El Meson Restaurant

Great atmosphere and service. The food was flavorful and unique. It’s on the pricier side, but it’s definitely a cute place and conveniently located next to the shops in Rice Village.

My boyfriend and I absolutely love this restaurant. First, we love the atmosphere. The décor and vibe are great for a date night.
Typically we order tapas, and we’ve had yet to try one that we didn’t like. They all taste amazing, but our favorite are the nachos Cubanos and the croquetas. Just typing about them makes me crave them. They pair oh so well with the caipirinhas, which have never disappointed!
We always order one of their paellas. Honestly, they’re the best I’ve had in town. They’re quite large, we’ve always ordered one and had enough for the two of us and then some for leftovers (which makes my Dominican boyfriend quite the happy camper). The desserts are also fabulous… we particularly like the flan.
Like anywhere in the village, parking is a pain so give yourself plenty of time if you have a reservation. They do have valet parking available for a small fee.
If you’ve never been… go try it tonight!

This is a good but very overpriced restaurant. As other Unilocalers have posted, the menu can be confusing and the dinner selection needs improving. Our waiter was awesome and patient explaining some of the ‘fusion’ takes on the menu. Sangria was about $ 40 for a picture and only filled 5 of the small glasses (lots of ice for the cost). 3 out of 4 of us really enjoyed our meals and it came to a little over $ 140 for the 4 of us. I wouldn’t call this «Cuban» food by any stretch.

Good food and good wine. I recommend this place mostly because of the tapas; morcilla al ajillo, gambas al ajillo and the setas de cardo are amazing!!! We also try the paella, it was good but not as good as the appetizers. Environment is great and you can order ¼L of wine which is much more that the glass for a couple of box more…

Food is awesome always, we order take out twice a month. Customer service SUCKS! That’s my last time spending money with that establishment. Voy a tomar mi culo puertorriqueño en algún lugar que quiere mi dinero!

Excellent place!!! Delicious and vegetarian friendly, we had 8 tapas a salad and a sangria pitcher for 4 people and was perfect. The price rating here thought is incorrect, this is a $$$ for sure.

Good food and service. They offer quarter liters of wine which is like 2 glasses for a few dollars more than 1 glass. Mellow setting. Very classy.

We had to review this since we’ve been checking out the Cuban scene in Houston. If you want ambience, this is your place. If, however, you crave good authentic Cuban cuisine, save yourself the trip and try Flor De Cuba or Café Piquet… you’ll be glad you did.

Delicious! Recently new to area, we were interested in trying a tapas restaurant. This fulfilled the quench! Their ceviche is one of the best and I used to live in Florida (Keys and Northern coastline). All their tapas are really flavorful! To top it off, our server was a great girl from Chicago, extremely personable and attentive! Excellent all around!

My trip to El Meson was awesome.
The menu is pretty varied and big. We went with a bunch of tapas/​small plates and paella and dug in family style. I really think this is the best way to go if you are dining with a group. Every dish was delicious.
Wine-​geeks will enjoy their list which has a solid Spanish section (lots of Rioja, but also smaller regions and more obscure indigenous varieties). There is a nice selection of back vintages to add to the excitement, and bottles are priced really fairly.
I’m already wanting to go back.

Appealing concept of Cuban tapas. The menu can be a bit confusing with so many options that all seem very similar. The lunch specials help focus in a bit, but they leave some tasty options to the regular menu only.
Flavors were just OK, but the presentation was lacking. Usually I don’t mind the presentation, as I am there to eat rather than look, but this just seemed very uninspired. I never thought it would, but the lack of presentation took away from my enjoyment of the food.
I had the ropa vieja, which was well marinated and tender. The Plantains were very good, a bit soggier than I’m used to but with all the flavor present.

Love, love this place. The gazpacho soup is a cold soup — is great for summer. Order the ahi tuna salad. The service is impeccable and Pedro, the owner, is also a wonderful sommelier. They love groups as well.
It’s a wonderful Cuban restaurant with Spanish cuisine influences in the heart of the Rice Village/​West University area.

Our server Nikki was tyne best! I have not had great service like that in a while!!! She gave the best service in Houston!
Delicious wine
Delicious bread & butter, mushroom risotto was so good! Scallops w asparagus was phenomenal! Perfectly cooked! Jamon Iberico and Chorizo Riojano al Jerez was out of this world!
This is my new favorite restaurant!
BEST FLAN!

Excellent! Much better food and service than Mi Luna.
Although we go to Mi Luna for the Spanish atmosphere/​live music, the food and service does not come close to comparing to El Meson. The carnitas and championes (mushrooms) tapas are insanely delicious. Not to mention the grand marnier margaritas are to die for.
Every time we leave there, we later talk about what excellent service we received and how much we liked our server. It’s quieter, so you can actually hear yourselves talking, unlike it’s competitor next door.
Overall, highly recommend!

Just had the Masitas for lunch, it was a festival of delights in my mouth! The music was a sensual penetration in my ear as I took in the Cuban delight. Hands down, my fav Cuban place in the loop. Ask for Niki when you are there, her colorful stories and quick witted nature round off a pleasurable experience.

Simply the best Cuban food I’ve had outside of Miami or Abuelas kitchen. From the hostess to the wait staff (shout out to Jonathan) to the owner who shows how much he cares about every little detail. Just frustrated that I never knew about this Houston gem. Bravo Peter.
PS. Best black beans and rice I’ve had in 20 years!

In rice village. The chips and salsa weren’t great. I would change the recipe on that since Texans are real particular about good quality salsa and chips. The food was not great. It was actually rather bland. My food really didn’t have much flavor. Dessert was probably my favorite of my entire meal. Probably won’t be back here and don’t recommend this place. If you are in rice village, I would recommend going to Prego which is literally across the street.

My boyfriend and I made reservations for dinner on a Saturday night. The restaurant was about 75% full so not needed if you’ve worked up an appetite from shopping in the village. Ambiance was casual — «couples retreat» meets «where do I take 2 sets of in-​laws visiting». They also have a private room that looks to hold up to ~30.
Wine list is extensive but waitstaff was happy to provide recommendation. Meal surpassed our expectations. We had ceviche before the meal — delicious. I took a queue from other Unilocal reviews and ordered the Ropa Vieja — I wish it was a person so I could marry it (don’t tell my bf). He had the Cuban-​style skirt steak and all but licked the plate. Many courses going on here and they bring out the food fast (almost too fast) so come hungry — albeit starving. What a wonderful hidden gem El Meson is… until next time.

Overall, food was average and nothing spectacular. Service was slow. The Carne Asada Ala Tampiquea seemed as if it was of lower quality beef and had been reheated. The Chuleta de Cerdo was also uninspiring, lacking much flavor. The whole time it felt like you were eating just to get full enough to stop. Rest of the sides were your average grade rice, beans, Caesar salad and mashed potatoes. For the price, the portions were right but the quality wasn’t.

Dinner at El Meson on Saturday night. We made but did not need a reservation for 3 people and were seated in a large booth which was quite comfy.
Although I love paella, we knew if we ordered it that would be the only thing we’d get to try, so we opted for tapas only. Our waiter gave us some suggestions and recommended 2 – 3 items per person. I think we ordered 7 things and it was the perfect amount.
We ordered (from best to worst in my opinion):
— Bacon wrapped dates: excellent
— Lamb meatballs: very good
— Chorizo sausage and peppers: very good
— Something containing manchego cheese: I love manchego. This was not super memorable, but… you know, cheese.
— Shrimp quesadillas: The shrimp were delicious. I didn’t really understand the quesadilla part of it.
— Snapper ceviche: I thought it was too much liquid and we weren’t given anything to eat it with
— Patatas bravas: not my favorite. They weren’t crispy at all and were drowning in super spicy sauce
We shared two bottles of wine. The first was a tempranillo, cab and merlot blend which while reasonably priced, was really chalky tasting. The second bottle — a malbec suggested by our server — was better (or maybe we were tipsy from the first bottle). The wine list is very extensive.
Service was good throughout. I would definitely return.