Shawn P.'s Profile

This place apparently has new owners since my last review.  The food has become horrible (I can only comment on the Moroccan dishes, not the Indonesian ones which I haven't tried.)  Do you like dried out old lamb shanks that probably have been sitting under a heat lamp for a while?  Ok, maybe it was microwaved, but either way, that meat was terrible.  The couscous is now the store-bought plain stuff, not the subtly spiced couscous that they had before.  The tajin is now just a plate of stuff slopped together and also without much flavor.

Given the quality of the food, I feel like a victim of bait and switch now.  It should have changed names once it became an Indonesian restaurant, and if they can't cook Moroccan food well, why even have it on the menu?  Rename this place Borneo or something and just sell Indonesian food.

I have always been a big fan of the other Tampico, but I have only gone to this location twice.  The food is about as good, although for some reason the cooked dishes don't seem quite the same.  Personally, I prefer to get the ceviche, which is very tasty at both locations.

The setting itself is much nicer than the one on Airline, and there is always plenty of room to eat.  The service is friendly, although they can be a bit slow.

Overall I am a fan of this Tampico and it's currently my go-to place if I'm eating near the airport.

This is the "poor" man's churrascaria.  Ok, not actually for poor people since they still charge quite a bit, but relative to the places on Westheimer that you are familiar with, they are cheap.

The quality of the food is good.  Basically, if I had never gone to the churrascaria that everyone knows and thinks of as a default that is on Westheimer, it would be amazing.  However, having eaten at many churrascarias, I'm going to give this place about 3/5 relative to all the others in terms of quality.  Sure, the meat is great, but they seem to bring out the chicken and pork and other cheaper cuts of beef a lot more frequently, and the picanha is not brought out quite as much.  However, you can tell them what specific cuts of meat you want and they will bring them.  There also is less of a selection than some other places, but it is more than sufficient.  Also, the salad bar is ok, but not great.  If you're going out to eat and drag along a vegetarian, this is not the right churrascaria for you to take them.  It's a typical salad bar that you would find in a pizza place, for example.

The setting, as others have mentioned, isn't nice.  It's dark inside and not well decorated, but it seems clean enough.  Still, the lack of decor shouldn't really matter since you're going here for a buffet of meat designed for a lazy person.  Service is also generally decent, but when things get busy they seem to get confused and forgetful.  As a result, it's not uncommon for them to forget to bring you drinks, sides, etc. after you've told them twice.  I like to eat some cuts of steak with mashed potatoes, and they kept forgetting to bring them to my table last time after I asked at least three times.

I know this review has sounded less than enthused about this place, which seems out of place with my rating.  The fact of the matter is that this place is a decent price for something that is normally a type of food I rarely get.  The quality of the steak is high enough that I really enjoy eating here and can ignore all the bad parts.  Realistically I'd give them 3.5 stars out of five, but I'm being nice so they are rounded up to 4.

This place can be great, or it can be mediocre.  Unfortunately, I haven't found a great way to determine what days are the best to go or what.

The best things on their menu are their fresh fruit juices and their ceviche.  Everything else is not that great.  I've tried their steaks, some other seafood dishes, as well as some pasta, and I just wasn't a fan.  The pasta in particular was actually kind of gross, as it seemed a lot like leftovers with the really dry tomato "sauce" and too much flavor of olives.

The location is comfortable and it's never completely full so you can go and relax.  I've seen families, couples, and individuals eat here with no problems.

Service is a bit iffy sometimes, and great others.  Even with the same wait staff, you really don't know what you're going to get from one visit to the next.  I think this place doubles as a hangout for the family and friends of the owners, so they must go off into a corner to talk to each other sometimes instead of serving customers.  I can't come up with any other logical conclusion.

I will gladly return here for the ceviche, but that would be about it.

I walked in here on their opening day, expecting to see something cool.  Granted, the Kinect displays outside the store are interesting, but can sometimes cause foot traffic jams while trying to walk by.

Inside the store?  It's a little less doctor's office looking than the Apple store, so that's cool, but as other reviewers have stated, it's just not different enough to really provide a reason for me to go in there.  Don't get me wrong -- I'm not a fan of Apple in the least and use all sorts of Microsoft technology with no problems.  It's just that I found the store kind of boring.  I don't care about Microsoft's phone technology, I don't trust their tablets.  I get their software cheaper elsewhere, I didn't see any exclusive or cool stuff for the XBox 360 that I couldn't get elsewhere.  

As expected, their staff tend to be more customer-oriented, so I wouldn't go in there expecting someone to talk to about the best way to integrate Exchange and SharePoint.  For professionals, you should either go elsewhere or better yet have a sales person from Microsoft contact you directly.

For the big marketing blitz that they did, I suppose I expected more.  Still, isn't this the way Microsoft has always been?  Great marketing, middling products, and attempts at copying the successes of their competitors.  I really don't see this store, especially with it's prime location over the ice rink, being profitable for Microsoft.  I doubt this location will survive long enough to see the launch of Windows 8.

I'm a big fan of Mexican breads.  They aren't overly sweet, they aren't as fatty as doughnuts, and the can be just generally tasty.

Tierra Caliente is sort of hidden in the corner of a shopping center, so if you drive around here you may pass it as I have in the past.  However, I tried it upon a recommendation as I didn't feel like dealing with the traffic and hassle of going to my favorite panaderia.

I tried several things -- cajeta and walnut (or pecan?) empanadas, apple empanadas, conchas, and other items that are typical to a place like this.  I was very impressed, and would argue that they compare favorably to any other Mexican bakery in town.  The only place I ding them is that they didn't label their breads, and the staff doesn't seem to know which are which, resulting in my guayaba empanada actually being apple.  It was a very good apple empanada, but still not what I expected.

However, this is overall one of the best panaderias I have eaten at in Houston.  It is nowhere near as popular as other panaderias that I like, which will result in me going to Tierra Caliente more often to avoid the crowds and parking issues.  In the future, I plan to return to try some of their cakes and other dessert items and will update my review accordingly.

It's loud, it's too busy so the staff doesn't really pay attention if you go through the drive through, and they removed all the nice seating arrangements and looks like they pulled their current tables and chairs from some dumpsters.

However, the quality of the drinks and food is consistent with Starbucks quality, and it's the only one I know of in the area with a drive through, so it is useful in that regard.  However, I really just prefer to go elsewhere.  I could go to the Starbucks further up Post Oak in Uptown Park if I wanted to hang out, there are a few inside the Galleria, and if I want to run in and out quickly the one on Westheimer I believe off of Fountain View is sufficient.

The bottom line is that unless you are already in this shopping center or really need a drive through, you should avoid this Starbucks.

I ate here for lunch not too long ago and I have to say that I wasn't totally impressed.  This place was ok, but kind of meh in my opinion.  The food was not great, sort of Tex-Mexish.  The service was extremely slow.  The prices were too high for what you get.  Maybe this place is better for supper, but I probably won't really care to go there again.

When I don't care about eating healthy food, this is where I go.  Well, that's only partially accurate.  I normally go across the street from British Isles to get a piece of cake, then come over here to buy cookies, scone mixes, and most importantly, candy.

You see, I grew up with some of the candy selection here, and it's really hard to find in Houston.  Sure, you can get a lot of the chocolates at other places, but it's different.  For example, let's discuss Malteasers.  These are the British version (and perhaps original) of what we Americans call "Whoppers".  However, these are distinct from Whoppers in that Malteasers have much better chocolate, unlike that pukey bile tasting Hershey's chocolate.  Also, the malted center of it tastes better, as if it were sweetened with honey instead of HFCS.  That being said, Malteasers are superior to Whoppers in flavor.  I can find Malteasers at several grocery stores, but usually they have the ones that come from the Middle East rather than the U.K.  I'm not sure what the difference is, but it does taste a little off to me.  British Isles, fortunately, carries the original U.K. variety and I've never had any chocolates from there that taste bad.  That being said, I always walk out of here with a good selection of chocolates, especially a tin of Cadbury Roses.

The other really cool thing about this place is if you come around Christmas time.  They have loads of traditional Christmas things, especially foods.  Again, I load up on sweets here around Christmas time, and get a yummy disposable advent calendar here every year.

As to the down side of this store, there are a few minor inconveniences.  Firstly, they close too early for my taste, making it impossible for me to go there on a weekday unless I rush over at lunch.  Secondly, I am a big oaf.  As a result, I am always a bit paranoid here, since I have to walk past all the breakable knickknacks on my way to buy what I'm really looking for.  Additionally, their prices are not cheap.  While I can't really give them a good comparison on the prices of their imports, they do carry some things available in other grocery stores that seem more expensive here.  Granted, they don't have the same haggling power as the big chains do, but you should keep this in mind as you shop here.

Overall, this place is a place that I try to avoid, but love visiting whenever I go.  The owners and staff are very friendly, helpful, and make it easy for you to die of diabetes as you gorge yourself on yummy imported things.  Perhaps one day I'll buy myself a new shillelagh from here, or my first tea set and update this review, but for now I'm just sticking with the candy and cookies.  Yum yum.

Starbucks is basically the same everywhere, this being no exception.  The drinks and pastries were consistent with every other Starbucks I've been to.  The service was good, as usual, with the staff being friendly.

Really, there isn't much to say, this is just like every other Starbucks you've gone into and forgotten about.