My husband and I were on the hunt for a great lunch restaurant in Houston, so we tried out Union Kitchen restaurant today. The union kitchen restaurant is located in a small shopping center, and while there is not much parking, there is a large well lit parking garage.

Walking up to the restaurant we noticed, the outside was well kept and clean. When we entered, we were greeted with a friendly smile and eye contact by the hostess.  The hostess gave us a choice of tables to sit at and we picked our desired one and were seated. After being seated, the hostess asked if we needed a drink menu, but we didn’t, so we were given the food menu.

Order’s Arrival 🙂

Within a few minutes, we were greeted by our server. The male server greeted us in a friendly manner and with a smile but did not introduce himself.  We were asked for our drink order, which we gave him, and within a few minutes, he brought our drinks to us.  After delivering the drinks to us, he did tell us what the soup of the day was and what the fish of the day was. The server was knowledgeable of the menu and offered assistance when I asked him about one of the dishes.   The manager delivered the bread to our table. 

We ordered off the lunch menu, which was inserted into the main menu. I asked the server before we ordered if they had a buy one get one free deal that day. The server told me, yes, and the cheaper of the two entrees would be deducted.

The Food at Union Kitchen Restaurant:

I ordered a short rib grilled cheese while my husband ordered shrimp and grits, as well as a side order of Parmesan risotto for an appetizer. The appetizer was delivered within 10 minutes of ordering, and the server set it in the middle of the table.  The appetizer was announced when it was delivered, but it was delivered without a spoon, and we were not offered clean plates for the appetizer. This Parmesan risotto was excellent, it was very cheesy and served very hot.

Our entrees were delivered within 15 minutes of the appetizer.  My husband’s shrimp and grits dish was made with jalapeno white cheddar grits and served in tasso gravy.  In the Tasso Gravy with the grits were red, yellow and green bell peppers and Andouille sausage. 

The gravy was very well seasoned and had great flavor. There were six medium-sized shrimp in the gravy as well; however, the shrimp was not seasoned. It tasted like the shrimp had been cooked in another pan with no seasoning and put into the shrimp and grits at the last minute. 

I ordered a short rib grilled cheese sandwich. This sandwich had a braised short rib off the bone and put on a grilled cheese sandwich that was made with gouda cheese.  This sandwich was served on a toasted brioche bun with two homemade sweet pickles on top of each sandwich half.  On the plate with the grilled cheese sandwich was a small metal ramekin with bacon onion jam and one with au jus dipping sauce.  Homemade potato chips were on the plate also.  The sandwich was very flavorful, delicious, and served hot.   The homemade potato chips were very crispy, tasted wonderful and not greasy. 

The service:

The server checked on us several times and refilled our drinks as needed. At the end of the meal, the server cleared our table, offered to box up the leftovers and he asked us if we wanted dessert. The server brought our check, which was in a small tin box. After reviewing the bill, I noticed, we are not given the buy one get one free offer.  After bringing this issue to the server, he re-did the check and brought it back to us.

Final thoughts:

I would return to this restaurant because the food was tasty, the menu selection was good, and the restaurant was clean. The service was not as excellent as I would expect from a higher class restaurant like Union Kitchen. The fact that there was no spoon in the appetizer, we were not given clean plates, our check was incorrect, even after verifying the special with the server detracted from the service. I am not sure if some of the problems were because it was on July 4th and maybe the regular staff was not available. 

Union Kitchen’s website: http://theunionkitchen.com/

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