REVIEW: Thirteen Houston

Recently, we had the pleasure of dining at Thirteen Houston, James Harden’s new restaurant in Midtown. We know you’re itching to know if it lives up to the hype. Read on to see how our experience was!

First things first, those pesky reservations. While we’ve heard stories of people being unable to get reservations, we had no trouble at all. A few reasons: 1) we made our reservation a couple of months in advance. 2) we selected an early time (4:30pm), well ahead of the dinner rush. 3) we selected a weekday (Thursday) to avoid the busy weekend. In order to sit in the main dining area, you MUST have a reservation. So do what we did and you should have no problem. Also, they’ll only accept reservations for as many as six in one party, so if you have more than that, you have to book a private room. They do accept walk-ins at the bar. Not a bad option for those dining alone.

Parking wasn’t an issue for us. There’s a parking garage directly across the street from the restaurant. We can’t tell you how much it was because when we went, the gates were up, so we didn’t have to pay. We don’t know if this is the norm at earlier hours, but we hear parking is $10 over there. They also have valet for $20.

Now, we are not gonna lie. The restaurant is beautiful! The decor is beautiful from the moment you step into the door. The actual dining area feels upscale and we are sorry we didn’t take pictures. Tables are dark and the chairs are modern and silver. If you poke around Instagram, we’re sure you can see pics. We know they also have a hookah lounge but we did not visit, so sorry, nothing to share there!

If you read the Yelp reviews, you’ve probably seen mixed responses regarding service. We can only speak for our experience, but the service was top-notch from beginning to end. We were seated right away and greeted by all the staff as we walked in. Our server Raymon was great. He was attentive, answered questions about the menu, made honest suggestions, and checked on us multiple times throughout our dinner. So shout out to Raymon!

Without further ado, the food (and drinks)! Kim ordered a white wine and Val ordered a cocktail called Aphroedite. It was made with peach vodka, rosé, and some other stuff. It was delicious, not too strong, and very popular because we saw several people order the same thing! As for the food menu, we sampled a few appetizers, entrees and sides. Our feedback is below.

• Shrimp and Lobster Mac and Cheese Egg Rolls: This is their most popular appetizer and what you’ll see on Instagram the most. We thought they were pretty good, not fantastic, but solid. Add a dash of salt and you’re all good.
• Pineapple Thai Wings: These were the real standout appetizers for us. You get a nice serving (about eight wings) and they’re sauced with a nice sweet/slight jerk seasoning. These were really good and we highly recommend.
• Seafood Fried Rice: This came with crab, crawfish, and topped with a fried lobster tail. Plenty of seafood and it was seasoned well. Our only request – a bit more sauce.
• Deep Fried Lasagna: Superb. That’s all you need to know. Nice portion size, great flavor, and filling. Order it. You’re welcome.
• Truffle Fries: These were good. Nothing extravagant. They come with a nice miniature jar of ketchup.
• Brussel Sprouts: Last and certainly least. Overcooked/mushy and flavorless, we would not recommend.

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience at Thirteen Houston. As we were heading out, we saw it getting pretty crowded, so if you want to enjoy it with less commotion, book an earlier time like us. The ambiance lends itself to a nice date night and we hear the Sunday Brunch is dope. May have to check it out!

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