The Union Kitchen

OMG. Where has this place been all my life? I have lived close to this restaurant for almost 2 years and I can’t believe I am just now discovering it!
We had our annual staff Christmas lunch at Union kitchen and it was positively awesome! We arrived fairly early around 10:45 a.m. which I highly recommend that you do if you want to beat the lunch rush. There were hardly anyone there and we stayed for a few hours. Let me just say around 11:45 there was a huge rush of people that came in. I could not believe how crowded this place got.
Looks can be decieving. The outside is very underwhelming and unassuming. The parking is a little strange we parked right out front but I am curious to know where others park when it gets busy around lunchtime. The inside was interesting. It was very rustic open area. The back part of the restaurant appears to be open, like an open patio. But because it was a bit chilly this particular day, they had the plastic shades up with heaters, but it was still very nice. We had a fairly large group of around 9 people.
I ordered the Union burger and it was DELICIOUS!!! My only issue was the un– toasted bun. There is nothing worse than having a really good hamburger or sandwich with an underwhelming bun or bread. Other than that, the meal was great. The Union burger comes with 3 large onion rings stacked on top of them and they were so big that I had to share. It also came with a yummy sauce. I believe those onion rings were the size of my head! Lol. My director ordered a crab shrimp sandwich or something? Whatever it was it looked very delicious. I believe it was like a seafood grilled cheese sandwich.
I cannot wait to return. I want to order everything on the menu. I was so happy and pleased and I highly recommend that you go for lunch or dinner (even though I have not been for dinner, obviously).
The prices are alao very reasonable and won’t break the bank. I also ordered a cappucino which was very good. Can’t wait to go back!

Love this place for a genuinely delicious meal whether it is for brunch, lunch, or dinner. The food itself comes out beautifully prepared and equally tasty. The atmosphere is perfect for a date or a fun group get together. Parking is easy and service is great. I had the bbq chicken pizza most recently and it is definitely enough to feed two.

Parking here is absolutely impossible at lunch time. Their parking lot is small given the size of their establishment. I had to park around the corner on a side street and walk. I agree with one of the other reviewers that the entrance does look like a side door.
Friend asked for cranberry juice. It was served warm. No ice. Not chilled. Just warm cranberry juice. Bleh. We wanted fish and chips which isn’t on the menu but is on the online menu. Our waiter told us that they didn’t have the mix to make the fish and chips. Ok. I got the bbq chicken sandwich and my friend got the strip steak. The sandwich was great. The homemade chips, not so much. They tasted like nothing good. The dessert menu is written on one of the walls. There were 2 – 3 different types of bread pudding, a cheesecake, chocolate tower, carrot cake and oreo cake. We asked the waiter to described the oreo cake since there were no descriptions on the «wall menu». He struggled. Hard. Was making some stuff up. Asked him if it would be easier to describe in Spanish at which point he admitted he didn’t know what the cake was about. After he found the written description we decided against it. Didn’t sound so great. His struggle was interesting given that he recommended it and said it was good. Hmm… Perhaps he was a new waiter.
It was hard to get refills on our waters since he would disappear for stretches of time. In fact he was about to take a different table’s order (one that seated after us) until I said something. The only reason I would EVER come back would be if a friend really wanted to come.

If you want some really weird tasting «Benedict «choices, this is your place. We ordered the Traditional ‘and’ the California Benedict — and they were gawd awful!!! Not sure if it was the eggs, the sauce or the meat. Took a few bites and couldn’t wait to leave the place. Potatoes were ok, Bottomless Mimosas were good, service was fine, and water was clear … BUT — I’ve Never, Ever HAD such incredibly BAD Eggs Benedict dishes.
However the kitchen prepared this dish, please know you lost a regular customer for the Owner. There’s no excuse for screwing up such a fairly simple order. You weren’t that buzy and you’re not being creative !! Pretty expensive $$ for only having a few potatoes and 3 glasses of Mimosas. Main portion was simply inedible.
Wish there was less than 1 Star — Union Kitchen would get it. The Good news — Whole Foods was across the street, and finished Lunch there.

A-​OK is right. If I didn’t have the energy to make a nice home-​cooked meal in my own kitchen, but I still wanted something hearty and delicious, I might hit up Union Kitchen.
Do not park to the left of the building; they make it very clear that you’ll get towed. A weird observation, but their front door is more of a side door. Once I got past the awkward experience of finding the entrance (free entertainment for concerned patrons chewing and watching me through the glass windows), things got better. Tons of seating and tables, and I found my party in a cozy booth/​table setup. Our waiter was hysterical and helpful, which is always nice. We even got to meet the manager, who made sure my friend’s birthday was extra special.
We split a few appetizers and entrees, and all were pretty good. The spinach artichoke, though a little small, was warm, creamy, and well prepared. The rack of lamb had to be my favorite dish. The meat was tender and flavorful to the max. Most of the sides that came with the dishes (risotto, potatoes, etc) were generally unidentifiable and not so memorable, but there was technically nothing wrong with them. Just focus on the meats, and you’ll be good. And don’t forget dessert! The chocolate tower and bread pudding were good, but not the best of either that I’ve had. I split the bill with a group and used a Groupon, and it still got a little pricey in my opinion. But still, good venue for an occasional meal with hearty, savory food.
Still looking forward to trying this place out for brunch!

First of all, any restaurant that gives me TWO lemon slices with my water when I ask for one is already on my good side. They have a huge outside area and the weather was pleasant, I didn’t even see the inside of the restaurant. The menu is a little pricey and I don’t think the food was worth as much as it cost. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but I’m going to expect more for paying $ 16 for a sandwich. I got the shrimp and crab melt which was really good. It came with these HUGE potato wedges that were just way too big and had all the wrong spices on them. My friend ordered the $ 11 four cheese ravioli which was actually pretty good.
They don’t state the prices for the desserts, so they might try to trick you like they did us. BUT I did some online snooping before I actually went to the place and saw somewhere that dessert during lunch was $ 2.99. It ended up being for the half portions, but those were more than enough for the both of us. We ordered the crème brûlée bread pudding and the ½ chocolate tower. The crème brûlée bread pudding was good, decent, etc but not outstanding. Definitely worth the 3 bucks. The chocolate tower… ehhh. Pieces of average chocolate cake with some sort of cream in between and more cream on top. The fruit that came with it was very fresh and for that I am grateful!
Our waiter was very friendly, but seemed to take FOREVER in between his visits to our table even though he was only taking care of one other table. I’d probably come again during brunch hours because I’ve heard good things.

To start with a positive, the service was great. We sat inside which was a comfortable décor. It wasn’t very busy for a 1pm Sunday brunch.
The food just wasn’t as good as I expected or wanted. We first ordered the doughnut holes which sounded delicious; however, we didn’t finish them because they were very dense and heavy. The biggest food concern was that our entrees were delivered to the table only 5 minutes after we ordered them. As my friend said, «that’s suspicious.» I had the ‘Hot Mess’ which was only warm when it was quickly set in front of me. The only thing that was fresh was the egg because obviously everything else came out of a warming tray in the kitchen. The bacon was fatty and the sausage was very overcooked. My friend had the breakfast tacos which were only ok.
I decide to come here because they tweeted me after I posted a tweet about another brunch. The menu looked great online. Overall, I don’t think it is worth a repeat trip when there are so many other great places in the city.

I really wanted to like this place. Unfortunately, brunch on Saturday was just ok.
The tables are very close together as other reviewers have noted. I was not in an aisle but I was constantly being bumped into as people were seated/​left and by servers.
I have a major issue with coffee that comes with a creamer packet. It cannot be that hard to keep half and half or milk available. Ok, rant over. But speaking of coffee, my empty cup sat empty for quite a long time before I had to ask for a refill.
I got the union bowl which our waiter said was among his favorites. The flavor was good but I was a little disappointed by the overall texture which was mushy. The bacon should have been crispy, the potatoes should have had a bite.
My friend got the chicken tinga wrap which should be served with several packets of wet wipes. It was all over her face and fingers. Definitely do not order this with someone you are trying to impress and I’d recommend a knife/​fork approach. I didn’t get to try any but I didn’t hear any raves or complaints (other than the mess).
It was very moderately priced and aside from the coffee refill issue service was very attentive. Maybe lunch/​dinner are better? I would come back to find out but I definitely won’t be rushing back for brunch.

I was hoping to love this place because it’s right by my sister’s house and we are always looking for places to eat there. They always talk about loving it so I went in with high expectations.
Our waiter Sean Carlos was very very attentive, which is why they got a second star. We were a party of 7 and they offered us 1 tiny piece of hard bread and a mountain of butter. It sat untouched because it was hard.
I had the andouille pizza per his recommendation. It was flat and tasteless. They were so stingy with the toppings that 3 slices didn’t even have any andouille on them and there was definitely no sauce. Epic fail for $ 14. My husband enjoyed his burger and truffle fries. My cousin has some pasta with chicken and I tried it. It was fine. Average pasta dish at a non Italian restaurant. My sister got the pecan chicken salad. The chicken was prepared nicely but she’s a tiny person and it wasn’t enough food for her. My brother in law got the ribeye and when his plate was picked up, there was a lot that he just sent away.
Sean was great — I just was not impressed. If the food was better the prices wouldn’t have bothered me but it wasn’t and I feel it was a rip off for the quality and quantity. I do not need some massive amount of food but at least put enough toppings on a pizza to call it a pizza. We left paying a little over $ 150 and were not satisfied. My tummy and wallet were angry.

One of the nearby lunch spots for work, they’re food is very flavorful and the portions are more than enough to fill you up. You’ll need a nap after, especially after pounding down one of their delicious Union Burgers. Their lunch menu has so much variety and the prices are fair for the amount of food you get. They also have a nice outdoor seating area for when the weather is nice. I had the Salmon Crepes today, and it was really really good. Give it a try and see what you think!

I had kind of forgotten how much I liked this place and when I saw a groupon for dinner for four, I bought it. Used it last night and am still raving about the delicious meal. For our two appetizers, we choose avocado stuffed with crab meat and fried and asparagus topped with crab meat. Great choices.
Two of us had pistachio chicken with pasta, one had Parmesan chicken and one had the pork chop. Everything was great and the portions were so large we all brought home another meal.
Our server was beautiful, sweet, enthusiastic and delightful to be around.
Highly recommend this place!

I felt the brunch menu here to be a little lacking. Nothing really looked that great. Luckily, they still serve their normal lunch menu during brunch if you ask. Service was great, but the most enjoyable part was that they had lunch size desserts. I ALWAYS want dessert! I just hate ordering a full size dessert when no one else will split it. I got the chocolate tower and bread pudding to go. I wish I could remember what I had for my meal. It just wasn’t that memorable. The water here is filtered and tastes great.

My sister and I drove by and decided to drop in for some brunch and mimosas. We were not disappointed at all!
When we got there the lady quickly gave us a table. Not to mention, we had 4 kids with us and she sat us in a perfect area being that we had kids with us. She was extremely nice and helpful. The staff was amazing. The food was delicious! I highly recommend.

I live less than 5 minutes away from this restaurant but have never been so when a friend suggested meeting up for brunch, I recommended giving this place a try.
Parking: ⁴⁄₅ — it has its own parking lot with designated signs for its customers; however, it’s quite small. Since it’s located within a shopping center, you may have to park near the other stores and walk to it during busy times. Not a big deal if you ask me.
Food: ³⁄₅ — I ordered the Ivonne’s Garden Omelet, substituting for egg whites (but when the dish arrived, it didn’t appear to be the case.). It tasted alright. My friends ordered the Ranchero Omelet and the Crab Cake Benedict, and both thought their dishes tasted bland. However, she did enjoy her bottomless mimosa, and he enjoyed the complimentary cornbread mini muffins.
Service: ⁴⁄₅ — the service was quick and prompt. We were in and out within an hour.
Conclusion: OK place for a quick, casual brunch but don’t expect anything earth shattering/​memorable. If you’re in the area, I’d recommend somewhere else.

Super relaxed joint with a cute little patio.
The good: delish food– I’m talking donut holes, pancake sliders, eggs Benedict’s galore even Mac and cheese frito pie! The possibilities are endless. $ 9 bottomless mimosas! Indoor and outdoor seating. Can def do big parties if needed.
The bad: our waiter was a tad disinterested. But still effective and quick with the mimosa refills so nothing to really gripe about.
I had the California Benedict and pancake sliders. Friends had chicken and gravy, crab cake Benedict and the BF got an egg scramble with chili. All amazing!
Might be our new go-​to brunch spot!

Great use of space. Two distinct dining experience of outdoor café with unique charm amongst a busy neighborhood… with enough greenery and crape myrtles to create a safe oasis. Inside Morrissey plays. A giant Chalkboard and wine bar awaits amongst darkened wood tables and chairs. Black poly-​linen napkins. Smartly and simply dressed tables. And a menu worth exploring again and again without exhausting yourself. A date place, a meet place and uniquely a group place. Service by Marcos is smart and actionable for our first time experience. Good place. Busy. Well frequented eatery. Heavy weekend brunch crush. Be sure to check it out.

Union Kitchen is my go-​to for brunch in West U/​Bellaire.
Looking for a delicious brunch spot with mimosas near our place, I looked at Union Kitchen’s menu and saw $ 6.00 mimosas. I get that we’re in West U, but that’s highway robbery. So, before jumping to conclusions, I gave them a call.
ME: Excuse me. Your menu says you have $ 6.00 mimosas. Please tell me those things are at the very least in a 16oz pint glass.
KIND GENTLEMAN ON THE PHONE: I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?
ME: Bad, obviously.
GENTLEMAN: The bad news, is that those $ 6 mimosas are served in champagne flutes.
ME: *SIGH*
GENTLEMAN: The good news is it’s not printed on the menu, but we have bottomless mimosas for $ 9.
ME: I will be there in 7 minutes.
There are few things in this world better than a delicious boozy brunch, followed by a Sunday Funday at the pool. (I’m lying… I’m getting old. Saturday at the pool so I can nap and act like a grown up on Sunday before work).
Back to Union Kitchen…
[BRUNCH]: 5 Stars. It’s delicious. It’s very reasonably priced, the menu is innovative (and changes relatively frequently) and did I mention they have $ 9 bottomless mimosas?
A few of the dishes I’m a *huge* fan of:
* Fried chicken and biscuits. This is how your grandma makes them at the deer lease. You *will* be full.
* Pancake sliders. Delicious, fun, and perfect for people like me who are easily bored by a generic omelet and like a little taste of everything.
* Chicken tinga breakfast wrap… This thing is new-​ish (I think) and absolutely delicious.
* Pancake stack. I rarely order just pancakes (kinda plain), but these are some of (if not) the best in Houston.
Dishes I wouldn’t get again:
* Chilaquiles — I *love* authentic chilaquiles, but everyone in America insists on making them dry. Let’s drown those bad boys in tomatillo salsa and mexican crema. These were good, but not enough chicken or sauce.
* Pete’s Colorado Omelet — Grilled steak, italian sausage, chorizo, ground chuck and bacon… What could go wrong? Being stingy with those three… More meat, please!
[SERVICE]: The service is hit or miss, honestly. When we come for brunch, we’re in a pretty leisurely mood, but I’m just not convinced they have a great approach. Oftentimes you’ll see your server waiting on you, a table across the restaurant, and two tables on opposite ends of the patio. I guess they’re trying to break up the outdoor/​indoor evenly, but it’s inefficient and my champagne flute is empty.
That said, they’re all very professional and friendly.
[ATMOSPHERE]: Katharine Shilcutt described it as grown-​up and tasteful and I’d agree. My one complaint is that the tables are a little too close together. I get maximizing the space, but we live in Texas, not NYC… I don’t want to hear the conversations at the tables next to me.
As an aside, it’s also fun to watch the West U parents sip their booze while their kiddos get lost in an ipad. Is it really necessary that your nanny be present if you’re not at work? I’m confused.
[OVERALL]: Brunch is 5 stars, but I have to dock a star because dinner simply isn’t worth the price point. The crab stuffed avocado is delicious and the burger is solid, but certainly not game changing (or worth $ 15). Maybe I’m spoiled by the brunch, but as dinner goes, there’s better places for $ 17-​$ 34 an entrée.

One Sunday morning I found myself in Houston. As if that wasn’t bad enough, my friend that I stayed with said that there were no places nearby that would be open for brunch before I starved to death unless I could have a brunch without mimosas. Which we all know, is not brunch.
Unwilling to accept this, I pulled out my phone and accessed my trusty Unilocal App. Before we knew it, I had a place within 5 miles that was open now with a full bar AND $ 9 BOTTOMLESS MIMOSAS.
Brian is a bit of an ass. As we were being seated on the beautiful patio, he said «Oh we’re getting kicked out of this place.» I do not like being kicked out of places, so I tried to keep him calm. but regardless, tables next to us and our server had to put up with a Brian, and they did so wonderfully.
The one upside to Brian is that when he sets a goal, he achieves it. We had an hour and a half before Virginia drove me back to Austin. We wanted to get our money’s worth with these $ 9 bottomless mimosas, and we decided that meant drinking at least 9 mimosas. We told our server our plan, and he was completely on top of thing. I think we hit 11 before leaving. That’s a lot of back and forth for our poor server, but he accomplished it.
This is the shining star of Houston. Not to be missed. The only thing worth coming for, probably.

So many people have tried to get me to try this place out but I always declined due to the numerous hit or miss reviews. I finally decided to try it out because I found a $ 30 Groupon for a 3 course meal for two where you could choose anything off the menu which was nice opposed to only having a prix fixed menu. What we chose:
Fried asparagus– dry, not much flavor, spears were very large-​rather the smaller thinner ones. Had to ask for an aioli dipping sauce to give it some flavor. I recommend them drizzling some type of sauce over the dish. I was also a little nervous to eat the shrimp that was it was topped with because they looked a little undercooked to me and my mom, didn’t chance it. I wish we would have choose a different app.
4 cheese ravioli– good sauce, flavorful, decent dish.
Crab stuffed shrimp– shrimp were super fried, ok flavor. Collard greens were uncooked and had absolutely no flavor and the grits were just ok to me, my liked them though.
Crime brûlée bread pudding– sweet but not too sweet, very tasty and good presentation. Best choice of the night.
Service– I enjoyed our server. He was nice, polite and attentive. No complaints.
As far as the ambience… cute Resturant with a nice patio which always scores high with me! The water feature helps drown out some of the traffic noise and other table conversations. Some people complain that that they think there are too many tables and they’re too close together but this didn’t bother me, I thought it was an ok layout. The tables inside did look closer together than on the patio, another reason to opt for the patio. They do offer an extensive menu ranging from pizzas, steak, fish, chicken, other seafood varieties and like 9 different desserts to choose from.
Would I come back… prolly not. I hear a lot of people say come for the brunch which I may consider. I do know one thing, I’m glad I had a Groupon because The food definitely wasn’t worth the full price. Glad I finally tried it out though.

Caught the «open for breakfast banner the other morning and said «hey I like breakfast», so today I gave it a shot.
There was just one other guy there and james was the server/​bartender. Very personable and seemed to genuinely care to get to know the folks there. Was a nice chap.
For starters, as I have never been here before its kind of hard to know where the front door is. I mean you can clearly see the door, but it doesn’t look like a door. It opens to a patio area, then there’s the door. Confused? So was I.
The menu was small, but had lots of delicious sounding food on it. Being gluten free I had to avoid 80% of it. I hate you antigens! I digress.
The gentleman had the fruit and oatmeal which looked pretty tasty. I’ll give that a try next time. I had the eggs rancheros. The eggs were cooked perfectly, the rancheros with chorizo was good but a bit too salty for my liking. I sill ate it, however. It was missing a textural component, and didn’t come with a tortilla or with any type of bread. James offered an English muffin, decided I’d take cramps this afternoon for the reviews sake :-) you’re welcome Unilocal.The muffin wasn’t toasted very well. Mushy in the center. English muffins should be crispy and have a crunch (imho). So was greatly disappointed there. The coffee was strong and good.
Overall it was good food, but I wasn’t overly wowed by the portion size of the muffin. Maybe I’m becoming too opinionated? *shrugs*
Will I try their lunch? Absolutely. Will I come back for their oatmeal, why yes I will.