El Meson Restaurant Hours: See Profile   2425 University Blvd Houston TX 77005 713.522.9306 Reservations You might also be interested in these:     Cuban Food    Mexican Food Restaurants    Online Reservations    Tapas    ZIP 77005 Profile Description: Chef/Sommelier Pedro Angel Garcia’s passion of Spanish food and wine shines in this quaint neighborhood standby. The extensive menu features Paella, prepared with the finest golden thread saffron and offered in a variety of styles. The Tapas menu features onion stuffed calamari with cuttlefish ink sauce, marinated pork tenderloin tips with dates, braised chicken with almonds and figs. El Meson also has an outstanding grill offering Rib Chop, Beef Tenderloin and Lamb Chops to pair with their awar   Add Review PROFILE     MY REVIEW: After reading some of the reviews on this site, I felt compelled to add my $.02. I LOVE EL MESON. My girlfriend and I come here on a regular basis, especially for their monthly wine dinners. Peter prices these dinners at what has to be a loss for the restaurant. I'd like you to do your best to wine a wine dinner under $100 in Houston, serving 5-6 course meals with as many wines to pair. The evenings are always very well put together with a large table in the banquet room set for as many guests as it will fit. I imagine Peter rarely has trouble booking these events. The service is always great, polite, professional and unobtrusive. If you're like me, you could care less about the waiter's life story, you just want good service and the ability to spend time listening to your guests, not the waiter/waitress. The ambience of the restaurant is warm and inviting while still having the "buzz" any good restaurant should have. The food is always amazing and you can tell Peter takes the time to put his heart and soul into his food. Always hot, always delicious, I've not tried a dish at El Meson that I haven't liked. The only drawback to El Meson is parking but valet is usually available. If parking is something you don't want to deal with, I'd suggest you just stay away from Rice Village in general as parking is always dicey there. But if you don't mind the valet, the rest of the evening will make it worth your time and the drive. Keep up the great work Regina and Peter, we'll see you soon! NAME: M and H from SL SUBMITTED: 1/28/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: Although I don't like to frequent Rice Village, I often make exceptions for El Meson. The food is AMAZING! I haven't had anything there thats wasn't delicious. The last time that I was there I had the salmon and my date had the fillet mignon. The salmon was very flavorful and the steak was so tender you hardly had to chew! We had a bottle of wine with dinner that one of the staff recommended for us. I had no idea what a great wine list they had! I'd definitely recommend this place to others. NAME: MissKris SUBMITTED: 1/18/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 01/2008 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: Please, this place is over priced, the wait staff are on the verge of being labeled as rude, and the food is bland. Their margarita is very average. In the last visit, my wife tried to order a second very average magarita for her meal, try as we might, we could not get the waiting staff's attention and she went without. Then, for a table of 5, they automatically put on a 20% tip on our bill, and that for poor service. We have been there twice, ordered different dishes, and the results were the same, underwhelming for the high prices of the food. In Rice Village, anywhere else is better, period. NAME: Spaceman SUBMITTED: 12/28/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/07 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: This Cuban-Mexican restaurant is very disappointing. The food is VERY average for a Mexican-like restaurant except they charge way too much for it. For what you get, I would expect to pay $8 a dish, but theirs are $12-20. Maybe they think they can charge a lot because of their location at the heart of Rice village. The only original thing in their cooking is that you get fried plantains with everything. Plus the service is bad. Even when the restaurant is half empty they are never available to serve you, they seem blind. The only thing that I really liked were the margaritas. NAME: XenoHumph SUBMITTED: 12/28/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 12/2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: The last time I ate at this restaurant was in 1999 and I really liked the Cuban food. I also liked the fried plantains that were served instead of bread. The atmosphere was decidedly 'threadbare' with hard chairs, linoleum floors and signs on the walls. The food, though, was great. And, that's what matters. By chance, my wife and I were in the area this Sunday, July 15, so we went back and clearly, the place has changed. First the decor had changed with booths, and new tables with new chairs, plus a mixture of pictures and advertisements from Cuba and Spain.. Second, the menu had changed. I could not decide if they were serving Cuban, Mexican, Spanish, or Tex-Mex, and it was difficult to scope it out on the menu. There was a tapas menu (new) which did not appeal and wasn't Cuban. The Daspachio soup was more of a puree with a bit too much cream. My wife ordered a shrimp salad and it was OK, she said. I ordered the vegetarian plate, and the menu forgot to state it came with cheese on top. Because of a lactose intolerance condition, I scraped off as much of the cheese as I could before I could eat. If this fact had been disclosed, I would ahve told the waiter to tell the cook "no cheese, sin ceso." The dish was OK, but nothing special. Service was perfunctory. There are better Cuban options in the Houstona rea, so we won't go back. NAME: gdkgeo SUBMITTED: 7/15/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: July, 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: Ambiance was okay. Food was okay but I was in a big group with a pre-set menu and it still took nearly 1/2 an hour to even TAKE our orders. We were seated for about 2 hours before being served dessert. NAME: Roger SUBMITTED: 6/20/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: June 2007 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Houston's best margarita. Fabulous wine list. Yummy veggies. Steaks you can cut with a butter knife. I'm here to stay. This is one of those fun neighborhood hot-spots. Eat, drink, and be very merry. NAME: Amy SUBMITTED: 4/30/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: April/2006 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: I love El Meson, used to go much more often when I lived in The Heights. Parking is very dicey, but it's worth it to get a meal at El Meson. I tend to prefer off-peak hours, fewer families and less crowded period. Nice place to take a date. My favorite dish is the "ropa vieja", with plantains and black beans. Maybe it's not "pura cubana", but it's REALLY GOOD, at least to my palate. It's sure NOT tex-mex or mexican...I always stick to the Cuban side of the menu, I can get Mexican anywhere, that's not why I come to El Meson. The beer selection is good, though I usually go with an iced tea. The salsa and chips are very good (and no doubt very fattening!), and the salad is good. I have tried some of the other menu items as well and they're ok, but I always keep coming back to the Ropa Vieja and have never been disappointed with it. The only negative dining experiences I've had have been sharing El Meson with a small group of women with lots of loud, pouty children. I was so happy when they paid and left so I could finish my meal and my beer in peace. If I ever move out of Houston I will miss El Meson very very much. NAME: redjohn1971 SUBMITTED: 7/8/2005   LAST VISIT WAS: may 2004 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I have to rebutt against anyone who didn't like this place. The food is excellent and the waitstaff was always very attentive. I don't go to service restaurants where I have to ask for service, this place served me from beginning to end and catered to my every need and want. The Lobster and Steak dish was grilled to perfection with just the right amount of spices and the accompanying margaritas with the extra shot of Grand Marnier topped off a wonderful evening. The waitress we had serving us was very friendly and had a great sense of humor. If you have a bad experience here, something is wrong with you, or you're just too picky. We love it and will continue to go here for excellent cuban/mexican food. NAME: Phoenix SUBMITTED: 11/30/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/2004 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: We love this place. Good meat and the side veggies are delicious. They do a pounded flank steak in a chimichurri sauce that is terrific. Some good bargain Spanish and South American wines on the list too. Kid friendly. NAME: Mark R. SUBMITTED: 10/22/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/04 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: My wife and I were looking to celebrate our anniversary in a quiet, romantic atmosphere... We were soon dissapointed by many factors: First the overly priced wine by the glass, forget about the bottle! Then there were two people close by smoking and we had requested the non- smoking area. We brought this to the attention of our waiter but it was basically ignored. To start, we requested the "Tapas Variadas". It seemed to us that whoever prepared them in the kitchen was also a biology major since the cheeses and the salami were so thin that you could have used them for observation under a microscope! No white table cloth there. Only plain 1950 bare dinner tables. With those prices you would expect white table cloth and fine cloth napkins! Nope! The rest of the food quality was acceptable but nothing to die for. The encore came at the end in our bill. They charged an automatic 18% gratuity for a table of two and then something called "an open charge" wich amounted to $9.15. Of course we will never go back!! NAME: Comenzal SUBMITTED: 3/10/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: February / 2004 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: Ate there the other night and had the beed enchiladas, very good. Service was excellent and restaurant very clean (including the bathrooms). NAME: Mr. G. SUBMITTED: 1/22/2004   LAST VISIT WAS: 01/04 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times MY REVIEW: The Cuban dishes may lack "authentic" flavors but they, along with the Spanish and Tex-Mex items, are all delicious. The fusion dishes are among our favorites, especially Cuban Nachos consisting of blue corn chips topped with refried black beans, fried plantain and cheese with pickled jalapenos on the side. The shrimp is always perfectly cooked, even when stuffed into the tasty seafood enchiladas or quesadillas, and the skirt steak is always delicious, though occasionally not quite tender enough. The drinks are great too, especially the mojitos and sangria-ritas. Maybe someday we'll try dessert but we're always too stuffed by the end of the meal to order anything more. NAME: DnA SUBMITTED: 7/18/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/03 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I love the food at El Meson. I can have either Mexican or Spanish or Cuban cuisine which is great. I have been to Miami Beach and had Cuban food there and it was awful. El Meson's black beans are incredible. The service is good and the atmosphere is plesant. They have a great wine selection which can be compared to other expensive restaurants in Houston. Friday nights are too busy but the food is worth the wait. Parking is horrible in the village but it is worth coming to El Meson. NAME: Debbie SUBMITTED: 7/2/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: JUNE/2003 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: I agree. This place is a trendy set up but doesn't capture the cuban essence. It is not cuban food. It tries to replicate it but from my past experience in Miami and having Cuban relatives the food is very different at El Mason. I dont know if that's a good thing or bad thing for some but if your looking for Cuban flavs. you won't find it here. I must say that their drinks are good. But then if that was the case it should have just been a bar.....right? NAME: RM SUBMITTED: 5/31/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: 01/03 FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times MY REVIEW: The restaurant had a nice ambiance and good service. As for the food though it was diffently not Cuban. Anybody who knows anything about cuban food would quikly point out the flaws. The food was pricey for what it was. Not going again, NAME: jules SUBMITTED: 2/18/2003   LAST VISIT WAS: 07/02 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I travel all over the U.S. and Latin America (I include Miami) and have tried Cuban cuisine from San Francisco to Argentina. I was not very impressed with El Meson. The authentic cuban flavor was just not there. Maybe they mix some Mexican spices in with the Cuban? It's okay for those who don't really know what Cuban food should taste like. I would be embarrased to call it a Cuban restaurant. Oh, and the meat is very fatty, not lean. Sorry, the truth hurts sometimes. NAME: Sebastian Rodriguez SUBMITTED: 9/30/2002   LAST VISIT WAS: 09/02 FREQUENCY: Visited once MY REVIEW: I have been a faithful and happy customer of EM for years. When I lived in Houston - I often went on my own - worked a crossword puzzle and chowed out or took friends. My former employer Elsie Tharp, a handicap lady and I often stopped off there on our way from the Medical Center. The service was accommodating and the food great. The prices reasonable which made Elsie happy. I don't live in Houston any longer but I do drop in for a quick hello - be it to Merasole or to the staff. It is a pleasure to recommend EM to you. NAME: chercherylj SUBMITTED: 9/1/2002   LAST VISIT WAS: March 2002 FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name... MY REVIEW: Haven't been in 2 yrs but this place has always had the best ropas viejas I've had. Luscious. And the margaritas are pretty special. NAME: Harriett SUBMITTED: 12/12/2001   LAST VISIT WAS: 2000 FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times ©Copyright 1991 - 2008 B4-U-EAT.COM. All rights reserved. Design and database by B4-U-BUY