3rd Bar

The trendy interpretation of what a Banh Mi is and can be has reached new lows. It’s partially my fault for ordering it, and yeah it’s at an airport, but a flavorless and dry piece of random fried fish on a stale onion roll you would get on sale at a Safeway with an utterly flavorless slaw: Banh Mi? I think the only similarity may be that both this sandwich and a Banh Mi are both a) food and b) sandwiches. It stops there. Also, Banh Mi’s are typicallyquite tasty. Not the case here. Oh and it’s about 4−5x the cost of an authentic Banh Mi. Again, airport pricing, but still. Come on man.

Not a bad spot in Bush airport. Great spot for crafts! Good selection of wines too. Food is okay. Bar service is good. I always come here when I’m at Bush.

Inattentive servers, slow kitchen, average food, poor signage up front re: seating situation. Ordered salmon from Chef’s Tasting Menu for May 2016. Menu price was $ 21. Salmon had an Asian glaze, which was actually just a hoisin-​like condiment spread on top. But the fish was cooked well with a nice crust and tasted good, and went well with the few small asparagus stalks on the plate. Came with fresh greens sprinkled with a few slivers of hearts of palm and red onion with a mango mustard dressing that was reasonably tasty. The bruschetta was a piece of Texas toast with a slice of tomato and fresh mozzarella. The accompanying potato wedges were hard, cold and inedible (maybe left over from breakfast service?) Overall, not bad, but the presentation certainly didn’t look as gourmet as the pictures on the menu. This is nothing fancy, just an expensive, slightly higher-​end airport sit down restaurant IF you have plenty of time to kill. Though if you really have time to spare, there are far superior places in Terminal E. Would give it 2.5 stars if that were an option. I read that they are overhauling the dining options in Terminal B — it will certainly be a welcome change.

Ok, so you’re in the airport and prices will be high. After getting over that, I found that I liked the food much more than traditional airport fast food. Good fried shrimp po boy recommended by my waiter Mike. Nice wine pour also. Definitely gotta respect the bartender Mark for a well done Old Fashioned that I had afterward. I would stop in again next time through IAH. Kudos to Mike on great service on a busy day.

Had a long layover so thought I would enjoy a nice lunch. Menu looked good so I ordered a Pear Salad. The pears were so sour I thought I was eating lemons. Changed order to a Shrimp Poy boy and was severely penalized by not getting meal for another 30 – 40 minutes. Thankfully I had time. Shrimp Poy boy was mediocre at best. Should’ve stuck with Panda Express.

Slow service and dirty tables. Just another overpriced airport restaurant for traveling hostages.

I have been following the Eater website’s list of airport food places to check out while traveling. Therefore during a layover at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, I checked out their recommendations for Terminal 2 and decided on this place as it was closer to my gate and I only had 45 min in between flights (of course then my flight got delayed, but that’s another story!).
As it was 9:30am, only the breakfast menu was available. And since I was doing it to-​go, I had to order at the bar. They had an omelette choice, but it was with cheese and ham but I could swap those ingredients out for onions and mushrooms instead so I went with that choice and the order included roasted potatoes and smoked bacon. It was an extra $ 2 for a slice of toast and sourdough was the only available option.
So when I could finally sit and eat my breakfast, I inhaled the potatoes — they were good! Bacon was slightly on the salty side and I was truly enjoying my omelette when something rubbery hit my tongue — yep my omelette had cheese! And of course since it was takeaway, I couldn’t exactly go back and get my order corrected :(
I also though it wasn’t great that toast was not included in the price — I got salad, so if this is being included, why not throw in a piece of toast too? I dislike places that nickel and dime this way — I mean my omelette cost $ 13 so for that price I reckon they could have bought a whole cartoon of eggs and all my omelette contained was 2 eggs! Props however as real mushrooms were used (no cans!) but honestly this is one of those time I wish could give 3.5 stars rather than rounding down!

There was a Vietnamese sandwich on the menu. It looked like it had the right parts and pieces with a twist (fried fish). I talked to the bartender and she assured me it was pretty awesome.
And over the years have gotten used to everything at the airport being expensive. This place had a $ 16.50 Vietnamese sandwich. The way the bartender had talked this up — i said to myself that i need to try this sandwich. That a sandwich that they’re charging this much for must be pretty amazing.
Nice job bartender — you up sold me on what may have been the biggest waste of money for a sandwich. It’s not often i have a sandwich that i still think about a month later, but this place served one of the worst tasting.
When i pull back through here i will go to any other place than this one.
Similar experience to others about being ignored by staff.

Gumbo is yummy! (just a bit salty …). But, I would do it again. It is lovely with a glass of ghe Caymus White Wine.
Service is friendly and lots of electrical plugs. Yay!
It is the best option in Terminal B. But, I wish they would dim the lights for more ambiance… :)

Setup: waiting for flight to FL
The good: decent wine pours, good oysters and shrimp cocktail for an airport locale. I lucked out with a particularly good server.
The bad: the hostess was TERRIBLE. I haven’t hosted in 20 years and I could drop in and do a better job than this. Slow, inattentive to the LINE of people building at the front, seating sections already in the weeds, etc.
Observations: very nice décor. I mentioned both my awesome server and the not awesome hostess to the manager, who at least seemed to care what I said.
Overall recommendation: If you are stuck in Terminal B, it’s an ok option. Otherwise it isn’t worth seeking out.

Better than nearby fast food options, but food was just average for me. Best part about this place is that it allows you to sit down and relax with a beer. Go in with low expectations and you will be pleased. I went with the slider trio (burger, chicken and pulled pork). The burger was the best and chicken was just okay mostly batter, and the pork wasn’t great — either the sauce or slaw wasn’t to my liking. The fries were just average and tasted double fried. The Santo beer from Houston local St Arnold was the best part of my meal, so next time I may just order drinks.

Definitely an upscale airport bar — and that’s reflected in the prices you see on the menu and in the receipt you’ll receive when you leave! Way too expensive for the service and for the fact that you’re still in the AIRPORT. Well decorated. And the menu looked good, but I was too cheap to buy any food given how much I spent on wine after our flight was delayed!

We stopped here for a good dinner. My wife ordered the gumbo soup. The place have a great ambiance, I would recommend just let the waiter know you need the check right after the food is served.

Do not get the gumbo!
Preface: my father was an SVP with HMS Host so I spent the first 20 something years of my life eating at HMS Host establishments and this one is by far the worst.
I’m shocked to see the high amount of stars for this place. I give one star for the décor but it ends there.
Service: abysmal. There’s no «please seat yourself «sign so you stand there like an idiot waiting to get seated. When you finally get a seat for yourself, it takes forever to flag down a server in your section. These servers were so busy running waters to tables, their essentially overpaid waterboys.
Food: awful. I ordered the shrimp and andouille sausage gumbo. It took 15 minutes and when it came, I could have sworn they gave me The wrong order. I had to flag down two servers to make sure it was gumbo in front of me because all I got was a giant bowl of salt water soup with bits of really sad looking sausage and crab claw meat. If you’re in the mood for your typical hearty gumbo, this is not it. The runner said my toast would be coming shortly and surprise, my toast never came. My co-​worker shows up later and was like «that’s gumbo??? Where’s the rice???» I’m like exactly. Since I didn’t have time to re-​order something else, I forced it down but it was so damn salty I could feel my blood pressure rising as I had it.
Maybe I ordered the wrong thing but damn, 15 bucks for that was such a waste… even if it was on the corporate dime.
Never again!

It’s worth the stop if you happen to be in terminal B. Definitely better than any other greasy option around the area.
I got the Salmon BLT with a salad. The salmon was a thick plentiful piece with an aeoli sauce and it was delicious. My salad was sad– just leaves, no cheese or other veggies, it was also wilted and going bad. I hate that. As cheap as salad is, invest in a better produce selection.
I also got a boozy milkshake– it was sweet and not very strong. Tasted like a regular milkshake, you can do better.
Also tried the sliders — one of each: pork, chicken and beef. Not bad. Got fries with them, they tasted like fish .
Blood orange margarita wasn’t bad either.

I would have loved to have eaten here but the person I thought was the hostess talked with a customer a while then seated him. I was left waiting up front. After looking at me three times standing there, she came over and told me to seat myself. A few minutes later and a few passes by all the persons who could have been wait staff (2), no greeting and no menu. I had a flight to catch so I left.

Exactly what we needed after returning from an international adventure! Great service, delish food, and cool ambiance!
I had the fried oyster po boy, whicch was decent. The bread was a little too hearty for my preferences, but I still scarfed it down! My friend had the pulled pork sliders and described them as «filling!» Soooooo happy we made the trek from another terminal to this place!!!

Hanging here while my flight was delayed, delayed, the cancelled. Oysters ok for mid June, gumbo was decent for airport. It has crab claws in it! However, they probably do not start with making a roux every morning. Even has a decent local beer, saint something.
Server was very accommodating, even when I left to re-​book a flight.
Hugh O

Stylistically in line with the looks of the nearby Brookstone and «iStore.»
One of the few places in IAH to get craft beer, as far as I could tell (a couple of Karbachs and St. Arnolds).
The host stand seemed optional, as confused diners stood in front of it for a minute or two, realized no one was likely to come seat them, and found their own way to an empty seat. Once seated, service was very attentive.
The shrimp po’ boy was served on a tremendously large slice of bread. It was otherwise unremarkable.
The male and female bartenders were passive-​aggressively trying to assert themselves as the one in charge. Sort of like a Sam and Diane-​type of situation, except in an airport instead of a Boston bar and not particularly funny.
Though the concept and name are borrowed from one of the most highly-​regarded seafood restaurants in Houston, it’s operated by HMSHost, like many of these other fancy airport restaurants, so there’s little of that creative direction or quality control that you would expect if Bryan Caswell was back in the kitchen. As it is, it’s an above-​average airport restaurant that raises the bar from the low standard set by Chili’s elsewhere in the concourse.

Bad start: didn’t have advertised-​on-​chalkboard beer; didn’t have another menued beer, (actually missing at least two menued, but at least the one I really wanted). So had a glass of Left Bank wine I’ve had before and enjoyed, but it was fruity enough to attract a fruit fly. A snob sitting a seat away «liked» his oysters, yet was still grumbling about them, so I didn’t bother getting any.
Place looks good and has lots if outlets to recharge electronics, but IAH overall isn’t short on outlets so… while the experience was likely downgraded by the extra crowding of multiple flights cancelled by the Feb1−2 blizzard of 2015, it was not packed when I wandered in and other IAH sites were not so discombobulated, so I will skip it if I go back through.