Crú A Wine Bar

Cru is great for wine tasting, but with the type of service you get at this particular cru is terrible. The waiter never came to take our order so we left. The water guy came and told us the happy hour menu is the dessert menu.

Sat there for 20 minutes and nobody came to serve us. Then we asked for a dessert menu and the waiter gave us a happy hour menu.

Wow-​worst place ever! Walked in, sat down, and was informed that they had a private event starting about an hour from then. 5 minutes later, we were told they would not be serving us and that we had to leave. There were 2 other people in the whole place. Really!!! Needless to say, I’ll NEVER go back there again!!! Worst. Service. EVER!!!

I met one of my friends here for her complimentary birthday dinner. I ordered a flight of wine which includes 3 glasses with two ounce servings of wine they’ve grouped together. She ordered a charcuterie which I thought wasn’t worth it. It was your usual prosciutto, salami, cheese, antipasto, and a pâté’. She picked over it and I ate the olives. For dinner, I ordered the tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich. I can’t lie… it was good. She ordered the scallops and risotto. She said it was good, but only took two bites. The verdict is still out on that one. I also ordered the goat cheese beignets out of pure gluttony. I ate one out of four, shared one with her, and boxed up the last two. I thought it was pretty good. The service was a bit slow, but it was a nice experience. I will definitely return for happy hour.

For happy hour, this place is definitely a hit. I’ll gladly return, and I suggest you find the happy hour day that excites you most (they have different specials on different days).
I came here with another Unilocaler to try some of their specials, and we were impressed with the value.
For food we had (all ranged from $ 3 – 6):
Hummus special (3.5) — This was okay. The waiter said the hummus had jalepeno mixed in, but I didn’t taste any kick at all, and I’m sensitive to that.
Calamari (4) — Absolutely would get this again. The marinara did have a bit of a kick, and the portion was awesome for the price.
Margarita pizza (3.5) — A solid mini pizza that pairs well with most wines. It’s great for the price.
There were other appetizer options that I’ll be happy to try when going back.
Wine: Wine is $ 3 off a glass, so we both went with $ 8 glasses turning them into $ 5, and we were very pleased. $ 5 for a glass of decent wine with great light bites is really a solid win.
Also the atmosphere of this place is really nice. I thought it may not be as nice, as it is in the same location as Eddie V’s and Pondicheri, which as you may know is a fairly crowded shopping area. It’s actually in a really nice spot though, and we were able to sit outside and really enjoyed it. Inside looked super nice as well, and we both discussed how impressed we were with the appearance.
For a nice happy hour, this is a definite win.

I would probably rate this a 4.5 for the wine selection and knowledge of the kind server, but a 3.5 to 4 for the food. The food was good, and it was enjoyable. It was even reasonably priced. I will return.

This place proved to be a hidden gem in more ways than one.
Location — It can be a bit tricky to find. It’s on Kirby but within the complex that houses Eddie V’s and Tootsies. There is valet parking as well as a free garage for patrons.
Atmosphere — Dressy casual yet relaxed. Indoor and outdoor seating options are quite comfy. We sat outside on this visit because the weather was nice. The entire place was tastefully decorated with just enough pine roping mixed with white lights and red bows to put you in the Christmas spirit. Although the interior had dimmed overhead lighting, I feel it was just enough to create a relaxing mood. The waiter brought a small lantern with a tea light to illuminate each outside table. Nice touch! I think Cru would be a nice place for GNO and couples alike.
Food — HH menu is a good bargain. These light bites ranged in price from $ 3 to $ 6. And there is a $ 3 discount on glasses of wine. I selected an Italian white that was only $ 5 and it was quite tasty too! But at that price, who can really complain? I recommend the calamari if you like a bit of spice. The marinara sauce had a little kick. The $ 3 margarita pizzas are a good choice as well.
All-​in-​all this was a nice place to chill and chat after work. I’ll be back for sure.

Why has it taken me this long to go to Cru?
Came here to have a quiet business tete a tete, and wow was I impressed. First off, the wine selection is impressive. They have wine for the normal people, and then they have wines tailored to the snobs and aficionados, for those beer drinkers, you’re taken care of too. Second the menu, it’s not an extensive menu, but what they have on there is well crafted, well presented, and well balanced. The appetizers are portioned to be tapas size, which is… well what you should expect out of an appetizer, It’s not a meal guys. We had mussles, charcuterie platter, and the fig and Gorgonzola bruchetta, DELICIOUS!
The only thing was that it got fairly noisy even when the restaurant was barely full, so it was a little difficult for me to not hear what the girl behind me was shouting… but then again, maybe they are just really loud people.
All in all, a great experience!

Decent food & wine but a little on the pricey side. I think there are wine bars just as good that are less expensive. I get it the area is pricey so they do well but just a heads up.

We enjoyed Father’s Day brunch here. The food was really good. They have awesome beignets, great French toast and dessert selections. I had the bubbles flight and the three tastings were great. We’ll be back.

Had a wonderful experience here. The wine flights are fantastic, they have an amazing Sancerre, didn’t try the food but I loved the ambiance and I’m SURE we will be back very soon!

A very good spot although in the high-​end Tootsie’s (West Ave) world.
Nice space; very good service.
Specials are ¹⁄₃ off on wine on Sundays; on Mondays — buy a bottle of wine and get a free pizza.
Good wine list with prices from the $ 40s to $ 300+. Wide selection of wines by the glass.
There were 5 of us — 2 bottles of wine (a big chunk of our $ 240 bill with tip) and «grazing». We had 4 appetizers (fondue, cheese plate, etc.) and 2 pizzas — all quite good.
It was a Sunday night (I cannot attest to noise levels on busier nights) but we could actually talk — become a rarity for Houston dining.
Give them a try — you won’t be disappointed.

Fun place. Good service. Staff was neither always with us nor missing in action when we wanted to order more. Wine flight was meh because one glass was good while the two others weren’t as tasty as other reviewers said. So I would rather get a glass of something or share a bottle next time. Beignets with goat cheese are a wonderful idea just as others say. Lamb chops were well done as well.

I came here with a large group for an event, and just had to write in about the level of service here. The bartenders were great at keeping a healthy distance: I never felt interrupted mid-​conversation to be asked about wine. When a friend asked about the types of wine for tasting, the bartenders were super attentive.
In terms of atmosphere, it’s a nice wine bar. There’s no real distinctive décor, but it looks fabulous with dimmed lights.

Romantic, classy, relaxing — oh, and their food is good too!
It was raining heavily. My friend and I had originally planned on going to Pondecheri but the wait was too long. It was a happy surprise to find that Cru was next door because I was in more of a wine and dine mood anyways. We were reluctant to try Cru at first — since we had yet to do our regular Unilocal screening — but luckily a waiter saw us peering in a beckoned us!
Service: 3.5÷5 — left us alone for the most part. The food all came out at once, I guess they don’t do courses here.
Food: ⁴⁄₅
Ambiance: ⁴⁄₅
Highlights:
I love the wine flights — you can try some awesome wines for cheaper then buying a whole glass (or bottle!).
Goat cheese beignets were a generous portion for two people! Very fluffy, very cheesy, very sweet — I recommend this!

Cru is a nice place to sit back, relax, and enjoy a glass (or a flight!) of wine. We had drinks and dessert there, and it made for a really fun evening. The flights of wine offer fun tastes of three different kinds of wine. The dessert, a molten chocolate cake, wasn’t out-​of-​this-​world, but it got the job done. Nice place.

I’m not impressed.
My friend and I sat at the bar and the bartender seem very uninviting. We have both lived in Italy where wine is celebrated and not so pretentious so his demeanor was a bit annoying. He was knowledgeable though. Towards the end of the night he seemed a bit more pleasant, which isn’t saying much because of where he started, I think it was because he started drinking or something.
The food was mediocre we ordered a meat and cheese platter, starts with a C, and then we ordered a pizza with goat cheese, peppers, and Italian sausage. I was bored with it and the flavors weren’t there.
I did like that they had various flights that were reasonably priced. I had the Malbec tasting, to be honest i couldn’t taste a major difference between them, could be because i am not a wine connoisseur or because they were all the same grape. lol but i know i like Malbec now :)
On a positive note there was one server that seemed very attentive to his tables and he was nice when he brought out our cheese plate. Maybe if he served us our experience would have been better and I may have thought of coming back. Oh well.
The ambiance was nice but not nice enough to bring me back. It got two stars only because of the friend i was with. We felt uncomfortable together which was quite funny.
Cru, see you never.

The goat cheese beignet’s are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I also love the truffle oil mushroom pizza. I have been coming here since they opened and it’s definitely my favorite wine bar. Awesome staff, most of them have been there a long time and are knowledgable, friendly and always on top of things. The manager has helped us on several occasions arranging special events for work. They make amazing meat and cheese plates, too. Wine selection is great, half priced bubbles on Thursdays are my fave.

One of my girlfriends and I were searching for a place for dinner and she suggested Cru because of their happy hour. And boy, was it a good choice! If you’re looking for a nice relaxed happy hour spot with awesome prices, this is your place.
We ended up ordering 5 dishes (pretty much the whole happy hour menu):
Mussels: ⁵⁄₅ these were delicious and definitely my favorite dish of the night. My friend and I even asked our waiter for some bread so we could finish the broth off. Yum yum yum
Chefs special: ⁴⁄₅ it was fish (sorry, don’t remember what type!) with a mango and cucumber salad. Pretty good!
Bruschetta: ²⁄₅ cherry tomatoes with some balsamic drizzled on top. Not bad but nothing out of the ordinary. I think I’ve probably made better bruschetta at home
Margarita pizza: ³⁄₅ normal pizza. Good, not great
Goat cheese beignets: ⁴⁄₅ these taste interesting. I don’t think my friend was a fan, but I really them! Would definitely get them again!
Overall, the food was pretty good and the prices were fantastic. All the items listed above were less then $ 5. Sure, the portions are small (what you would expect at happy hour), but my friend and I left with full and happy bellies for under $ 10 each.
I well definitely be keeping this place on my happy hour restaurant list!

We stopped in post dinner for a glass of wine and thanks to the cushy booths, non-​pretentious atmosphere, and friendly service, ended up staying for several hours.
Upon arrival, we were surprised that there were so few people at the bar for a Friday night. Even though we told the hostess we were just having wine, we got a real table.
I had the bubbles flight with 3 different champagne/​sparkling options while my fiancé had the francophile flight.
When it still wasn’t crowded an hour later, we were having a great time and decided to stay for another flight. On our server’s recommendation, I tried the silky, sensual flight and I enjoyed those. The fiancé tried the cab/​cab blend flight and those were really delicious. I’d recommend getting food to go with that flight though — two of the wines were really tannic and kind of hard to drink on their own. The silky flight is a lot smoother for drinking on its own.
Having just come for dinner, we didn’t order any food, but I definitely want to return to try some because the menu looked excellent.

I visted crew for a #Culturemap event, so I didn’t really get to experience Cru for what it is. But I can tell you that they have great happy hour on Thursday where bottles of champs are 50% off.
The parking can be ridiculous as everyone tries to squeeze in the garage and I don’t blame them!

Fig and Gorgonzola bruschetta y’all!!!
I came here with a group for a wine tasting event. We ordered pretty much all of the small plates that were easy to share. We were all blown away by how delicious and creative the appetizers were. My favorite was the fig and gorgonzola bruschetta. Oh my goodness it was the most delicious, flavorful, interesting thing I’ve had in a while. The figs were chewy like raisins and the toast was drizzled with olive oil and a balsamic reduction. It was truly amazing.
We also had some wonderful goat cheese savory beignets, shrimp and chicken pot stickers, a small pizza, cheese tray, and calamari. Like I said, we pretty much tried it all. Everything was fabulous. I highly recommend sharing apps instead of ordering an entrée. The apps are so much more interesting and delicious!
As far as service, we did have a mean queen snap at us after we had been seated for a few and hadn’t been waited on. Thank goodness our waiter for our section was attentive and friendly.

I’m no stranger to Cru; I’ve been to their locations in both Denver and Dallas, and they’re all pretty much the same — all are in great locations, feature the same kind of sexy ambiance, wine flights, food, etc.
I like that — at all locations — they have consistant specials, such as free pizza on Mondays with a purchase of a bottle of wine, and Champagne Thursdays (half off all bottles of Champagne!) …Erm, score. Happy hour is Mon-​Fri 4:00−6:30 (which is lame because who gets off at 4pm? And what ever happened to HH til 7?). They do offer a bar bites menu and $ 3-​off your wine.
There def isn’t that local neighborhood wine bar feel, but home is where you make it, and I guess if I went there often enough, I’d like it more.
As for food recs, the pizza is aight, but I did, however, love the tuna tartar. Gimme some more of that.