Central Standard

I was here for a Paint Nite. I did not have any food, heard it was super over priced. They did have a good riesling wine though. Very spaced out and I would like to come back here to try the food for the true dining experience. Parking was a little confusing, as to where the visitor garage parking was.

Had a lunch meeting today (didn’t think it was appropriate to take a picture of my food) but the turkey burger was amazing… very moist. The service was great and the menu selection looks amazing.
The restaurant is clean and roomy. I can’t wait to come back and visit again.

Since I stay in the same building as this place I thought I would go in for some afternoon lunch. I walked in and was acknowledged by no one. The bartender continued to chat with someone else. No waiters, no menus, no service. After sitting at the bar for 15 minutes I left.
The menu didn’t look that good either. The drink selections seemed no better than any other regular bar. Guess I won’t be spending any of my money at this place ever.

I’d be willing to give them another chance. I came here on a Friday for happy hour with 4 other friends.
Atmosphere: The restaurant is really nice, spacious and the service was friendly. However, it is really REALLY slow (aka.dead) for a Friday! There was nobody in here around 6 and it remained that way until we left around 8.
Drinks: They had good drink specials (well drinks for $ 4 and select beers for $ 5). The drinks were good… no complaints.
Food: The bacon mac/​cheese was really good and so was the hummus. My sister enjoyed the sliders. The wings were fried wayyyyy too hard and the poutine tots were straight up disgusting.
Overall, I’d come back but only if I brought my own party to the place.

The food, the atmosphere, the people, the service… ALLL wonderful! You’ll love it :-))
Definitely worth the happy hour discounts on current menu. Try it… You’ll be a regular in no time!

I want to preface this post by admitting what a picky eater I am. In order to be impressed with a dish it must contain an adequate balance of the food groups, in an interesting and cohesive combination of flavor, be cooked to perfection – all while gratifying my taste buds. Surprisingly most of the dishes Central Standard are able to stand up to the scrutiny of my so-​very-​sophisticated palate – while simultaneously appealing to my desire for novelty (the menu is quite unique).The several times I’ve been to this restaurant I’ve never left without getting a side of the crispy brussel sprouts-they’re that good. Who knew such a sad vegetable could be such a source of mouth watering, crunchy goodness? I certainly didn’t. I’ll also go ahead and recommend the poached pear salad, while I’m pushing the sprouts on you. It [the salad] was recommended to me by my server and is by far one of the best salads I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. It comes with these delicious sangria poached pears, blue cheese, candied pecans (yum), and of course your leafy greens – add some chicken to that for a few more bucks are you’ve crossed out 5 of the 6 food groups, but who eats gluten these days anyway – so 2009.
So now that I’ve written a menu description worth of being printed out framed, let me introduce you to the staff while we take a tour. The first person you’re going to see upon entering the establishment is a smiling bartender. The only time I sat at the bar I was tended by Shamus. Really nice guy, ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend. On top of being friendly he’s got an Irish name, so it doesn’t really get much better. I asked him if his last name was O’Malley and got a chuckle – bonus point for laughing at my joke, Shamus – ¹¹⁄₁₀. Continuing on our tour, immediately to the right of the front-​and-​center bar, you’ve got the main dining area. It’s incredibly open and spacious, with a relaxed, rustic feel, and a good balance of natural/​artificial lighting. I prefer to sit at a booth to avoid getting a glare on my laptop screen (I often come in at lunch time and want to get some work done… or write Unilocal reviews). They do have free wifi so this is a definite plus compared to a lot of the competing local restaurants that have more of a get-​in-​get-​out approach to dining. There is also a private dining room in the far corner of the restaurant, separated from the open space by large glass doors. From pretty much any seat in the house you’re in full view of at least one giant flat screen TV, usually the channel is set to sports or news. If it’s slow I’ll ask my server to change the channel to whatever it is I’m in the mood for that day – they’ve always been more than willing the couple times I’ve asked. More often than not there has only been a few other diners seated near me, so my servers have always been very attentive and helpful. I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting the chef. Once I had several specifications about how I wanted my burger prepared (like I said, picky) and the dish was hand delivered by the chef. He made sure everything was to my liking and asked if there was anything else I needed. Meeting the chef is kind of like meeting a mini-​celebrity… so yeah, it was kind of a big deal.
One last thing and I promise to wrap this up, the happy hour menu will fill you up for pennies on the dollar. I believe it lasts from 4 – 7 and has a wide array of drinks and appetizers. I take advantage of the happy hour savings at least once a week since I’ve discovered Central Standard and now I’m that much close to affording to send my unborn child to Dartmouth. Thank you Central Standard for all that you do!
The only disconcerting thing I’ve noted at this restaurant is the lulls in business. Some days are definitely slower than others, but it is a relatively new establishment trying to break into an extremely competitive market. I think it’s important to support your new, local businesses so definitely consider me a loyal patron!

So the idea is that all the food is from the Central Time Zone? Um… what? OK sure. We’ll roll with it.
This is one of those places that I’m torn about how many stars to give it. Our server was… odd, I guess. I felt like he was trying to be charming but instead seemed off.
We ordered our drinks and my dining companion loved hers but mine was really strong (ordered my standard old fashioned) but then I realized that it was not properly mixed. Once I stirred it, then it was tasty.
We started with the parmesan truffle tots which were a bit heavy handed with the truffle oil to me. Then we split the blue cheese/​poached pear salad which was amazing. I had the tuna tacos and she had the blackened catfish poboy. The tuna was good quality and the tacos would have been great, except they were completely without seasoning. No salt, no pepper, nothing. Since my friend had the tacos before she definitely thought they forgot to actually season the fish. She liked her sandwich.
Then we waited and waited for a bill. Our server must have been released for the evening because a bartender finally brought our bill, without asking us if we wanted dessert or another drink.
They need to work on their service issues and consistency. I hope they work it out because the space is airy and attractive.

We have had reservations here 5 days in advance, and today (Saturday at 4pm the day of the res) they just called to «cancel» our reservation. Um what?
Who knows how the food is; won’t be back.

What can I say the food is amazing but that is only if you can get someone to seat and serve you. We purchased a groupon and decided to check it out during brunch.
On the first visit, despite mentioning the group twice we ended up paying full price.
The second visit for brunch, despite being the only customers in the entire establishment and standing next to what I assume was a hostess on her phone sitting in a chair ignoring us with her feet up on the hostess stand, and watching managers and a bartender completely ignore our presence we decided to walk out and request a refund from groupon.

Without a doubt, this restaurant will not survive the year. We went on a Saturday night, and the place was practically dead. Should have been a sign to turn around right then, but we had a Groupon and were interested in the concept, so we decided to stick it out.
Problems:
1. No hostess at stand ever, the entire time.
2. We had four different servers, with no explanation why. I believe it was because our first server (after getting apps and a round of drinks) asked the manager to be cut, and then handed us off. We never saw her again. What kind of idiot manager lets someone leave halfway through a table?
3. The only redeeming food was the poutine tots. Deviled eggs (recommended by server #1) were overwhelmed by buffalo sauce. That’s literally the only taste we got. The wedge salad came out without dressing (to which server #3 told us they were trying out a new «salad chef» and he was probably going to be fired after that night), and was very skimpy. Foot-​long grilled cheese was greasy and had weird aftertaste. First round of drinks was great, but the second one I ordered came out with such a strong pour (likely because they knew we had waited more than 30 minutes to get them) it tasted horrific.
4. Finally, not once did a manager approach our table (not even sure who was the manager, because of the lack of uniforms/​anyone demonstrating authority) to check on us, apologize for the issues, etc.
Don’t waste your time — plenty of other great restaurants just blocks away.

Tasty! A little loud. Ok, I’m really disappointed! Food was not at what I was hoping for. Mediocre at best! Filet was fatty, mashed potatoes were simply warmed up, asparagus grilled hard, not soft, and I don’t even know what the F was with the mushroom deal. What were they? Christian is an ok bartender, but this place is Uptown extended from McKinney Ave. Over priced wine for the meals they’re serving. Plus it’s club loud in here with shitty music. I might as well GLEE this shit out in here. I won’t be back! The stars are for the Christian and that’s about, the décor is very similar to Prime Bar and this joint is in Design District so it should be over the top design and feel wise.

Congratulations Central Standard! You win my worst restaurant of 2013 award!
On my way to work I commonly see signs for a happy hour at Central Standard, so one night, I decided to check it out. We arrived on a Wednesday or Thursday evening and there wasn’t a soul in the dining room, though there was a handful of people in the bar area. We requested to be seated in the dining room because we were accompanied by my 5 year old nephew. We asked our server what was on the happy hour menu and he notified us that we could not order from the happy hour menu because we were seated in the dining room (which, if you’ve seen the restaurant’s layout, is within eye-​view and about 5 feet away from the bar area). We were upset about this because (1) we were the ONLY people in the dining room, I mean, if we’re your ONLY customers, you’d think you could cut some slack. I would understand if the dining area was packed and the restaurant only wanted to reserve the specials to those who sit in the bar, (2) none of the happy hour signs noted it was only offered in the bar area, (3) the bar area and the dining room pretty much connect and are right next to each other
But anyways, moving on. I admit, the server was really nice, but he was also very unprofessional and clueless.
Additionally, IF YOU HAVE KIDS, there are NO accommodations for kids. There is no kids menu and there are no adjustments they can make to the menu to make it kid friendly at all. We ordered the jalapeño mac and cheese for my nephew, and despite his promises to tell the staff to cut the jalapeño, the mac and cheese still came out too spicy.
The food itself? I can’t even think of one thing we had that was «good». Sadly, none of the food had any kind of wow factor and was hands down, the worst dining experience I’ve had all year.
We ordered:
1. smoked chicken wings — tastes like the kind you can get from your freezer and pop in the oven
2. spicy calamari
3. poached pear and blue cheese salad with chicken
4. central bacon burger — according to the boys, putting this burger on a pretzel bun is the worst idea in history
5. pulled chicken tacos
6. parmesean truffle tatter tots
and out of all of the above, everything was horrible. What a disappointment

My husband and I went to Central Standard on a Friday night to try it out since we had a coupon from the Passport to Savings book that comes in the mail quarterly. There were about 8 – 10 people at the bar and absolutely nobody in the dining area. It felt a little awkward, but three other tables filled up while we ate. Still, it didn’t give me the «Friday night vibe» I was looking for.
The waitress was very helpful and patient, especially when we needed a few more minutes several times. We started with the hummus appetizer which came with pita chips and cucumbers. It was only half hummus, the other half was a black olive dip. I’m fine with that and it was tasty on the cucumbers, but my husband does not eat black olives so he was a little disappointed that half of the appetizer was not what we expected.
I had the pulled chicken tacos and substituted my fries for brussels sprouts. The tacos were good, but nothing super special. The order was four tacos which was more than I could eat so my husband helped me out with that. The brussels sprouts were delicious, but they were extremely salty so I could only eat about half of them. He had the burger and enjoyed it, but again, it was just a burger, nothing super special about it.
The décor is beautiful. I really like the rustic wood look and the oversized booths are great even for just two people. The TVs are placed well so it’s easy to see them no matter where you are sitting. So, this is probably a great place to watch football. Maybe we’ll check it out again in October.

Stumbling into this place during an ice storm was a great decision. The ambience is awesome and meets many wants — place to grab a drink, a bit to eat, lounge around, etc. With a group of 7, we camped out in the corner couch area — it was perfect. They were able to fill the requests for Irish coffee (make sure you request it been piping hot because the first round they added cold milk to the coffee). The hubs wanted a spiked root beer float… Oh boy. This was interesting bc instead of just pre-​making it, the waitress basically brought out 7oz of ice cream, the bottle of root beer and a glass of whiskey for a «DIY experience.» At the end, he was just charged for a bottle of root beer and whiskey.
Now on to the best part of the day — the dessert. We opted for both the chocolate cake (AMAZING) and the carrot cake (INCREDIBLE). The chocolate came was hot and fudge-​like and the side of ice cream was a perfect complement. Though I’m not normally a fan of carrot cake, this one nearly converted me.
All in all a great evening of drinks and dessert with friends. Based on the menu, my next venture here will definitely be for brunch!

Went last night with my husband. I wasn’t expecting much because the place was empty but I had a Living Social deal and didn’t think I had much to lose.
The food was phenomenal. I had the Mexibano which consisted of pulled pork, candied bacon and avocado. The bread was too thick but the filling was flavorable. My husband had the pecan crusted catfish with fried brussel sprouts and slaw. Outstanding. We were so surprised that the food was so good. Our waitress was great too. The place looses a star because the water is not filtered. Our waitress told the manager and he replied that you can buy bottled water. The bad ice mentioned in another review is due to the unfiltered water. For an upscale place like this you would think a water filtration system would be a standard investment.
Oh well, I will definitely try this place again for the food and the service if not the water.

Here on a slow Friday night. First visit. First review.
Great ambiance, warm and comfortable. Dimly lit and cozy.
Friendly staff, helpful and don’t oversell. Drink snobs go elsewhere. Limited bourbon selection and bad ice. Those who care know what mean. Good beer selection however. Thoughtful selection of domestic, craft and local deliciousness. My favorite IPA on tap, Houston’s own Saint Arnold’s Elissa.
Menu has variety and originality. Certainly an upgrade from pub fare. Tried the gumbo as a starter. Roux a little thick for my palette, but still dark and flavorful. The beer can chicken is well presented, tender and moist. Opted for the Brussels sprouts vs. Hand cut fries. Cooked to perfection, a little greasy and crisp. With a little salt they proved to be an adequate accompaniment to the Lone Star Half Chicken. Better be hungry to order the full.
All in all, I will be back. Not a destination location, but come here to watch a game (good tv’s) and enjoy the ambiance, creative menu and craft beer selection. How do I give 3.5 stars?

Went for a brunch with friends, but left fairly disappointed. The build out is AWESOME! This would be a great spot for outdoor drinks or watching games on the TV. Plenty of open space.
Once you get past the front door, then it all stops there sadly. The brunch was new, so nobody understood how to operate apparently. I guess 11 am is still considered late by some standards as we had to knock on the door to have them let us in. Once we were seated as group #1 of the day, we waited patiently for a server. He knew nothing on the menu and actually admitted as much. Not his fault that he hasn’t tasted anything on the brunch menu.
The problem was that it took forever for our food, they were out of orange juice for mimosas and the girls said they had no toilet paper in the bathroom. Wait??? We were literally 1 of 4 groups there total!
I would probably not come back. The food is overshadowed by the poor service.

Another solid, new restaurant opening in the Design District! A friend of mine and I checked it out last night and really enjoyed ourselves… great space, great food with beautiful presentation and fun service (a rocky start, but definitely smoothed out by the end).
We tried the warm pretzels and roasted red pepper hummus to start… huge portions, beautiful presentation of the hummus and very tasty too.
I had the salmon for my entrée and it was great… perfectly prepared and again, a very pretty dish.
We shared the carrot cake with a side of pumpkin pie ice cream… such a nice compliment and a great way to end the meal!

In trying to figure out what to do for dinner, my boyfriend threw out a suggestion for some restaurant I’d never heard of. «What’s that? What piqued your interest?» I asked. His answer: «Because it seems like our kind of restaurant.» 10 points for the boyfriend… he nailed it.
We ate there 6 days after it opened (and around 8:00 on a Wednesday), which explained why we were one of very few people in the restaurant. I expect that to change once word gets out. Deciding what to eat was very difficult, so we ordered a variety of things, thus ensuring us delicious leftovers for dinner the following night.
Our waiter was fantastic. He answered all of our questions and chatted with us and joked around whenever he visited. He educated us on the name: «Central Standard» references our time zone and they specialize in food that represents various places within our time zone. Which explains why specialities from places like New Orleans, Chicago and Canada (mmm…poutine!) coexist on the menu.
Ok, so my Canadian friend freaked when I posted a picture of the poutine of FB and informed me that it was NOT real poutine (I’m guessing she had a problem with the pulled pork and egg on top), but that mattered not a bit to me, because it was delicious. As was my poached pear salad. And the deviled eggs.
Our waiter apologized for not having a fully stocked bar yet (no ginger beer = no mule for me), but with 25 beers on tap, you won’t go thirsty. They also «only» have 1 dessert so far (carrot cake), but with the extensive menu, chances are you’re not going to make it that far anyway.
The interior is huge, but still feels cosy with its reclaimed wood and leather.

The place is pretty cool. Great music and amazing service from waiter Mitch. I started with the deviled eggs and they were pretty good, followed by the pulled chicken tacos. Overall a really good experience and we needed a place like this in the design district.