Hughie’s

Shaking chicken and beef are AAAaamazing! So fresh and delicious! The staff is wonderful helpful and composed even when they are slammed! Beer and wine specials mon-​thurs! You just can go wrong!

I never remember that this is the best Vietnamese food in town. With a name like Hughey’s… It just doesn’t sound Vietnamese.

I have been here about 5 times since I moved down the street. This place rocks for a few reasons. Number 1 — they have a spectacular beer selection. Number 2 — they have astounding beer specials on Tuesday and Wednesday. Number 3 — they have unique and toothsome food selections.
My favorites on the food menu are the beef banh mi, grilled pork banh mi, fried pork (say what??) banh mi, and the shaking beef. The shaking beef meal comes with this delicious kale salad that will keep me returning for more. Their banh mi sandwiches are $ 5 (except the fried pork is $ 6 and not on the menu), and they are very filling (beware of the fresh jalapeño on them… its usually very hot… so hot that it can burn your lip).
My only issue with this place is sometimes you get a bartender who does a horrid job of interacting with customers (read: doing his job). The bartenders rarely (never?) introduce themselves when you sit down. One of them does an awful job of clearing empty plates/​glasses, asking if you need more food/​drink, asking for check, etc… Even when they aren’t busy the bartender is like that. It doesn’t really bother me because I’ll just holler out to them and tell them what I need/​want done. But I went with a friend once, and the my friend was really irked by the lack of attentiveness by the bartender. Oh well, I keep returning for the good and cheap beer and food.

I will not be back here. One of the worst Vietnamese restaurants in Houston and I’ve been to a lot of them.
The only flavor I could taste was the sriracha. I got the spring rolls and pork vermicelli bowl. The noodles were basically mush — way over cooked.

First of all let me just start by saying I’m definitely coming back. I had the shaking beef with steamed rice and kale salad. Every component of this meal was so flavorful.
I’m new to Houston but I get the feel that I’ll be coming back to Hughies. It’s got a chill vibe, awesome selection of beers and the restaurant is very clean. When I was leaving at 5 pm the parking lot slowly started to be full and I can totally see why.

Came here to order banh mi and soup to-​go and here are my thoughts…
Pros: price is great for what you get, didn’t expect the banh mi to be as large as it is, atmosphere seems pretty laid back, Thai tea was good.
Cons: Order took more than 30 mins to receive as we were one of the first customers in the door and people who came in after us sitting down had their orders out way before we had our to-​go order ready, banh mi was soggy and not flavorful, soup was not up to par either.
Overall, I’d say it’s average but probably won’t come back again. Much rather go to Roostars Vietnamese Sandwich instead. Quick, flavorful and friendly staff.

Hughie’s is always good! I love coming here for lunch. When I first started coming here they were never very busy but now they are always packed and still serve good food and friendly service! My favorite thing is the pork vermicelli bowl with an egg roll.

Food here is good but not the best. The shaking beef is not tender and juicy enough. The kale salad was good. Burger was decent but not really outstanding. We didn’t try the beer so might be our missing. As a Vietnamese I would say the food here is definitely not up to my standard but they fuse well with sides. Good to hang out with friends and eat something rather than typical burger.

I come here for lunch all the time and this place is always bumpin’. I absolutely love the chicken fried rice, so garlicky. I am a big fan of their kale salad. I usually get the side kale salad with a banh mi and it’s the perfect amount of Food for me. The fried egg rolls are traditional Vietnamese style and we’re nice and crispy. I still need to try their chicken strips and burger, but looks and sounds delicious.

I caught up with a friend at Hughie’s, which is maybe a 5 minute drive away from my house. I really don’t know why I haven’t been here before… oh wait, it’s because it gets CRAZY busy!!! And the parking scares me off. But I got here at 5:30 and grabbed a spot and seat with no problems.
I ordered the Shaking Beef Fried Rice, which is really just a sweet, salty, spicy stirfry atop some fried rice. But oh man, the beef is super tender filet that just melts in your mouth — very atypical from your usual beef stirfry, and very much worth the premium you pay for having better beef.
One thing that drove me and my friend slightly nuts is that our (very nice) server was checking up on us every 5 – 10 minutes asking if everything was ok, even when we were just sitting there talking. The service here is TOO attentive! While I know people will appreciate that, for me it was just a little too overwhelming, as we just wanted to be left in peace.
Even then, I would definitely come back to Hughie’s on a whim — a pub with Vietnamese food is kind of niche in the city (much less the neighborhood), and it’s a very appreciated niche here in Greater Heights.

Good beer and good people! Got a couple samples of beer before making my decision. It was a comfy environment. It’s a great casual spot.

Solid place located in the Heights. They service Vietnamese food (traditional dishes along with fusion ones) with lots of beers on tap. I usually always get the Shaking Beef Kale Salad because the beef they use is so tender, soft and flavorful which is served over a Kale salad mix w/​feta cheese, tomatoes, onion, cucumber, dried cranberry, bell pepper & top w/​nuts (how hipster is that). I also like their rice dish which is served with your choice of meat. I usually get the combo.
One of my favorite dishes they only service during winter is Phở and it’s the best I’ve had in all of the heights. The broth is packed with lots of flavor! I heard rumors that they might bring it back for Sunday brunches, if so I’m there!
They have lots of beers on tap and it changes from time to time so take a look at the big beer board. They have daily specials (one of half off wine bottles) so keep a look out. This is one of the first Vietnamese restaurants in the height and is now a corner stone bar/​restaurant in the area. Keep on doing what you do and I’ll keep eating and drinking here.

I’ve been to Hughie’s SEVERAL times with my boyfriend and friends.
My boyfriend usually gets the shaking beef or the banh min burger. For some reason Hughie’s probably has the BEST french fries ever. They’re soft on the inside and have a really great crispy texture on the outside.
I always get the pork vermicelli bowl. It’s consistently great. My few complaints are that the pork pieces in the bowl are a bit too big, I wish there were more greens/​carrots, and usually Vietnamese places give you a bit more fish sauce than Hughie’s. These are really just tiny nit-​picky things, though.
Sometimes we will order the ribs as an appetizer and they are ALWAYS off the chain. I like the beef ribs the best. The pork are great as well, but the beef always have an excellent texture. They are usually thin and lightly fried. They have tons of flavor on their own, but the side sauce is irresistible. I always appreciate a nice roasted pepper, as well.
The food is pretty good, but the food quality isn’t the real reason to come here. The reason I keep coming back is because there aren’t many places where you can order Vietnamese food, American food, and craft beer all in the same place. And if there were other places like this, I’m not sure if the quality would be as consistently good, or the wait staff as awesome. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable, the parking isn’t shit, it’s not overly crowded, there’s usually decent music playing, there’s always a new beer on the menu, and it’s consistently enjoyable.
Also for some reason their bus boy/​water guy is ON TOP of things. That guy has to have like… some sort of radar that detects water glasses when they’re ¹⁄₃ full. It’s not like he’s constantly bothering you either. He swoops in and out in seconds. Whoever you are, bus guy, you need some kind of award.
Anyways, If you’re looking for blow your mind Vietnamese food, you might be disappointed. There’s so many places in Houston and Conroe (surprisingly) for that. But if you’re looking to have some good food, drink a few beers, and not set your wallet on fire, you’re going to really enjoy this place.

I got some new tires in the area so checked out Hughie’s for dinner around 7 on a Friday. Hughie’s is a cool mix of a tavern and a Vietnamese restaurant with give or take 30 parking spots. The restaurant was also full when I arrived and there was a wait when I left. Hughie’s has a robust beer selection and a casual atmosphere.
There most popular dish, which I went with, was the shaken beef. Cubes of marinated beef with white rice and a kale salad. I added an egg roll and a fried egg to take things up a notch. The portion sizes aren’t huge by any means so you’re probably not going to have leftovers. Cubes of beef don’t add up to too much. Hughie’s reminds me of Mai’s in Midtown due to the similarity in the popular dishes that each location shares.
Hughie’s is Americanized Vietnamese as they also have burgers and chicken tenders with a Viet twist. They also have an appetizer sampler that allows you to pick three apps of your choice. Service was good, especially with a busy restaurant. Lemonade was so-​so. I’m used to having top-​notch lemonade at Vietnamese restaurants. Should’ve had a beer, I learned my lesson.

This place has improved tremendously since it first opened and I’m glad I finally gave it another shot. A couple of years ago I tried Hughie’s with a group of friends and was not very impressed. The food was mediocre at most at the time but I remember liking their beer menu.
Yesterday I decided to come back with my boyfriend and his friend who shares the love for Vietnamese food and gets excited when he thinks he can order in Vietnamese… *roll eyes* This time, the ambience was much livelier. We actually had to wait 10 – 15 minutes for a table which I didn’t mind… A few years ago, this place was pretty much empty.
We all ordered the shaking beef with fried rice as suggested by yours truly. I had this same dish before but I enjoyed it a lot more this time around. I literally ate EVERYTHING on my plate… there was not even a speck of rice left. The guys really liked it as well.
The $ 2 beer special is awesome. Not sure if it’s different beers on different days but yesterday (Wednesday) was Firestone’s Velvet Merlin and Saint Arnold’s Spring Bock.
I had such a good experience the second time around that I’ve pretty much forgotten what it was like the first time. I’ll be back again and will try the vermicelli because it looked really good!

Loved the entire vibe and aesthetic they had goin on.
Have had multiple people tell me to try it out. I was skeptical being Vietnamese myself but today was the day.
Walked in and stood around for half a second, before being greeted by a friendly waitress who told us to have a seat wherever.
We chose a spot outside on the little patio area and decided on some beers they had on special ($ 2!!!).
I ordered the sampler trio with shrimp spring rolls (rice paper way too chewy and did not like the peanut sauce at all), sweet chili wings (perfectly crispy and yum!) and the egg rolls. The egg rolls were so good… like, take one bite and you can determine they’re amazing, good.
Our waitress was good, just looked honestly so miserable the entire time.
I ordered the Banh mi burger, I was having the toughest time choosing. There were so many good options.
She asked if I wanted everything that came with it, I asked for everything on the side and so glad I did. The fresh jalapeños that were served with it would’ve killed me.
I liked the idea of the it. The meat was really reminiscent of like Thit Nuong. The burger itself was not juicy. It was actually rather dry and the kitchen forgot my spicy aioli so that didn’t help. After I put everything together it was better, just not the best.
My friend got the Shaking Beef with my suggestion and she really liked it. She was surprised she liked the kale salad as she is usually opposed to kale anything. The sauce served on the side is not dressing but typically eaten as a dipping sauce to go with your beef. That’s how I’ve always eaten it. We love our lemon pepper sauce
I’d love to come back and the the other dishes. It’s a great concept in the neighborhood.

Came here on a Tuesday night around 7:30. It was busy but had a few tables open. Seat yourself. Service was great. Lots of beer choices. I never would have guessed they served Vietnamese food based on the name.
Odell 5 Barrel is very smooth. $ 5 for pint.
Lone Pint Yellow Rose is ok. I’m not a fan of IPAs. $ 6 for pint.
Dumplings ($ 7): ~8 dumplings. Choice of fried or steamed. We had fried dumplings. It was good but not much inside. ⁴⁄₅
Vietnamese egg rolls ($ 6): 4 egg rolls. Some of the best egg rolls I’ve ever had. ⁵⁄₅
Shaking beef with fried rice ($ 12): really good and tender. Beef had a sweetness to it. ⁵⁄₅
Filet mignon steak ($ 16): grilled to your liking, sunny side egg, sausages over a bed of caramelized onions, with house pâté & baguette slices. The dish smells amazing! Steak was more of a medium instead of medium rare like I had requested but still good, tender. Onions were great; wish I had more on my plate! Pâté was different… creamy, not sure if I like it. Baguette wasn’t crispy :(4/​5
I’ll order the shaking beef next time I return.

FINALLY I had SHAKING beef!!! So I decided to update my review. It’s a tavern with American Vietnamese food! Full bar, tvs, and foods!
On the menu there are starters, banh mi, hughies baskets, burgers, rice platters, fried rice with shaking with various meats or vegetable, vermicelli bowls, hughies specialties, salad, kid’s menu, sides, desserts, and alcohol menu.
We started with the starter trio: 2 spring roll with peanut saucd, 4 fried dumplings with spicy soy sauce, and 2 Vietnamese egg rolls with fish sauce.
Under the hughies specialties I ordered the shaking beef flame broiled filet mignon cubes served with steamed rice & kale vinaigrette salad. It was really good. But I had a few complaints. The meat was super chewy. I like my beef medium rare or medium. The filet mignon cubes were well done. But the flavor was really good! I normally don’t like kale, but this kale salad was delicious! On the other hand I didn’t know they had bell peppers in the kale salad. Cause I’m allergic to bell peppers. I had a slight reaction. I just washed it down with some Southern star bombshell.
My boyfriend got his Banh mi sandwich with grilled pork. Toasted baguette with pickled vegetables, grilled pork, sliced cucumbers, sliced jalapeños, cilantro, vietnamese mayo. The only complaint he had was the sandwich got smaller. Other than that its excellent!

We love banh mi’s and Vietnamese food, so this sounded like a great place.
It has a Tavern feel.
We went at lunch and they were busy but luckily we found a table.
The service is quick and friendly. They kept our drinks filled and brought out our food faster than we expected. She said in the mornings they have 2 cooks so food comes out faster.
We started with fried dumplings and Vietnamese egg rolls. The eggrolls were fresh out of the fryer and really crispy. They are served with lettuce, shredded carrots, and 1 stem of cilantro.
The fried dumplings come 8 to an order. I really like the dipping sauce, but I added some hoisen too. A bit of a crunch yet still soft.
Heath ordered the quick lunch banh mi fried egg with fries. The fries are crispy with light seasoning.
Banh mi bread has a crunchy exterior. The vegies were crisp. He got it with beef and said next time he would get pork or chicken as some of the beef was chewy and slightly tough.
I got the shaken beef fried rice. The rice is cooked well not salty and low seasoning. I sprinkled hoisen and siracha. The beef was inconsistent some was slightly charred, well done while another was medium rare.
I like their fresh lemonade, but no refills.
We would return.

A few girlfriends and I went to Hughie’s last night for dinner. I had never heard of the place, but a girlfriend of mine had read about it recently in CultureMap. So, we patronized. They had a special on a couple of beers, so I opted for a $ 2 Czech Pilsner — it was quite good. 1 star for that!
Our waiter/​server was amazingly helpful and very patient with our split checks. So, 1 star for that!
Then, we ordered. We weren’t feeling creative, so around the table, there was another $ 2 beer called a «Rawah» (and she loved hers), Shaking Chicken, Shaking Veggie, and a Shaking Beef. Minus the meat/​veggie substitute, each of plates came with rice and a kale salad with some sort of side dressing/​sauce. My friend poured the sauce over her rice and said it was both too tangy and oddly peppery. So, I thought, well, I’ll pour it over my kale salad, so I can still enjoy my rice. Well, that didn’t work. The only parts of my meal I enjoyed was the meat and the rice. I just couldn’t digest the sauce/​dressing on the kale! My girlfriends, however, LOVED their meals and cleaned their plates.
So, I’m giving this place 3 stars because the majority of my party enjoyed it, and maybe I was having an off-​day.

Hughie’s is a great concept. My boyfriend and I were craving vietnamese food and didn’t feel like making that drive. We Unilocaled it and found Hughie’s and were pleasantly surprised.
The pork vietnamese sandwich with an egg added was quite tasty and fresh. It is something I would definitely order again. We also had the shaking beef with fried rice. The shaking beef is made with filet mignon and it was quite tender and flavorful. The dipping sauce it came with put it over the top. The rice plate also comes with a kale salad which I didn’t care for but I sure did devour it.
Overall, very well done vietnamese food.

Banh Mi Burger is worth trying.
Banh Mi Burger: 4 of 5. I expected a juicy burger patty and a hamburger bun with pungent pickled vegetables, french mayonaise and Vietnamese Cha Lua thrown in for good measure. I thought this was going to be horrible. Surprisingly not.
Instead its more like Banh Mi with burger patty on a very airy bun. The pickled vegetables were only slightly pickled to give a hint of its Vietnamese origins. The choice in Vietnamese Cha Lua is lacks much of its fish sauce flavor, and the burger patty is not your typical ⁸⁰⁄₂₀ mix but much lighter. Its marinated in a subtle but familiar and ultimately cohesive choice of Nem Nuong seasoning. All these choices lead to a burger thats not overpowered by any of its Banh Mi defining ingredients and creates a surprisingly cohesive and ultimately satisfying flavor.
I would’ve given it a 5 but the execution could’ve been better. Why ask me how I like my burger when it was overcooked and not even hot.
Bo Luc Lac 2 of 5. I couldn’t tell if they used overcooked filet mignon or tenderized sirloin. Either way it was dry and just barely warm. Flavor is on the conservative side and what my Vietnamese friends call «lai» as in its been made to appeal to a wider, non-​vietnamese, audience. The kale salad however was great. Do the 2 mix? yes only because the BLL is under flavored.

I’m normally a bit wary of Asian fusion, but Hughie’s does it really well.
This restaurant/​bar, with its wooden ceiling, walls, and tables, looks straight out of Small Town, Flyover State, but it serves up an impressive beer selection and some solid Vietnamese food. They also have standard American bar food like burgers and chicken-​fried steak.
I love the complimentary shrimp chips for the table.
I often get the Ba Trio (three appetizer samplers of your choice) because I like mixing and matching different types of spring rolls. The huge and filling spring rolls do have a lot of vermicelli, but they also have reasonably generous portions of protein. Each spring roll sampler is comprised of two spring rolls. The salt-​n-​pepper short ribs are also excellent; lightly fried and so flavorful that I rarely use the dipping sauce. The calamari is also quite good; very crisp and generously portioned.
The shaking beef is excellent as well. The beef is just so tender and flavorful, and the dressing for the salad is delicious.
The service is very helpful and friendly.