Birraporetti's A Great Italian Restaurant, One Heck of an Irish Bar. Open Late 7 Days a Week Hours: See Profile   500 Louisiana St @ Prairie Houston TX 77002 713.224.9494 Reservations   1997 W Gray St (CLOSED) Houston TX   1000 West Oaks Mall (CLOSED) Houston TX Profile Description: Birraporetti's emphasizes freshly prepared Italian specialties as well as more innovative dishes. We are convenient for dining before and after the theater. Our Sunday Jazz Brunch offers an all you can eat buffet while listening to live jazz music. We have the best pizza in town. We offer full service catering and delivery.   Add Review PROFILE      Menu 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: Great service, very good food, very nice ambience. Soft live music was a very special added touch on a Sunday evening after the theatre. Eggplant parmegiana was better than the last time I had it there. For $9.95 , that's a good price and it was a good size portion and was tasty. Had Tres Leches for dessert, wonderful - though I've never had a bad Tres Leches. Price for dessert was a tad steep at $7.00 but considering location and taste, not a rip-off. Total tab for just me was 25.00 which included tip (and iced tea). They added gratuity since we were a party of 12. (They don't normally do separate checks.) The only negative was that I originally made reservations a month before for 5pm. Then when it got closer and theatre knew the length of the play better, I called and moved the reservation time to 5:30. Somehow their records didn't show the move. Luckily my husband was home when they called at 5pm asking where we were. And did I say that the service was the best I've had that I remember anywhere especially for a group. Oh and there was another downside, bread is extra and doesn't come with the meal. Overall though, a very, very nice experience. I was actually dreading it since it seems whenever arrangements (for anything) get complicated, there is always a snag and someone is disappointed somehow. Not this time. Bravo Birraporetti's. NAME: cilantro SUBMITTED: 3/31/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: March 2008 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: My wife and I normally will go to Birraporetti's after a theater show. We love the food and ambiance. The service is great and the food is great. The only downside I have seen is they try to cram to many people in at times making it very hard to move in between the tables, but this doesn't stop the wait staff from keeping everything topped off and having wonderful service. NAME: Mike SUBMITTED: 12/22/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 5/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: Without a doubt, the very best pizza I've ever had, anywhere. I've eaten pizza in Little Italy in New York, San Francisco, Oregon, Washington, California, the list goes on. If you're not into Tomato sauce, try the House Bianco, it has an olive oil base instead of tomato. They are all yummy. I'm convinced the word burning oven and the quality toppings, make a great pizza. The service is very good too. It's a great place to stop after one of the show's in the Theatre District. Enjoy! NAME: Deborah O SUBMITTED: 12/14/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: November 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: I love the service and the great food! Since we normally go after an Alley play, we love to run into the actors that were performing. They sometimes come to hang out after the play. Also, the tomatoe basil pizza is one of the best! And you can't go wrong with any of the deserts. NAME: lablaza SUBMITTED: 4/1/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: march/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: Service has improved 100 %....we had a very good waiter. Food was excellent as well. The only thing is that the air conditioning still needs to be upgraded. This restaurant is very handy for all of the events taking place in the downtown "Theatre District"... NAME: Emily SUBMITTED: 3/9/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/22/07 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: Great Service!! Wonderful Food!! Weve been to many restaurants before. I tell you my husband and I make sure we stop in at Birraporettis at least once a week and sometimes we make Sunday Jazz Brunch. It has become a great addition to our theatre event. Our server was very prompt and knowlegable about the menu. They have a great variety wine menu. I love the fried calamari and the linguine with pesto and grilled shrimp. I absolutly recommend the tiramisu for dessert. If your going before a show make sure you give yourself plenty of time to enjoy your dinner, very busy on theatre nights, overall wonderful dinning experience NAME: wonderful eating SUBMITTED: 11/16/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 11-10-06 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: We had the most wonderful dinner here tonight before a show at Jones Hall. Our server was outstanding - she always had a refill for my husband's drink before he even asked, she was friendly enough but not intrusive and everything came out quickly and she was very attentive. The pizza was excellent - good cheese and a nice crust. The bleu cheese salad dressing was made from real bleu cheese - what a concept. The pesto sauce for the ravioli was very nice. The meatballs were a tad dry. We had a very pleasant dining experience. We will be back. NAME: Lynn SUBMITTED: 7/21/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: July 21, 2006 FREQUENCY: Visited once 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: My family and I went in to eat before the lion king, had great service, excellent food, and the manager came and addressed our table personally! We will definately be back. P.S the air was working quite nicely. NAME: Derek S. SUBMITTED: 7/19/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/16/06 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: I had read the review below about the air condition problems however since the problems were in March and it is now July; I figured the air condition had been repaired. Boy-----was I WRONG!!!!! My family and I were going to the Lion King... IT IS GREAT. We decided to eat at Birraporetti's since it is in the theatre district. We immediatedly noticed that it was HOT inside. I asked our server about the air condition and he said sorry it is being repaired. Well the food was JUST ok and it was extremely hot inside; other people at the table in front of us were using the menus to fan themselves. If you MUST eat here be sure to call first to make sure the AIR CONDITION is in working condition. NAME: seeking proper service SUBMITTED: 7/14/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 07/09/2006 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: Air Conditioning problem that won't go away. We have been eating at this restaurant for years. It used to be well mangaged, but not anymore. Evidently, because it is in the "Theatre District" and has a captive audience, the owners feel they can do whatever they feel like. The air conditioning is always broken, and the back half of the restaurant feels like the lower regions of Hell. This problem with the A.C. has been going on for years....duh?? Get it fixed !! or you will not have any more customers !! NAME: Ballet lover...... SUBMITTED: 3/17/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 3/9/06 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... 1997 W Gray St, Houston, Texas    MY REVIEW: I used to be a fairly frequent customer, but I was appalled by the service the last time I came in. Previously I thought the high prices for their food were worth it, because I thought that the atmosphere made up for the cost of a pizza. The waitstaff seems to be more interested with flirting with eachother than with serving their customers. I literally had to wait for my waiter to finish using his cell phone to send messages to another waitress before he would come refill my drink. When he did finally get around to bothering to serve us, I thought he was going to drop all of our food on our heads he was so awkward and in such a hurry. To add insult to injury he then proceeded to offer alcohol to my ten year old daughter because he thought it would help her upset stomach. He was so busy not paying attention to us that he had failed to notice that she was a child! If they aren't willing to spend the time to give at least mediocre service, I don't see why I should waste my time going to their restaurant, there are too many better alternatives in Houston. They would have to make some SERIOUS changes in their service for me to ever become a regular again. NAME: not wasting my time on them. SUBMITTED: 6/17/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 5/2005 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... 1000 West Oaks Mall, Houston, Texas    MY REVIEW: GOD WHAT HORRIBLE SERVICE – This has to have been the restaurant from Hell. We went there two times thinking that the first time was just a fluke. So I ‘ll just mention the last time I went and will never go to this DUMP again As we walked in the doors were open. I mean in Houston the doors open in May when the temp outside was 80 + degrees makes no sense to me or even why they put tables outside? – I guess as a way for the public to see them?? STUPID There was no waiter to seat us. They had about 5 people just sitting around and talking. The one waiter we noticed the first time was eating a cheeseburger and starred at us like a deer that has been blinked by light. It was 11:15. They had just opened. We decided to sit at the bar to get service. The atmosphere was nice and the decorations were also nice. The bar was clean and TV’s were inside the bar area so I could watch The Astros loose. But getting down to the service as the main problem not to mention the appetizer we ordered. The spinach dip was made with TOO much cheese. The waiter – when he decided to come around was telling us there were no chips to go along but just bread about 10 minutes later. Whatever. The thing that made me and my Girlfriend wanted to get up and leave was after about 10 minutes of being ignored – waiters/bar tenders passing us by to server others was when the GM came up and asked if everything was ok. We let him have it and told him the truth of what we had experienced. He went back and paid for the drinks and appetizer. I hope they get the lead out. We saw several Girls come in and we dropped off the radar screen not to mention a bar tender going out of his way to make them drinks and ignore us. The bar tender who took our order to begin with was sitting next to them talking. I hope the GM will make the necessary changes to the staff. One staff member did come by and apologize backing up our claim on no service. NAME: GET A LIFE SUBMITTED: 6/2/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 05/2005 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times 1000 West Oaks Mall, Houston, Texas    MY REVIEW: All i can say is they are absolutly horrible. It was one of the worst dining experiences this year. To start off my wife and I had drinks that were so watered down we were forced to complain. They brought us new ones and they were worse. The service was terrible. The pizza was ok, but still the bill was over $60 dollars for a pizza, app, and 4 drinks. Give me a break. Never eat at this terrible place. This is the first negative review I have ever posted. NAME: J. Feather SUBMITTED: 4/10/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: April / 2005 FREQUENCY: Visited once 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: What a horrible dining experience on Easter Sunday. My best friend strongly recommended that we go to Birra Poretti's after Easter Sunday service. Well, it was not a heavenly experience at all! The area we were in was dirty! It had not been cleaned from the night before. I had to tell the hostess. She told the manager and he looked at the mess on the floor and under the tables, and said "just clean it. NO big deal." The waiter who tended that section proceeded to sweep around us. He apologized, because it should have been cleaned the night before. He said it really needed vacuuming. He said his manager would not allow it, because we were already seated. Another problem--the seating. We did not have a reservation, because we were told we did not need one by someone who answered the phone. Because we did not have one, the manager stuck us in area right in front of the door. There had been a drastic temperature drop, and it was extremely cold in that area. He said that was all they had because they were booked up for Easter. He said he could just "beat" the people on his staff that say we don't need a reservation. Gee, Thanks. The food was lack luster to say the least. Now, how do you run late at a bruncheon that you advertise as starting at 10:30? I was advised that the kitchen was running late because they had to prepare extra food for Easter Sunday. Well, Easter comes once a year. Be prepared! The salmon and was cold. The chicken was dry. The manager was rude! We won't be back. NAME: Diva68 SUBMITTED: 3/27/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: March 27, 2005 Easter Sunday FREQUENCY: Visited once 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: My girlfriend and I come here for happy hour! It is definatly a treat with $2 bellini's. I like the ambiance of the cozy and dark restaurant. I like that they have multiple tv's in the bar for watching news or sports. The menu has a great varity and I have not had a bad meal here. Waitstaf has been good, not overly friendly or attentive, but when I go here, I am usually not here to have an extensive explianation of the menu or drinks. I have been here a lot off and on over the years that I know what they serve. Over all I like this place...it reminds me of H*oustons but more of an extensive menu and it is Italian food mostly. I never have a complaint and I will always be back...esp. for Happy Hour! NAME: Lovetoeatout SUBMITTED: 1/31/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/04 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 1997 W Gray St, Houston, Texas    MY REVIEW: I was totally surprised by all the bad reviews for this restaurant. This is my favorite restaurant and I’ve been coming to the location on Gray and the one in downtown since I was 14 about 10 years ago. It is a nice restaurant and my family only goes once or twice a year as a treat. After reading the reviews I thought that maybe since I hadn’t been there in about 5 months the management and service might have gone downhill but it was as wonderful as always. Their calamari is excellent, it could be a meal in itself. We had a party of 7 and had 3 orders of it along with an order of escargot. I’m a bit afraid of escargot myself but my family loves it. All of our meals came out quickly and the service was excellent. The waiter Mark stopped and talked to us quite a few times and was happy to bring us anything. I had calamari, pizza and crème brulee. There are no complaints except my stomach isn’t big enough to hold all the food I wish I could eat. The rest of my family had other dishes and they all seemed just as pleased. We had ordered a large pizza to split and the cook accidentally made us a medium instead so they also cooked us a large and boxed it up for us. We didn’t even know the mistake was made until he told us. They had already started making the large pizza for us even before the medium was brought out to the table. Maybe the other reviewers of this restaurant had one bad experience but I have been at least a dozen times and have never received less than excellent service or food and will continue to go back. NAME: Tray SUBMITTED: 1/31/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/29/05 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... 1997 W Gray St, Houston, Texas    MY REVIEW: The Gray location has started charging for salads and bread, which used to come with the entrees, as if it wasn't high enough already. It will be a long time before I go back. Cheapskates. NAME: JS SUBMITTED: 1/27/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/04 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: Everybody should go here before a show or ANYTIME! Had a wonderful experience from the ambiance, drinks, food and great service, and they got me out in time for my show (well, I didn't show up 30 minutes before like some people!) Anyway, had a awesome time and can't wait to go back! NAME: Carol SUBMITTED: 1/15/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/2004 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: I recently went into the downtown restaurant after leaving the Nutcracker at the Worthum theater and we started off on a rocky note. The kitchen was out of their delicious chocolate mousse and my kids hot chocolate was cold. However the attentive waiter, as well as one of their managers quickly rectafied the situation. The waiter called the manager right over, and he asked us our concerns. Upon hearing our trouble he suggested a delicious creme brulee and personally remade our hot chocolates with whipped cream on top, and the kids were thrilled. Keep up the good work Birraporetti's!! NAME: Sean D. SUBMITTED: 12/27/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: December 2004 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: What a disgusting lunch hour!!! My friend and I met at Birra's for lunch today (at least that was the plan). Much to my surprise, the service was slower than usual (and I thought that was impossible!!). Our drink order was taken rather quickly, but 50 minutes AFTER we had ordered, our food still had NOT been served. To make it possible for us to get back to our respective offices on time, we had to have our food put into carryout containers rather than dine in. Needless to say, we were VERY disappointed. It's hard for me to understand why a restaurant with good food would have such BAD service. NAME: Sandy G. SUBMITTED: 12/15/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: December 2004 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 1997 W Gray St, Houston, Texas    MY REVIEW: I took my grandchildren for a birthday dinner (party of five). The waitstaff acted indifferebt to our presence. Too long for any service and any follow up for extras. We should not have been seated near the jazz combo,itwas so loud we could not talk at our table. NAME: George Combs SUBMITTED: 10/6/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: October 2004 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: Poor service!!! I had my final experience with Birraporetti's tonight. I ordered a pizza for carry-out. Once the waiter came out with my pizza, he took my credit card and returned to the back of the restaurant to process it. Although I was waiting, he chose to serve drinks to two tables and take an order at a third table before presenting me with the card slip to sign. He walked away before I noticed that my credit card had not been returned. I notified the hostess, but she was unwilling to assist me. After 5 minutes of her unresponsiveness, I started to walk through the restaurant with my pizza, in search of the waiter. I eventually found him, received my credit card, and went home to eat my cold pizza. NAME: Neglected Customer SUBMITTED: 8/13/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 08/04 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: I've gone to this place for lunch twice and it wasn't too bad. Went there for dinner and it was a big mistake. The table next to mine got rained on from leaky windows. The service at our table was terrible. We ordered drinks, they didnt come until I went to the bar myself and brought them to the table. Our waiter took appitizer orders, and they didn't arrive for 30 minutes. Our main entrees arrives right after the appitizers, we had to send them back. My order of pasta came back cold when we were ready, it was a major hastle to have a fresh one ordred. The food was sub-par. If you can't service large crowds, don't open a resturant in the theatre district!!! NAME: Mart SUBMITTED: 7/27/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 6/2004 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times 500 Louisiana St, Houston, Texas 77002  713.224.9494 MY REVIEW: We often choose Birraporetti's when we have tickets for events downtown. In all of the years we've been going for lunch, dinner and brunch, we have never been disappointed. The service has always been efficient and friendly. The hostess and wait staff always ask if we have tickets for an event and make sure that we are able to have dinner and arrive on time. We have tried a variety of dishes and find it difficult at this point to choose our favorite. The prices are right and it is a comfortable atmosphere in which to enjoy a cocktail and meal. Over the years there have been occasional mistakes made when taking our orders, but the restaurant has always graciously apologized and made it right. Sometimes I feel that some folks dining out must be perfect themselvesbecause it certainly seems like they easily find fault with the tiniest mistake that a "human" makes. NAME: Carole N. SUBMITTED: 7/23/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/16 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times 1997 W Gray St, Houston, Texas    MY REVIEW: Never again! It was my first and LAST visit. The service (or lack thereof) is bad, and the food is way over-priced. To say we were disappointed is an understatement. We even complained to the manager, but he ignored us. There are so many good restaurants in Houston. Why would ANYONE go to any restaurant that charges you too much for bad service? WE WILL NEVER MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN! NAME: brenda SUBMITTED: 6/24/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: April 2004 FREQUENCY: Visited once ©Copyright 1991 - 2008 B4-U-EAT.COM. All rights reserved. Design and database by B4-U-BUY