Magnolia Bar & Grill

We go here for the chicken and sausage gumbo — the best, better than any we have had in New O. And the fried crawfish tails are excellent — always fresh, not too much batter. Cannot comment on the rest of the menu though.

Ate the sunday brunch and thought it was great. Everything handmade and fresh. $ 25 was a good deal in my book with the prime rib (which was just OK), oysters, fried seafood, and other seafood dishes.

WA WA WEE WA! Now that is some GOOOOOD crawfish!
Magnolia Bar & Grill was the second stop of my Crawfish tour this season. The excellence of the crawfish here made me rethink my review of my first stop (Ragin’ Cajun). Magnolia blew them right out of the water — 100%!
The interior — ADORABLE (think of those French Quarter style homes popping up all over The Heights). We chose to dine on the deck overlooking Richmond. You will easily forget you’re on one of Houston’s loudest blocks once the sweet Motown band starts jamming.
When dining deck-​side, you order everything at the bar. No worries — EVERYTHING came out fast, fresh, and HOT — especially our CRAWDADS!
Magnolia has got it going on with their crawfish. They are HUGE (meat from claws, huge). They are JUICY. They are PACKED with FLAVOR. This is what I was waiting for!
Our seafood campechana and oysters on the half-​shell — EXCELLENT — as fresh as can be!
Our least adventurous friend went with an order of popcorn shrimp. Their batter was off the chain — dark and crispy!
I knock one point off because they did not have corn to accompany the crawfish (a sin!!!) and their beer selection was meh.
Magnolia — you are chill and fun all at the same time. We shall meet again!

I went today for crawfish. It would be nice if the bar accurately advertised information. Currently on the marquee, they have crawfish from 12−6PM for $ 4.50/lb with no stipulations. Therefore, I think (as someone driving on the street), this is a daily rate. Instead, I find out this is only Monday through Friday, and Sundays from 3−10PM. The current rate is $ 6/​lb.
Because we had a big group, I was forced to eat here today, but I would’ve left in a heart beat. The response from the guy at the outside bar was, «Oh, they just forgot to change the sign.» How is this my fault? If the guy at the bar knew the sign had failed to change, then why didn’t he charge me the advertised price? Therefore, I am docking two stars (for a total of 3 stars), but otherwise the crawfish is delicious and big! I ended up eating 6lbs!
Update as of 4÷24÷10: I went back because it’s $ 4.50/lb M-​F 2−7PM. Note there are no happy hour drink specials or draft beer (just bottled), so I am docking a star (for a total of four stars). Otherwise, the crawfish was DELISH! I love how they’re really big!

This place is very very good. There brunch is marvelous! U will get your money’s worth!

I am not really impressed with this place. I have been to better Cajun restaurants for much less money. I had been craving craw fish for a few weeks and since I knew Magnolia had them, they were the obvious choice.
I had their gumbo ($ 8), which was OK… nothing to «jump in the lake» about (I just made that up! lol). I also had the craw fish (2lbs $ 12) and they were good. The only thing is that at least 10 of them were tiny tiny little things. The craw fish do not come with potatoes or corn, when I asked the server why she said that it is because most restaurants weigh it with the craw fish and blah blah blah. I wanted potatoes and corn too!!! My sis had some kind of pasta dish, she seemed to enjoy ($ 14.95) and mashed potatoes, which were delicious!!! ($ 3.50). Including drinks and tip our meal was about $ 60. I am sure I could have gotten a better value elsewhere.
Overall a good time, I really had an OK meal. From reading the other reviews now I see that this place is probably better for brunch… I’ll update when I try it!

The vibe of this place has changed over the years.
I distinctly remember eating here when I was in elementary school. Sea Breezes where in, so it must have been the Electric 80s. Why do I remember that Sea Breezes where in? My friend’s mom had quite a few and I kept thinking they should be light blue, like the astringent that was also popular back then. That incongruity stuck in my head, along with my memory of the old bar (it was different back then… darker inside). Actually, follow me down a tangent, there was a character on Angel (yes, the TV show) who drank copious amounts of Sea Breezes. Now when I watch Angel, I crave cajun and creole food. Pavlov, I tell ya.
Nowadays, the restaurant is a bit more open and bright. It reminds me of a classier Antoine’s. The diners are classier, rather. The food isn’t as traditionally cajun or creole. Why do I want to waste valuable time having to search through pasta and beef dishes? They are seafood based, but I miss some of the standards. Show me the good, Louisiana food. A little cajun, a whole lot of creole.
The last time I was there, they had Turtle Soup. It looks like that is gone, however they do serve Ciopinno. It’s a Italian fisherman’s stew. I’m a little timid to try it, however. It’s $ 12 for a bowl, where WholeFoods carries a decent bowl for $ 4.
I also had a Bloody Mary while there. On a scale of one to ten, I’d rank it at around 7.5. Good, but not the best. It also lacked the floating salad I require. I want celery, pickled okra, olives, and possibly a pickled green bean. As I said, floating salad.
The service is attentive and obliging, a mark of a great New Orlean’s style restaurant. It’s just that I wish this was more of a lump crab meat on your Eggs Benedict, with the option of Lobster au Gratin type of place.
So then, why four stars asks the voice in your head? I rounded up from 3.5.

We were out for brunch on Sunday and I was complaining I needed to eat somewhere with bottomless mimosas. Magnolia here we come!
When we walked in I thought oh crap, look how tiny this buffet is. Well let me tell you looks can be deceiving. They really know how to load a table up with food. They had eggplant Parmesan, craw fish étouffée, fried shrimp, calamari, various salad fixin’s, prime rib, a crazy ass omelet bar with craw fish, oysters on the half shell, spinach artichoke dip and a crazy good looking desert bar. Forgive me if I am leaving anything out but there was so much food, seafood and other great things. And none was skimped on, all quality and everything seemed as if it was as fresh as it could have been.
The food, was good. The fried shrimp was awesome. They had little fried catfish strips that were tasty as well and the calamari was good. The problem with this fried goodness was it was all a little soggy. The flavor made up for it.
Next to the fried station was the prime rib. It looked dry and I never got to try it, because I couldn’t tell if someone was supposed to carve it for me or not and there was never anyone there. Except for one time there was a guy adding veggies to it. Eh, the other stuff made up for it.
My favorite though, out of EVERYTHING they had were there mashed potatoes. Wow. Buttery, creamy, smooth and perfect. WOWWOWOWOWOWOW. Crap, now I’m hungry.
The bottomless mimosas were great, and the waitress was very good at picking up on how quickly I was drinking them. She kept me topped off all the time. Our waitress was great, friendly fun and attentive, and as a matter of fact, everyone I encountered was the same way. On the subject of mimosas, the cool thing about these things is that they don’t mix them before they get to the table. She came up with a bottle in one hand, and a pitcher of OJ in the other and mixed it accordingly. I noticed I started getting less and less OJ as the morning went on. My kinda woman.
Next time I am craving brunch in Houston I might have to hit this place up again. Though our friends were gracious and purchased our food so I can’t tell if it was a good «deal» money wise but boy did it TASTE good. MMMMhmmm… come on Sunday…

I guess the only good thing here is the Sunday brunch’s, judging from the other Unilocalers…
We went for dinner on a Sat. nite and the food was pretty sub-​par. And pricey. The service was nice.
But the restaurant was empty and it felt very awkward to be the only diners that weren’t senior citizens.

I visited for the Sunday brunch — my low tolerance prevented me from enjoying $ 5 unlimited mimosas. The brunch is only ~$ 5 more expensive than an entrée from the menu, so my whole table wound up going for the brunch buffet. Also included w/​brunch is a variety of juices/​soft drinks/​tea.
Highlights include: crawfish étouffée that was LOADED with crawfish, no fillers here! raw oysters, which get mobbed so keep your eye out for when they refill it. calamari that was crisp with just the right amount of heat.
Lowlight: stringy prime rib cut, lacked a server standing at it most the time. the omelette station was a bit intimidating so I didn’t hang around.
Somewhere in between: great looking variety of fresh fruit (watermelon, papaya, melons, strawberries), good creamed potatoes to serve as a base for my crawfish étouffée, pretty decent flan although I left almost no room for dessert (oops).
While the atmosphere was fairly casual, to me it’s appropriate for a special occasion brunch. They have a very basic dress code, just don’t look like a thug or come straight from the gym. While the price is right for what you get, being a college student I’d save my return trip for a celebratory day. Also, for more than 6 people, call ahead and make a reservation, even if it’s just 30 minutes ahead.

Just plain, uncomplicated happiness is what comes to mind when I think of Magnolia Bar & Grill. Delicious food, family friendly, outdoor seating, live music. this place is a must.
The brunch is spectacular. all kinds of new orleans inspired food and then some. Yummy.

Good stuff here — chose to eat here on a Tuesday night and we were well served with a very attentive waitress. A buddy and I split 5 lbs of crawfish and we have to admit the quality of the crawfish was pretty high… most of our crawfish were big and juicy and well seasoned. My only complaint was that it lacked any corn or potatoes as you might see at other places like Pappadeaux. I also ordered the crawfish tortellini and it was pretty tasty — the cream sauce with sweet corn and sun dried tomatoes was very flavorful and I recommend that you get the dinner portion and box half of it up for your lunch at work the next day just as I did… mmmm tortellini for lunch today…

We chose to get some crawfish at Magnolia over Ragin Cajun because we had heard such good things.
We easily parked and went inside and put our name on the list for a 20-​minute wait. There were some tables at the bar, and I asked if we could eat there, as I saw several other customers doing. I was told there were not enough waitresses, even though people were eating dinner at the other bar tables.
We were also hoping to watch a basketball game, but the only TV was relatively small and up in the corner.
We got our table in about 20 minutes and gave our drink orders. A few minutes later we ordered appetizers — calamari, and my friend got gumbo. We also ordered 4 lbs. of crawfish.
The appetizers came out quickly. The calamari was good, and my friend told me the gumbo was excellent.
Then came the wait. We waited at least 45 minutes more for our crawfish, while seeing several tables that sat well after us get theirs, finish, and leave. The waitress kept coming by telling us she would check on our food, then kept apologizing that it wasn’t ready.
We finally got the crawfish, and they were really good. I was very disappointed to find out that they do NOT serve potatoes and corn with the crawfish. The Crawfish were large, well spiced, and cooked just right.
However, there is not a chance in hell that was 4 lbs. It was probably closer to 2.
We ordered a second «4 lbs.», only after the assurance that they would come out quickly. The second round was much worse. They were very small, mostly overcooked or had dies before boiling, and were more salty than well-​spiced.
The waitress was good enough to take the calamari off our bill. However, because we had to wait so long for our food, the poor quality of the second batch, and the fact that they claim it was 4 lbs. per order, I will never eat at Magnolia again. There is much better cajun food in Houston.

I appreciate a good value. This place is just that. Especially on Sunday’s. They have bottomless Memosa’s for cheap, and the crawfish are delicious. There is no need to run on and on in this review, instead I’ll just cut straight to the point. Good food, cheap, and plentiful. Head out there on a Sunday, you’ll be glad you did.

I love this place! During crawfish season they always have the large crawdads. I forget what else I have ordered here, but I do remember it is always good! Cant wait to get back to H-​town to tear it up «SOON»!

So I’ve been here twice already, but now that I’m on Unilocal,I can tell you all about Magnolia Bar and Grill’s Sunday Brunch. I haven’t been there on other days, but I’m willing to try it out because the brunch satisfies my taste palette quite well!
The brunch is buffet style so if you don’t like the buffet you can still order from the menu, either which way the food will feed your eyes as well as your stomach. There’s a lot to choose from: fresh cut fruit, seafood dishes, oysters, pot roast, made to order omelets, waffles, dessert, and yes as Ashley said… endless mimosas. All I can say is the first time I went, I made the mistake of filling my stomach with biscuits, fruit, and waffles that I didn’t get a chance to really try the other dishes. So it was a goal of mine the second time around to try and eat at least 8 or so different dishes… hahah! I would say that I enjoyed all of the dishes I had. The only downfall is that none of the dishes are labeled so it was mainly choose and you’ll see what you get. I haven’t looked at the menu so I don’t know what they offer as far as a la carte dishes, so if you go… let me know!
I would definitely go back for a third time.

This review is for Sunday brunch. What a treat! It was everything I was craving! Fried chicken, fresh oysters, seafood gumbo, fried catfish, Cajun and creole goodness, made to order omelets, a dessert bar, and to top it off… bottomless mimosa’s for $ 4.50! The list goes on.
This place puts out quite the spread! Oh yah, now I understand the meaning of southern hospitality.
3 plates later I headed to the airport happily stuffed… Nap time!