Aji Peruvian Grill

Came for Father’s Day, they had a buffet special, not to much of a selection, and the food tastes like it had been sitting out for a while. Not worth the $ 25. Their drinks were good, but not enough to go back.

Great Peruvian Place. Nice big menu to choose from and the food portions are large. Also a plus is they have a liquor license so you can enjoy a drink there. (something Most of the smaller Latin restaurants don’t have) Also open later hours is a plus!

Great food. Both the pot roast and spicy sea food were fantastic. So was the passion fruit juice and Peruvian beer.

Waited 20 minutes with no acknowledgement of gratitude for coming.
The owner came finally and said «what you want?»
I said well a menu would be nice and a glass of water for now. It took 5 minutes for a glass of water. And it took another 5 minutes to walk out. Horrible service. Will not even bother coming back or recommending this place.

The Ceviche Limón with seafood is to die for! So so so fresh and spiced to perfection. Also the cilantro sauce is my favorite to try with the chips. My favorite part about this place is that everything taste so natural and fresh.

This place is delicious! Empanadas and ceviche are good and we especially loved the fresh fruit drinks. Our friend is from Peru and she said this place is the best she’s had in Houston.

I think this place is great! The bad reviewers must not be ordering the right food, and I have to admit I have not tried everything, although I have been there several times. One reviewer said that it appears as though the empanadas have powdered sugar on them. Not true at all and they are delicious! I am not a ceviche person so I cannot comment on that.

Try a different place if you want ceviche. Stay away from the bubblegum ceviche (poor quality and chewy fish). The empenadas were ok though. Our other dish was way too salty as well.

I mean there isn’t really much to say. I’ve had way better Peruvian food but this place is okay. If you can try another place I would because the food isn’t spectacular.

So lucky to live in Houston with its wide selection of ethnic food restaurants. This one is a hit! Located on the east side of Kirkwood in a strip center next to Walgreen’s, this small restaurant has amazing food and service. All the food is fresh made by the owners. Sometimes what is on the menu is not always available because some types of food do not «keep» well, so they limit the supply on hand. Don’t get made or frustrated. Just come back! I had the vegetable empanada, which was tasty and served with a green sauce, which was made of cilantro and avocado, with a few other spices. I tried the Cusqueno beer, which was fine. I ‘m not a beer person, so I can’t really comment on the flavor, but it’s nice to have some different things on the menu besides the «old» standards. They, also, have Peruvian wine by the glass, with prices ranging from $ 6−9/glass — reasonable. There are several restaurants in this strip center, so parking can be a problem at peak hours, but hang in there — people are always coming and going. Can’t wait to go back and try some other things.

Creamy and delicious spinach empanadas. Service was accommodating. Overall great experience.

Great food and excellent service! Even my little finicky eater loved it! Empanadas are amazing and the fresh fruit drinks are delicious!

Nice quaint spot. Enjoyed the fried seafood and ceviche. The food was pretty good. I wad a bit confused with the yam and yuca root but upon tadting it all together it made a great palate cleanser while ypu are having your meal. Customer service was on point, not too pushy or overly attentive. Cooks were wearing gloves and you can see what is going on in the kitchen. I will definitely be back.

I drove about an hour to this restaurant because I was craving Peruvian food. I had the ceviche limon and I must say it satisfied my craving! The service was excellent and food came out quickly. Will be back for the lomo!

Peruvian food done well! Took my family here to try for the first time and they loved it. The favorite dish of the night was the Chicken Aji de Gallina.

Another disappointing Peruvian food experience in Houston. Don’t get me wrong, the food didn’t taste bad, in fact it was good, but it wasn’t authentic tasting. The restaurant is next door to a nail salon and the smell of acrylic nails permeates the place along with the smell of food (i would have given it 3 stars if it didn’t smell). Prices were too high for what you get — atmosphere and portion wise. We had a pork sandwich, 1 cebiche, and one lomo saltaedo and the bill was 50.00.

The food was great, the local flare was nice, and the service was spot on. I would come back again!

I was here on 10/​19/​2015 at 1245pm and what a pleasant surprise! First we ordered 2 Inca kolas and a diet coke. we ordered empanadas… and didn’t have it! My mom and dad were getting ready to go but decide to stay
We ordered 2 lomo saltados and a causa limena. The lomo saltado was amazing! The rice was fresh, the tomatoes were delicious, the fries were a total delight!
The meat was great! The best lomo saltado in Houston! Was a lot better than Latin bites!
The causa was
mom said that they used artificial colors? Well ;still she enjoyed
We ordered alfajores and they didn’t have it!
The rating go as follow: the lomo saltado a 10, the causa limena was a 7. the freshness of the inka colas, diet coke and coffees was a 10!
The rating should be a 95 but because they didn’t have the empanadas and alfajores a have to give an 85!
PS: the beautiful limena (I believe is a owner/​manager) your service was amazing!
I have to tell you you are doing a great job!
Try always to keep empanadas and alfajores, I was to give a100 but that I wasn’t to happy you didn’t have that!

The Ceviche al Rocoto was absolutely fabulous. On Friday evenings they have live music. The perfect ambience while enjoying a Cusqueña or a nice wine. I would definitely come back.

Been eating like a champ all around … This place is beyond you dollar! Do not be deceived by the size! This is waaaay better than many other fancy fish restaurants serving you frozen ingredients! Check my images. Go and try! Don’t thank me, thank the CHEF!

I stopped in for a quick dinner during a business trip to Houston. The service is friendly and casual. I ordered the tiradito and a ground beef empanada. Both were very tasty. The tiradito came with three different sauces. Each one had a unique flavor. All three was very good. I found the yellow, aji amarillo sauce to be spicy, the other two were mild. The empanada was full of very savory beef. There was powdered sugar on top, which is pretty common on Argentine empanadas, so I wasn’t put off by it like some other reviewers.
Overall, I thought it was a great diner. I will certainly take my husband here when we are back in Houston.

This place was delicious! The papa a la huancaina, which is potatoes with a yellow sauce, was a little cheesy compared to what I’m used to but the lomo saltado was absolutely the best lomo I’ve had in a long time! The meat was very tender and even the tomatoes were fried to perfection. The servers were nice and attended to what we needed. The place is a cute little café but it seems like a perfect lunch location and a nice, quiet place to go and have a good dinner. My husbands family is Peruvian so I am used to eating this type of food but this restaurant gives them a run for their money!!!

Fantastic! Small shop– live music when I went. SERVICe is great and food is very good. The real show stopper was the passion fruit juice– more of an ice and juice blend, it was amazingggg

In 10 days, I have eaten here three times. I love it.
Although service is a little slow for large groups, the variety of food and prices makes it a pretty accommodating choice.
Their ceviche is extremely fresh and flavorful. I wouldn’t recommend the Seafood Tempura Ceviche because it just makes you feel unhealthy and detracts from the freshness of the ceviche.
Everything else I’ve tasted and ordered (or my friends have tasted and ordered) in our past three visits was surprisingly good.
–Peruvian Stir Fry Beef: OMG! Do yourself a huge favor and order this! Also, I normally don’t like thick french fries, but the ones that came with this were reallllyy good.
–Empanadas (any): I’d take these empanadas over any Argentinian empanada any day. The breading they use is very flaky and similar to Vietnamese Banh Pâté Chaud.
–Ceviche Limon: YUM.
–Mango fruit drink w/​o milk: So fresh and good!
–Chicha Morada (traditional Peruvian drink): Cinnamon-​y, complex flavors, but refreshing. If you don’t like cinnamon, don’t order this.
–Triple Layer Sandwich: Um first, the presentation is beautiful. A perfect work of art. I’ve never seen a sandwich so pretty. Taste is also spectacular.
I would come here again and again, and start venturing out to try more items.
Beware that they are not accustomed to large groups (we came with 15 on a Sunday afternoon), so the wait time can be a little lengthy. That said, the service is impeccable.
I think I love Peru now.

Unfortunately I was not impressed on the food. this was my first time and I ordered takeaway. There was one account where I try to go there and experience their food and as i was parking the people sitting at a table right near the door someone reached up and pulled the light to turn off the open sign. that left a bad taste in my mouth but I thought I’d give them a try. I told myself I would never go back but I said what the heck swallow your pride and here we are.
They were very welcoming and warm and friendly from the phone order to the time I went to pick up the food. They were very inviting so I like that and i give them 5 stars for that because i am a stickler when it comes to customer service. On the other hand the food was not a wow factor like some of the pictures I’ve seen posted on Unilocal!maybe I ordered the wrong thing but from the looks of it it’s nothing to write home to mom about so I won’t return. my experience appears to be such a contradiction from the other Unilocalers but I’m just so confused where the high ratings and deceiving pictures are coming from. I was so shocked to see what appears to be powdered sugar on the cold and empanadas. Perhaps my pictures speak for themselves. If I wanted something I can cook at home I would’ve gone to IHOP.

This place is Awesome! The causas were Reaaaally good!!! I loved the tiradito! I think is one of the best I have ever tried! The «arroz Chaufa» was delicious. The «Seco» was great too… But the best part of the dinner was the dessert: The «tres leches» cake of lucuma is just amazing!
In addition, the service was super friendly and the prices very reasonable…
There is nothing to complain about! I can’t wait to go back there!!!

Out of all the Peruvian restaurants in Houston, this is hands down my favorite. This is primarily because Aji serves dishes that other Peruvian restaurants don’t have. I haven’t had some of these dishes since I visited Peru as a younger child– and that says a lot!
This is truly as good as Peruvian food gets. I have yet to try one dish that I don’t love. I definitely recommend this place to everyone!

Pretty good.

The space is very quaint. The staff was very friendly and attentive. When I ordeded I asked for a suggestion they said beef stir fry. It was good. I wanted something that was a more true representation of the cultute. Although the beef was unbelievably tender I should have tried something else.
The sides that my friend tried were all very different. I would recommend trying different sides in addition to your meal.

Muy rica la comida y el servicio también. Lo conocimos por casualidad y fue un buen hallazgo. Por su nombre pensamos en diferentes variedades de café pero su fuerte son las comidas. Recomendado!

I’ve been to this place several times and they’re always great, to start they served potatoes chips with a green sauce (I think is cilantro lime) it’s really good.
I ordered a Mango Juice and it was amazing, they have soursop, passion fruit and blackberry. Those juices you can add water or milk, I ordered mine with water. They also had beers and wine.
As an appetizer I tried the «Ceviche Limon» and the «Papas a la Huancaina» both dishes were ¡amazing!
The entrée was even better I had the «Seco de Res» or «Pot Roast» it melted literally in mouth with the sauce. The presentation of the plate was very impressive. For dessert I had the «Tres leches de Lucma» they told me it was a Peruvian fruit and it was really good. My Friends had the «Lomo Saltado» and «Aji de Gallina «(creamy Chicken) both looked great.
The service was really good, the waiters were all time available and the owners went to our table to see how was our food. Hats off to this restaurant very good in all areas. Definitely I’ll be back.

Overall a Great Place.
4 stars only because the Empanadas could be more Crispy! They were too soft and «doughy».a little more thinner also
Beef — Great Flavor — Perfect
Creamy Chicken — Perfect
Plantains — Perfectly cooked and sweet
Sweet Potato Fries — Perfect
Service was Excellent and Friendly.
Would Come Back to Try more Peruvian!

First time visit
I usually go to pollo bravo for Peruvian food
The only reason I came here was because of the name of the restaurant «Ají» For many latin people «Ají» is a delicious mild — spicy sauce made off tomatoes, cilantro, ají pepper, onions etc.
I expected all my dishes to some with the Ají sauce and boy I was wrong.
The greeting was poor
As I walk in to the restaurant the cashier «Carlos» looked at me but didn’t get a greeting.
I looked around and there was only 2 tables taken.
I didn’t know if I needed to find my own seat or just wait to be seated. I had to wave my hand and ask if I can take any seat.
As I sat down, one lady got up from 1 of the tables, gave me the menu and sat back down.
She would only get up when the food was ready otherwise she would sit back down with her friends.
I was given some homemade potato chips with the green sauce. I must say the potato chips were good and crisp but the green sauce didn’t have much taste to it (I hope it was not ají sauce cause it didn’t taste near like it)
Their lunch menu consisted of empanadas or sandwiches. (not too appetizing for an actual meal)
To drink I ordered a chicha morada — I am from Venezuela so to me, chicha was supposed to be a thick beverage but this tasted like a water down blueberry juice.
For appetizer I ordered the beef empanada with chunks of beef inside but since the waitress knew I was from Venezuela she recommended the shredded beef type.
The empanada was pretty big. It came with a pink sauce that didn’t taste like anything. I was hoping they would come with the ají sauce but no luck.
The dough was thick and soggy — I prefer my dough to be a bit crunchier —
The shredded meat inside the empanada was dry and no taste.
Even with the pink sauce it just tasted plain
For entrée I tried the lomo saltado de carne. Presentation looked great — It came with rice, beef mixed with purple onion and tomatoes and French fries.
I wasn’t a big fan of the sides. Rice and fries it’s just way too much starch.
The beef was great. It was soft, tender and full of flavor.
Overall for the best part was the beef from the lomo saltado but everything else it just didn’t impress me.
My lunch was $ 25.00 which in my opinion it’s too much. Without the empanada it would still cost $ 20.00 — don’t get me wrong, if the food was great, I wouldn’t mind paying but in my opinion it’s definitely not worth it.
As I was paying, the waitress tells me that I could have substituted the French fries for maduros or plantains. I Was like «I didn’t know» and the menu does not offer the sides. So she said next time. Sorry but it won’t be a next time.

Staff, food and service are awesome. Recomiendo este restaurante 100%…
Todos los platos bien servidos, excelente presentacion y un sabor muy original y delicioso.

Deliciosa comida y excelente servicio!!! I highly recommend it. Muy buena ubicacion y abre todos los dias