The Refinery

Saturday $ 3 margaritas are really good if you order on the rocks. The frozen ones are mainly sugar I think, no tequila kick to them. The patio is FANTASTIC on a breezy summer day. Today was my first time here and I will for sure return.

Great burger joint and bar with excellent space for hanging out with some friends.
Full disclosure right up front – I came here after running a marathon earlier in the day, and I was ready to eat a huge burger. Whether that influenced my opinion of the burger itself or not, what I remember is really enjoying this place.
The Refinery is right at the edge of Downtown Houston, across 45 from all of the skyrises. It has some parking available across the street, and at least on a Sunday afternoon, is no problem at all for finding a spot. On a nice day, this is a great place to hang out in the afternoon or evening, because there’s some nice patio seating, and they keep the big doors open to let in the fresh air. This is definitely a nice setting to hang out and have a drink, a bite to eat, or both while hanging out with friends.
I sampled quite a bit of food while I was here (see disclosure about having run a marathon earlier in the day). We had chips and guacamole for the table, along with some of the buffalo chicken bites and fried pickles. The chips were good chips, and the guacamole was decent. The fried pickles were pretty darn tasty with a little ranch on the side. And the buffalo chicken bites, even when a little cold, had some good flavor to them.
I got the Red Adair. This was one of the better burgers I’ve had in a while. It came with cheddar cheese, jalapenos, and bacon on the beef patty and bun. The jalapenos were fresh, not pickled, and had good flavor. The bacon was nice and thick cut, not the cheap stuff you find on most burgers when dining out. And the bun was a perfect consistency for the burger, which was cooked medium. I feel like a sauce might have added another great element to this burger, but as it was, it was absolutely fantastic.
The star of the show, however, may have been the fries. And what fries they were! I got the sweet potato fries. Yes, sweet potato fries are good. But these ones had something I’ve never tried before: cinnamon seasoning. Cinnamon on sweet potato fries is absolutely amazing! This was ridiculously good, especially with a little ketchup. I could have eaten a whole meal of these things, and I’m not a huge fries fan. I’ll come back for these alone!
The service was the one downside to the afternoon. But I’ll forgive this time. We had a huge group that was ordering at different times, and the server was apparently on his first day at the restaurant. It took a while to get everything going and to get all the orders right, but we eventually all got our food and enjoyed ourselves.
Next time I want a burger in Houston, I’ll make it back here.

Awesome service and Kelly was so badass! First time here & very satisfied! :) will def come back

Omg ask for Kelly always ! Blake is pretty cool as well hard worker ! Me & my sissy had so much fun

Best burger I have ever had! So many burger options to choose from as well. The burgers are huge and you have different buns to choose from to further customize your burger.

On the way to my hubby’s work Christmas party, we had the unfortunate experience of getting a flat tire. Luck was shining on us as we were able to pull into the parking lot of The Refinery.
From the no pressure bar, to the warm welcoming patio, the experience was phenomenal!
We ordered the house cab and it was delicious! The catfish entrée was fresh, the grilled veggies were crisp and tasty, and the grilled shrimp was scrumptious.
Our evening was made!

Came here after the gym late on a Thursday just for food. My date and I both had the red adair burger and it was delicious. We also has sweet potato fries and everything came out like it was just made, nice and hot! They were kind enough to make some tasty lemonade for us. Will be coming again.

I can really only speak for the food, since they stopped doing Geeks Who Drink trivia nights each Monday.
The Red Adair burger has more flavor than the Spindletop and works better on a Sheila bun than the pretzel bun. It’s quite good.
The queso is pretty good, the pickles are sweet, and beer battered fries are worth the extra dollar.
The bathrooms are cleaner than I expected, so huzzah!

Cool bar. Food is run of the mill bar food. Solid overall but some of the items on the menu leave a lot to be desired.

I ate here about a year ago and ended up unhappy and said I would never come back… Yesterday was a friends birthday and he wanted to eat here, I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Wrap and all I can say is WHAT A JOKE! My wrap had little pieces of Chicken in it and half of the wrap had no Chicken at all… Getting drinks was almost impossible and then since the waiter knew he was giving crappy service he put a 20% tip on all our tickets. I WILL NEVER BE BACK AND WILL TELL EVERYONE I KNOW TO AVOID THIS PLACE!!!

The burgers are decent and they have a wide selection of beers on tap. Most of the food is your standard bar fare. They have an outside patio for dogs and they are very friendly and accommodating.

Bonus for me above the atmosphere is that the food is absolutely top notch. Best burger in midtown compared to Christian’s midtown location, and Front Porch. Also, they take care of your dog on their extensive patio.

I love the staff here! They are so friendly and attentive. I have done a few liquor promotions here while in college. Today was my first day actually dining there. I got the nachos to start off. I love nachos. There’s are simple yet delicious. They weren’t too messy or soggy. I had the blackened catfish for my lunch entrée. The fish wasn’t too salty. It came out hot. The shrimps were good too! Good little spot for lunch. I will have to eat a burger next time I’m feeling sinful.

My husband and I stopped in before the baseball game last weekend. Had a great time sitting at the bar sampling beers and shooting it with the bartender Rodney. He was friendly, kept us trying new beers, and made us feel right at home. We will return just because of him. Beyond that the place is cool, with a very laid back vibe, right at the backdoor of Downtown so you are minutes from pretty much anything. Great burger too. The one I ordered was juicy and flavorful… really good. The fried pickles were pretty bad, but that was the only negative.
Tons of seating, shuffleboard, great patio, TONS of beers on tap that rotate pretty constantly. We shall return!!!

I’ve been to this bar/​restaurant in the daytime after work with coworkers, but never at night, so i decided to give it a shot and I’m glad I did!
The staff was courteous and very nice — the food was awesome and that wine pour really Hit the spot **Oh yeah** :)
Make it in if you’re ever in the area — it’s worth it!

Great burgers and appetizers, but a bit pricey for lunch.
The Refinery is a 5 minute walk from the Allen Center. If you know where that gravel parking lot is on the Dallas exit off 45, the Refinery is located just across the street. There is also a historical sign on one of the corners that talks about Freedman’s Town, aka The Fourth Ward.
The place looks like an icehouse, but consider it an upscale icehouse. Craft beers, whiskey and wine. The refinery is known for its burgers, which are big and delicious.
We started with some nachos and buffalo bites. The nachos were ok… lots of ingredients, but nothing special. The buffalo bites were awesome. Small chunks of chicken smothered with some spicy buffalo sauce. They were so good we placed a second order. The funny thing is that the second batch didn’t have as much sauce on them, but no worries. We were served additional sauce on the side.
I noticed that fried bologna sandwiches were on the menu, and I haven’t seen those since I had a work trip to Ohio about 5 years ago. I opted for the Roughneck burger that had a nice beef patty, a thick slice of fried bologna, and two pieces of thick-​cut jalapeño bacon. This was a big sandwich and all of the meat blended well together with the queso on top.
Talking later with a coworker, he told me that was the most expensive burger he has had in awhile. The appetizers were reasonable, about $ 6 each. For lunch, my total with tax & tip came to over $ 24. I have to admit, that is a bit steep for a burger, appetizer, and a glass of water. My coworker had a burger, fries and a drink and his total came to about the same as mine. Combo specials for the lunch crowd would be most welcome!
I do want to return and try a different burger next time, but may instead go after work and have a beer or whiskey with the burger. I am on the fence about going back for lunch.

The Refinery. Awesome name, awesome walking distance from work. If you work for oil and gas as so many of us do, you can casually mention to your coworkers that you’re off to «check up on downstream operations.»
They have a decently sized bar menu and plenty of drinks including mimosas for people like me. The service is super friendly, which was nice.
The food was solidly good. I did notice that there were discrepancies (twice!) between prices listed on menus and chalkboards and what showed up on my receipt. Is $ 2 something I want to haggle about in the middle of a workday? No. Is this something that caught my eye and might prevent me from so readily heading over? Yes.
Nice dirt parking lot across the road and a small paved parking lot right in front.

I’m a burger fan.
I’ve had the privilege of enjoying some of the best burgers in Houston and I’ve been meaning to try The Refinery for quite some time.
Finally had a chance to stop in and check out the grub. We started with a basket of chili cheese waffle fries. Unfortunately, they made me sad. The portion was not very big and the amount of chili on top was rather minimal… which might be a good thing. The chili itself was simply bland.
On to the burgers…
My son had the Swiss+ which he described as just OK. My Blue Cheese burger was actually quite good.
The only thing that really bugged me was that you have to pay extra for a side, which I have no problem doing usually but these burgers are already a bit overpriced as it is. My little $ 2 cup of coleslaw was rather underseasoned as well and was a little on the sweet side.
Otherwise, the staff was super friendly and since the weather is awesome today, it was nice to sit out on the patio which I don’t often do.
I’d be willing to come back and try some of their other items or even have a few drinks, unfortunately it won’t be the top of my list.

Gone down hill. The bartender that I liked has not been here for some time, and it shows. Actually, I think he might be a manager at the new Oporto, which is more fitting for him anyway. Unorganized bar service now, watery cocktails that take for ever to be made, with a sub par whiskey selection, and prices are ridiculous for beers. I remember the price for Karbach Weisse Versa to be around $ 8, and I think the glasses are not 16oz, yeah that is not happening. Burgers still are not even close the best in town, fried pickles are so full of grease that you have to clean them off yourself with paper towels. I still like the vibe, and they do a good job of carrying good Houston breweries. Just to expensive for what you actually get.

So I came here as part of a Beer Bus tour. We met here, and then had taken a bus to two different breweries, and then came back here for a buffet as part of an Amazon deal that Hubbs and I purchased.
The tour started at 11am and we thought the buffet was first, followed by the beer. To our dismay, the buffet was actually at 2 or 3, after we had a buttload of beer. So needless to say, we were starving.
By the time we arrived at The Refinery, we were ready to get our buffet on! Then we walked into the room and was sorely disappointed. What they had was chips, queso, two small batches of chicken wings (we had 40 people, and there were probably about 30 wings), crinkle cut fries and deep fried… okra? Peppers? I don’t even remember. I was at the front of the line so I was able to get a few chicken wings (assuming they were going to bring out more. I mean, it was a «buffet»). Everything else that was deep fried in batter was soggy and greasy. The fries were mediocre. Even the wings were spicy, but didn’t have much flavor.
We stuck around for 30 – 45 minutes with the couple we went with, and I think they refilled the chicken wings once with like 15 wings. They had no problem refilling the fries and deep fried sogginess. After the Hubbs finally lost hope, we left disappointed and still hungry.
I know that this is probably related to the Beer Bus tour, but the food was still lacking. I thought «buffet» meant «all-​you-​can-​eat,» not «eat a few and we’ll forget about you.» It was soggy, greasy and gross. I’ll never come back.