Picazo Downtown

We went to the restaurant fully expecting to have dinner but ended up having not even a glass of water. We called in an hour before our reservation time to confirm the reservation and move it back by 30 mins and they had confirmed it accordingly. When we got to the restaurant however, all the staff were packing up to close up for the day. Apparently they had had a big event earlier in the day and decided they had done a good enough job to close the restaurant and not inform any of the other customers who had made reservations. This is absolutely ridiculous considering we had just called an hour before!!! If it is a glimpse of the service to come had we actually been served, then I'm glad we left. It may sound a little harsh but neither my friend nor I will ever go to Picazo again.

Pros: Wasn't provided the opportunity to experience

Cons: Erratic

Posted 08/14/09

Stale chips, queso from a can, worst food ever would have done better with a can of spam. Don't make the forty dollar mistake I made..

Posted 02/18/09

My fiance & I went to Picazo's recently & found to enjoy their ambiance & food ,We decided to Reserve Our Thanksgiving Dinner with Family & Friends so we all met downtown & came to Picazo's
The food was very delicious a wide variety at the buffet & the turkey was very moist.
We will definatley continue coming and tell more people about the great food & service

Pros: ambience

Cons: parking

Posted 11/29/08

We made reservations for a pre-Madonna dinner on Sunday early evening. The restaurant look nice but was disappointed when our large group was seated on the upper level which resembled a hotel ballroom with round tables it had that wedding feel; not the ambiance we were aiming for. We ordered martinis which tasted horrible! One guest had a cocktail with a fly in it. The menu was small for off the menu items; and arrived at different times, and was cold. The three-enchilada dinner came with only two; and had to remind the waiter constantly that we were missing drinks, food, and the extra enchilada. The service was horrible and very unorganized. Two out of 8 guest had upset stomaches!

Pros: Close to Minute-Maid stadium

Cons: Bad service, 2nd level ambiance, cocktails tasted horrible.

Posted 11/16/08

Saturday night I went to Picazo with a group of friends. I was excited to try a new restaurant downtown. When we walked in, there was a large mariachi band playing at a very high volume. We opted for the patio to have a pleasant evening where we would be able to talk with each other. Once seated on the patio, it was time to select a dinner item. The menu was all over the place. That's not a terrible thing, but when there's a mariachi band playing in the background, it makes you think that the restaurant isn't sure what kind of food it serves either. It was really difficult for any of us to decide what to go with. Probably 30 minutes later we actually ordered. Next thing we knew, a band started setting up right next to us. I thought things couldn't get any worse, but then came the food. First of all, four of us were served but one wasn't. He told us to go ahead and eat so our food wouldn't get cold. Ha! It wasn't served warm to begin with. I rarely, if ever, send something back at a restaurant, but every single one of us had either room temperature food or undercooked food. However, our waitress didn't come to check on things so one of us had to get up and seek out some help. We just asked for our food to be warmed up. When we all had our food warm, that was fair at best, the band was in full swing and playing so loud that all we wanted to do was get out of there. I wouldn't have minded them if it were at a lower volume, but this was as loud as a concert. Someone came by and wanted to make sure that we didn't leave thinking this is how they do things there, but we left wanting to never go back there again. My advice... eat somewhere else!

Pros: Big patio

Cons: Bad menu, service, food, bands

Posted 05/10/08

A group of friends and I went to Picazo on a Saturday night. We arrived at 7:30, walked in, and were bombarded with very loud live mariachi music. We asked to be seated outside, since the music was so loud we couldn't converse inside. After being outside for 30 minutes, another band set up to play on the patio area and they played so loudly we couldn't communicate with each other. Additionally, when the food arrived to our table, one person didn't receive his entree, and the remainder of the entrees were cold. After waiting for the missing entree for 15 minutes, I finally went to seek out a waiter. I talked to the manager and told him about the issues - he offered to re-prepare the food, comp some dinner items, or do whatever it took to make sure we had a good experience. We opted to just have our food heated so we could get away from the restaurant and the terrible music as quickly as possible. When the bill arrived, we were charged full price for the cold food. In summary, never go to Picazo... it is a horribly run restaurant with subpar service and food.

Pros: No wait time.

Cons: Everything else was horrible.

Posted 05/10/08

I live downtown and am always looking for new places within walking distance. I also cut new restaurants a ton of slack - service, menu, staff, all of these things take time. Nonetheless, this was one of the worst times I have ever had at a restaurant. Inside, the mariachi band was so loud you could not carry on a conversation, and on the patio (which should be a huge selling point) the live band was even louder. Most of the food came out just under room temperature, and at least one meal was more than 10 minutes behind the others. Although management offered to comp our dinner, we were charged full price (which is about 20% too high to begin with). If you want to try a new restaurant downtown, skip this one and go to Grumbar on Main, or just go to Yatra, which is always nearly perfect (even if it's a little slow).

Pros: Location

Cons: Almost everything was terrible

Posted 05/10/08

I went last weekend for my sisters birthday and left there with a bad impression. I was actually excited to go since I had heard such great things about this place but it was nothing like I thought it would be. The service was awful. First it would take for ever to get served a drink. I asked the waiter a few times for a drink and never received it. I was lucky to at least have water. Second they took for ever to serve our food. Then when we were paying they tried charging us regular price for our drinks when it clearly stated on a menu they had at the table that happy hour was on sat till 10 pm and it also said that on their website. I just over all would not go there again and would NOT recommend it to any one I know.

Pros: Food was ok

Cons: Bad service, hard to find parking

Posted 04/16/08

this place has left good impression on my friends and I. its also so close to minute maid. this place looks nice and is nice. full bar! great food! good prices! ever downtown and hungry, come to this place . also a good pre astro game spot, get your drink and eat on, then go to the game. perfect set-up.... and after the game, you'll probaly want to go back. I did!

Pros: full bar and variety in the menu and close to minute maid park

Cons: service has been weird but fine

Posted 04/08/08

I came to Picazo a saturday night for dinner and my experience was absoutely wonderful... The customer service was outstanding and the food was excellent. I work at a company in downtown and we had a catering event for 75pp and my boss was impressed with the quality of the food for a good price. I highly recommend this place for a catering event and for an Astros game day due to that Picazo is right across the street from the minutemaid park and the food is outstanding.. Good Job Picazo. You will see me back for lunch and game days.

Posted 03/20/08

the food is great and i suggest you go there don"t believe the other reviews!!!!!!!!!!!! It has the most
wonderful Al'Fredo ever in the hory of greatest Al'Fredos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 03/08/08

Like discovering New Restaurants?, with this one, you will not leave you disappointed. It Has a great location, the food will appeal to about any palate, they offer a variety of dishes. We where honored to be waited on by a Ms.T, I will call her. She gave Attention to our every need, brought a beautiful smile to the table, she could not have given us a more excellent experience away from home. Live music played with an accustic guiter in the background. We will be back and hope you give it a try.

Posted 11/21/07

we went to this restaurant last week and this is a great addition to downtown with wonderful decor and ambience. my wife loved and chef was kind enough to make sure we like the food. Overall everything was great they showed us their private events spot upstairs and wow this is a beautiful place to have small functions

Overall we are satisfied and will definitely go again and recommend

Posted 11/17/07

We visited this place by accident and they were having private party - looked like an expensive restaurant but everything on the menu was very affordable . we loved the food esp the dessert and sea food enchilidas . my husband had pizza and it was OK and it was nice to have different veriety options on the menu . service was prompt and attentive

they have my vote as picky as I am I like the food and service

Pros: Excellent service - we will try other item from the menu later

Posted 11/17/07

I liked this place. This was the second time I tried this restaurant. The first time was in august before the Astros game when the place was packed and we did experienced some service delays, however this time service was excellent and the food was delicious with special touch of spices. Ambiance is very relaxed and inviting. The manager was very friendly he gave us a tour of recently opened upstair private room. I will strongly recommend this new restaurant for its food and ambiance. Perfect place for private parties.

Pros: Food, ambience

Cons: slow service

Posted 11/10/07

My husband and I decided to try this place because their menu looked awesome and the location seemed great. We went on a Friday night and when we arrived, there was no one there. The good thing is that we were able to choose whatever table we wanted and we were served promptly. The food, unfortunately, was not that great and was a little cold when we got it. I had the seafood enchiladas because I read that they were really good. They were not filled with much seafood, the tortillas were not cooked well and the sauce tasted like it had come from a can. My husband had the mole which he liked. I think this place is better for lunch or when there is an Astros game. Overall, I would not recommend this place for dinner.

Pros: Good menu variety, service

Cons: Food, ambience

Posted 11/06/07

so, i found this place in the back of the 002 magazine. the listing says it has 300 wines and prime steaks, so i assumed it would be pretty nice, i mean its downtown and everything. well, i had been looking for a nice restaurant to propose to my girlfriend at. this was not it. only i didnt find out until it was too late.
i made a reservation, which was obviously ignored bc i was looked at like a fool when i mentioned it at the door. well, that didnt matter much because there was basically nobody else there. a few scattered singles on a saturday evening. well everything was wack. crappy service, a crappy steak, my girlfriend hated her pasta, and not so much as a mention of dessert. the price was rediculous for what we had (almost $80!) i was crushed. i did not even propose that night.

Pros: ???

Cons: not nice-- at all.

Posted 11/01/07

My best friend couldn't decide on a restaurant to have dinner for my bachelorette party on a Friday night. So, I looked up several places and found that this one got some really good reviews and it was very close to the hotel we were staying. To say the least, I was very surprised when we walked into an empty restaurant for all but the wait staff! I thought, "Oh, no, this isn't going to be good". I can't say too much for the service - it was great for us, but we were the only people in there, so... They were definitely very friendly. We all started out with drinks and not one of us complained. That is pretty rare, too. Doing good so far, I thought. We ordered the cheese dip for an appetizer and it was really good, as was the salsa. We finally got around to ordering dinner - they do have a pretty good selection on their menu and very decently priced. Just like the drinks, everyone of us were impressed with the food. The seafood enchiladas were really good. Loved the sauce they put on them and everything! I was told the shrimp quesadillas and the chicken quesadillas were really good, too. I would recommend this for anyone. I did ask the waiter and he said they'd only been there about 5-6 months and the evening crowd hadn't picked up - one other couple came in while we were there and we were there for a while. He did mention that lunches are usually full. Two thumbs up for me!

Pros: Beautiful, but relaxed little place. Loved the food!

Cons: We didn't look very much since there was noone there, but didn't see much parking.

Posted 10/06/07

excellent food and excellent service - i love everything they bring on the table - something different about their spices. I like the contemporary style and also their new private room. they have our vote - good luck

Pros: excellent

Posted 10/06/07

As the Concierge of an upscale boutique hotel in Downtown Houston I tend to eat at a lot of restaurants. I came across this new restaurant and thought I would try it with a friend. When I arrived the band was playing great music and we decided to sit outside, it was about 40% full. The table we were seated in was dirty but it was cleaned right then and there. We then had to wait at least 8 min for someone to take our drink order. For appetizers we ordered the calamari however we wanted the sauce on the side. They tossed the sauce in the whole dish which made it very soggy. It was not very good, so we told them and got us the Nachos Al Carbon which was good. A lot of mistakes were made when it came to our order, for example we ordered frozen margaritas without salt but they kept putting salt and then they just served us plain margaritas not even frozen. I ordered a coke in which they forgot about. The service did lack. For my entree I had the 8oz Filet, which was very tender and good. There cream of corn cilantro side was amazing! I have to say it was excellent. The band was very good also. Overall, as a new restaurant in downtown they need to work out some kinks with the service.

Pros: Band, Location, Steaks

Cons: Service, Parking, Appetizers

Posted 04/28/07