houston's

fans for twenty years!. decor / establishment: the pasadena houston’s enhances it’s already-popular atmosphere with asian decor inside and out. the water feature with the flowing fountains and friendly koi is a lovely welcome, while the intimate setting of therestaurantis very inviting.


food / drink: we’ve never had a bad or distasteful meal in the twenty years we’ve been patrons at houston’s restaurants. the pasadena location is no different. excellent presentation of both beverages and meals, colorful displays accompanying each dish, water glasses continuously refilled without asking, and world-class flavor, flavor, flavor!


location: 320 south arroyo parkway, pasadena ca 91105. therestaurantparallels a busy thoroughfare in the heart of pasadena, however the relaxing ambiance of both the inside and outdoor areas and lounge patio with double-faced fireplace create a refuge from busy city boisterousness.


service / staff : continual coverage of our needs, refilled water glasses without asking, great attitudes and unparalleled consistent customer service throughout our meal was greatly appreciated. our server, beverly, was knowledgeable, courteous, happily answered questions and addressed our comments, and was an exceptional staff member. we’ll request to be seated in her section on our next visit!


price / value: houston’s service, attention to detail, flavorsome dishes, consistent quality and intimate unique environment all add up to one thing...great value for what you’re paying! you can enjoy the food and sips from 11am – 10pm monday through sunday.


corkage fee: no corkage fee!


contact info: phone: (626) 577-6001, website: www.hillstone.com


parking: free parking is available in the attached lot adjacent to the restaurant.


total bill: $46.75 for a bottle of wine with no corkage charge, the pan fried fish and the grilled chicken salad. coming in a a penny more on another visit, the total bill was $46.76 for a bottle of wine with no corkage fee, a coca-cola, the grilled chicken salad and the rotisserie chicken. one could easily bring in a bottle of wine and have several appetizers for $50 (including tax) or under here as well either at the bar or in therestaurantitself. we’ll do that next time and write up a “follow-up” blog just on appetizers at the bar when we visit again!


photos: see our photos in the urbanspoon "photos" area posted by savorhour.com

there is a reason there is mainly a 2 hour wait. thisrestaurantis simply a place you want to be. the atmosphere, the food, the service. those are the 3 keys to a successful restaurant. i dare you to find an item on the menu that isn't of the highest quality. their burgers are ground daily to ensure the best freshness, their steaks are so tender they melt in your mouth. the 2 famous apps (peel and eat shrimp, and the artichoke and spinach dip) are must haves when you come with a group of people, but do be prepared to wait, i one time waited 2 hours for a table at 5pm on a thursday.

i love the food here, so i can let the 1 star count as that, but the staff is terrible. vista murphy is the real star of the show when it comes to not following management and customer service social norms. they kick people out for the most mundane reasons (and laugh while they do it in our case), refuse reasonable food alteration requests, and just generally make the experience hostile.

i can't prove that vista murphy is racist, but all evidence leads me to that conclusion. we've made a formal complaint about her to hillstonerestaurantgroup.

if you experience something like that at this location i strongly suggest you make a complaint. i miss eating there as it was a frequent spot for my family, and i love the food. i just can't support this bad behavior with my money.

this is arestaurantthat is always busy for a reason, it is great. when i am in the mood for a real french dip sandwich made with rare prime rib this is the place. never disappoints. not only is it always good but the fries are to die for. nice and thin shoestring fresh potatoes. try the onion rings while you are at it.

if you are in the mood for salad the ahi tuna is as good as any that i have ever had. the portions are huge as well. i have never had a poor meal here. give it a try.

not sure when houston's, which i remember from years ago as eclectic americanrestaurantbecame a sushi restaurant. not that sushi is only offering but it is featured prominently and is very good, if not traditional. salads also very good. of note: would not call this a kid friendly restaurant. no children's menu altho waiter offered grilled cheese.

i have loved thisrestaurantsince i was a child. it has been and always will be my favorite. i have so many memories here. my fiancé and i eat here for birthdays, special occasions, and certain holidays. we have always gotten great service and the food is outstanding. we're a chef, baker, pastry chef and decorator. so we know and love food. you have to try the spinach and artichoke dip with those perfect tortilla chips and the hawaiian rib-eye is out of this world. the best.

food was really good! except for the mashed potatoes, had cabbage in them... kinda gross. service was not so good. took forever to be greeted, and when i expressed dissatisfaction over the mashed potatoes, no offer to replace was made.restaurantshould be a $$$ instead of a $$. so at those prices they should offer to replace a side item... would go back.... maybe...

heaven. i wrote a glowing review for houston's saturday, february 28th. i compared sitting in the bar to a little piece of heaven. those who complained would complain about heaven, or words to that effect. nothing, i've looked everywhere for my review. only see the complaints. is that all thats printed. thisrestaurantis superlative. from atmosphere, food and service. why wasn't my glowing review printed. weird. only the negative. is that what it takes to get printed.

unimpressive...except for the bill.. we went here to celebrate a birthday. to avoid crowds and noise we went around 4pm on a sunday, but even then they were about half full. the atmosphere seems fairly classy when you walk in, with red booths and lots of dark wood, but then i noticed that it's a little over the top in a tacky las vegas way. silly flickering gas lamps by the bar and and lots of barrel cactuses in pots, which might be real, but i doubt it because therestaurantis so dark that cave lizard couldn't survive. on to the food: the birthday girl had the prime rib, and it looked like a very nice thick cut that was perfectly medium-rare. she requested a glass of red wine from the menu, but was informed that only two of the wines were available by the glass. the other diner had the cajun chicken sandwich, it was fairly large and he seemed to enjoy it except that it left his hands so greasy he excused himself to wash them. he ordered a coke and was brought an 8oz glass bottle. he commented on it, asking if there was no fountain, and the waitress acted indignant. i am not a soda drinker at all, but this is unacceptable. houston's is not some small italian bistro on the med. i ordered the hickory burger. it was just ok. it was greasy and salty, and came with a huge mound of cold shredded cheese on top. the cheese seemed fine in quality, just refrigerator cold. the iced tea was plain unsweetened liptons. the final bill with tip was over $100 for the three of us. go somewhere else, there are many great options close by.

best of the best. happy new year! we had lunch at thisrestauranton new year's day and exceed our expectations, food, wines, and service were excellent. thank you for the great service. best regards, anamaria alverto

this may be one of my favoriterestaurantchains.  houston’s offers a home feel with a bit of class and sophistication.  it doesn’t try to be pretentious and is not image driven.  they let the food speak for itself. it is a step above yard house, which is a large step above tgifriday.  though i didn’t really know what to expect, i was impressed with the food. we ordered the spicy tuna roll salad.  on the menu, it said “inside out #1 tuna roll”.  we didn’t know what the whole #1 thing was about, so i asked the waitor.  supposedly, that meant it was top grade tuna. the tuna was indeed fresh and wrapped with greens avacado.  i liked that the tuna was whole and not chopped up.  well, why would anyone chop up #1 tuna anyways? the mango and lettuce salad was a nice touch. the ponzu sauce was delicious with it.  it looked too good to eat, but guess what — i did anyways. the hawaiian ribeye is a sure thing here.  i like my steaks rare, and they cooked mine perf

unbelievable. this is probably the bestrestaurantwe have ever been to. service was crazy they are so efficient quick and so pleasant!! food was delicious!!! i can't wait to come back!! i think all restaurants should take note of this service and implement it in their restaurants!! thank you houston's.....amazing!!

i am always on the search for a good veggie burger.  i especially love when arestaurantmakes their own meatless patties from scratch in house and use unique ingredients- and on a recent trip to houston’s i struck gold. houston’s is an upscale dining experience, though not quite “fine dining” by most standards.  the menu consists of entrees like prime rib , filet mignon and grilled salmon , however, we were there for one thing and one thing only- t he house made veggie burger .  (ok- and the kale salad - so two things.)  i visited with my mother, who told me houston’s has one of the best veggie burgers ever.  always made fresh in house, their patty is made of brown rice, black beans and oat bran.  do not mistake this for an ordinary black bean burger, this was far too tasty and delicious to be categorized as just a black bean burger. the burger is thick and sloppy- perfect.  topped with a soy glaze, melted pepper-jack cheese and garnished with lettuce, tomato,onion

best french dip i've had in years. taylor at the bar really takes care of her customers.

a + food/service.


-----13 jun, 2012-----

probably the most consistentrestaurantin nola. everything on the menu is solid & the service is fantastic. as for apps try: spinach dip, smoked salmon or fried oysters. all very tasty. the soup changes daily but tuesday nights tortilla soup & saturdays chili are the best. the french dip sandwich and hickory burger are awesome. the grilled salmon, prime rib, ribs & crab cakes are all winners for entrees. i can't say enough @ this place. just love it!

they have changed. i have been dining at houston's for years and have always loved their food and service. tonight was very different. our waitress forgot our appetizer order (blamed us for not properly ordering it), brought our dinner out right on top of the appetizer once it came and then asked us to leave as there was a wait for the table. since they added 18% gratuity to the check for a party of five, we now know her reason. never in my life have i been asked to leave arestaurantso that they could turn over the table. the manager was very nice when we spoke to him about the situation. we will probably give it another chance only because of how many years we have been going there.