Bistro Lancaster

A really blah (yet expensive) lunch at Bistro Lancaster. We arrived early when no one was in the restaurant yet for lunch, but we had to wait for a while to be seated because the host was too busy on the phone. For the rest of the lunch, service was OK, if not a bit awkward.
As far as the food goes, it was OK. I had a spinach salad with grilled shrimp (the shrimp was actually pretty tasty), but they weren’t too generous with the other toppings on the salad – kind of boring. And for such a simple salad, it was pricey at $ 19+tax+tip.

This place is great due to its proximity to Jones Hall, the Alley Theatre, and Wortham Center. They get you to your show on time, and valet is 50% off ($ 8 after discount). However, I think it is extremely overpriced. I have been here several times (always with a
gift certificate) and enjoyed their scallops, crab cakes, shrimp and tamales, cheese plate, and chicken. Service is decent, and ambiance is nice. It’s a great dining option in the theatre district because of it’s convenience and reliability.

This is the first time I give a bad review because of the sloooooooow service. It took several minutes before the waitress came and there was only us and One more table. Now I know why this place is so lonely! Don’t waste your time here. And It’s very expensive for the mediocre food they serve.

I treated my mother to dinner at the bistro before the ballet last night… wonderful experience! We arrived 20 minutes before our reservation, but the hostess gladly seated us. We were promptly greeted by our server who was very friendly and knowledgeable. The restaurant is pretty small and quaint. It seemed like a nice place for a quiet dinner or date night, but as the evening went on… it became pretty loud. My mother and I could barely carry on a conversation near the end of our meal.
I chose the arugula salad as a starter and my mother got the tomato basil soup. The salad was very refreshing; the dressing was very light and the toasted pine nuts were a nice touch! My mother had no complaints about the soup. For my entrée I had the scallops with a citrus emulsion, asparagus, fava beans, and green peas. The scallops were cooked perfectly… my only complaint is that I couldn’t taste any citrus, because the flavor of peas and asparagus were quite strong. Certainly didn’t ruin my meal though! My mother ordered the Texas chicken and she raved about it!
Of course we had to order dessert! I chose the bread pudding and she the molten chocolate cake. With my first bite of the bread pudding, I was immediately taken back to the, Gumbo Shop, in New Orleans… it was that GOOD! I highly recommend it!
All together it was a great little place and I definitely plan on returning!

A satisfying meal served by people who know what they’re doing.
I often stay at the Lancaster Hotel, which deserves a great review on its own merits by the way. I arrived late enough one evening that I decided it was too much trouble to venture out for dinner and chose the Bistro in the hotel. Good choice.
The prices are high — too high for the fare in my opinion. But, it’s a hotel restaurant and my years of travel experience have led me to expect such.
That being said, my experience and meal were really quite good. The service was crisp, intuitive, and cordial. The waiter recommended the lamb chops, which I readily ordered.
The lamb arrived fairly quickly and was cooked absolutely to my specifications. The presentation of the meal with mushrooms, vegetables, and potatoes made it look as scrumptious as it was. A basket of warm, crispy bread was a welcome accompaniment.
The dining room is very small, but so is the hotel! The décor, however, is most tasteful, with the elegant feel of a private club.
Should you find yourself in Houston’s Theatre District around meal time, don’t hesitate to try the Lancaster.

My husband and I were initially hesitant to eat here on NYE, but after waiting until the last minute to make reservations anywhere else, and considering it was right in our hotel and within walking distance of the concert we were going to that night, we decided to give Bistro Lancaster a try for dinner. I’m so glad we did! The food was surprisingly amazing, and I had what was probably one of the the best, well-​prepared filets there that I have ever eaten. We also felt like the pre-​selected menu that evening was very reasonably priced for the exceptional quality of food.
We also enjoyed our complimentary breakfast the next morning here, and it was delicious as well. The Bistro Lancaster will definitely be on our list of restaurants to choose from while downtown!:)

Ladies’ lunch is a thing that my coworkers and I like to do regularly and someone suggested that we try out Bistro Lancaster last week. Ten us of hiked a block or two over to this hotel in the blistering heat, only to be scolded by a VERY sassy woman for not making a reservation in advance.
Yes, I completely agree that we should have maybe looked into making reservations. But let me just rephrase that.
All of us are adults.
We work in Downtown Houston.
We were very well-​mannered and nicely dressed.
But apparently none of this was taken into consideration because we were scolded like children for not reserving a table beforehand. The woman stuck her neck out that prissy, finger-​snapping kind of way and raised a SUPER judgmental eyebrow at our coworker, all while saying, «You didn’t make a reserVATION?!»
My coworker calmly stated that no, we did not and that we were sorry and she asked if they could somehow accommodate us. The woman told her to wait, only to return minutes later to reject us with a brash, «We can’t handle you.»
Nah, you’re right. Bistro Lancaster definitely can’t handle us and we can’t handle their unprofessional staff, Abercrombie-​esque dark/​cramped dining room, and $ 12+ salads.
Whatever!

This place tries to sell itself as a five star restaurant however. The food is comparable to many other restaurants in the city, not the greatest but defiantly not the worst. They have a bar right next to the dining area and it is NOT a nice meal environment. When we asked to be moved so we could hear we were moved to almost the other side of the restaurant and it was still loud. We went back again thinking that might have been a onetime fluke but both times it was so loud I could not hear myself thinking. It might just be the acoustics of the place but I hate having to hear about a complete strangers day and not hear a bit of the person I came with. My wife and I had to raise our voice to be heard amongst the din of those tiring to talk over the people yelling at each other at the bar. This is not a great place for romantic conversation. I had the steak the wife had the fish and I don’t know if I ate it as much as inhaled it just to get out of the noise. Maybe I have become an old fuddy duddy but it does make you appreciate how quiet the streets of Houston are. if your out for rowdy drinks and rumpus this is your place but for a romantic dinner go to McDonalds before you go here.

Good place for drinks after work, and since we may move to an office building next door I was looking forward to having a local place for lunch several times a week for client meetings. However, stopped last night for a drink with client and was hit with a $ 15 valet parking bill, and no validation from bar. Definitely will not use for lunch or drinks — do not want to expose clients to the valet rip-​off.

Very easy, convenient to theaters downtown. Salmon excellent. Salads fresh and dressed well. Sorbet rich enough to be satisfying. Scallops 3^rd rate.

Very popular place before shows. Get there early.
Food is just ok.
We had the figs wrapped in bacon — delicious and two fish entrees — snapper and salmon.
Served over beds of greens with a bit of garnish. Nothing too special.
The rolls served to us to start were stale.
The wait staff literally ignored us unless we did that AWFUL «wave-​your-​hand-​in-​the-​air-​entitled-​rich-​person» thing.
It’ll do. Beats Birraporetti’s.

Very impressed, I choose a cosmopolitan to start, it well chilled had a nice balance. Dinner selection, filet mignon, one of the entrees that was not a la carte the steak was cooked to perfection.
It was tender and tasty, surrounded by a sweet sauce, This came with creamy potatoes and asparagus spears. We enjoyed every bite.

What a historical gem! Too bad the food quality and service didn’t match. Set inside a historic landmark hotel, this restaurant is dirty, the service was lacking and the food mediocre. We were seated in the corner and immediately we noticed that the seats next to the corner had dirty food crumbs and looks like it had been years since it was cleaned. Total turn off already. We ordered a mushroom soup as appetizer, which was just mushroom boiled in water. Then our meal came. My finance’s food just had the lancaster bistro benedict. They forgot the sides, so only the omlette was on the plate. crabcake was bland. Other people complained no bread, no butter, no water refill. It was funny to watch. Hope it improves. Must see bathroom/​pics upstairs. Gives a good idea of Historic Houston.

Wow, who would have thought that the historic boutique Hotel Lancaster would have such a nice restaurant inside. The menu has some very creative offerings that were all very interesting. The tamale shrimp dish and the veal dish were both proclaimed excellent at our table. The salads were fresh and the food presentation was that of a 5-​star restaurant as was the service. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a quiet location aside from the normal downtown Houston restaurant circuit, especially if you want to impress with your knowledge of where to really go eat in Houston.
The wine offering was adequate including the portos. Also leave room for the delicious bread pudding or key lime pie.
Definitely worth a try!

Tucked inside one of Houston’s older boutique hotels, the Bistro Lancaster has a certain charm to it. The staff was professional and attentive… my water glass was NEVER empty and I received everything I asked for fairly quickly. FIVE STARS for service!
The food was okay. I had the scallops and I received five large scallops on my plate. However, they were not very well seasoned and, if I were blind folded, I would not have been able to guess I was eating scallops. Everything else seemed to be a little too salty for my taste. Also, they only sold Santa Margharita by the bottle. Dislike! ONE STAR DEMOTION ON TASTE.
The prices here are pretty up there. For the price of the meal I want to eat something outstanding and unique… something that makes me crave the food there in the middle of the night. My scallop dinner was about $ 32 and, to be honest, I have had better scallops at cheaper places. ONE STAR DEMOTION.
Because this restaurant is in a hotel, there is no «free» parking or complimentary valet. $ 15 if you want valet, otherwise you have to troll around the streets of downtown trying to find free meter parking (which is hard to come by in that popular area of downtown). ONE STAR DEMOTION.
Overall, not one of my favorite places in Houston. I would rather have spent the money elsewhere.
This review is based solely on my personal experience and reflect my personal opinions. Your experience may be completely different.

I came here for weekday lunch with a group of four. I can’t remember the time, but there were only three other people inside.
The Cobb salad was large and decent, but I think that there are better lunch options in the area.

Same experience as previous except didn’t have to listen to employees’ personal conversations. In other words, I am now a happy camper!
For the information of people like me who don’t like to dress up, they seated a guy in jeans and a bomber-​type leather jacket. (They’ve got a «proper attire required» sign on the hostess stand.) This was at lunchtime on a weekend, though.
Another thing I noticed is that there are no *tables* by the windows — just the half-​booth, half-​chair deals, with the half-​booths backed to the windows. I’d rather have the arrangement so all could look out the windows, not just the half-​chair side, but then again nobody asked me…
Oh, and — they’ve got some neat historical stuff in and on the way to the restrooms.

The food at the Lancaster was good. Completely solid. Yet, for the price of the meal I want to eat something outstanding. I had a veggie burger that was $ 16 for a rice patty and fries (really!?). House red wine was about $ 12 – 15 a glass (really!?). I thought I was being cheap ordering a burger and house wine, but I ended up paying about $ 50 dollars once tip was added in.
I would return if someone else really wanted to go (and they were paying), but I would not return on my own dime.

My breakfast here was decent except that the portion was tiny and the piece-​of-​strawberry garnish had a spoiled spot on it. I don’t get that — you can see that the strawberry is going bad, why use it? Way overpriced (basically $ 20 for two eggs, a muffin, and tea), and the final nail in the coffin: the restaurant was understaffed (only 1 server even though most of the tables were full), so it took forever to pay the check (and I was late to a meeting as a result).
Update: through an unavoidable set of circumstances, I ate here again. This time, thinking myself pretty smart, I asked for the check with the food order.
Fail.
Took 20+ minutes for us to get a bowl of oatmeal and some eggs and bacon. Late again to a meeting because of this place.
One star, well-​earned.

Great location if you are going to the Alley Theater, especially for a woman in heels! It’s an old style feel and pretty cozy. I had the crab-​cakes which were really quite good, but overpriced.
The guy had a steak which looked pretty awesome and the demi glaze was good but a bit sweet for my tastes. I think the waiter was condescending in that he was doing wine 101 to my guy who is quite knowledgeable in that area. We went back for a cocktail after the play and the martini with kiwi was delish! Not too sweet and spot on.