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Categories: Seafood, Active Life, Arts & Entertainment [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Downtown, Fourth WardWe always have great specials at Pappas Seafood House - click on our website to see our current offers! http://pappasseafood.com/home/
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A lot of people seem to dislike this place. I will note that I didn't eat in the restaurant. So let's begin.
First off I went on a discount day, 5 bucks for an unlimited pass. Thank you BCM. I guess his pass is usually 16 bucks but I think just for the aquarium part is 9 bucks and then you have to buy tickets to a few rides they have outside. Anyaway back to the fish. Despite the fact this place was a mad house with kids and strollers everywhere (thanks to the discount day, I'm pretty sure it's less crowded on a normal day or even a normal saturday) The place wasn't bad. Sure it's small but they have some cool fish and animals.
Does this place compare to our cities aquariums? No not at all but for Houston I thought it was good. Plus it's something downtown that is easy to get too that you don't need to drive to. I think Houston needs more places like this.
One of the best parts is they have White Tigers there. I know an Aquarium with tigers, who knew. Also out back they have a ferris wheel which was fun to go on. There is a Shark Voyage that takes you under a shark tank which I didn't go on because the line was crazy but there is a youtube video you can watch that some guy taped the whole thing. Pretty cool. There is even a special "Jaws" scene that made me laugh.
Again, are their better aquariums out there, sure but I don't think this one should get that bad of a rating. But I'm only one person.
If anyone is interested I made a little video of the fish and animals I saw there: http://www.youtube.com...
Ugh. The food is pretty bad. The fish and chips are just awful! The wait for the restaurant can be crazy long!
I've been here more times than I would like to admit. I've gone for the meal only (not my choice!). I've brought out-of-town visitors to the downstairs full aquarium tour (it's ok for some, but really the exhibits are quite sad). I've also been to the top floor banquet hall for a private event (best food and dessert I've had at the facility).
Pros: The outdoor fountain is fun for kids and free. The shark ride through the tunnel really is fun for young kids. The aquarium in the dining area is large and attractive.
Cons: You have to pay a bunch to park. The food is awful and expensive! The white tigers are DEPRESSING in a small cement, no natural light, cave!
Keep your money, go find a real aquarium, and pay less for better food.
First let me say that although I have endulged in amusing myself through the observation of animals in a captive state, it is not something I am proud of, or can condone from any kind of humane or business stance.
It is wrong, like pimping. These animals are taken from their habitat and coddled away from natural living dynamics for the monetary profit.
The food wasn't all that good. dayboat scallop and seafood pasta dish in a cream sauce, which I had them add marinara too Basic... and long ago prepped with processed ingredients.
canned scallops for godsakes. Terrible winelist, dry and outdated, cool decor, very well done from an aesthetic standpoint, but I can in no way condone wildlifepimps.
Do not take your kids here unless u r rich.....seriously......This place is so expensive for the lil amusement they have. I take my out-of-town guest here... and none of them ever say it was awesome....But the biggest upset of this place is that there are alot of staff member that just don't care. How can a business hire alot of employee that just don't care... human resource is doing a bad job, if they have one. That is probally y the food suck...and the animal and fish are probally sad cuz the staff care less bout feeding them, hahahhahaha. poor fishy...
might as well cook them and serve the fish before the place close down due to poor service.
Quick alert for all you parents out there -- now that school is back in session this place is EMPTY. We went on a Friday evening and felt like we had the place to ourselves... even the train was mostly vacant. And then we stumbled upon a really cool deal... we popped into the lounge downstairs and they had 1/2 price wine, 1/2 price margaritas and martinis, and lots of happy hour menu specials, including deals on raw oysters. So that is the way to go in my book -- much more affordable downstairs.
I have been to the Houston Aquarium many times and I have to say I have yet to see the actual fish! I have been there for dinner, for special events held upstairs in the ballroom, and for salsa night (Friday nights). The Aquarium is cool, but it is so limited in space. I guess that's what you get when your aquarium is downtown. I do like the look of the aquarium, those blue neon lights look beautiful when driving down the freeway.
They have salsa nights on Fridays (mostly spring and summer) and there is a live band (Salmerun). I really like to go dance outdoors, at least when the weather is not too humid. Salsa nights are free, all you have to pay is for parking. Last time I was there I believe parking was $4-6.
I love fish! This is the first time I don't have a fish tank in my own home. I've been to several aquariums (VA, NY, Dom. Rep., FL), so when I heard there would be an aquarium in Houston I was excited about visiting and seeing all the different fish species. Well, saying that I was disappointed does not define how I felt when I visited this place. It's not only small but they hardly had any fish! I felt deceived beyond belief. The rides do not make up for the lack of fish and educational instruction which should be available at a real aquarium.
I didn't eat at the restaurant because after looking at the menu I thought it was over priced and nothing special, I didn't feel like paying for the decor!
Had I not found a coupon for discount admission I would not have gone at all.
It was fun - meaning it didn't suck. I didn't come for the restaurant/food I was here for the aquarium and attractions only.
While I thought it was cool at one point literally all that separated me from one of the tigers was 3/4 in of Plexiglas {white tigers are my *FAVOURITE* animal on the planet} - I was ashamed at their enclosure....all concrete and hard surfaces - horrible for a feline's pads - shameful and inexcusable for any place to not have a more natural and realistic living space for them. Who is really impressed with that scaled down Aztec looking pyramid thingy anyway?
The touch tanks were the best display in the entire building.
Took the shark tunnel train ride which was nifty. I managed to get my afraid of falling {not heights but falling} self onto the Ferris wheel and I didn't have a complete anxiety attack. By the time the ride was over I'd enjoyed myself.
For what is offered here I do not see myself ever taking the time to make this far of a trip from my home again. It just wasn't that big of a thing.
We went here on the recommendation of a friend as a place to have dessert and drinks before going out for a night of dancing. Well, I should have asked which dessert he was talking about.
The drinks were a bit on the pricey side but were tasty. We had a little bit of a time trying to decide on a dessert to split and we finally settled on the carrot cake. Big Mistake! I generally like my carrot cakes to be creamy and soft. This carrot cake was more dense; almost in the way a fruit cake is dense. And the flavor was just not there for me. I only took two bites before giving up. So sad.
The fish in the aquarium were fun to watch and a great conversational piece. I will probably go back but will probably try the chocolate molten cake. Hopefully I'll be safe with that.
Lame. Small. Overpriced. Boring.
Not nearly as exicting as the website portrays. We went expecting more than they had. We knew not to eat there because their food is too expensive, so we went for the aquarium and rides. You could walk through the aquariums in about 1 minute. The poor tigers were stuck in a tiger prison cement block. To exit, you have to go through the gift shop. Classy touch. We paid extra for the tickets that include the rides, but one of them was closed. And the dancing waters were turned off as well. It would help if the teenagers who worked there were friendly and acknowledged your presence.
If you want an aquarium experience, this won't do it. If you want a carnival/arcade experience, go to the Kemah Boardwalk. For a long day of real fun, go to Moody Gardens.
We won't be back.
Are you smarter than a 3rd grader?
Apparently the people who come to this place would have to answer with NO.
So I came here today because Texas Children's Hospital were offering employee tickets for 5 dollars for the all day pass. I've lived in Houston the majority of my life and never even thought about coming here. So for 16 bucks normally you can get an all day pass that let's you go into the exhibits and all of the rides. The ferris wheel is fun but it's dangerous since it's open air, the drop was short but it's for kids, and the train was borken =(, the exhibit was ok but what made it hilarious was the hicks who were on the tour with us. They kept making ridiculous comments about the "fish" and how they were sad because they had such ugly faces. yea....I wish i knew what was going on.
All in all this is the ghetto version of kemah.
Oh no, please God no.
Seriously, if it wasn't for the really cool fish... this place would be history in no time. I can not believe this place is still around its so bad! Seriously, I think its owned by the mob or some gang and this place is a front. A nice laundry scheme. I went here late after a concert or a play, I forget, but we waited forever for a table! They forgot about us and instead of giving us the next table, they said they would put us on the list and offered us a table in the bar area where we really cant order everything off the menu there, but only certain things.
Pathetic!
We FINALLY get a table, but we were so tired of it we just got dessert which was ok, something I could make at home, but at least it looked good. Also there was a girl there with me that night along with one of her friends, so I was not paying much attention to atmosphere. After we left we all talked about how we swore never to return and to this day I still want to burn the place down, but I love the fish so I would never do that. Also I rate this place a 2 stars, because I really like the fish.
Final opinion, for the love of God do not go here, save your hard earned money and eat at a place with quality and that has staff that have brains.
I feel like I am being a little mean, but I was really sad after eating there. And for me being sad after I eat food and while I am with a pretty girl, well.... thats an accomplishment that needs to be reported.
Alex R. reporting and out
So disappointing. I'm really glad I checked it out myself because I was planning to take a group of my students here over the winter break, but it would've been a waste of time. First of all, I have huge issues with "educational" joints that don't offer student discounts. I mean, if we want to encourage students to continue learning outside of the required coursework, how can we do that without helping them in little ways. Not that paying $10 was a huge deal for a tour of just the aquarium, but when we're in and out in about an hour (plus paying $6 for parking), I feel like I got screwed.
The aquarium itself was not bad, but with very little educational information. Only about half of the fish in there actually had a plaque to go with it so we could learn about the species. They had a decently sized area for the kids to touch the fish for the interactive stuff, but it wasn't that populated. The thing that threw it all off was the last exhibit--they had white tigers! Wha?! This is an aquarium and they have tigers? Strange. Very, very strange.
The gift shop was tiny and cramped and I got out of there as quickly as possible. We didn't stop by the restaurant so I can't comment on the food, but my advice would be to just drive down an hour to Galveston and check out Moody Gardens for a real aquarium experience.
I resisted going here for several years after it opened because I had heard how expensive it was. I finally went with my pre-schooler's class on a field trip there and took my older child with me. Ás far as the Aquarium goes, it is small and I was quite disappointed. I should have known since it is owned by Landry's that it wasn't really suppose to be an educational type Aquarium. There are some cool animals in there other than fish but since I got in free I couldn't complain....BUT I can Yelp! After the school kids left, my daughter and I stayed to ride the train which was semi entertaining but kind of cheesy and overpriced. I had heard about the shark tank and when you get to that part on the train ride it is pretty cool to look up and see the sharks. The train goes through a tunnel and the part above and on the sides is the tank. The only problem is that you can only see the part from where you are sitting. They don't move the train slowly after sitting still. Overall it is way overpriced. I say it is good for a one time visit but skip the restaurant. Take a sack lunch and use the picnic area. There is even a misting patio station next it that the kids really liked and even the Moms like in the summer heat. The restaurant food is basically Landry's, generic seafood. I agree with other reviewers about the kids running around and it not being a fine dining experience.
The best way to see the Aquarium is to just drive by on the elevated freeway at night. It is free.
Wow. This place is taking a beating!
O.k. So if you go here, don't expect it to change your life or be the biggest, baddest aquarium in the whole world. It's not the best aquarium I've ever seen, but it has it's charm and overall--I thought it was a good outing.
I have to say though. The highlight for me was tigers. It's pretty surreal to come out of the aquarium part and be face to face with the tiger exhibit. Do your research and get there when it's feeding time. It's awesome!
The little amusement park is very cheesy. I dug it. Especially the train ride. Very cheesy, very nostalgic. Like I said, not a bad outing, but to be fair not the greatest outing either.
Admission is 9 dollars for the aquarium and additional 6 bucks for the 4 rides they have on the outside.
The actual aquarium was rather small, but they do have some cool animials in there. It had reptiles, exotic fishes, and even a cool white tiger exhibit. Overall actual time spent inside didn't last too long.
As mentioned, outside provided 4 rides total. A little train ride that lead you to some more fishes, a ferris wheel, a merry go round, and a mini air-drop type thing. Given that it was unlimited rides with the 15 dollar pass, our two nieces took full advantage of that as they rode the rides multiple times.
Bottom line: our two nieces left with smiles and they had a great time. based on that, we had to give this place a decent review.
Food: 3/5
Service: 4/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Decor & Setup: 5/5
The food here wasn't that great for the price. It's too expensive for what it should be. As food in general, it wasn't that bad, just nothing extraordinary. At least they give you big portions. Anyways, you're obviously paying for their decor, which in my opinion is absolutely beautiful.
Oh by the way, I'm rating their restaurant portion, not the actual aquarium. As a customer of the restaurant, i thought the fishes were unbelievable. They had sharks, sting rays, and other crazy sea creatures. Only pictures could describe what I saw (I posted a few on here).
As an aquarium, I have no idea if its nice, bad, ugly, or whatever. I've actually never been to an aquarium.
The outside seating is beautiful (posted a pic here too). You get to see a nice view of downtown Houston.
Outside, they had a few midway games and a Ferris wheel. I thought this was a great idea. After a nice meal, people can enjoy a few games and relax. Don't go here if you're looking strictly for entertainment. I think if you have a nice pocket book, then go for the food, then enjoy some games after.
Oh, the little train ride to the parking lot was awesome! I gave it a 4/5 overall for my restaurant experience. I came here to eat and didn't realize there was other things to do. I believe other Yelpers on here went strictly for fishes, which apparently resulted in disappointment.
This is for the restaurant portion. The food was pretty good.
Appetizers: Lobster bisque and also the oysters were good but could have been gotten cheaper somewhere else.
I got the Asian Seabass in Shiso sauce with crisp seafood dumplings. Very tasty very and a nice contrast of textures. others got crab stuffed shrimp which were tasty but could have been gotten much cheaper elsewhere.
Ambiance: It was pretty cool. No doubt about that, but basically the food was just a tad expensive even with the ambiance. I don't expect to pay the same price as at some crab shack on the Gulf, but the pries were just a tiny bit too much. And while the seabass was really good, the other dishes were pretty standard dishes that you could get anywheree. A nice place, but a one time only place.
If you're expecting an amazing aquarium that will blow your socks off, the Downtown Aquarium is not that place. Don't get me wrong, the exhibits they have are cool, there just aren't many of them and it's very expensive for what you get. The coolest thing going is the White Tiger exhibit, hands down. I've been there twice and if you don't have kids I wouldn't recommend going at all. In addition to the aquarium exhibits, they have a mini-amusement park outside in the grounds which is pretty sad too.
If you feel you MUST experience the Downtown Aquarium do so, but please don't eat at the restaurant. Save your money. Menu prices that rival Capital Grille, screaming kids, bad/slow service, and pricey cocktails don't make a good combination.
$25 for stuffed flounder for lunch? Never again.
This review is just for the restaurant.
Synposis: Save your money.
After a long walk along the Buffalo Bayou path, my friend suggested grabbing a bite to eat here. I was a bit hesitant, but agreed. The redeeming feature, of course, is the enormous fish tank that takes up half the room and that is filled with dozens of fish, both small and large.
Service was barely average, and food (we had salads, and the calamari appetizer) was below average, particularly considering the price.
I know what you are probably asking: why in the world did she give this place 5 stars? The regular restaurant food is 4 stars (yes, I like their food), the price of it is 3. While the food is great, the price for it is a bit high, though I'll cut them a little slack just because fish in general is expensive. The atmosphere and the decor deserve a 4/5, as many of the heavily themed Landry restaurants do. It is simply amazing to watch the fish swim about while eating dinner. No, I didn't find it odd that I was eating fish while watching fish swim about. Honestly, I wouldn't want to eat most of the fish they had swimming in the tank.
Why this gets bumped up from 4 to 5, and really I think it deserves more than a 5, is their ballroom on the third floor (a room which you probably didn't even know existed and just assumed there were only offices on the third floor). You can rent it out for special events like weddings. In particular, the Aquarium ballroom is where I got married and had a reception.
The decor is absolutely amazing. The ballroom is elegant while still maintaining the ocean theme. If you want, you can even get a bowl of fish on each table for a little extra. Yes you get to keep the fish, which many of the kids who came to the wedding loved and many of their parents disliked. Many of our adult guests without children took home the fish as well.
The ballroom is large and even half of it can fit quite a few people. They have a way of partitioning the room so that we had the ceremony on one side of the ballroom and then had the reception on the other (making it seem like 2 separate rooms). The balcony around the Nautilus ballroom has a wonderful view of downtown Houston. I had an afternoon wedding, which had a wonderful view, but I imagine the view is much better at night. Many of our guests enjoyed walking up the spiral staircase that housed a large cylindrical fish tank in the middle. It is quite the spectacle, even while dodging casually dressed regular restaurant goers. If you feel like, you can pay for a diver to swim in the tank at the 3rd floor level with a special greeting written on a sign. We opted not to do so because we felt like it wasn't needed, but I'm sure many people would find it cute.
One of the most pleasant parts of having the wedding there was the planning staff. I believe the woman we dealt with was named Joann, but I can't remember...I'm bad with names. Anyway, she was absolutely wonderful and so helpful! She made planning the setup of the actual wedding in the venue, and menu selection as well, so easy. She was also very helpful in making sure that we had food that would be edible for people with various allergies. We had a guest with a nut allergy and two guests with allergies that made them deathly allergic to fish. I know what you are thinking: they are allergic to fish, and you were at the Aquarium? Yes, while many of the buffet options include fish, some include chicken items as well. So we had items for all people and my mom labeled which was which so those with allergies would know.
The food we had was amazing as well. They have all kinds of buffets to choose from in various price ranges. You can also have an open bar and pay per person or per drink (we opted for the former, which was very reasonable). They were even nice enough to give us the leftovers...4 stuffed take away boxes full. Seriously. So along with lots of cake leftover from Who Made the Cake, we had a ton of regular food left over. Though we only ended up with 2 boxes because one of our friends, who was supposed to take the food and hold it for us until the evening, left the fish out for 6 hours without refrigeration...not good.
If you are looking for a place for a wedding reception or the like, I highly suggest looking into the Downtown Aquarium.
WTF is this place? You know... I tried to be partial. I tried to experience all that the "aquarium" would have to offer. Perhaps my hopes were too high. Like the Natural History Museum, I went in expecting world class exhibits similar to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. I was horribly, mistakenly wrong. (I really just have to accept the fact that this is H-Town.)
This place is not a true "aquarium". It is a tourist trap/destination. There are no real educational exhibits, no real shows for kids or places for kids to learn like many other aquariums. No, instead there's an amusement park (which you wouldn't NEED if you were a true aquarium), over priced food, a quasi-elegant restaurant that tries to be upscale, but comes off as Landry's snobby cousin, and horrible bad a__ kids that ruin the experience.
Even though this is an aquarium according to Webster's definition of aquarium, which is "A place for the public exhibition of live aquatic animals and plants," it falls way, way short. No, this should be named Marine World, or Aqualand or something. Save your $$.
First of all, the downside to this place is that it's a hook (pardon the pun) by Landry's. Overpriced food for not a lot of flavor. Forget the fact that, as everyone else has mentioned, that the food's cousins are staring right at you as you eat. There just wasn't a lot of involvement with getting great tasting food out to you. I suppose Landry's was hoping you'd be too distracted to notice.
Now, the upsides and why I really gave it 4 stars: I enjoy the aquarium. I enjoy the rides. I enjoy pretty much everything else this place has to offer. As does my family. And that's even more important to me than what I think. We'll come back - we always do. I just don't think it will be for the food.
I think this place has the potential to be a lot better. The first time I came here was a few years ago with my now fiance...we wanted to eat here for dinner but since we didn't have reservations, they told us it was about an hour wait. However, they assured us there was plenty to do onsite and that our table would be ready when we were done. So, we paid to see the aquarium, which was decent but kind of lacking because this place tries to do too many things at once. After that we rode a few rides, which were fun but overpriced. It took us about an hour and a half and we still hadn't been called...when we asked again they said it would be another 45 minutes. So, we forewent our romantic aquarium view and ate in the little bar area they have with a movie screen. It was fine, just not the special night we were hoping for.
I recently went back with the lovely Carla C. for a girls' night out. We had gone elsewhere for dinner, but the Aquarium was recommended for after dinner drinks and dessert. It was about 10pm so there was no wait, which was nice. However, there was barely anyone there and it took kind of awhile for our server to come take our order. Their specialty drinks were good but all EXTREMELY caloric (damn wedding diet!) We ended up with the Navy Grog (fruity) and the Hit the Deck (with Kahlua and Irish Creme). None of the desserts looked particularly appetizing, except maybe the molten chocolate cake, but it took 15 minutes and we shied away from that (probably shouldn't have, because at least it would have been somewhat guaranteed to be fresh). So, instead we ordered the carrot cake. Wow, big mistake. It was small. It was dry. It didn't taste like carrot cake. The icing was not cream cheesy. It was topped with what seemed like freeze-dried, candied carrot shreds. Ugh. I think my exact words were "every time I get a bite with these carrots in it, I get pissed off." So we didn't try any of the other ones (or even finish this one between the both of us), but maybe the others are good? I'm skeptical.
However, the experience was partially redeemed by the waiter's informational spiel about all the fish in the tank. I learned lots of new things and we were able to spot all the fish he mentioned, even the elusive Unicorn fish he said he had only seen once or twice the whole time he's worked there (I wonder if he just didn't look hard enough). It was a little sad though when he told us about this one fish that's normally orange with stripes that turns pale blue and loses it's stripes when scared. Again, he said he had only ever seen it scared one or two times (I'm not sure how long he's worked there). WELL, that darn fish was getting scared every 5 minutes while we were there!! It was cool watching it change colors, but it kinda made me wonder why the poor little guy kept getting scared :(
The fish were definitely the most entertaining part, and we kinda had to tear ourselves away from them to meet our friends!
This is definitely a cool spot to take an out of town visitor but I defintely couldn't see it being a spot I'd come on any regular basis if I lived in Houston.
In my opinion, this is the worst mistake that anyone has every made since Jean Van De Velde attempted to go for number 18 in two during the final round of the 1999 British. Maybe thats why the French are always so pissed? Back to my point, this is another one of Landry's brilliant ideas. Don't ever go here, don't ever bring your kids here and don't ever recommend it to anyone. I definitely did not come here by choice, but I tagged along to see first hand how miserable this place really is. It's is a complete rip off and and the food is horrible. Even the games aren't fun. Want to see fish? My recommendation is Petco and I'm sure your children will have a better time there.
Executive Summary: Generic Landry's seafood in an underwater theme park environment.
If that's your idea of dining, you'll love this place. But if you dine out because you enjoy fine food, good service, and a beautiful setting, you are in for a disappointment.
It's actually a throwback to the overly themed restaurants of the 70's. The attraction here isn't the food, it's the theme (and as others have noted, the fact that you're eating their cousins is a bit unsettling.)
If you're a parent who loves to spend to overindulge your child, this may be the perfect place for you. And judging by the crowd (and the kids careening wildly around the dining rooms) you won't be alone.
But if you love seafood, there are dozens of better spots for it in Houston.
I am a huge seafood fan, and although the food was ok, it wasnt the best. The ambiance was awesome though, so that made up for the food. I enjoyed my experience and the wait staff was excellent. Of course the wait was ricidulous but once I got to the table it was worth it. The prices were high but it was to be expected as the wait. I would recommend getting something broiled like the "catch of the day" and valet if possible!!!!!
LAME
The food at this restaurant theme park is boring, not very good, and really overpriced.
I guess eating in what is basically a fish tank is kind of neat, in a novelty sort of way, and if the food was good i would dig it, but come on. The food is awful, the whole concept of eating in an aquarium (which i'm still convinced could be very cool) is poorly executed and feels cheesy. Too much attention was paid to to the 'experience' of the restaurant, and the food was obviously just glossed over. Last time i checked, restaurants were supposed to be about the food.
Additionally, while there are many things that have to change before i take this place seriously (like bulldoze it and start again from scratch with new ownership), the train and faris wheel have got to go.
So, normally I wouldn't visit this place twice. But because I had a City Pass it was included. They're running a promotion that is you upgrade you're ticket for $5, you can hop on each ride and the train as many times as you want all day. Too bad we were only there for an hour because we'd have stayed longer and ride the ferris wheel.
The Aquarium itself is pretty cool. I like that you can easily touch the sting rays. I think they're used to the attention and actually crave it. I have to say it is "prettier" than the zoo's aquarium.
The tigers were awake, surprisingly! Although it wasn't as enjoyable because there was a swarm of YMCA campers everywhere yelling and squirming around.
(This review covers the dining portion of Downtown Aquarium.)
Ok, it's a tourist trap and when I was invited here for dinner I too thought wtf, I don't want to do what tourists do. But a cool friend that was once a Chicagoan suggested the place, so I joined in. We skipped all the touristy parts of it and went straight to the dinner portion. Late on a Sunday night and they still accommodated even though it was almost closing time. Food came out fairly quickly and between the appetizer and main course the timing was spaced out well. Enough time to walk around the large aquarium which is the length of this dining floor, one continuous aquarium with all kinds of salt water life in it. I think one of the most interesting of the fish was a chameleon like fish; it changed colors a few times during dinner. Ask them about this fish, our server had vast knowledge on most. I was surprised at the amount of info he had, almost like an ocean expert of a real aquarium, it was real info and not dinner time bull sh*t. I was told that the fish were of all types, passive to aggressive. When asked if there were any fish that get devoured, he replied at least a few times a week. Awesome! I hoped one would get eaten for us that day but; didn't happen. The glass of the aquarium is clean and clear so you can stand up next to the glass and get some unique photos. If you time it right like I did, you can capture some great photos; I think there are a few tourists out there with photos of me making out with some really big fishies. I suppose they had the fever, inter species Jungle fever.
Since I was on vacation I went for one of their biggest more pricier dishes, it had a variety of seafood items, mostly stuffed. Everything was fantastic, the food was superb, drinks were tasty, not strong but okay. One person in our party did not get their food when the rest of us did, so the restaurant wanted to comp him on the meal and bring out a bunch of additional dishes to make up for the lost time! Instead this super nice guy declined the offer and waited patiently for his meal. Well, since he declined they gave all of us, complimentary glassware. Typically given to those that order one of the more pricier mixed drinks. We had one wee one with us, the kid loved it as much as the adults. I was told there is more that can be seen in the basement(additional charges), i.e. a large anaconda and other fish creatures. It was closing time and late, maybe someday I may have the time to return and see them.
The Downtown Aquarium in Houston is so much more than a restaurant - it is a whole day or night of entertainment.
In addition to the delicious food at the restaurant (even if I do feel a little creepy about eating fish after spending time in the gorgeous aquariums) they have so many special events and things to do. Some of the programs offered are to be a biologist or zoologist for a day - you can even spend the night up close and personal, sleeping within inches of the tiger habitat.
Inside the aquarium exhibit, you will see beautifully constructed environments for the rainforest, the Louisiana swamp, the Gulf of Mexico, the Sunken Temple, and the White Tigers of the Maharajah's Temple among other breathtaking sights.
Outside it is like a mini carnival with a Ferris wheel, the drop of the lighthouse dive, an up close look at sharks in the shark voyage, and many other fun games and adventures. The Ferris wheel is a lot of fun and gives you amazing views of Houston.
In addition to all of the things to do at the Downtown Aquarium, they have a very elegant restaurant with top notch food. Everything here tastes fresh and is prepared in a way that will please both adults and kids. This place has a little something for everyone. It is a great way to spend the day with family or friends.
Just watch out for the Great White Shark!
Mas Fertitta - need I say more? He actually wanted to put white tiger cubs inside of cages here - really.
They lost our reservation but made up for it. Our server hard sold us on apps, etc but seemed to take it ok when we all refused. He also tried to tell us to order two bottles of sparkling wine upfront (for 5 drinkers) but was agreeable when we stuck with the one.
The food was pretty good. The fish in the tanks are incredible - really great for those who can be entertained by those types of things. The prices are really high. That's the big downer. The food is average (I never expected the best in such a setting). Actually, the food choices are a lot more sophisticated than I expected - the taste (resulting from average ingredients??) is average. The prices are big. Clearly, there is some fish feeding overhead built into those prices.
The fact that I sit at a table in complete awe of all that's going on inside the GIANT fish tank that makes up the center of the restaurant as I eat one of their cousins is not lost on me, but damn that food is good! lol
Great dining experience, aquarium blows.
We took our daughter out for a celebration outing and boy were we disappointed. Maybe its because I'm from Chicago...a real city...with real public transportation....and real history and museums. Or maybe it's because the little idiot taking my money and skwaking at me through a glass ticket window didn't know her ass from a hole in the ground.
Me: Hi what's the difference between the $15 ticket and the $9 one?
Bitch: The price.
Me: Yes, (courtesy chuckle) but what do I get for the extra money.
Bitch: Stuff outside
Me: Oh, OK. What's outisde? I'v never been here so I don't know.
Bitch: Rides and stuff...
Me: Ok, rides? Ok. What is inside besides the aquarium?
Bitch: Whatever they are doing today
And it went on for several minutes. If I hadn't promised my 5-year-old that she could see the fish, I would have turned around and left. But I had to suck in my anger and continue on. She was awful and so were the displays. Pitiful and not worth the price.
Restaurant
Delicious. A little pricey, but worth it, I though. I had the salmon and it was so good. The dessert was great too and the ambiance was worth the price. The waiter was very nice and explained more to us about the aquarium the idiot selling tickets.
The Aquarium is Fancy but, very unexciting...the theme park stuff is kinda lame...like the parking lot of a fiesta bad...but the animal stuff is pretty cool....the staff was very cool with the animals & talking about them...huh funny @ a restaurant....food was great too...
In my very humble opinion, this place is ludicrous. First of all, why would I want to eat fish while their live fish friends swim around me, staring at me, making me feel guilty. It's really off-putting...or disgusting. I can't decide. The exterior of the building is a total eye-sore, if you ask me. Thank god its hidden away in the far corner of Downtown. Inside has like 9 levels...or at least it seems that way. It seems a ridiculous size for any place that serves food. There are kids everywhere who, being so excited about all the aquariums and rides outside (yes, this place has "rides") that they're screaming and carrying on, making it impossible to enjoy your meal. Not that you would enjoy it anyway considering the food is nothing to write home about. I went with some coworkers once and since I wasn't very hungry I decided to just get an appetizer as my meal. I explain to the waiter just that...that I'm not hungry and that I'll just have a small appitizer. I decided on some kind of sampler plate, assuming it was a sampler for ONE, of course. Oooooh no...the waiter failed to mention it was a sampler plate for about 12 people. He procedes to place the biggest plate I have ever seen on this planet in front of my face, PILED with food that seemed like it was a foot high. I was a little irked that he didn't say anything to me about how large this thing would be. It was a total waste of food. Sorry to be harsh, but this place just isn't my scene. I don't like it at all. And could someone please explain to me what white tigers have to do with seafood?
Special Offers at Pappas…
Neighborhood: Montrose
24 Hour Fitness Free 7-Day…
Neighborhood: West University
Neighborhood: Pecan Park
Category: Seafood
Neighborhood: West University
Category: Seafood
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Burgers
Neighborhood: Montrose
Category: Seafood
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Seafood
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