The Concert Pub

After living in Houston for 5 years I’ve always heard of this place from friends. Co workers. Houston press. Finally stopped by with my roommate and… Eh. Looks like a place begging for John Taffer to step in. The food wasn’t anything special either. Maybe I caught them on a bad night. Who knows.

I would not eat the food (bland), I would not buy the drinks (water down beer), nor would I talk to the patrons (typical loud drunk Houstonian that talks more shit than does anything). The only blessing is that you can play a few cheap rounds of pool by yourself in relative peace if you don’t like the crowded atmosphere of Slick Willy’s. BTW, the bathroom doors are always open and it constantly smells of disinfectant which makes a person woozy after a few minutes. The bands are horrible classic rock cover bands that have screechy voice, 30-​something women as lead singers. I would never pay cover charge to enter the premises. I think a lot of the men that hang out in this joint are probably homosexual but in a blue collar way.

When we walked in to the bar, it was very dark and there was a foul stench, like beer had rotted into the carpet.
We decided to sit outside by the torches, and the atmosphere was decent. My boyfriend ordered a draft beer, and we ordered the 4 lbs for $ 20 crawfish. The draft beer, while served in a cold mug, was room temperature. The most disappointing however, was the crawfish. They were absolutely the worst, most bland crawfish we’ve had. The seasoning comes on the side, not in the boil, and the crawfish have absolutely no flavor. The seasoning that is provided comes in a small dressing cup about ¼ full. To top it off, the service was scarce. We ended up finishing about a pound of crawfish and the potatoes/​corn and leaving to get fast food. Thank you for saving the night, Taco Bell.

On Dec 26^th a group of friends and I went to this place after googling live bands. We arrived after 12:30a, but were charge a $ 5 cover charge. We went in, the place was virtual empty maybe because it was after Christmas. The band was on break, we assumed, the instruments were on stage. We ordered a round, and within a few minutes a man bragging he was the owner told us we had to leave. At this point the band was breaking down their setup and leaving.
We protested, wanting to finish our round yet this guy became very nasty. Saying, he knew and didn’t like a member of our party (a brother who was from out of town)?! Anyway, what an insulting, weird experience! I cannot vouch for music, or food but the owner is either a complete jerk or off his medication.

I’m not sure what all the negative crazy reviews are about here. I’ve been coming to the Concert Pub for almost 5 years and yes, there are some GREAT things about this pub and then there’s some not so great. Here’s the lowdown.
Pros: Cheap drinks specials, great local and cover bands 3 – 4 nights out of the week; during crawfish season, you can get 4 pounds for $ 19.99 (and it’s super spicy); good-​sized patio and great music on the patio (when the weather is nice, the patio is a great choice). The food is good sized and quality and prices are reasonable for the portions served. They have sporting games on their TVs throughout the pub.
Cons: It’s very dark in the pub, and sometimes hard to see; bartenders and waitstaff are constantly changing (it’s the industry) so the service is sometimes off par; it’s noisy in the bar when the band is playing and often you can’t find a seats.
Other than that, it’s pub, not a five-​star restaurant. The female restrooms are mediocre and I have never been in the men’s restroom, but I am sure it’s just as a mediocre. This pub a very divey kind of place and open until 2am everyday.

Sunday at Noon and the place is almost empty. Parking lot had 3 cars in it when we pulled up. Then I go in and find out why. Only 2 games on because they can’t afford Sunday ticket, all the speakers are humming because they are too cheap to fix them.

This place has the feel of a dive bar that has went off of the deep end. The beer was sour and the place felt dumpy. One of the most depressing bars I have been to in recent memory.

First of all, I acknowledge the trivia crew at this place. They are diverse and highly professional, a great crew to be around. I like the food and food specials as well. What I find that ruins this place, in my opinion, is the management. It is my obversation and opinion that they react out of gossip, induindo and their own insecurities. I know of one termation that does not seem to be well thought out recently of a staff member. I have heard of complaints from staff and customers alike regarding management. Could the quality of service be linked to managment? You decide. The place in my opinion has a lot of potential. Perhapse if the owner sees this review he may do his own investigation.

My girlfriend & I have been coming here for the crawfish the past 4 years (She has been dining here for the past 7 years) and were never disappointed with the fresh crawfish. (In the beginning of the season they use frozen crawfish until the crawfish size is adequate enough to use fresh).
Understandable.
This last time we went to enjoy their awesome special which is 4 lbs for $ 20, not a bad price for this area,
we were severely disappointed in not only the taste but also the hardness of the crawfish which usually is attritbuted to not boiling w enough butter to ensure an easier peel.
But the grade of quality has gone down so much, we felt inclined to ask our friend who had been working there what was up with this new crawfish.
She informed us that a new owner bought Concert Pub and switched to a cheaper FROZEN crawfish vendor.
–On another note, if you are expecting quality or TIMELY service, dont come here.
We are both in the industry as well as many friends of ours, and for some reason the waitstaff is always busy/​backed up even on slow days.
–Bartenders are cool w regulars only. Otherwise you will definitely wait to be helped at the bar.
–Waitresses never seem to know any of the specials going on nor what beers are on tap.
–Its almost guaranteed an appetizer or dish will be forgotten, EVERY visit. We always tip 20% despite their mistakes and the waitress usually looks shocked that we dont complain or ask for free stuff LOL.
Even with our worst experience being2 years ago when my girlfriend lost her engagement ring while eating crawfish (*or it was stolen, she had set it in front of her but took it off to eat the crawfish.)
With all of these negative aspects which have been very apparent for as long as we have been dining here, we still came back for the FRESH crawfish but now that theyve switched to frozen indefinitely, we will not be coming back. ;(
Perhaps the funniest detail is that my girlfriend actually trained with them for 3 days and was never compensated for her training. She had been asked by a longtime bartender /​server there to help out since they were severely understaffed & she had extensive waiting & bartending experience.
Sad this place went downhill, It could/​continue to be something awesome or even just OK.

What A terrible bar, the service is here Horrendous. I would never go back to this place not much more else to say.

Love concert pub. My go to crawfish place. Everytime I go in there I’m greeted by the nicest bartenders. The food is fantastic. Service is prompt. Love it.

I give it a one star because they don’t have a quarter star this place was a disaster it took the waitress 30 minutes to bring us our drinks and that’s because I asked for them again. It took about 45 minutes to get our meal the sad thing is there was only about 10 people in the whole place and they already had their food the waitress was sweet but her service just absolutely suck they have this plate chicken fried steak dinner and for additional $ 2 you get the Texas sized chicken fried steak I guess we got the Poteet special because the chicken fried steak was no bigger than the size of a kids happy meal at McDonalds its smell like shit it tastes like shit I had to drown it in gravy in order to eat it I get my plate and I see how small the meal is so I asked the lady is this your Texas sized steak she said yes originally I look at my coworkers chicken fried steak sandwich and it was bigger than the plates unbelievable so ask for the manager cuz I’m kind of pissed off now they say they don’t have one I told him you’re kidding they tell me they don’t have a manager there right now I’m sorry I’ve never heard of a restaurant not have on hand management needless to say I will never go back to this place very very sad situation

For someone whose life revolves around music, I would think that somewhere called The Concert Pub would be perfect for me. I was wrong.
I initially had a good experience with the bartenders being friendly, but I realized that it doesn’t go very far. Service is kinda bad and gets worse with more people coming in. I don’t think the people who work here or run the place take much responsibility or hold themselves accountable for anything. I’ve seen the bartenders give people who’ve clearly had too much to drink more to drink, and even let them drive home.
The food is moderately priced but the quality is the same.
The only positive experience I had here was the music that was being performed, which I understand is the reason why you’d go here, but keep in mind that there are other factors at a bar that can easily ruin that, and that the performers and the bar itself are completely independent. I’ll go somewhere else if I want good, live music so that I can have better service and management experiences.

My first time going here last weekend. Since it’s a bit out of the way for me, but then again a lot of stuff is «out of the way.» I am however, glad I decided to go out of the way for it. The Crawfish are the BEST ever I give their crawfish a 10+!! And the Price!!! 4lbs for $ 20! Not bad at all, especially if they are delicious! The downside is the wait we sat down & waited for about 25 mins & we were never even noticed by anyone! Until finally we decided to ask the bartender for menus, which then she ended up being our waitress. She was an excellent waitress. Doing tables & running the bar on the inside since the patio was packed! This was around 2pm on a Saturday! Apparently they were «slammed.» I’d say with a bit more staff or more attentive staff this place would be 5 stars! Because of the wait I give it 4! But the crawfish were so delicious it made up for the wait time. I will definitely be back! But on a slower day! Because one more downside parking sucks! But if you love good crawfish, don’t mind parallel parking and are patient. It’s a nice spot!

The best service and deals on crawfish this side of town! Live music and games for the kids!

I thought I left a review for this place already… But if I havent, here it goes:
We ate $ 4.99/lb crawfish here when everywhere else had it for $ 8.99+ per lb. and I must say, the crawfish here were excellent! nicely seasoned, spicy and juicy. I was impressed. Mixed crowd of people, plenty of seating and it seems if you enjoy the patio (in hot as Hades Houston, go for it, theirs is huge)
The music was wonderful, James Wilhite’s band played a tribute to Pink Floyd. it was super! He’s always great ((Except for the hoola hoop chicks… I really liked their psychedelic lighted hoola hoop performance during songs 1, 2 & 3, but after that, I was like, REALLY:-| … enough already. And I wasnt the only one)). They literally stood all over the dance floor and nobody could dance or get anywhere near the band for that matter. **sigh**
Great place! I will go again… Richmond Ave really should do something about the potholes.

I went to Concert Pub for a birthday gathering last night. There were a lot of people on the patio, apparently for the crawfish, so that was nice. It looks like a great seating area.
Our group was about 20 people or so, but it wasn’t like the bar was filled with other people, so the slow service was odd. Now that I’m reading the reviews, I guess maybe it wasn’t that odd.
On Wednesday’s it’s ladies night, so the beers are $ 2 and they have free poker. They had the Rockets game on all the screens so that was cool. My friend ordered a sandwich and we had completely forgotten about it — if that is any indication on how long it took to come out. It looked so good, I decided to order one as well. It was about a 30 minute wait and by that time, someone had shared the sampler platter with me so I was no longer hungry.
I think that if they could find a way to speed up the service a bit more it would be a much better hangout.

The patio is nice but service is horrible inside or out. After waiting at the inside bar for 15 minutes while bartenders worked all around us, I was served 3 week old Green beer!!! The crawfish are tasty but too spicy for me. Hubby and friends love it.
They really need to work on better service or we will not go back.

Went cause heard the crawfish was good and a good price. Band playing was good, lots of TV’s and playing the Rockets was good. Crawfish was good, but service was the worst we’ve ever had. Would rather pay way more for better service. Waited 30 minutes at a table with no help and saw two other groups walk out before we got helped. That should of been a heads up for us. Ended up having to walk up to bar to place order for crawfish and drinks. When waitress finally came around she completely ignored us the whole night. So we had to keep going back to the bar to order more crawfish and food.
Would be ok if you are solo or just two people and are eating at the bar. But
We will not be going back.

I only really come here for the crawfish. 4 pounds for $ 20 can’t be beat, especially when they are good! First time I came, we sat on the deck and the service was soooo slow. The waitress explained that it was because she had both the inside section and outside. Eventually we moved inside because of the wind… I’m taking stars away because:
1 THERE WERE NO OCCUPIED TABLES INSIDE. Whatrver our waitress was busy doing, I have no idea cause she clearly wasn’t serving tables.
2. The atmosphere is really depressing. Dark, dingy, and just… not lively. Even the air is stale.
3. The crawfish isn’t always consistent. The bartender told me I «can at least count on getting what I expect.» This… is not true… It’s always cooked well, but the flavoring can change drastically.
4. Adding in — on weekends, if it’s busy, the crawfish will be small and not cooked well.