pax americana

located on montrose near richmond, this venue offers locally raised produce and entrees. the appetizers are more like tapas and really taste treats not like other restaurants. the service was excellent and although a bit noisy when all the tables are full, the menu and food covers the noise.

pax americana is not messing around with anyone. what they do with cauliflower is insanity at its best. it’s like a mad scientist is in the kitchen acting scientifically mad about this particular cauliflower creation. the bartender was way too calm when she suggested ordering the cauliflower appetizer. she should have panted with uncontrollable palate-pleasure, completely unable to breathe merely speaking words forming sentences that ultimately described this kind of cauliflower masterpiece.

there haven't been many reviews in awhile so i figured i would add a new one...
my husband and i went to pax for houston restaurant weeks and got the 5 course meal. it was a shared-plate style which i really enjoy (you don't get completely obnoxious portions). our server was very friendly and informative, and the food was wonderful. it was some of the freshest and most delicious produce i have ever had in a restaurant. the table next to us had ordered several vegetable appetizers that looked outstanding. we will definitely be going back to try different dishes. for non-vegetarians, we only had the brisket (i don't know about their other meat dishes), which melted in your mouth like butter. our meal was so good, we'll be talking about it for a long time.
overall we were very impressed and had an excellent time.

i really don't know what happened...maybe i went on a bad day or my taste buds are burned.. i've been eyeing and keeping up with pax since their opening, so with the f&w nomination, i was really really looking forward to trying this place. i went on my birthday, and the service was wonderful, but the food....left much to be desired. i really wanted to like pax, but there was just something missing in each dish. we got the beef tartare, the roasted bone marrow, the 9 spice brisket, the market fish, the farm fresh duck eggs, and the corn panna cotta. out of all of these dishes, not one of them stood out to me, and i was really disappointed by that. sorry, chefs, i am willing to try it again because one visit wouldn't give any restaurant justice, but i am a bit skeptical.

look, i waited tables for 3 years, so i know you have your bad days. but at a restaurant that is considered to be one of the best places to eat in a cutthroat food town like houston, i do expect better. the menu was never explained to us, when we asked specific questions about the wine we were met with a curt, non-informative response, and it seemed like our server was more focused on and concerned about the loud, boisterous, large birthday party at the table next to us. moreover, the food really was hit or miss. some dishes were sensational, while others just fell flat.

pax americana. the server's main focus was turning the table. she was not accommodating or interested at all.
extremely disappointing. food was okay-steak fantastic.