Olivette At The Houstonian

Came here from Portland Oregon to go the Alamo Bowl. Stay here for New Year’s dinner and party. From the time we step through the door it has been a first class experience. The dinning was delicious, not inexpensive but welll worth it. If you could see my passport you would understand, I don’t generally give 4 STARS. The hospitality is exceptional thank for bringing in the new year

Steak was great. Soup was great. Tres leche was great. Great dinner. Steak had great flavor. One of the few steaks I didn’t mind paying for. Dessert was top three tres leche and I try it when ever available.

Great place, great staff, good food. You definitely want to ask about the portions before you order because they can be quite small. I ordered a quinoa and squash plate which was good but not filling, it was the only vegetarian item on the menu that wasn’t a salad.

Made reservation through Open Door not sure that worked but had an hour wait, the waiters kept walking around telling us how pretty the view was, finally they took our order, only 4 tables, slow for a Sunday, communication disconnect, we had the time to wait, as always the food awesome. Staff are nice and will validate parking but we did have to ask for water refills, odd.
They change the menu every 90 days, boo hoo, did not want breakfast which is the mainstay on Sundays, but they do have burgers, the sliced beef with frites sound, meat tender, large portion, skimpy on the artichokes, instead of frites, you can substitute for onion rings, they do cook the meat medium rare and it is true to what you order.
Great for business lunches, not overly child friendly, lunch is under $ 30.

Great ambience and staff. The restaurant is located in a beautiful property. The vegetarian options are average though.

Eh, the Hotel is 5 star but the food was sub par to a 5 star hotel.
The room service was the same with the options I chose, however the bacon was excellent.
Had a couple appetizers and they were decent just under seasoned mainly on everything we had ordered in the restaurant.
Had a mint julep because the picture of it looked like a sno-​cone but it came out like a melted down water drink, it was good however.
The service and hostess was excellent. I had the potato crusted branzino which was good and tasty and perfectly flaky, however the mushroom something side was dry and did not compliment the dish what so ever and made it unbearable. We chose not to stay for dessert and ended up in the concierge level floor for desserts which were amazing.
Bottomline: if your staying in the hotel and have to eat somewhere this is not a bad option, but pricey and doesn’t match the quality. If you have the option to dine-​out that would be a wise option.

Good food and service. Loved my Boillabaise and steak tartare. Kids menu decent as well. Great Old-​fashioned as well which one should expect from Houston. Nice first meal in Texas spring break.
Going to hit Bbq tomorrow.

It’s got that very old school, fancy feel. The staff is extremely kind and very helpful.
I had the Salmon Salad, which to my surprise had fries mixed in. The salad was sweet and so, by adding the fries, I believe it truly balanced everything out. The salmon was blackened and very tasty; seasoned just right and the portion was more than I expected.
I can’t wait to come back and try another dish!

Restaurant within a hotel.
I tried a special dish of the day which was pan seared scallops and it was tasty — came with crab filled ravioli with crustacean reduced sauce. I found the sauce a bit too salty but carried good flavour and ravioli was genuinely home made.
I also had huevos ranchero for breakfast and I found it a bit messy — everything was stuck on top of each other with a dark red sauce on top, it did not look that appetising. It tasted okay but I found the beans too heavy. Maybe this is Texas way. I am much more used to Californian version where things are just separately placed on a plate with grilled corn tortilla rather than fried american corn tortilla.
Overall good option if you are on estate — but I would not travel to eat here

I stayed at the Houstonian hotel and this is inside it. I was underwhelmed by service, selection, and the food. There was ONE exception: the pavlova was DIVINE. Occasionally I daydream about going back just for the pavlova, because I found everything else just AWFUL, but practicality always wins. If anything, they motivated me to find an equally perfect pavlova elsewhere.

I have eaten at Olivette on numerous occasions. I’ve had breakfast, lunch and dinner there.
Some items I’ve had off the breakfast menu:
the fruit plate– I know, I know, not exciting, BUT this fruit plate is giant. And jam packed with exotic fresh fruits.
turkey benedict– perfectly executed and a slightly healthier alternative to the classic.
Lunch items I’d recommend:
the southwest caesar salad– this is the best southwest caesar you will ever have!
ancho turkey wrap– simple, but a hearty, fresh marriage of flavors and textures.
tempura shrimp sandwich– yummy, but rich. Only order if you have a fierce appetite.
chile rubbed flounder– I just love flounder and this is beautifully prepared.
Delicious dinner items:
whole roasted bronzino– not for the faint of heart! Lots of rich and substantial flavors going on here, but very tasty.
lobster agnolotti– one of my absolute FAVES here! If you like seafood, I highly recommend.
bouillabaisse– not only is this bouillabaisse absolutely delectable, it is very pretty! Nice presentation. My sister and I actually like to order bouillabaisse to split as a starter and something different for entrees, though bouillabaisse is listed in the entrée section.
*any steak you get here will be off the charts tasty*
Desserts you must try:
tres leches– yup, this place has a tres leches that holds its own up against The Americas tres leches. Try it, I dare you.
orange Valrhona carmelia mousse cake– I don’t even have the words to describe how nom-​tastic this is. Try to get a little bit of hazelnut in each bite you take!
pavlova– this pavlova is to die for. I have a hard time leaving any left over on the plate…
Fantastic wine and spirit selection and knowledgeable servers.
Service is timed perfectly to let you relax and pace between courses. Every server I’ve ever had is beyond accommodating and warm.

I believe you should pay what you get for and here you paid too much for what you’re getting

Overpriced, bad service and mediocre food. We came here as a group to celebrate Administrative Professionals Day and I was extremely disappointed. Service was terrible — the server never checked on us and had to chase down random waitstaff to get a refill on iced tea. The food was pretty much flavorless. I ordered the black bean soup, which tasted like no seasoning at all had been added. It was also odd because it was a hot soup, but I got several pieces of cold shrimp in it. My entrée was chile rubbed flounder, but even though it looked like seasoning had been added, you sure couldn’t taste it. Meal was bearable only by adding salt and a good amount of Tabasco (which, again, we had to chase down a random waiter to get, since our own was MIA). Will definitely not be coming back.

The service was excellent ~ the Grilled Salmon Salad was surprisingly divine… but the Corn Soup had an odd taste. A nice, quiet spot almost in the middle of the hustle bustle of the Galleria.

We had a pretty much perfect date night at Olivette. The service was great. It was slower than most places, but it was totally appropriate — we were doing the 3 course Houston Restaurant Weeks menu and the time between the courses gave us a chance to let things digest and enjoy the evening. It was nice to be really waited on and not feel like they just wanted to turn our table over, even though the restaurant was fairly full. We will return.

We had a fabulous meal at Olivette. I’ve eaten here sometime in the past, but my recent dinner was far better than any I can recall. To say that my date is a finicky eater, is a gross understatement. She is rigorous about her macrobiotic diet, so restaurants are normally a very difficult experience for her. It was suggested to me that a little advance planning would make for a delightful meal at Olivette, and we went to celebrate a special occasion. Not only was my date impressed with the research the chef did into macrobiotic cooking, everything was fresh, clean and tasty. He devised a true macrobiotic menu that was a real delight.
I’d like to address a few of the comments in the other reviews
That there is no dress code — Olivette is a hotel restaurant and there should not be a dress code anyway.
Deliberate service — this is a hallmark of quality in a restaurant, waiters watch from afar so the kitchen does not begin on the next until the first is completed. We had a wonderfully romantic time there, enjoying our conversation and the nice pause between the courses. The atmosphere at Olivette is quiet, muted, with huge picture windows looking out over the Houstonian’s meticulously manicured estate gardens. As we lingered we never felt rushed.

It is a beautiful space within a gorgeous, upscale hotel. However, the food is simply okay… nothing amazing, and definitely nothing terrible.
I was invited here for an event… the menu was fixed to a limited number of brunch items. I ordered the eggs benedict, which took a little longer to come out than I would have liked, given it was breakfast food.
The plating was nice, and the eggs were good. But everything else on the plate was hard to get to. They plated the eggs, on top of the arugula, on top of the toast. It was near impossible to get a bite of each… so I basically had to deconstruct it.
Overall, this is a great place to have food… if you are out of options. If you have access to the Galleria, there are plenty of places with better food for much less!!!

We are staying here at the Houstonian and was getting hungry. For a Friday night our options were pretty limited in trying to go out and find a place to eat, so we stayed in house. I was wearing jeans and a nice polo, but I thought they would not let me in. However they did and the place was not too busy.
This place is a 4 star restaurant and very nice decorated. There was a loud person near us talking on her cell phone but soon she gone. Our waiter came to ask us drinks and forgot to bring me the wine list. The menu had the usual restaurant items (pork, chicken, fish, and steak) to satisfy a general customers staying at the hotel. But you can ask for the bar menu where it had a few other menu items.
I ordered a fish I have not heard before and decided to give it a try. My wife ordered a steak off the bar menu, and I ordered a nice French white wine. Besides the waiter, others came by to bring us bread, butter, and olives. The collection of bread items were very good.
Our plates showed up and I tied my fish and it was extremely good. My wife’s steak was very tasty too. It was definitely the best meal I have had in a long time. It was worth the price. At the same time more people started to show up and the place was getting a bit louder but no kids were present. I wanted more so I ordered a coffee and pineapple sorbet. And both were excellent too. On the way out I stopped at the bar and it looked nice too.

This is the restaurant in the Houstonian Hotel. I love it because it is never busy and the good is great. One of the drawbacks is that since it is in the hotel — they do have to allow their hotel guests (and children) to eat here. I really like to come here at lunch because it is usually quiet and a great place to have a business lunch. I love the crab cakes, steak tartar, and oysters. All of their fish entrees are delicious as well as the chicken. And as is mentioned previously the tres leches is wonderful!

Allegedly the Houstonian Hotel’s upscale gem, however, any place that allows its patrons to bring screaming kids (there were 6 of them at one table) and patrons to dine with flip flops is not so upscale in my books. Also, a waiter who rushes you to order, pay and leave is also not my definition of a fine dining experience. For example, my boyriend was looking at the dessert menu and considering ordering a cognac for dessert, when the waiter literally plucked the menu out of his hands and ask «so nothing for you, sir»?” Then, in the middle of our shared dessert, our waiter, Rushy McRushter, gave us the bill. Listen Mr. McRushter, if we wanted to be rushed, we would have gone elsewhere.
½ star for the complimentary olives that arrive at the table and another ½ star for the views. 1 star because my water glass was always full and 1 star for the tres leches… yummy in my tummy!
The risotto was salty as were the oysters. The décor was very old school oil tycoon and needed a bit of face lift. It felt a bit stuffy in there, like I was hanging out on the set of Dallas.
I would have rather spent our money elsewhere. I would not recommend it or return.
This review is based solely on my personal experience and reflect my personal opinions. Your experience may be completely different.