Alice Blue in Houston

Came here for HRW dinner on a Friday night. There was plenty of parking at a lot across the street. The ambiance is clean, simple, and inviting. We started with the honey roasted chilled beets (herb whipped goat cheese, lemon zest, avocado, hazelnuts, fine herbs) and charred broccoli and crispy prosciutto (burrata, pickled carrots, currants, pine nuts, balsamic reduction). Both were excellent and complemented each other nicely. The creamy goat cheese contrasted well with the crunchy hazelnuts. For the next course, we tried the stuffed portobello mushroom (stuffed with spinach, cannellini beans, artichoke, goat cheese served with ratatouille, garlic bread crumbs) and ancho braised short ribs (sweet corn english pea succotash, heirloom carrots, shoestring potatoes), which contrasted well with each other. The mushroom was impressive in aesthetics and a large portion. I liked the addition of bread crumbs, as it imparted some richness and crunch. The ribs were soft and flavorful. For dessert, we did the lemon tart and assorted cookie plate....

Had a Sunday morning brunch here with friends, we showed up around 10:30 and the dining room was pretty empty. We got our food and drinks quickly. I had the avocado toast, I asked for a poached egg which they delivered on. Strangely enough the plate included some housemaid chips, not complaining but it was an odd combination.

I live in the neighborhood. My husband and I have given Alice Blue about 3 chances and every time it's always something. This morning we went for breakfast and our server was nice until I decided I did not want a hot chocolate I ordered anymore (due to blood sugar) and it just so happened that she was coming to tell me that it would be another 3 minutes because they had to melt chocolate (we had already waited 10 minutes +). The server, barista and the manager gossiped loudly and my husband and I could hear throughout our breakfast. The manager even turned around and stared at me as they loudly gossiped about me not wanting my hot chocolate. At the end of our meal the server came over and said "we are making you a hot chocolate to go on the house" and I said "oh no that's okay" and she said "well we are doing it anyways". In my head I was like why am I being forced to drink this hot chocolate?! The barista who had not come from out of the bar personally delivered the hot chocolate and just sat it in front of me without saying anything? Not sure what point she was trying to prove? Maybe I offended her...