Spanish Flowers

We decided to have dinner here because of the hype and awards given to this place. Extremely disappointing to say the least. The food was microwaved and flavorless, the salsa was from a can, and the service was just rude. We are never going back. I regret taking the word of the positve internet reviews on this one. If you haven't been, you're not missing out on anything. Go to a taqueria and you'll get better food and service.

Pros: live music, decor

Cons: food, service, just about everything

Posted 12/28/09

Spanish Flowers Houston Tx at 12.41 am
What in the world are you thinking, Turning a long time customer away based on the thought that your little 24 hour diner (mexican food) is some how a five star restaurant, Mary you serve Nachos and Alcoholic beverages. When someone. anyone has driven to your restaurtant ( in my case from Clear Lake ) you should open your doors and serve them. You do not turn them away, and for what your asking, I was not wearing a "shirt". Mary it may not have not been a " shirt" to you, but dear it covered all that needed to be covered.

Pros: Clean Restrooms

Cons: They will never learn your name

Posted 05/21/09

Spanish Flowers is such an excellent late night eatery. The tortillas are made fresh for your order.
The salsa is fresh and I like that you can taste the cilantro in it.
After your order is placed, you get a small cup of potato soup with a beef and tomato base.
The tea gets refilled promptly and is always fresh.
The queso is a good consistency and delicious!

I usually get the fajitas. They are always moist, tender, and sizzling.I usually am not big on Spanish rice, but the rice here is good. I ordered the Mexican chocolate once and I can tell you that is not hand made. It tastes like a powder mix.
One thing that aggravates me is that the servers do not write down your drink or appetizer order. They always forget something here. They do write down the main order but I do not like when I order a Pina Colada and get my food before my drink.
This place is clean, the restrooms included. There have been a few times where my dining experience was ruined by the condition of the restroom alone. Not here.
The parking lot is well lit. I saw someone mention a guard. Truth be told, I have never seen one. Is there really supposed to be one? lol
All in all, Spanish Flowers is inviting. The decoration lends to the atmosphere. Of course, I am partial to the Frida Kahlo wall hanging in the left room. The prices do seem to have gone up. I guess it is the economy, because though the food is good.. the quality did not go up.
It is very kid friendly. My best friend and I often bring our kids here and have never had a problem.

Pros: Decent drinks, great fajitas, good for kids.

Cons: Servers forget items, climbing prices

Posted 03/15/09

I've been to Spanish Flowers several times and it just seems to be getting worse!!! The service is horrible; the food is average to below average. Grease is a key ingredient at this joint; everything is greasy. The chips were stone cold, the salsa was bland and the queso was runny. Now on to the meal, my taco broke through the shell immediately when I picked it up turning my plate into a taco salad; the meat was flavorful. The enchiladas were meagerly stuffed with cheese and lukewarm when the arrived. Service was very poor; we had to send search parties out looking for him. Meanwhile the other servers in the room acted extremely put out by our requesting help from them. Then the bill came and for what we were served, it was way over priced. You?re taking you life into your own hands when getting out of your car, the guard that was supposed to be there wasn?t two out of three trips. I get trapped into going because they do such a good marketing job, and friends and guest that haven?t been want to go. I try to discourage them, but in the end accommodate their wishes. Then I have to listen to them complain for the balance of the evening. After my last visit I just refuse to go.

Pros: Good Marketing, Open Late

Cons: Food, Service, Dangerous Location

Posted 02/15/09

EVERYTIME I GO TO SPANISH FLOWERS I ORDER THE FLAN BEFORE THE REST OF MY FOOD TO MAKE SURE I HAVE ENOUGH ROOM!! THE FIJITAS COME WITH SUSAGE QUAIL BEEF AND CHICKEN PEPPERS ONIONS AND MUCH MORE!! TO DRINK I RECCOMEND THE STRAWBERRY LEMONADE, GREAT SERVICE, THE SERVERS ALL STOP BY TO CHECK ON THE TABLES SO YOU ARE NEVER WAITING LONG!!

Pros: GREAT SALSA YOU CAN TASTE THE FRESHNESS AND THEN THERES THE KICK OF WARMTH

Posted 02/15/09

I love this place. Always clean, staff is friendly, and the food is great! If you've never been there, try it and you'll be hooked!!!

Pros: Great Service, Fresh Toritillas, Excellent food

Cons: a bit pricey

Posted 10/12/08

I really wanted some mole I heard people saying how "authentic" their food is, well its not, it tasted like paste out of a jar from the store, with nothing added .It was too strong, not sweet at all, the chicken was dry and bland, very , very disappointed, will never go again.

Pros: looked nice

Cons: price was really high for such low quality and taste.

Posted 09/02/08

WOW, funny thing is I REALLLLY used to love this place. For some reason i've seen a steady decline in the taste of food and the quality. Also the price has substantially risen??... it cant be for the food. i do still have hope, B/C I love this place and its location!!! the salsa is great and the margaritas!
And for the person who was down on the area, if your scared of the area, go back to the suburbs.

Pros: the authentic location/ mariachi band big plus.

Cons: the recent rise in price:(

Posted 09/01/08

This place is ONLY good after 2am......meaning it's th eonly place in Houston to eat. I would never take someone there for "good" Tex-Mex. EVER.

Pros: Open 24/7

Cons: The food is awful

Posted 08/14/08

You people are out of your little bird brains if you think this can even pass as average Mexican food. The only bright spot in the entire dining experience I had was the salsa that is slung out on the table before your food arrives and the tortillas. The food lacked seasoning at all, the rice was dry, beans, refried and a la charra were flavorless-well almost flavorless, the refried beans tasted burnt. Fajitas were nothing special and the short ribs were tender, but again, lacked flavor.

Service was abysmal; slow, our waiter seemed to be a native Spanish speaker and I speak fluently and am of Hispanic decent I thought we would be well taken care of. Wrong, the kid was hesitant, mumbled, stumbling over his words, forgot drinks after being asked 3 times-in English and Spanish mind you to make sure he got the message. To top it all off, the location of the restaurant ain't exactly what you would call nice; heck I would have felt better eating at Nifa's on Navigation near the 5th Ward rather than this dump.

I suppose this place has won the accolades it has because of the 24 hour service it offers; I know I would have to be drunk at around 2:30 in the morning to even consider coming back to N. Main much less attempting to enjoy the slop they try to pass off as "Mexican" food.

Posted 07/02/08

This is some of the best Mexican food in town. Service was a little slow in taking our order, but we received chips and drinks while we waited, which were refilled quickly. We ordered chicken fajitas and they came quickly and were more than enough for the two of us. The chicken was seasoned perfectly and the tortillas were delicious! I'll definitely be going back!

Pros: Great Food, Good Price

Cons: slow to take our order

Posted 06/02/08

I will agree with others the food is the best, But after eating there every Friday night for the last three years one figures that the staff should know you. We still feel like the nobody cares about the personal service, its just seat, eat, and run out , we need your table for the next "guest".

Pros: The food is all made right there

Cons: service is lacking in people skills

Posted 03/23/08

This resturant is one of my favorites in Houston. Sure the area around it is kind of an eyesore but if you want to go to a resturant for people watching, well your just insane. Save yourself some money and stand outside a mall and just people watch. Now if you want some good food and do not want to pay much for it, well Spanish Flowers is great. Best Nachos by far in Houston and the fresh made flour tortillas is the deal sealer.

Pros: Everything

Cons: People who cant handle thier liquior.

Posted 03/20/08

The Spanish Flowers Restaurant offers the best of Tex-Mex. The menu has a little bit of everything to sooth the soul when you have that need to satisfy your taste buds for something with a kick. The Family run restaurant gives the vibe that you are indeed family. The food is like my Mexican Mama' makes. Hand made tortillas, chips and salsa are the spicy ingredient to a great series of menu choices! The service is outstanding. If one server is busy - the others will jump in to help. If you go more than a couple of times - they remember you - can't say that about some of the other "popular" restaurants in town. Food is hot, well presented and tasty - GIVE IT A TRY!

Posted 02/19/08

Good quality food/service combined with fresh ingredients in a nice, clean and traditional atmosphere.

Highlights:
1. All fresh ingredients and seemed to be prepared home-style.
2. The extras (soup and post meal fruit) were a nice touch, which are not generally offered in competing restaurants.
3. Surprisingly large dining room with plenty of room for parties!
4. Spanish Flower Dinner very tasty with a good sampling of specialties.
5. Salsa was tasty, but not the city's best.
6. Mole Poblano was nice, but not the city's best.
7. Nice restroom, hand-painted sinks with diaper changing table for convenience

Lowlights:
1. Somewhat pricey for Tex Mex in the area, but understandable given the very nice remodeled building. Not really a lowlight.
2. No lunch specials or lunch menu.

Posted 12/19/07

My boyfriend made a trip to this place a big event for us every time I visited Houston. He thinks it is a pretty special dining experience- enough that we'd waste 30 minutes in the car just getting there. I think he's clinging to "old times sake" because except for the tortillas, the food has never been impressive to me. I'm not really into the Tex-Mex style of smothering everything with salsa anyway, but this stuff was bland on top of it all. The quality of some of the ingredients has concerned me too although I can't put my finger on exactly why. The atmosphere is nothing great and the seating is cramped and uncomfortable. The last time I allowed myself to be taken there, the only table open was outside. Having to eat that lame dinner covered by a swarm of mosquitoes was the end of the road for me and Spanish Flowers.

Posted 12/18/07

I was exhausted. I had no appetite. I'd just flown in from a family funeral, and my boyfriend had picked me up at Hobby Airport. It was almost midnight. I didn't think I could eat a thing, but I needed to eat.

Then, Spanish Flowers reared its pretty white-red-green-black always-lit sign, and I started thinking maybe, just maybe, I could finally eat something after a few days of hardly eating. We went inside, I ordered chicken enchiladas, my love got a beer, and suddenly I could talk about my trip. The food was warm and nurturing, like a good mother. Like a good mother who's available 24 hours a day, and isn't too expensive. Like a good mother who gives you chips and tasty salsa while you wait. Like a good mother who sends out a waiter who can speak and understand English when the first waiter doesn't understand you. Like a good mother who understands that people who speak only English love her food, too, and want to feel comfortable there.

Spanish Flowers, you are a good mother to me.

Pros: open 24 hours, food tastes good

Cons: it could be a little cheaper, but you also get what you pay for

Posted 10/20/07

I loved the salsa, the ritas were very good too! Everything we ate was good. The services was also great. I had read some of these reviews before I went there on Firday night and wasn't sure what to expect but everything was great! I can't wait to go back...

Pros: delicious food!

Cons: a little pricey

Posted 07/16/07

Mexican food is decent and fresh
Atmosphere is great
Oatmeal with bananas + hot chocolate = delicious!

Posted 06/25/07

This restaurant looks so promising when you enter, but it's downhill from there. Although the service was prompt, the waitress did not remember who had ordered what among 3 people! The food was only so-so - it reminded me of the first Tex-Mex I ever had over 50 years ago in Oklahoma - not a ringing endorsement. The tables were small and the chairs uncomfortable. There are better places closer to home, but I'm glad I checked it out.

Posted 05/03/07

El Brujo is absolutely right....... those of us who have been eating there since it first opened have always called it, Spanish Flower, and the Food, Service, Ambience and total Kitch are worth the drive ... It is great to have such an autehntic place to go in the wee hours of the morning, and not be rushed ... consistent quality, quiet respectful and prompt service , and the food is always fresh because it hasn't been sitting around for hours or hasn't come out of a can or package ... it is fortunate that this place too hasn't been taken over by some yankee corporation that slings out plastic-tasting, overly-salted, dried out, "stuff" ... If you want authentic Mexican Food, visit the Spanish Flower ... unless you are as taste-free as those who don't know real Mexican Cuisine, you'll go back again and again .......

Pros: Total Authenticity, High Quality

Cons: None

Posted 04/14/07

I have been to this restaurant about 3 times, and everytime I go, I get horrible service. We had 4 different people take our order. We never knew who our server was. The food is over rated, I've had better Mexican food from the freezer aisle in the store than what they serve. Drinking the margaritas there are like drinking limeade. Plus, they limit you to 2. I tried to give them 3 chances, but I will never go back to this restaurant again!! There are better ones down the road!

Pros: Ambience

Cons: Food, Drinks, No Smoking...even in the Patio

Posted 02/22/07

Ordered enchiladas verdes; bland, tasteless, and beef fajitas -- toughest, grissle-ridden meat I had ever tasted. Tortillas delievered and plopped down on top of chips!!! Not placed in aluminum foil, or delivered in some sort of warming container. What a horrible experience. Stay away.

Pros: ?? Can't think of Anything

Cons: Food (really bad)

Posted 02/18/07

I've been by here a couple times and I generally like the food, but this is the kind of place where there's no point in asking for any favors. If it's not on the menu, they won't do it, and they'll only do it exactly how it is on the menu. Vegetarians should count on having some cheese enchiladas, perhaps with yummy mole sauce. Still, it's tasty, and it's a safe bet if you're in that part of town past your bed time.

Posted 11/04/06

The food make up for the long drive to the place and to the not so nice area. If only it was in a nicer area. The food was great. Very family friendly. We had a 4 year old with us.

Posted 10/31/06

Went here with family (6) from abroad, looking for 'authentic' Mexican food. We scored. Very friendly, courteous staff keeping our drinks and great salsas filled. Everything we ordered was hot, fresh, flavorful and slightly different from 'run of the mill' Mexican menus. Carnitas were slow roasted and caramelized, not microwaved then placed in sauce. My menudo was subtley guajillo-spiked and tender, tender. Plates not over-cheesed, salted or larded like some places. Excellent tortillas. Plenty of parking, and well worth the trip to North Main!

Pros: Food, originality, service

Cons: Errrrr....

Posted 08/26/06

I have watched the Spanish Flowers grow from a little house down the street to this charming bit of Mexico. A must stop upon arriving from Georgia is the Spanish Fowers. Umm..... that special soup !!!! Think I have tried the entire Menu (except the Menudo). It is disappointing to find a line...but... if it wasn't worth the wait there would't be a line.

Pros: patios, wait staff, food

Posted 01/22/06

What suprised me is that they can do such great mexican food at 1 or 2am! I'd rank it up there with some of the best mexican food (or tex-mex) I've had. I found out about Spanish Flowers because it won best late-night dining from the Houston Press in 2002, and readers choice for best late-night dining in 2003. Now I understand firsthand that those awards are well deserved. I had the Spanish Flowers Dinner and everything it came with was very yummy. On my visit we had really friendly and attentive wait staff as well.

Pros: open late, great food, good salsa

Posted 09/01/05

the best mexican in the city. we drive far to get there bc it is worth it. i dont understand the negative feedback, maybe they ordered the wrong dish after going once? i've gone may times and love it. the prices are reasonable and worth the food, atmosphere and service.

Pros: food, atmosphere, clean restrooms/place

Cons: location

Posted 08/22/05

I have eaten at Spanish Flowers many times, but today it was horrible. One of the things about mexican food is that it is cheap at all of the good places (Mama Ninfas, Irmas, Los Cucos), but today I was charged for jalapenos (in a mexican joint??), I was also charged $3.90 for a lemonade, and the food was cold and tasteless. The taco salad tasted like mush, and the beef fajitas were cold. The waitress put the tortillas out without covering and never offered any more, and they got cold and hard quickly. Even the salsa wasn't spicy, which is an absolute no-no. I don't think I will ever go back.

Posted 09/06/03

This place is unbelievable. They have live bands on Sundays (at certain times) and on the first Saturday of the month (at certain times). The food, service, and setting is perfect! And it is super-cheap! The best food of its kind in town, and I've eaten at alot of Mexican restaurants in H-town.

Posted 03/31/03

My frozen margarita tasted more like a lime slurpie than a real drink. The beef fajitas were bland, and I had to wait 5 minutes for anyone to bring me tortillas, so by then the food was only barely warm. The soup was also completely tasteless. I was really looking forward to dinner, because I had read so many good reviews, but I will abolutely NOT go back. what a waste of money it was.

Pros: nice patio

Cons: bland food, terrible service

Posted 03/08/03

From breakfast to dinner, the food is fabulous! My husband and I do travel quite the distance (Sugar Land) for the great authentic Mexican food. We have invited friends and family, leaving with a smile all the time! Hey, the price is right! Come try it, I don't think you'll be disapointed!

Pros: inexpensive, really clean restrms, never a long wait

Posted 02/17/03

This place is the best and most authentic Mexican food in town. The service is excellent and they are open 24 - 7.

Pros: Hours, Great Service, Wonderful Food

Cons: Parking is limited

Posted 01/28/03

Completely unsatisfying. A cute little nook with a great outdoor patio, but the food was disappointing. I would compare it to frozen mexican platters.

Pros: location, open late night

Cons: food

Posted 01/16/03

Wonderful mexican food restaurant tucked away in the Heights! Good Tex-mex style food in a nice location.

Pros: Good Service, Friendly Staff, Great location

Cons: could be cheaper

Posted 01/09/03

I love to eat at the Spanish Flower becuase the food is great and the serve is fast and friendly. Each time that I have been there I have always been greeted with a friendly smile from the staff. I love the fresh homemade flour tortillas.

Pros: close to work, open 24 hours

Posted 12/05/02

This late nite spot is one few can disagree on. I have frequented this place since 1989. I have only seen the place get better and better. The food is delicous and always inviting. This comes boldly from a single hispanic male. I have chosen this night spot for some of my best dates, and never have been dissatisfied. Great food, great people, great price!! Did I say great food....don't tell my mom!!!

Pros: inexpensive, good parking, great food

Cons: need more parking, better hostess, less wait time

Posted 11/26/02

I live in the Heights and eat there often. It is very good Mexican food. I've been to Mexico a lot and Spanish Flowers is better than anything I've ever had there.

Posted 11/22/02

Happened upon this place by accident for lunch one day. Notice there were lots of cars in the parking lot. Was pleasantly surprised. The food was good. Two of the local favorites seem to be the "beef shank soup", the uniquely prepared Chimichaunga (chicken or beef), and very large taco salad.

The restaurant is located in a run down part of town. My family and coworkers feel more comfortable eating there for lunch than dinner. The air conditioner does not seem to be able to keep up when the place gets crowded for lunch.

Pros: Clean Kitchen, Good Food, good lunch spot

Cons: Poor Neighborhood, bad road to get there, A/C problems

Posted 11/21/02

SP Floers, one of the most organized and qualified mexican restaurant, everthing is clean, and all the employees are very very nice, I liked so much the that every week I take y dinner on it.

I recomended it a lot.

Pros: Confortable, Inexpensive, Fast Service

Cons: none

Posted 11/11/02