Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide

Eating out is a major past-time for most people living in Houston, so I decided to buy copies of the guide as a thank you gift for all my dissertation committee members. The writing is intelligent, quirky and humorous. I figured even if someone doesn't eat out often, it would still make a good gift because it is a fun read.

I am the 4th to review this and agree with those who went before -- this is a very helpful guide with very detailed and well-written reviews. I disagree with a couple of the reviews of favorites of mine, but I can live with that. I also second the recommendation of the Houston Cheap Eats guide -- many more hole-in-the-wall places are reviewed there.

This is a terrific book and you need to buy it. Today. 'Nuff said. I plan to give copies to everyone on my Christmas gift list this year. I think every Houstonian who dines out regularly should ALSO own Mike Riccetti's "Houston Dining on the Cheap". Also terrific.

This book is shocking, funny and incredibly informative. I love to eat out and can't stand it when I am unhappy with the food or the service - especially if I've paid a lot. This book is my salvation with delightfully written, incredibly candid full-page reviews of hundreds of Houston restaurants. The chef-authors give irreverent and as they say, "brutally honest" reviews of restaurants that other reviewers seem to automatically praise. They reveal their favorite, often-not-on-the-radar, little (and not so little) restaurants, many of which I'd never heard of or had avoided. And so far, for the ones I've tried, they were right on the money. I'm so excited about finding this book. It is worth ten times the price they're charging. Avoiding one bad meal in an expensive restaurant will more than pay for the book. I'm so looking forward to trying the (many) restaurants that got good grades and will be happily avoiding those that didn't make the grade. I'm planning to give it to all my foodie friends for Christmas.

For the first time, Houston has a comprehensive restaurant guide that advises us on where to eat, and where not to eat. As business traveler who visits Houston several times a year, I've spent far too many evenings eating bad meals in bad restaurants--but no more! Unlike the usual travel guide or magazine restaurant reviews that paint all restaurants in an appealing light, this book actually has the guts to tell it like it is. And in a cleverly written, humorous style that can provide hours of sheer entertainment, aside from its value in pointing us to the best places to eat. It's especially fun to read this book if you're familiar with the usual suspects in the Houston restaurant scene, and even more so if you are "foodie" enough to appreciate intricate descriptions of stunning signature dishes, alternated with opinionated denouncements of culinary flops.