Cullen's Upscale American Grille scheduled to open tomorrow in Houston/Clear Lake area
A new restaurant is supposed to open tomorrow in the Houston area.
Cullen's Upscale American Grille was originally scheduled to open in January,
but owner Kevin Munz emailed me to say that it should open on Tuesday, March 18th.
They say that they are Houston's first certified green restaurant and according to the
'Certified Green Restaurant Guide' at www.DineGreen.com, they would be correct.
According to Cullen's Web site, patrons will "Order wine on Houston's first Wine Tablet PC's
with real time inventory." That sounds cool.
Cullen's is located in the Beltway 8 & I-45 (Clear Lake) area at 11500 Space Center Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77059.
It looks very interesting ... and huge - all 37,000 square feet of it.
I’ll be visiting them soon and will report back to you about my visit.
www.CullensGrille.com
Complimentary valet. Modern decor and fine table arrangements all add to the very classy and posh ambience. Service is friendly. The beef filet was excellent. Dishes are inexpensive but they’re intricately wrought, with flourishes aplenty. Cullen's Live isn't open as of earlier this week but I hear it's going to be pretty cool. Maybe a jazz and piano bar and other live music...
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The service was terrible and the food was bland. We will never go back again.
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Our party of 6 overwhelmingly agreed that although the atmosphere was fantastic, the food was something to be desired. Our filet was unusually small, as were all the portions. We dine at Capital Grille frequently and were surprised when the Red Snapper arrived. It was an appetizer sized portion with a scant portion of potatoes (one extremely small new potato cut into 4 pieces) and two small sun dried cherry tomatoes ... all this hidden under a, at the at most, 4 ounce portion of Red Snapper.
In summary, the portions were extremely small (we felt the hint of a culinary ego), highly priced, and had a presentation that needs some help. The gigantic square plates with a small morsel in the center spoke volumes.
Mr. Munz excelled in creating a visually fantastic place but his skill in creating a great dining experience is lacking the key ingredient ... good food.
I have no doubt that initially this place will draw a crowd, if for nothing else curiosity over the size and investment in the facility (and the buzz their marketing department seems to be trying to get out). I do hope they get the food worked out as repeat customers, other than the Munz’s friend Ms. Isabelle, will most likely not exist.
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We visited Cullen's for the first time this weekend. We had heard rave reviews about it so decided to check it out ourselves.
We were very impressed with the staff from the hostesses to the wait staff. The food was very tasty and the presentation beautiful and different. The chef definitely has a flair for upscale dining.
I was unable to eat all my dinner, so the waiter boxed it for me to go. When we left, he brought it to our table. When we returned home, I discovered that they had brought me the wrong dinner. I called to report that they had mixed up the take home boxes. Aurora, the events planner, said they would bring me another dinner to my house in a while. What other restaurant would offer such service?
We will definitely return. It is a treat to have a new, upscale restaurant in the Clear Lake area where you can enjoy not only the food, but the view and ambiance with quiet areas in which to visit. Thank you for your excellent service!
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Karen,
What a nice story.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
Cleverley
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Grossly overrated. Lousy service; poorly trained staff; SLOW; bland food; unoriginal menu; Clear Lake desperately needs another high end restaurant. Unfortunately, this is not the one. This guy sank a ton of cash to create a below-average grill. Save your time and your money.
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Dear David,
I totally disagree with you on this.
You say a lot of negative things about Cullen's, but give no examples to back it up.
When I visited Cullen's I found the service fine and the staff I encountered was very well trained.
I really like the menus by Chef Paul Lewis. I like the premise that you can spend
as little as $10 (for sandwiches and pizza) or $50 to have a fine meal.
Unoriginal menu? Not in my opinion. Take another look here at the menus.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Cullen's is giving people what they want, the kind of food they want to eat,
that's prepared by a Four Seasons-trained chef. I think that's pretty smart.
Bland food? Not one dish I ate was bland.
And about the "ton of cash" - Yes, I'll bet it did take a ton of money to create Cullen's.
And I commend the owner, Kevin Muntz, for creating this restaurant in Clear Lake.
There's nothing like it there and it took guts to do it.
Kudos to him.
We need more creative minds like this in the world and not so many naysayers.
Lighten up. Why are you so cranky about them anyway?
Thank you for writing.
We appreciate your opinions.
Best,
Cleverley
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I wouldn't rate this the best restaurant in Houston but it beats anything in the Clear Lake area. Our food was exceptional and not just the same old meat and potatoes. Service was adequate. The building is a must see. I would consider Cullen's an above average dining experience.
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