I've been coming here for years. I basically always order lomo saltado, sometimes ceviche de pescado (fish) and the cheesecake de maracuya (might be my favorite dessert of all time). Their lomo saltado is fantastic...I've had this dish at fancy restaurants in Miami, L.A., San Francisco and Lima and it is the best here which may make some people laugh but it's the truth. The outside appearance of the restaurant is not too great but if you can get over that part and just walk inside it's cute and the food is worth it. The service usually isn't that great either (usually slower than you'd like and on occasion a waiter who seems like they're not happy at their job...this issue, not the slowness, has slightly improved over the years I've noticed) but I expect it from them so it doesn't bother me. read more

Absolutely love this place! The Lomo Saltado is my go-to dish always. I've tried other Peruvian places but so far, nothing beats this place. The chips and salsa are the bomb as well!! It is a small restaurant and sometimes the staff takes quite some time to come to the table, but other than that, the food is very well worth it. read more

We were seated very fast. But we waited about 15 minutes for them to bring the menu. They brought the food jn a reasonable amount of time but again we have to wait 15 min for a desert that was already made. They were super fast billing our credit card. They are understaff !! We order little yuca balls filled with cheeses. They were very tasty but overpriced. Seven small balls for $10. I order the lomo with mushroom sauce, and it was tasty. My friend order paella de mariscos and she said it was delicious. read more

I ordered the Parihuela soup and it is not what I normally get in other places including in Lima (broth consistency) It was very thick and had a jellylike consistency. I returned the dish and the server said I was right, it was too thick and she will get me another one. The Chef got REALLY upset. She started screaming so loud that I could hear everything outside. She said that every restaurant has a different way to cook it and that's it! Me and my husband felt very uncomfortable to order anything else so we left !!! read more

My Fiance and I tried it for lunch and it definetely exceeded our expectations. Found this place through GROUPON! Small/ hole in the wall atmosphere. Nice interior and restrooms. The ceiling tiles are definetely old- A painting or replacement are in dire need. OK- The most important thing... THE FOOD!! The chips and creamy/ cilantrocy sauce was to die for! Wish we could replicate it!! My entree was a Fried Fish with Yucca, absolutely delicious! My Fiance's was even better Lomo Saltado! YUMMY! It was our first time eating Peruvian food and it was a great experience. Unfortunately we ran out of time and did not get a chance to try dessert. We are defineteky coming back for dessert and wine. read more

Basics first: Small not very well decorated ambiance that evokes similarities to a run down 80's Miami vice restaurant. The staff is poorly presented, not very well spoken, terrible at customer service, and frankly; a bit too old to be working... Furthermore, the Silverware, plates, and tables were all a bit on the cheap side, - for the amount of money one pays for a meal here, one would expect a better quality establishment.... Food: food is actually very well presented, the portions are relatively ok. Good taste and consistency is found throughout an entire and vast menu that consist of Peruvian classics like the ceviche, lomo saltado, tallarin saltado, and an assortment of seafood plates. That being said the quality of key ingredient such as the meat used for the "lomo saltado" could be improved. Seafood plates like the "pescado a lo macho" are very well seasoned and taste quite well, however once again the quality of the fish, tomatoes, and onions used to make this classic dish could be improved. With an atmosphere change and some substantial investment in ingredient quality, the "Lemon tree" could become a great local eatery for Houston residents craving Peruvian dishes As a fan of Peruvian cousine I can honestly say, I've eaten better, but lemon tree is not far from giving customers a taste of Peru.... read more

This place is amazing!!!! Anyone that gives them less than 4 stars.... Well they have no taste what so ever and do not read into their comments!!!! I have been coming here for years and introducing other friends to this place that are used to very expensive restaraunts.... My friends are Absolutely Amazed with Lemon Tree!!!! There is no other Peruvian restaurant in Houston that even comes close to what they have to,offer! Bon Appetite! read more

I'm a regular at LT. Best Peruvian food in town. + BYOB. You can have an also have a nice cold Inca Cola, nicely paired with anything on the menu. Ceviche is cooked the way it's supposed to - FRESH. NEVER over-lemoncooked as many other places. Fried calamari is made in house, not defrosted +fried. Hungry? go for the Se me cayó el Arroz. Dessert: Take your time to choose. Go look at it in the fridge where you stored your BYOB wine and beers. You may argue over dessert. I have their phone stored to call in advance to order takeout or make reservations. Expect a short wait during weekend nights. Yes it's THAT good. read more

I don't exactly like it because it's not so kiddie style what I mean by that is that the menu kids???? I only go there because my family loves that place and the have there party's there but other than that I do not go there!If you would add a kids menu for my kids that would be great I would go there more often there is some kid stuff but the food could be less spicy for the kids and a little better tasting the shrimp kinda taste like it was frozen for a day or two! read more

One of the best Peruvian places in Houston. Love their ceviche. I order the Tiradito, which is the Peruvian style ceviche without red onions. Their shrimp fried rice is also delicious, it comes with huge fresh shrimps. I always order Chica Morada, which is a very topical Peruvian drink made out of purple corn. It is very refreshing especially during summer time. My son always order Inca cola. They offer great desserts. Their lomo salteado and tallarines are great as well. read more

Absolutely amazing and very authentic dishes! Had chi cha morada to drink. I'll be back for sure!

I've been sitting here for a while trying to decide how to start off this review and it's taking me all of my will to not just scream "THE CEVICHE MIXTO IS DELICIOUS!!!". Lemon Tree is a nice little Peruvian restaurant and simply put, it's pretty dang awesome. The servers started us off with some chips and this creamy green sauce that's reminiscent of a tangy ranch. I've been hearing my sister's bf rave about Inca Kola for a while so we decided to get a liter ($5) and shared. It's an interesting soda drink that has a nostalgic taste that I can't quite put my finger on...for a bit it tastes like cream soda and then the yellow color just reminds me of pineapple soda. Regardless, it's good if you like soda. We ordered the ceviche mixto as an appetizer to share amongst our party of 3. Holy cow, it is DELICIOUS! Lives up to it's name of Lemon Tree as it is super sour and citrus-y, which is awesome because that's how they "sear" the fish with the acidic-ness of the lemons. There was a good mix of calamari, fish, shrimp, and mussels served with some corn and sweet potatos. I still can't get over the taste of it, it's so sour it makes you pucker but you just can't stop eating because it is just that good. This review will do it no justice, you just have to go and order it yourself to taste, in my opinion, the best ceviche in Houston. Next, we ordered the seafood paella and mussels on the half shell with corn. The paella was good, nothing too special. It was huge though, enough to share with everyone. The mussels were so dang tasty and sour again! Had a similar taste to the ceviche except it was just onions and mussels and corn. The food was extremely flavorful and not heavy, leaving us sufficiently full and not feeling bloated afterwards. Each dish was around $13-14, so the bill rung up around $40. The reason for a star deduction is because of it's location. It's around the Dairy Ashford area and is hidden in this shopping center, so it's easy to pass up. The outside of the place does not reflect how it looks on the inside. The ambiance on the inside is really nice, good enough to take a date. All in all, Lemon Tree was a great way for me to start exploring Peruvian food and if I'm ever on that side of town, I will definitely find myself here. read more

Our favorite Peruvian food restaurant in Houston! Very authentic and flavorable. Been going to this restaurant for over 10 years. Have also used them on many occasions for catering special events. It is small but that gives it the family feeling. You need to be patient with the service. Although the staff is very friendly, in true Latin ways, meals are taken in a very laid back calm manner. read more

Holy Toledo!!! I was going through my reviews and realized that I had not written a review on one of my favorite places to eat in Houston. And Holy Crap is this place good!! Everything for the food ,to the festive atmosphere ,to the BYOB is AWESOME. Well I must tell you a little secret about Lemon Tree. So before you go, call ahead to make a reservation. You will thank me greatly. Because almost every time I go there it seems like there are several large groups of people eating, drinking, dancing, and having a genuinely good time. There always a very festive atmosphere and the people there seem to ready to party the night away. It has been said that one of the ways you can tell if a ethic food restaurant is good is if the members of that ethnic community eat the food. And let me tell you most of the people that are at this place are of Latin American decent. So with that...just make a reservation, it will make your life much easier. Now for the FOOD!! One my food items at Lemon Tree comes right when you sit down at the table, its the chips and Peruvian style dip. My mom used to always say that one of the ways that you tell a great Mexican restaurant is by the quality of the chips and salsa that they serve, and I must say mom really knows what the hell she is talking about. The dip that they serve is a creamy style salsa that has a little kick and a lot flavor. I could simply go there for the dip and be a very happy man. One of my favorite appetizers is the Chicharron de Calamar, it is crispy and soft all at the same time, and the best part is that they serve a big heaping mound of it for a good price. The last time I went I had the Saltado de Camarones, cooked shrimp sauteed with onions, tomatoes and served with rice and potatoes. It is one of those meals that when you get it your like oh this looks ok, but after your done eating it you absolutely stuffed and amazed at what you have just eaten. There Ceviche is awesome very flavorful, there paella is one of the best I have ever had and they give you plenty of food. There are so many items on the menu and all of them look and sound great, I just hope that I will go there often enough to try So in conclusion, I hope that you will at least go give this place a try. You will not be disappointed and I usually have at least one thing to complain about. The food is great, the atmosphere is unique, and the food is close to gourmet but far from gourmet prices. read more

This place is AMAZING!!!! Best cebiche, best Peruvian food ever!!!!!! The service is above and beyond. The ambiance is phenomenal. Come and experience the BEST Peruvian food in Houston. read more

So we had a reservation for 10 people. There were 7 other tables there and 2 waitresses there. It took them literally 45 minutes for them to ask us what we wanted to drink. The food was ok. The only reason I am giving it a 2 star is I have been here before and the food was better then (my fiancé and I ordered the same thing both times) and the service wasn't so horrible. I was frustrated as they put a service charge on our ticket for the tip as the wait staff did a terrible job and did not deserve 1 cent of it. They did nothing at all to try to apologize for ignoring us for almost an hour and the service after was minimal. Overall very bad experience won't come back because I don't like to go places that are inconsistent like this and that they allow something like this to happen. read more

I would love to give them a 4-star, but the long wait is just not acceptable. They need more waitstaff. Food is surprisingly decent! Ceviche de pescado is great! Tacu Tacu lemon tree is decent. Arroz con pollo is okay and kids loved the chicken pasta. If you don't like lemon flavor in your food, don't bother. Apparently they put lemon juice in all dishes - hence the name "Lemon Tree". read more

Our whole experience was a disaster. The waitress was nice in the beginning when she brought a small basket of cold chips and cold dip. We were hungry so we ate the chips regardless and waited for her return to order the cassava with mozzerella balls which by themselves tasted bland but with the sauce tasted better. When the waitress brought the meals we ordered, my colleagues meat was bleeding on the plate, even though doneness was not asked the meat was served close to raw and the seasonings on it were not pleasing. She did not want to say anything so I did because we were paying alot of money for this visit to this restaurant. While she waited for her plate to come back, I tasted my dish which was chicken with mushroom sauce. The sauce tastes like it was made with cream of mushroom from a can, the mushrooms looked not fresh neither did they taste fresh, and the chicken was very overcooked. About 5 mins later the waitress came back and my colleague tasted the dish again and could not get beyond a bite. I spent over $25 for my dish and 2x sodas (which were $3 each) and I could have gone to our first choice and gotten a better experience for much much less. I really wanted to love this restaurant because it is mom and pop but they have to fix their recipes and get better ingredients and THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW SERVICE WORKS. When I make a mistake or something is not good that I brought to someone I should apologize. The waitress made 0 eye contact when we asked for the check and did not want to get to go boxes for the full plates we were leaving behind. She made 0 apologies. Never coming back but hope they turn it around. read more

First time here with a friend today and I was absolutely floored with this place - it is simply amazing. I had the seafood 'soup' with rice -- OMG -- it was so good that I might have licked the plate a bit. It is located a little off the beaten path, but well worth it to find. read more

I've never had Peruvian cuisine until I tried this place. I've been here 3 times already and loved it every time. When you think of Latin cuisine, you think rice, beans and flavorful meat. Here, the ceviche rules. No, it's not shrimp and fish in a tomato based sauce. It's seafood in a vinegar-y soup. I love it! It tastes exactly like "kilawin", which is basically Filipino ceviche. To me, it tasted like home. I've had the paella and lomo saltado and other items that other people ordered. I'm surprised because there's a lot of Asian flavors in their cooking. Everything I tried so far was good, and I don't mean to take away from other items on the menu, but I'm really only going back for the ceviche. Just fair warning: the vinegar is very strong and may be overpowering for some. But that's exactly what I love. For dessert, I noticed they had alfajores, which is another delicacy I like from the Philippines. Alfajores is pastry that consists of dulce de leche sandwiched with two delicate, powdery cookies. read more

OMG wow. This is a diamond in the rough. This is authentic South American restaurant. If you work in the energy corridor is an excellent pit stop for lunch bits a little more on the pricey side as most meals are in the $12-15 range. But, the seafood is fresh and excellent. The jalea was full of flavor (kinda tangy and tart). Don't assume your waiters speak English. And teeny bit of Spanish will go a long way here. read more

Great service and great food! The decor is sweet and it's not exactly the most beautiful restaurant but as long as you're giving me yummy food- decor doesn't matter. Se me cayo el arroz is my all time favorite! read more

This is my first review so I can give a 5 star rating on the first outing, sorry. I had this wonderful food brought to my office by coworkers and I loved it. We all shared about four dishes and they were all fantastic. I recommend this place to one and all yet I have not stepped through the doors, but I plan on taking my significant other soon!!! read more

Great, unique, fresh, flavorful. The location is a bit inconvenient (out in the Energy Corridor), and the atmosphere is nothing to write home about, but this BYOB spot is a go-to for my group of friends at least 3 times a year. Try the big appetizer sampler, and be sure to finish the meal with the lucuma cake dessert. read more

I just got here and they refuse to give me table because they close at 9 however their website their door and yelp state closing at 10!!!! It is 8:44pm and I came with a group of 7 people!!! Their food is good but not that good to be humiliated for a table! Waitress was extremely rude!!! I will never ever coming back here!!!! read more

Lemon Tree Restaurant - It says open tables are open! Website says closed at 10 however is 8:44pm and they refused to serve me and my family of 7!!! - Latin American Near Me - Houston, Texas

Not real Peruvian Food! This place tries to be extra fancy but it's not. My husband being Peruvian got really excited after all the rave our Peruvian friends where talking about. I tried the lomo saltado and nothing really special meat was bland. Then we tried the tiradito but it was really sour and they served it with a side of yellow corn right out of the can :( not happy at all. Never coming back! read more

Well, if you think this restaurant is native Peruvian I'm sorry but you are in for a disappointment. Don't get me wrong, I love the food and everybody is right when they say you are missing out if you don't go... TOTALLY agree on that. But the dishes are not native Peruvian anymore, they have been "Americanized" so not only Peruvians go to this restaurant. Let's use TacuTacu as an example, if you travel to Peru TacuTacu is just a plate with beans and rice all mixed together, no meat, no eggs that is something added by the restaurant to make the plate more appealing. This is a great place to go to with business partners or as a family once in a while, but if you want to taste native Peruvian food go to the other Peruvian restaurants in Houston like: "El Rancho Polleria" or "Fogio's Seafood restaurant". El Rancho polleria is on W.Mount Houston and 45, yes I know, it is not the best part of town, but trust me the food is worth the drive, and they have a variate of Peruvian food, if you try the Pollo a la Brasa, wow, you will never regret it. Fogio's is close to Hwy 6 and Clay Rd. in front of the court house. It has great ceviche and delicious conchas negras, which is hard to find in Houston (if you are able to find it at all), his prices are high for the amount of food you get per serving, but you could try it at least once, and you may see yourself asking for another order of ceviche, they have Peruvian beer: Cuzquena and Pilsen and any true Peruvian will tell you ceviche and beer most definitely go together. Peruvian cuisine has been recognized for their great taste and variety, you can eat one peruvian dish for lunch and dinner all 365 days of the year and you will never repeat the same dish twice. Try it, you will not regret it! read more

Good food, I'm full and belly happy. Good service also with nice lively atmosphere. The Paella was good but It needed more sauce/juices I thought. The Merengado de lucuma for desert I will not recommend, it was crispy/crunchy and to sweet. But overall I will be back. I recommend this Resturant to my family and friends. read more

Yummy! Food is great, they could do a better job cleaning their dishes and glasses properly. But overall it is great as usual. Took my bf and sister here on separate occasions and they both loved it. read more

I went with my folks the other day. They ordered the ceviche (liked, not loved -- My mom described it as "delicate") and the seafood paella. They LOVED the paella -- lots of seafood and a very tasty sauce. I'm vegan, so I only had peruvian corn, dried fried corn, fried yucca, salad and sweet potato. All of my order was quite bland, except for the salad dressing which tasted very one dimensional (lemon juice basically). Having more sauce options would have been wonderful, because all of the starchiness was hard to swallow. read more

Read a lot of great reviews about this place and was in the mood for some good Peruvian ceviche so we made a stop at this place for dinner. Let me just get to the point. This place disappointed...big time. Started with the ice water served with all kind of stuff floating in it. We pointed it out to the waitress and not a word of acknowledgement. We ordered cerviche mixto and the squid/shrimp cerviche in addition to the paella. They all came out within like 4 minutes. It wasn't paella, it was really bad fried rice. No real paella can be cooked in 4 minutes. The restaurant has maybe 3 or 4 tables top yet the waitresses were very slow and out of it. Although they seemed genuinely nice. For the price, quality of food and service, I would not come back nor recommend to people I care about. To the owner, I hope you see this as constructive criticism. read more

This place is absolutely amazing! All the dishes we had were spectacular. Our waiter was outstanding . To the lady Patricia I can't believe you rated this place 1 star because of the parking problem you had . You should be ashamed of yourself. I'll be back to lemon tree for sure . read more

I got some creamy shrimp and fish dish with white rice it was amazing however, the fried yucca was blah but the sauce it came with was good. I also liked the creamy jalapeno dip with the chips. The food and service was good enough for me to go there again. read more

I would be lying if I give this place 1 star, two stars is what deserves only because the waiters are very nice and polite but the food? Not really! I took three friends of mine from Nicaragua and Peru after convincing them to come with me to the 'best place' to eat Peruvian food; well that was not the case, they served Cebiche with sweet corn! I mean, come on, really? Any person from Peru will know that the corn is not supposed to be sweet and if it is then the flavor will change dramatically. After they did that to us we did not feel like eating there anymore... oh wait! I order the Lucuma dessert and it was fantastic, I would give one more star if it is only a place for desserts but not entries... just being honest here. : D read more

I never like to give low reviews, I always try to find something positive about the place but this restaurant was the worst. The service was SUPER SLOW, the restaurant only had one occupied table when we arrived, but it still took forever. It was my first experience and I had a few questions and my server couldn't speak ANY English and her V- neck was cut so low that it was really gross. We ordered two appetizers one with peanuts that didn't have any peanuts. The food was okay. I felt like I could have done a better job in my kitchen and knew how to explain the dish, needless to say I've been to many places but this one was so bad that I felt compelled to actually write a bad review. I would never return even with a coupon that says "EVERYTHING FREE" read more

I would give this place five stars if it wasn't for a few issues. First let me say the food is ALWAYS awesome and the portions are massive. The place is relatively inexpensive for what you get. It's BYOB and that's always a plus for me. Now for the negatives: the service is inconsistent and can be pretty slow most of the time. The wait staff is nice, but usually understaffed. I have called multiple times to make a reservation or a to go order for pick up during business hours and no one answers and there is no machine. That just annoys me!! Sometimes it feels like the owners really don't care how they are perceived, they are busy enough not to care about customer service and complaints. I would still go there because the food is good and unique, it's just annoying to have to deal with the negatives. I guess the owners realize that and therefore do what they want. read more

Delicious Peruvian food! Excellent servers and excellent food! We had the Pollo Saltado and Ceviche Pescado, so good! We also had Lucuma meringue dessert, super delicious and super stuffed! Used the $20 Groupon on our meal. All in all, excellent and welcoming food experience! Always happy to come here! read more

The food is expensive, but they do give massive portions. Be ready to drop ~$10-15 on each dish. I got the tacu tacu lemon tree. it's this rice bean concoction with 2 fried eggs and fries and beef stew on the side. The rice pile was extremely salty. i like salty, but this tasted like i was eating galveston. i had everyone else at the table try the rice and consensus was extreme salt. random side of fries was regular, nothing to rave about. i was asked how i wanted my beef, i said medium rare. it came out well done. my gf got a spicy seafood dish. it was tasty and really spicy. someone else at the table got calamari chicharone. that was good. i'm giving the place 2 stars. the dish that's named after the place should be the best thing on the menu. it also shouldn't cost an arm and a leg for decent food. read more

They have the best Lomo Saltado in town this is a must. Overall great experience and worth the trip!!

I was in this "coffee shop" on saturday June 1 at 145pm. My parents and I got into this place sat down and the waitress(limena achorada)not friendly at all gave us the menu and told us what drinks we wanted.(did not say hello or welcome) We ordered chicha morada,iced tea and a diet coke. We ordered papa a la huancaina,yuca with cheese,2 lomos saltados and 1 tallarin saltado. The papa a la huancaina and yuca were ok. the tallarin saltado was horrible and the lomos saltados were the worst I ever had in my whole life! The meat on the lomo saltado was boiled?!! there were only 4 fries on the dish soaked with meat juice!! the rice was of cheap quality-like the ones they make on the chinese buffets!! The place looks nice on the inside and that's it. ! our waitress (limena achorada)did not treated us well!! this waitress (limena achorada) was not professional at all! The waiters have to make the customers feel welcome-if not sooner or later this "coffee shop" will close as many Peruvians restaurants had closed in the last 10 years! My bill was $ 83 !! I will not come here no more until the manager fires the waitress(limena achorada-morena que parece verdulera de la Parada) and the quality of the food improves!! Overall (un robo a mano armada)a rip-off!! Also they put rock music in spanish? They should put musica criolla or Andean music! The owner has to train his employees better or find new ones! You have to love your job and make customer feel welcome and offer good service and good food. Too much improvement has to be made!! Sincerely, Carlos G.Gonzales email: cgrover66@aol.com PS: la mesera (morena achorada y amargada) tiene que ser despedida. La cantidad fue de $83 y se pago con debit o tarjeta de credito a nombre de Grover Gonzales Esta mesera fue muy grosera con mi madre y su modo achorado de hablar ( En Lima nadie la hubiese contratado de mesera) read more