Tabella At Clear Creek

I’ve always enjoyed tasting menus, where plates served are smaller than a normal portion but you get more than one, so you can sample several of the chef’s dishes. I think many of the reviewers (most of whom were using Groupons) who commented on small portions missed that they were eating a tasting menu.
The food was quite good, the herbs were fresh, fragrant and full of flavor. The wine pairings were perfect and interesting, if not as delightful as I might have liked – definitely unique. Dessert was wonderful too. The chef visited with us. The waiter was attentive and kind, if not a little awkward.
The lamb lollipops with a pineapple chile sauce was, hands down, the best lamb I’ve ever eaten in a restaurant.
The problem, as I see it, with Tabella, is that it’s trying to be upscale in one way but more trendy in another, and it’s not meshing the two styles well. It’s quaint and cute, which could work as an intimate romantic getaway restaurant. There were some things I found a little ‘cheesy’. For example, they had cheap, plastic flameless candles… and many of them weren’t turned on, so it was obvious they were fakes.
The tables are set very close together. A person of any size or with long legs is going to be smashed into the seat and if they seat a person at the next table, your chairs will bump into each other with every move.
I am in a wheelchair, and so we were seated at the very first table, which is immediately by the door, like literally people will walk in the front door and stand less than two feet from our table where we dine while they wait to be seated. This is just not good floor planning at all. But with the wheelchair, the seats are all too close together to seat us anywhere else, ’cause we can’t get past the front area to the rest of the restaurant. I would have hated to have tried to get to the bathroom in there!
They used tap water instead of RO or bottled and they have no sodas for those who don’t want wine or tap water. I actually spoke to the chef about this and she said they used to have sparkling water, but no one wanted it. They really need RO or bottled water, with good ice. The water was just awful, and my adult son who doesn’t drink tea or alcohol had to go without a drink, because the water tasted bad. The home brewed ginger drinks were very interesting and if you like ginger ale, they are at least worth tasting.
Now, for a slow, intimate romantic evening for two, this place definitely could be nice, especially on a weeknight when it’s not packed in the small space. For larger groups, louder parties, or families, this probably isn’t the best choice. Too ‘intimate’ without the room to be comfortable.
The highlight here, then, that gives this review its four stars from me, is the food: farm to table, flavorful, fresh and fragrant. Lots of color, lots of flavors, and some unique flavor pairings. Fresh herbs, lots of spices used well and in excellent proportions. Tasty and simple, but elegant and plated nicely as well. Again, probably some of the best lamb I’ve ever had – would definitely return just for that!
With the Groupon, the price is reasonable for a tasting menu and when the menus change with the season, I would definitely consider going again and trying different dishes from the chef.

Don’t go! Groupon or not, this is not worth your money or time.
Sat for over ten minutes just waiting for water! 4 servers working and our order was not taken for over 25 minutes.
It’s a tiny restaurant with about 11 two tops and 2 four tops, and this awkward red curtain hanging through half the room, as if to make two rooms? Looked silly.
If you didn’t arrive hungry, you’ll become hungry just waiting. But hey, they gave us as many samplers of wine as we wished to have (typically you only get two). Unfortunately, as we tried some they still didn’t take our order. I wished I hadn’t afterwards.
Our waiter was friendly and tried to be helpful.
Another reviewer noted the bottom of the menu for Groupon users says in huge green font «GROUPON» which really is so tacky. I think the servers can remember the two types of menus. Not a nice touch.
The «first course» is a choice between a house salad or a spinach Caesar. That’s not really a first course in my book, or at least not for such a high prices menu.
Lemony Caesar with beautiful spinach leaves.
Large crab cake with sliced carrots and tomatoes on top. Strange combination but tasty. The side vegetables were just basic zucchini and squash and bland carrots.
Lamb cooked to perfection but cauliflower was bland, needed salt. They looked beautiful.
The chicken tasted really bitter from the grill. Really bitter. Like the grill needs cleaning from the past month. The «avocado» is really guacamole.
Chopped filet mignonette English muffin w/​BBQ sauce: besides the fail of a description, it came out looking like pulled pork on a dry English muffin with a zig zag drizzle of BBQ sauce. Yikes.
The caramel cheesecake was a hit with my boyfriend but I didn’t love it. The apple tart was pretty good — soft, warm, not overly sweet. Maybe my favorite part of the meal after the lamb!
This was quoted at $ 90 normally which I would NEVER have paid. Love what they’re trying to do here with local ingredients, but it’s not executed well enough for the price tag. As my boyfriend put it, there’s something glaringly off about every aspect of our experience, from ambience to food to service.
I just can’t recommend it at all.

Please do not make the same mistake we did. We chose this restaurant looking for a romantic night and good food for a birthday. The atmosphere was quaint and romantic as we entered the restaurant, but our expectations were quickly removed.
We did use a Groupon for the four course menu. When we reported to the waiter that we were using a Groupon he took the menu away from us and replaced it with a more condensed menu. We had every intention of ordering additional items from the regular menu but decided against this when the menu was taken away. We did at the wine pairing as well.
This was some of the worst fine dining food I have ever experienced. I have to settle for my third choice off of the menu as the first two choices were no longer available even though we were at the first seating of the evening. I ordered the mahi-​mahi and the pumpkin ravioli. The mahi-​mahi was dry, overcooked, and flavorless. The pumpkin ravioli was thick, chewy, and dry, And the pumpkin filling was bland.
The wine pairings in my opinion were quite bizarre. Pineapple infused wine with Mahi Mahi and peach infused wine with the pumpkin ravioli was quite strange. In my humble opinion this is just a place to avoid.

We went with a groupon which I think is what most of these reviews are from. We also added the wine pairing with our 4 course meal which I highly recommend. All of their wines were excellent. My favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc.
The portions were much bigger than I feel like the reviews are stating. I was filled but not overly stuff. I had the balsamic chicken and crab cakes as the main portion. I wasn’t a huge fan of the crab cake. I would look over that and go for the lamb which my husband had. It was delicious. As far as small chicken portions, you have to realize that organic free range chickens are much smaller than your average hormone injected chickens. So yes the chicken is a 6oz portion (per menu).
As far as wait staff, it does seen that they need at least one more person to make it more friendly and personable. I would have like to talked to them more on the whole farm to table concept. Now when you come to these types of restaurants you shouldn’t be in a rush to get in and out. It’s a good time to chat with your significant other or hang out with friends.
Overall I am definitely interested in going back and would recommend it to others.

My wife and I invited her sister to join us on a Saturday, 5PM Groupon tasting menu. We chose from two available salads… I chose the field greens with balsamic dressing. Very good! My wife chose the Cesar salad and dressing and was very happy. Same with our guest.
The entrees we chose get mixed reviews. I had a delicious crab cake and lollipop lamb chops. My wife complained that her crab cake was undercooked. She also said her small piece of chicken breast was tasty but overcooked. Another of our «entrees» consisted of asparagus wrapped in bacon and grilled… we all felt that this dish was our least favorite, being over grilled to the point of burnt and almost inedible.
We all chose cheesecake for desert and were satisfied with it.
Chef Coco chose the wines to match each course. The wine is the produce of the Clear Creek Winery, located on the premesis… very good. The fruit juice infused wines are excellent.
We were very satisfied with our server, and the ambiance is wonderful. We are still conflicted as to whether or not we will return to try the full menu.
I am a trained chef and I thought the restaurant came up short overall, and did so on simple mistakes. However if you use the Groupon offer you will get a decent experience at a fair price.

General consensus from ou

Found this place through Groupon, where they offered 50% off of their 4 course tasting menu for 2 (normally $ 78). Made reservations through open table and they were ready and waiting for us with a reserved sign w/​our name on it!
The restaurant itself is tinier than i had expected, only about 10 tables for 2 in the whole dining room. small but great ambiance. There was only one other table of 2 eating when we were there, so we practically had the whole restaurant to ourselves! THOUSANDS of filled wine bottles line the walls, and the rustic stonework really makes you feel like you are in a cozy Tuscan café. Except that giant 50ft wine bottle out front is pretty tacky. but hey, i guess they want you to know exactly what they’re into…
Cody, our server was attentive and personable. Made great recommendations.
The tasting menu consisted of your choice of kale caesar or house salad, 2 entrees: (b/​t the two of us we had the crab cakes, lamb, and pumpkin ravioli), and your choice of cappuccino or vanilla pannacotta.
The quality of food was excellent. Quick service and the plates are served with hot food. Props to Coco, the food was awesome. The pumpkin ravioli was my favorite.
We had one of their in-​house fruit infused wines, which was excellent. Tropical breeze was chardonnay with mango and pineapple. $ 24 for a bottle or $ 8 a glass (just go for the bottle! TX law lets you take the bottle w/​if you don’t finish it!)
My only complaint is that the portions are SMALL. I am a petite girl myself, and the meal was just barely enough for me. My poor 6’3″ boyfriend left hungry. For dessert you only get half of a ramekin of pannacotta. come on now, you don’t have to cut the pannacotta in half… let’s not get stingey here. If I would have paid the full $ 80 for two people I most definitely would have felt ripped off. At $ 40 it was meh, acceptable.
Our server told us about some events they have monthly, like a movie night on the patio, and ladies night, where you can paint your own wine glasses. I’ll have to check those out.
So in summary, Food: Awesome, Wine: Great, Service: Fabulous, Portion Sizes: too small. I mean come on now, this is TEXAS.