room for dessert but I was beyond full. Thank you to Houston's for a very happy belated Birthday lunch! I will be back! 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

One of my favorite Hillstone restaurants in the area! Always the best food there and so consistently yummy. Service and ambience are always unmatched as well! read more

Houston's Restaurant - Dirty martini, pressed sushi, artichoke appetizer - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

20+ year Hillstone fans can likely attest to the obvious changes that have occurred since the collection of restaurants made an appearance in southern California. Quality of food is still top notch, but quantity coupled with aggressive price hikes continue to plague the menu. Sure, Gazpacho nor the Rutherford ribeye haven't been on the menu for at least a decade. The couscous, Prime Rib, and seasonal favs like Braised cabbage with goat cheese and summer corn have all disappeared. The Thai Steak and Noodle salad has sadly been replaced. Don't ask for decaf or salad dressing on the side; they don't have it and can't do it. Portion sizes have reduced, while prices climb and sometimes service is questionable, but it was great that reservations can be arranged once again. I miss the Hillstone restaurants I was introduced to 2 decades ago. I also miss leftovers - I can't remember the last time we had leftovers here. Assuming this is a reflection of portion size, or we happened to be extremely hungry on every visit the last couple of years. For the most part, the universal servicing process is satisfactory, the one or two-offs can be pushed out of mind. The place is busy as ever, old timers recognize the difference, new comers think they've stumbled on a gem of a restaurant. We continue to patronize because the food is quite good, the frequency of visits however have dramatically reduced. read more

Houston's Restaurant - Getting back to normal...one salt shaker and candle at a time. - New American Near Me - Irvine, California

See all

First-time customer. I am going to a contrarian and declare the Irvine Houston's food and service FABULOUS! Their signature ribs are simply divine (I've been wasting money at Lucille's all these years!) Sure they're pricey at $38 but worth every penny. The grilled artichoke was also excellent. No complaints with the waitstaff either -- attentive server, prompt water refills. I also like the ambience: the restaurant is very dark but each table is well-illuminated from above (like in the airplane seats.) read more

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

See all

Always be the best steakhouse! They always busy, so make sure you make the reservation couple hours ahead We ask for medium and they cooked perfect! read more