Jeff "WTF?" B.'s Profile

I've been to Simone on Sunset now a handful of times and I really do like it, mainly thanks to its spacious patio and friendly service.

On the plus side, it's an attractive little spot, particularly quiet on week nights, with a very helpful staff of bartenders. They offer a nice selection of wine and cocktails that, while not super cheap, are moderately priced.

The atmosphere is laid back and mostly quiet. There is a decidedly older crowd owed to the West U neighborhood surroundings. Most of the patrons I've run into there have been nice and good spirited.

On the middling side, the food is average and probably a little pricey for what they offer. Also, parking can be a challenge, but that's to be expected with the location.

On the negative side, and maybe this is just me, but I'm bothered by the sign on their internet jukebox that reads "No hip hop and R&B or any other offensive music." As my girlfriend and I were sitting on the patio recently listening to crappy lounge electronica, I said to her, "To me, THIS is offensive."

Look, I understand if you don't want people coming in there and throwing down some South Park Mexican, but how is Marvin Gaye or Stevie Wonder a problem? If you really don't want people making those choices, ditch the lame internet music machine and program the music yourselves. It would solve a lot of problems.

Overall, I like Simone. It is a particularly appealing place on Sunday evenings or weeknights. It's not the cheapest place and the music thing is kind of ridiculous, but it's a nice, quiet place to have a glass of wine or a cocktail.

I've been back a number of times since my last review and there are a few things I'd like to add.

First, the staff here is fantastic. My girlfriend and I have been maybe 6 or 7 times in two years and the owner and manager ALWAYS stop by to say hello if they are there. The waiters automatically say "welcome back."

Honestly, I don't care about being recognized at all, but it just demonstrates their customer service levels, which is important at a good restaurant.

Second, while I will say the food can still be hit and miss at times, it is substantially improved. The bacon-wrapped shrimp appetizer and the campechana are among the best I've had anywhere. And I love the fish tacos. Overall, the food has really improved over the last year while still maintaining their personality.

Finally, beware the margaritas. They are very good - slightly less sweet than your average for those who like sweeter drinks - but they are STRONG. I could drink two about twice their size and most restaurants and barely feel a buzz, but not here. Yowza!

On the parking, this is the one spot in Houston where I will never complain about the valet. With three restaurants and a bar in the same, broken down, miniature parking lot, I have ZERO problem paying a valet to handle it for me. Frankly, it's a blessing.

Many years ago, my uncle, who was a mechanic for a trucking company, told me that when he was too busy to work on his own car, this is where he went. I'm not sure it was the same owner, but it was the same place and I started taking my vehicles there not long after.

To me, the best things you can say about an auto shop are that they are fair and do good work. Fixing a car or truck can be expensive and it feels invasive, but these guys make it painless. They'll give you a tow or drive you back to work when you need it. They tell you exactly what is wrong and what it will cost. I've never once had a vehicle sit there for longer than they said it would take - not ONCE.

A couple years ago, my brakes went out...badly. They explained the situation and the bill was almost $1000. I made a few calls to friends who know cars with the estimate and they all said it was fair, maybe even a little below average. I told them that I couldn't afford that much all at once and I didn't have available credit.

They told me it was no problem and asked what I could do. I told them I could give them half now and the rest in a few weeks, but I couldn't be without my truck for that long. They told me it was fine and that if I agreed to pay them within 3 weeks, I could take the truck, no questions asked.

I did and paid them the full amount within a couple weeks. They even did a complete checkup of the truck to see if anything else might be a problem. This is EXACTLY the kind of service I expect from them and why, despite not living in the Heights any longer, they will always be my mechanic of choice.

I went to Gaidos a number of times with my family when I was growing up, but it has probably been 15 years since I had returned, normally opting for Casey's next door over the more expensive sister restaurant, but my girlfriend and I were in town for the weekend and decided to try it again.

The atmosphere is basically the same and the patrons fall decidedly to the right of middle age. Honestly, it felt like we were at a retirement convention. We had to be the only people not on the waitstaff there under 50. It was like being at Kellerman's in Dirty Dancing, but I digress.

The staff was polite and attentive. We had a nice view of the water from our window seat. Like another recent review, points off for the cheesy pop jazz music. Who likes this stuff?

My girlfriend had the lump crab meat sauteed in butter with parmesan tomatoes. I had the fried seafood platter.

The lump crab meat was very good -- a simple preparation served in a bowl. Despite it being a rather small portion, the richness made it more than enough. I didn't try the tomatoes coated in cheese, but they looked decent.

Mine came with fried varieties of catfish, shrimp, a softshell crab and their stuffing balls, which are deep fried balls of the mix they use to stuff grab and shrimp. The catfish may have been some of the best fried catfish I've ever tasted with a light, cornmeal batter. The shrimp was ok, but not even in my top 10. The softshell, likewise, was decent if not amazing. The stuffing balls, like the catfish, were unreal.

I also had some steak fries with it that were delicious.

Honestly, I think you can get quality seafood for substantially lower prices in Galveston and elsewhere. The few signature dishes they have are worth an occasional visit, but not with regularity. I prefer the next door sister restaurant Casey's, but both are very good.

My girlfriend and I had lunch here while staying at the Harbor House Hotel. The restaurant is a fairly large space set in the back of this converted warehouse. There are windows surrounding the dining room and a large, wrap-around outdoor seating area complete with a bar.

Our server was very nice and prompt. In fact, I was very surprised at how quickly our food came out.

The menu is extensive with Greek food and seafood. We also had a brunch menu with a number of interesting items on it. We were not particularly hungry for a big meal, so we opted for pita sandwiches -- mine a gyro and hers a veggie with hummus.

My gf ordered an iced tea that was some of the most bitter tasting tea either of us had ever had. It was like it sat out in the sun WAY too long. She replaced it with a Diet Coke and the waiter didn't charge us without saying a word -- like I said, good service.

The food came out within minutes and her pita was stuffed...and I mean STUFFED...with hummus. It almost seemed impossible to eat. My gyro, likewise, was filled with the classic strips of lamb/beef gyro meat. While perhaps not the best gyro I'd ever had, it was nevertheless quite good.

If we go back, I'd like to get a little more adventurous and try some of the Greek seafood entrees, but I'll be honest, it felt pricey to me. Maybe it was the location on Pier 21 right next to the cruise ship and loaded with tourists, but they had $30+ entrees that seemed far too high considering what was being served.

Also, points off for the cheesy Sirius/XM pop jazz music. Ack.

My girlfriend and I went to Luigi's after hearing good things. Located on the Strand inside an old bank building, the restaurant has a beautiful interior with high ceilings and a vault converted into a wine cellar. Despite the cavernous interior, it had an intimate feel and was not overly noisy even with a room full of guests.

We were seated in a corner near the wine "vault" with a table that seemed a bit oversized for us, but, generally, a nice spot.

The staff was polite and friendly. Our waiter was attentive and made good recommendations, including suggesting a bottle of wine similar to what we ordered, but he believed better and for the same price. Not sure if it was better, but it was very good.

Rather than order full entrees, we decided on several appetizers and one shared entree, so we could try some different things. Our waiter didn't blink and even divided everything up into courses, which worked out perfectly.

We were told that everything was made in the restaurant from the bread and pasta to the sausage and even ice cream. A small loaf of the bread was served with herb-infused olive oil. I'd notice a number of people complaining the bread was served cold, but I think that is the intent of the restaurant and, quite frankly, I don't see what the fuss was about. It was very fresh and delicious.

Our first "course" was a cold antipasti (Antipasti Freddi) -- a combination of Italian sausage, the standard Italian meats and cheeses (mozzarella, prosciutto, etc), tomato, mushrooms marinated in red wine, beef browned and served cold in a tangy sauce and roasted eggplant in a tomato sauce -- basically, an antipasti sampler and asparagus lightly prepared with olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese.

First, the asparagus was nothing special. In fact, it was even a tad bland and seemed like nothing special for the $10 price tag. The antipasti was a mixed bag. The eggplant was stellar as was the sausage, which we both agreed we would love to have as an entree next time. The meats and cheeses were standard antipasti fare and the mushrooms were good, not great. The beef was a bit on the bland side considering how it was prepared.

"Course" two was a deep fried artichoke that was really just average. The light, almost tempura-like batter was wonderful, but the artichoke was barely seasoned and the accompanying marinara dipping sauce was bland at best.

Our entree was tortellini served in a tomato cream sauce. Our waiter brought us each a half portion, which I thought was not necessary, but a very thoughtful thing for him to do. Kudos!

This was, next to the sausage in our appetizer, easily the best thing we had. The tortellini was stuffed with savory herbs and cheese. The pasta was perfectly prepared and the sauce was a delightfully light and creamy sauce that was not the slightest bit heavy or overpowering. The whole thing was absolutely delicious.

After hearing the ice cream was homemade, we decided to have a try and got one scoop each of vanilla, chocolate and pistachio. The latter was, by far, the best. The chocolate was a tad bitter to my taste and the vanilla wasn't as creamy as I would have liked, but not bad.

As a whole, I felt like there were some definite hits and misses. The things that were done well were very good and often because the seasoning was perfect. The hits were basically the opposite -- bland and un-interesting. I'll be back to try the sausage as an entree and consider some of the other pastas, which all looked terrific at the tables around us.

Given the price, I could see how this place would be hit and miss with reviewers. I think knowing what to order here is of particular importance.

My girlfriend and I stayed at Harbor House over the weekend and were really impressed. The hotel is right on Pier 21/Fisherman's Warf, just a few yards from a number of restaurants and with a nice view of the water. It's built out of an old warehouse and they kept a lot of the details throughout the hotel including unfinished ceilings, exposed fixtures and the like.

The cost was fair considering the accommodations -- though the online rate was cheaper than when I checked reservations via phone. The rooms were very clean and nicely decorated. Our room had a nice sized window with a partial view of the water and the marina. The room was quiet -- barely heard a soul the entire stay -- and the bed was super comfortable.

The hotel is within a couple blocks of the Strand, which was a nice change of pace from a more busy locale like the Seawall.

The staff was extremely nice each time we spoke with them and were very helpful when I called needing a late check-in.

A bonus with this hotel comes in the form of access to spa, pool and other amenities at their sister hotels, the Tremont and the Galvez, which includes complimentary valet making parking easy. We took advantage of the Galvez pool.

My only minor gripe would be that they charge $10 per day for parking. I understand parking is at a premium along the Strand, but shouldn't parking be included in the cost of staying at the hotel? My only guess is that they don't own the parking lot, which is a shame.

Also, and this is a VERY minore complaint, like most hotels, they have two sets of curtains -- one that blocks out most of the light, but lets some in and a second set for making it like a tomb in your room -- but only the interior curtains could be closed when the a/c was running because the exterior curtains -- the ones that made it super dark -- covered the intake for the a/c, definitely a fire hazard.

Overall though, very nice hotel and recommended.

A good bar for the slightly older crowd, who shy away from the rowdy throngs at Yaga's. Laid-back yet fun loving and attentive staff, with salty regulars who just want to have a good time. No hard alcohol but they let you have a setup. Perfect for sitting on the strand after a day at the beach and watching the people go by. With killer bands!

I should preface this by saying that I worked for TME in college and I help them with their website today, but, even so, I buy virtually everything from the guys at the little music store on the north side of town because they have great deals and are good guys.

Jim, the owner, is a good friend, but also a fantastic guitar repair person. Honestly, he is WAY under the radar in a town where guitar repair guys are a dime a dozen. He worked on my guitar player's 1960's era Gibson 355 that was given to him by his father. It is an amazing guitar that had serious intonation and wiring issues. When Jim was done with it, my buddy told me it had never played better as long as he'd had it and it sounded like a million bucks.

The only drawback to the store is, because of its size, you won't find every brand under the sun. If you want something obscure or some high end pro audio/recording gear, this is not the place to get it. But, if they have what you want, I doubt you'll get a better deal anywhere in Houston.

I went to this place with my girlfriend a few weeks ago to try it out and was mostly impressed. It was very quiet on the night we went and, despite what appeared to be a mandatory valet, we parked in the lot without incident.

It is beautiful on the inside as others have mentioned with reproduction Tiffany lamps and fixtures all over the place. It has a relatively cozy vibe, which is interesting given the fact it is a pretty big place.

The drinks were moderately prices. We probably had 4 or 5 drinks between us - mixed and martinis - and spent around $25.

My only complaint would be the music selection. It's  very sort of dark and quiet looking place, but they were spinning the 80's music at a pretty loud volume. I'm sure if the place was packed, it might make sense to be louder, but there were 10-15 people in a big place and it was just too loud and really inappropriate for the kind of place. It felt more like a lounge and, to me, that means chill music, jazz and the like.

But, setting that aside - and the fear of being forced to valet - we were both impressed and will go back at some point in the near future.