Why I am Seriously Disappointed with the Houston Texans Grille

I am a HUGE Houston Texans fan and when I heard about them opening up the Houston Texans Grille in City Centre off I-10 and Beltway 8 I could not contain my excitement. I was ecstatic that there would be a place, not too far from where I live, that I could go and watch Texans games with hundreds of other Texans fans. Today, however, the grille seriously disappointed me, and here is why.

First we must flashback to Thursday evening when my wife, daughter, and I stopped by the grille for a live taping of the Houston Texans special. We thoroughly enjoyed the food that we ordered, the service was great, and the ambiance was electric. The theming and decor in the grille is great! There are T.V. screens everywhere and they have walls that change between Battle Red and Deep Steel Blue. Even the men’s restroom has two-way mirrored glass so that the guys do not have to miss a single play!

When we were nearing the end of our dining experience I asked the waitress about showing up to the grille today (Saturday). She recommended that I show up by 11:00 am because the place was going to fill up quick. Boy was she right! I asked about reserving a table for seven people and she said that as long as I showed up early I would be able to hold a table. I verified that I would be to hold the table, by myself, and she said “yes”.

Fast forward to today. After waiting in line for about 30 minutes my middle daughter and I made it to the check-in counter. The grille was not full by any means and I informed them that there would be seven of us. They then informed me that they could not hold a table unless there were 2/3 of the party present. They took me to a table for four and I figured that I could pull up some extra chairs for the rest of my party.

Being as disappointed as I was I asked my server to speak to a manager. I informed the manager of what had happened and he chalked it up to a case of “misinformation”. Wow! Really!? He then told me that even if he held a table for seven that he could not allow the rest of my party in if the place was at capacity. Now, while I understand that the fire marshall would have a $h!t-fit if the place was over capacity I also believe in making the customer happy…even if that means you ensure that there is enough space left for three more customers.

Oh, by the way, did I mention that we were there to not only watch the game but also because it is my mother-in-laws birthday!? She is as big a fan as I am and I wanted her to have a great experience for her birthday. So, I asked the server for my bill, he apologized profusely, and I left one of my ToroTimes business cards for him. His eyes grew to the size of baseballs when he saw the card and now he knows why!

I am seriously disappointed with the Houston Texans Grille. Their waitstaff was either misinformed or uninformed and I do not feel as if the grille did everything possible to make me a happy customer. So, HTG, here’s hoping that your service is better for others than it was for me!