Vinoteca Poscol

This was my first time at Poscol. My girlfriend and I had an amazing meal. We ordered the pasta bolognese and a salumi and cheese board. They also have a really good farro arugula salad. Our server was an older gentleman who was very attentive without being obtrusive. He was very knowledgable and steered us in the perfect direction for food choices and suggested a great bottle of Cabernet we shared. The atmosphere was great. Would eat here again.

It’s a very romantic setting. Although, during peak hours it can be a bit loud inside, if you’re looking for an interesting spin on Italian, this is the place to go.
Don’t breeze by the prosecco, the bubbles add to the environment.
Always living for the bread, I enjoyed the rustic charm of the bread. I was looking forward to trying the mushroom risotto, but sadly it is made with chicken broth and at that time they did not have veggie stock. :(the mushroom flat bread was a nice alternative. If you love mushrooms make sure you order it.
Veretarians be warned, there’s not much but that shouldn’t mean you skip the experience.

–1 for the space inside the restaurant. The tables were so close together it was hard to move and hear the person across from you. They might as well have communal tables. I miss the old location because there’s valet and self parking and the tables were well spaced apart! Why did they have to move!!!
1.5 for our waiter. He had a really bad cigar/​cigarette odor that was extremely hard to ignore. We also couldn’t understand him because his accent was so heavy. Plus if he didn’t know the wines he should’ve told us so instead of steering us around.
4.5 for the meat and cheeses. I loved most if not all of the selections. I would come back for these two alone.
Overall the food serve there are decent and priced right for portion size.
Too bad they aren’t as good as they used to be. If only they didn’t move. I guess I have to make to do if I crave for charcuterie and cheese.

The atmosphere is intimate and quaint but my waiter was not versed on the menu and asking a question produced drama from him. It was silent «stank face drama.» The food was good. I saw other waiters who seemed to be very good with patrons. It was noticeable. I didn’t like to be charged for condiments. I was charged when asking for black pepper and shaved parmigiano cheese. I thought that was standard with dining Italian. Anyways… I hope it to be isolated but felt very uncomfy with the service in such a would be comfy environment.

One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Houston! Love the family style, chandelier and ambiance! Butternut squash risotto is amazing!

I love their chicken liver pâté brushette but I’m not sure that makes up for the other issues.
I don’t like valet parking and that’s the only option here. Frustrating.
The tables are very close together. The guy behind me at a different table elbowed me in the side twice! I felt like we were sharing the table with the loud girls next to us. It actually made it hard for us to talk because we were all so close together (table to table). You don’t feel it when you walk in, but to get elbowed by another table showed me just how close they were. All the surfaces are very reflective of sound and the place gets loud quickly.
The flatbreads were good but not memorable. They could use more toppings. It was mostly bread.
The dessert was good. We had the budino (chocolate cake type dessert) which was good as usual. We also had the zeppole (Italian donuts) which were good too. Next time, we’d just share the zeppole, they are numerous!
I liked it but didn’t love the new place and ambiance. We’ll be back just likely no time soon.

Great pizza and great wine! Service is great! There’s no parking so you have to valet.

Cool place, but the spelling outside on the sign, «Vinoteca /​Salumeria» is misleading and would lead you to believe that it’s Spanish a Tapas bar.
«Vinoteca» is Spanish whereas Wine bar is spelled «Enoteca» in Italian. Did someone forget to do their homework? Strange

This is one of my favorite restaurants and date spots in Houston! There’s usually a wait during dinner on the weekends, but you can always sit at the bar if there are open seats. I’ve never had a bad meal here, and you can’t go wrong with any of the dishes, but definitely try the daily specials. The dishes are meant to share, and 3 – 4 dishes between 2 people is a good amount of food. I try to order different combinations each time I go there, but the sausage & mozzarella stuffed quail, and the shrimp, prosciutto, garlic & chillies are definitely in heavy rotation. When you eat all that delicious shrimp, save the left over oil to dip your bread in — it’s sooo goooooodd!

I love the new location! Down a ways from the old restaurant and right across from its sister restaurant Dolce Vita with a bit more space for parking.
The menu is the same offering a wide variety of Italian inspired small plates and entrees. Can’t go wrong with a cheese and charcuterie board. The staff is really knowledgeable about what wines pair with what cheese, so do not be afraid to ask for suggestions if you are a cheese novice. Their finger sandwiches and bruschettes are perfect at Happy Hour with a half-​price glass of wine.
For entrees, I suggest the chicken liver risotto or the baked tagliolini. I’ve also had their baked cod mantecato (which is divine). Be warned that their flatbread is pretty much a cracker/​matzah like crust piled with fresh ingredient. I prefer thin pizzas/​flatbreads but that’s not always everyone’s tastes.
Honestly, one of the première wine bars in Houston. I was once dining in for Valentine’s, and an older couple told me that they eat almost every day at Poscol (it’s that good)! This is a must-​go in Houston, you will fall in love.

Deliciously charming. The baked cod mantecato, shishito peppers, and bolognese were most impressive, alongside the great wait staff and wine menu. Also of note were the cheese and meat plates.
I do hope it stays cozy quaint — it seems to be getting a bit over-​populated, compared to when it first opened at this location.

We’ve always loved this little jewel but now even moreso since they moved into their new location a few blocks east to the previous site. The new dining room is cozy, warm and lit mostly by candles. The service continues to be impeccable and the food is delicious, fresh, authentic Italian, served mostly as small, shareable plates. Flatbreads, finger sandwiches, pasta, fish, and steaks are prepared with as much attention to detail and taste as is their house-​cured charcuterie and artisanal cheeses. Wine is their thing, here, and they have all kinds starting at incredibly reasonable price points. For dessert, go for the puff pastry with strawberries and pastry cream, and be prepared to share! For two diners ordering a flatbread, finger sandwiches, a meat and cheese platter, and 2 desserts, it was about 80.00, entierly reasonable. This location is valet only, but the valet is free.

I like this place just fine, but it feels ridiculous that my server had to waitersplain to me that he was going to do a favor for me this one time of splitting a check. Really?!! It was me and a buddy sitting at the bar — on a slow night — and that was an effort for you?!! #plentyofplacesinhoustonwiththismenu

First time here at the new location.
Nice décor, and environment. The place can get a little loud, but nothing where you can’t have a regular conversation without yelling.
The cured meats, cheese, and bread is on point as always.
The problem was the entrees. We ordered a red wine risotto that was under cooked. The salmon dish was pretty simple, seems like I could have made it myself at home. And the flatbread wasn’t anything too impressive either.
Overall it was an ok experience, but I expected more.

This was my first time here so let me list out a few pros and cons from my experience.
Pros:
–Nice intimate décor.
–Reasonable prices on the food.
–The «chicken cacciatore & polenta» was great, very flavorful chicken and the mashed potato’s were fine. On its own the potato’s are bland but mixed with the chicken it give it so much more flavor.
–The «pappardelle, pheasant & mushrooms» was definitely the highlight of the meal. So rich and fulfilling. My friend ordered it so I only had a couple of bites but it is definitely worth getting again. I would come back just for this!
— We also ordered the «salumi (5)» and let the waiter pick his favorite items. They were delicious and all different, 1 was spicy, 1 had oils and citrus and overall tasted good.
Cons:
–Parking is bleh as they only have a small valet lot that fits roughly 15 cars? If you don’t have a luxury car they cart you out to another lot somewhere a few blocks away far from sight, you have no idea if there is any security in that other lot. The small lot has a nice police officer but that other lot you have no idea.
–The food was hit and miss, some of it was great and some of it was not very good. Everyone really disliked the «agliatelle al ragu’ bolognese». It mainly had to do with the taste of the pasta noodles, I couldn’t put my finger on it but they were not good. I’ve tried a lot of bolognese pastas before and this probably ranks in the bottom 30%.
–The price on the particular wine we had was steep. we were not told that the wine we had ordered is usually a few only a few ounces about a quarter of the glass. We were poured half glasses and charged twice so thinking we ordered 3 glasses but really it was 6 because no one mentioned it to us.
–The menu is mostly in Italian making it very hard to figure out what is what. I imagine it must be a pain for the wait staff having to explain every little detail of the menu. Some short descriptions underneath in English would save so hassle.
I want to put this one thing here as it is both a Pro as well as a Con. The staff was really busting their ass, everyone was polite, attentive, walking fast grabbing things and cleaning the tables for a quick turn around but that distracted from the ambiance of the place because occasionally you just hear loud steps or plates/​glasses just clashing together all around you depending on where you are seated. I even think because someone was working so hard and fast they dropped a plate on the floor in the back but the place is so small it was loud enough to overpower conversation in the dining room. Broken glassware is not really a problem as it happens in all restaurants but hey slow down a little bit.
My final thoughts:
I would come again to try some more things on the menu and perhaps get the «pappardelle, pheasant & mushrooms».

Food is generally good over the years. They have moved from an old strip mall to a more intimate converted house. You know what else is more intimate? The parking… but I digress.
Portions are good sized for «tapas» and for the price; definitely designed to be shared well between 4 people. I don’t like the flatbread pizzas as much, the texture of the crust reminds me of ridged chips and the taste is somewhat chalky. The cannelloni with broccoli is not too rich but is dominated by the flavour of the broccoli. I enjoy the mushroom risotto in that it is not too rich and the flavour of the mushrooms is subtle.
The service has always been professional and it seems like the manager or chef checks up on every table to get feedback on the meal.

This is my favorite Italian-​influenced go-​to spot in Houston. I feel like the taste profiles resemble Italian American. Within Italy, maybe Lombardian? Anyway, I always have a good time here. I get full on the food and don’t recall having ordered dessert, but the salads (farro salad), pastas (anything with pappardelle) and the baked pasta (very rich, a ton of cream, fatty goodness) are repeat offenders against my waistline, however happily.

Poscol is a nice low-​key intimate Italian restaurant on Montrose. The atmosphere is perfect for a cozy catchup with friends or romantic date. I love the warm wooden interior design, dim lighting of the Edison lightbulbs, and fire-​lit candles at the tables (vs plastic ones.)
We had a large group of 12+ people, so I got to eat a little bit of everything! We started off with bread, cheese, and meats. Then we moved onto pastas, risottos, and quail. Everything was delicious. The cooked foods do take longer to come out, but they come out piping fresh!
I think this restaurant is more appropriate for dates or smaller groups because the tables were on the smaller size and we were always trying to make room for more dishes.
I do wish there was an English description of these wonderful Italian dishes on the menu, but I understand that foreign words adds to the sophisticated experience.
I see some negative Unilocal comments on their service. I came on a Wednesday night, so perhaps not the busiest. Service was fine — serving 12+ people is no easy task. They did their best to make sure everyone got their drinks and would come back to ensure everyone got everything. I wish they cleared some of the clutter earlier (like plastic wrappers from the breadsticks) or empty glasses because I like a clean table… Fortunately, halfway through, their service picked up and they were delivering foods and bussing quickly. Despite how busy they were, they were always humble and trying to make us comfortable and happy.
One last point: get the tiramisu! It’s so delicious! Lots of smooth creamy textures with a satisfying crunch at the end. Yum!

Everything about my romantic little date night here was extremely awkward…
Arrived around 8:30 on a Tuesday night. The place wasn’t crowded and had larger tables available but they sat us at the tiniest two top imaginable up against a wall. Server finally came and acted like he was too busy to even deal with us. I understand this is a wine bar and it is ideal to sell bottle quantities, but I wish there had been more by the glass options as I was not impressed with any of the ones I saw and the waiter didn’t give me the time of day to explain some of the foreign names.
When it came to going over the menu — the waiter literally laughed at me when I had to go through and ask what every section meant because I speak ENGLISH so I only understood about 5% of the menu. He eventually went over the menu, it was rushed though and he was constantly looking around and not focusing on our experience. I ordered some sort of black risotto with shrimp and scallops. It was good, but nothing I’d order again. Boyfriend ordered the spaghetti special. He also wasn’t very impressed.
Overall — I had high expectations for this place and I was very unimpressed and definitely wouldn’t waste my time by coming back. The menu language barrier could be 100% alleviated if the menu items had tiny explanations under them. I HATE when waiters are pretentious and expect you to know menu items. Their job is to be a waiter even if they’ve explained these items 100 times before that day. The ambiance is so fantastic, but everything else was disappointing.

I should trust my guyfriend more often when he suggest new restaurants. I’m always a little hesitant when non-​yelpers suggest new places because I refer to Unilocal for EVERYTHING.
As soon as I walked into Poscol I fell in love with the quaint-​romantic atmosphere. There was a 45 mins. wait so we opted to sit at the bar and was served immediately. The place is very small and cozy so we were still able to enjoy the nice atmosphere while sitting at the bar.
For starters, we did a cheese and meat board (2 kinds of prosciutto, veal, and parmiggiano reggiano). I really enjoyed the veal because the texture and taste was like pâté. For the main meal, we shared a bowl of the pappardelle, pheasant & mushrooms pasta and a bottle of wine. I loved how the bartender asked if we needed 2 glasses when we ordered a bottle. For a moment, I assumed he’s read my reviews before to know my drinking habits… We capped off the meal with an espresso each and a tiramisu cake to share. LOVED the tiramisu cake, no regrets after that first bite into the moist cake.
Perfect place for a low-​key date night.

While the food was pretty good, the whole experience was just chaotic. The restaurant is set in an old house, so the dining room is very cramped – tables are about eight inches apart, and you can listen to other diner’s conversations if you really want to. There are tons of servers, and while I usually appreciate quick service, I don’t like having my meal interrupted every three minutes to ensure that my water is refilled.
Service: our waiter wasn’t the best. He brought us the wrong wine menu and didn’t figure that out until after we’d placed our order. One of our dishes came out wrong, and while he offered to re-​do it, the environment was just so chaotic that we were just ready to leave at that point.
Food: the dishes were good, with reasonable prices. It really reminded me of Giacomo’s, actually, even though Vinoteca Poscol is a sister restaurant of Da Marco and Dolce Vita (of those, Vinoteca Poscol is my least favorite). My favorite dish of the night is the charcuterie board, and the mushroom risotto was the next best. It was also nice that the wine is offered by the glass, half-​glass and bottle.

Tried the new location today. We still love this place. It’s a great value (in respect to the wines and foods). We had great service.

Wow! Great service and great food. I am no expert, I just go by if I like what I had and it was ALL very yummy.
Manager tonight, Andrea and Lara who took care of us 10÷07÷15 were top notch.
Thank you guys for a wonderful evening!
p/​s Sorry no pics. I was so engaged by the food I forgot!

My wife and I were looking for dinner locales and saw that Vinoteca had moved within walking distance of our house, so it was a simple decision to check out the new digs.
Interior is small, but cozy and warm. Noise wasn’t terrible even for the somewhat cramped quarters. My knee jerk reaction to the look and feel of the place, is the upstairs dining area of Dolce Vita. There aren’t a ton of tables, so I see this being a little problematic at peak times. It’s also important to note that they only take reservations for parties of 6 or more.
Service was quick and friendly. We didn’t have any issues hunting our server down at any time and everything kept coming out at a good pace.
Food was very good. They have a great selection of meats and cheese, including some house cured choices. Their bread is daily baked and was very good. I ordered a pasta plate and it was large enough to have some to take home. Pasta was perfectly cooked and the sauce was on point, though I now can’t remember the name of the dish. My wife ordered a salad for her main course and it too was a good enough size to fill someone up.
They have a fairly good election of wine, centering on mostly Italian choices, which made it somewhat hard to navigate for me. Our waitress was helpful with all questions though and we ended up tasting some very good chianti.
Prices range widely and I feel most budgets should be able to have a good visit, considering the portion sizes were large for many choices.
We’ll more than likely be back, for a deeper dive, but first impressions were great!

I’m glad I stumbled upon this restaurant while in Houston. My husband is Italian and unfortunately he’s not with me but he would’ve loved it. I had the tagliatelle bolognese and it reminded me of the way my husband cooks pasta, al dente with «gravy» (that’s Italian for sauce). I loved the sauce, I could tell that it was made in-​house with a layers of meat and tomato flavors. I wish I would’ve come with a group because the small plates looked great and there were several other tables with small groups having fun.
The dress is more on the formal side. I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing jeans and a tee even though a couple people were, most people were dressed formal in skirts and suits. The wait staff is also in collared whites.
The portions were also surprisingly appropriate. I hate going to Italian restaurants where the goal is to put you into a pasta coma. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish the entre and order an enticing dessert or cheese plate but I was pleasantly surprised!
I would definitely come back to this cozy, trendy-​without-​being-​pretentious, authentic Italian restaurant.

This is one of my favorite places in Houston. Great for a date night, girls dinner, or even just a glass of wine at the bar! The salumi
and cheese options are fantastic! And the pastas are great. And I loooooove their butternut squash risotto with chicken livers. It’s amazing!

Pluses and minuses to this place. On the plus, it’s a great value. What I suspected to be «small sharing plates», like the flatbread and salad, turned out to be pretty large. I was pleasantly surprised at only $ 7 or $ 8 each. My husband and I could have shared that and been decently full (or at least had room for dessert). We also ordered the tagliatelle bolognese which was just overkill, but still reasonable priced. Food is all «good» (solid 4-​star quality). The antipasto platters were tempting, but as I’m pregnant, had to stay away.
Unfortunately the place has some big minuses. It’s way too loud and crowded, with the tables squeezed up against each other. That means that the waiters were constantly bumping into the purse hanging on my chair. My dining partners complained of the same. And I was yelling to be heard amongst the racket. For this alone I probably wouldn’t return.
Although our waitress was nice, they made splitting our bill very difficult. We merely asked them to separate a bottle of wine (which was only enjoyed by one couple) and then divide the check by three. Apparently that was too difficult for them. One of the staff members came over to lecture us that they couldn’t do it, especially on a busy Saturday night. I’m not sure if that means they can do it otherwise, but the whole interaction left a bad taste.
Last pet peeve. They brought delicious rustic bread, but nothing to dip it in until we asked for olive oil and vinegar. Strange.

Was looking for a great date night location and came across this in houston 38 review. What a great recommendation! My wife and I had an amazing meal!
The meal started with special of the day Schiacciata which just melted in your mouth and brought back good memories of Rome. Then I had the special pasta that was spaghetti dyed by squid ink and served with spanish octopus, baby shrimp, baby tomatoes and amazing toasted thin slices of garlic. Wife’s platter was no less amazing beef flat iron steak!