Batanga

Amazing food and service! Patrick Williams is a wonderful server and helped make our great selection of food. Overall drinks and food were superb!

Had a lovely time here with friends! Our waiter was Patrick Williams, very knowledgeable about the menu, and funny!
Must try tapas: cauliflower, empanadas, shrimp

Amazing place, great hospitality. My waiter Patrick Williams sure did make things great here. Aside from delicious food and drinks, he was the cherry on top. I definitely recommend this restaurant and server!

Recently came here with a friend on a early Saturday afternoon. The atmosphere is great in a sense that their patio seating is really great, their music however, is top 40 garbage… and really takes away from their nice atmosphere (though, I’m sure people enjoy this, i just don’t.and its a mood killer for me).
Any who, it terms of food & drink, I highly recommend the Empanada De Carne (beff empanadas). The cilantro dipping sauce its served with, is an amazing combination. We split the Batanga burger as well, and I felt that it wasn’t far off from a McDonalds cheese burger, the fries though, prettttayyyyy good.
When we asked the server what he recommended in terms of drinks, he recommend we share the 3 Hour Tour. While it was delicious (and over the top pricey at $ 16, $ 8 for refills) we were a little taken back when we were served with a coconut. It didn’t seem very shareable to either of us and a $ 8 per refill, it just wasn’t worth the price. Pretty disappointed that that was what was (my god this sentence) was recommended to us. Thumbs down for that, Batanga.

Tapas, everywhere! A few of us shared several small plates. Their meatballs are indescribable in a YOU HAVE TO TRY THEM kind of way. I really loved the shrimp and the Calamari was ¹⁰⁄₁₀. Typically, I’m not a huge Tapas fan but, overall, I was pleased with our dinner. The only dish I didn’t love were the Mussels. The dish was real fishy to me but my friend ate them perfectly fine. P. S. Batanga is great for large parties.

The worst place I ever came to, did not honor our reservation. The GM was so rude and unprofessional. It’s a shame the place has a great location but run by very unprofessional people. Very disappointing.

Yummy tapas but a bit pricy so order the 6 tapas for 56 and beers are not too bad. Cozy place with mediocre service. We had oxtail mole and Brazilian cheese bread with guava and the yuca

I came here on a Saturday night before going to a concert at Revention (formerly Bayou Music Center, Verizon Wireless theater, and Aerial theater.)
Parking sucks (it is downtown so of course it does!) we valeted. We had reservations for 4 and were seated at the very first table at the front of the restaurant. One girl in my party asked if we could move further back and the hostess said no. Another girl in my party missed that exchange and also asked if we could move, but this time the hostess said she didn’t think so but she would check. Of course she came back saying no because they had a lot of big parties coming in with reservations.
I think we had two waiters. They were both nice enough. We started with a carafe of sangria which equated to roughly 4 full glasses. It was good but tasted more like juice than alcohol. Once we finished the carafe we moved on to other drinks– two of us ordered the Ginger Paloma. Mine was so strong I barely drank it, the other girl drank all of hers though so to each their own.
We had lots of food, all coming out at different times, which is ok since it is tapas and we were sharing everything.
In no specific order here’s what we got and our thoughts:
GRILLED AVOCADO (chorizo + queso fresco + cilantro + lime) This is half of an avocado without the seed and full of chorizo and queso fresco… it was ok, nothing mind blowing… perfect for two people to split but since there were four of us we got a very small taste– should have ordered two
EGGPLANT FRIES (cumin + mint + honey + queso fresco) Think eggplant cut in long slices and fried with a honey sauce drizzled over it. They were surprisingly good.
ZUCCHINI TORTILLA (chive + crème fraîche) This was not anything like we thought it would be, but it wasn’t bad. It looked like a big slice of zucchini quiche with a dollop of sour cream on the side.
MARINATED BEET SALAD (toasted walnuts + valdeon + olive oil + chives) This was hands down the best thing we had. It was a large portion and we ate every bit of it.
MARINATED OLIVES– these were a good start that we ordered as soon as they took our drink order because I was starving. the downside was where to put the pits… they were on my plate but once we got other food they were in the way.
GRILLED SKIRT STEAK (red chimichurri + walnut + smoked paprika) Two people out of th 4 in my group thought this was the best thing we tried. I think I would have liked it more if we didn’t order well done… but it was still good.
We also had an empanada but I don’t remember if it was chicken or beef. I think we also had short ribs but I didn’t try them.
Overall our experience was ok and I would go back and give it another try. For the four of us our total bill was only $ 120 which I think it was pretty good for 4 people drinking and eating. Granted, it wasn’t a ton of food but it got us through our concert with full stomachs.

Very cozy place for a Friday night, but the band could go really loud…
I tried the six tapas samplers to get a taste of different dishes. My favorite was the grilled octopus, which was very tasty and chewy. I also liked the tender pork ribs very much!

Batanga’s is an absolutely delightful experience every single time I visit. The food is en pointe, the ambiance is at an all-​time high and the service is always impeccable. This evening’s experience on Sunday, January 17^th, 2016 was no exception. The food was delivered so swiftly and was ever so flavorful and Kandra, our spirited, knowledgable and wildly entertaining waitress really added to our experience. I love taking friends, both old and new, to Batanga’s to give them a taste of Houston’s best and I hope it remains just as stellar for years to come!

Plus– Great patio area. Fish tacos were good.
Minus– Food quite salty, better restaurants in the area

DO NOT COME HERE! Worst service ever. Made a reservation for NYE weeks ago, have been waiting almost 2 hours-​OUTSIDE & it’s cold. Completely unacceptable. They tried to call & tell us that there was a 2 hour maximum and we had to leave by 11pm. Nowhere on open table or details did it say that. We booked it because we wanted to stay until midnight. Also we are siting outside waiting and they asked us to move. STILL WAITING… People are waiting since 8:30 it’s 10:30pm

The management was awful.
They don’t care about customers.
This is not good business.

First time here and I was thoroughly impressed!
This place serves tapas style items.
Our favs were:
— paella
— campechana
— empanadas
— beets
— quail
½ price wine was a plus +++++!

I came here for a group lunch with work friends. I was really excited to try the place since I heard some good things about. However, my general experience was a disappointment. The only reason it gets two stars instead of one is because I liked the atmosphere and I would be interested in coming for nights that they have music and dancing.
A breakdown: So, the first the food was not nearly as good as it looked. It is a tapas kind of place, so you have to order a few dishes in order to satisfy. The food was just not good. I had a few things, but in my mind the steak tips stick out. They were placed in an excellent presentation, but turned out to be a huge let down in terms of taste and quality. The way I see it, if food looks better than it tastes then there are some really bad priorities in terms of preparation. Tastes is more important than presentation any day. This is especially true when you pay the prices they expect. Honestly, my money would have been better spent at a Subway for a good sandwich than this place.
The atmosphere is nice. I like the Latin American feel of the place. The music in the background fit the place perfectly. From what I understand, they also have live music and dance nights. I would love to come here for that. Ever since the Hallowed Taco Milagro closed, I have searched for a place to go for music and dancing.
My other complaint is with the service. Since we came for a lunch, the place was not crowded. Aside from our group. there may have been one or two other tables occupied. The service was slightly below average until it came time for the check. The process took 45 min. We all had to get back to work so we were quite agitated that there was so much confusion with our bill. They seemed unable to process it expeditiously. The only saving grace for me was my meal was free because they messed up the payment and distributed my tab to everyone else in my party. Because my birthday was close and no one else wanted to correct the error, everyone just said happy birthday and we went back to work.
Honestly, I would not go unless there was a live band and some dancing. Otherwise, I see no reason to ever come again. There are better options that are better priced.

I wasn’t trying to go here originally, but when the wait across the street was 1.5 hours my two friends and I decided to give it a try. We were pleasantly surprised and had a great night.
The food was good. Everything we had we enjoyed. Both of my friends have spent extended periods in Spain, and although they did criticize the Americanization a bit they both agreed the food was good. Standouts include the bacon wrapped dates and cheviche-​like seafood dip served in a frosted glass. The tres leches was spongey and delicious, it stood out the most to me. Cocktails are averagely priced but not exceptional, my Peruvian mule was extremely sweet and the prickly pear margarita was overwhelmed by bitter (and not good-​bitter) tequila.
Service was unexceptional, we had the wrong food brought to our table several times. Our waiter seemed uninterested in talking to us, and took a notably long time to check on how we were doing (i.e.- we were brought ahi and tacos we didn’t order).
I would maybe come back for a Sunday special, as they had some good deals.

Last week, before catching a showing of «The Martian» at the Sundance theater a group of my friends and I grabbed dinner at the nearby Batanga.
Batanga is a lively and fun Latin-​inspired tapas restaurant with an enormous, downright magical patio. It was a gorgeous evening, so we sat outside and ordered a pitcher of sweet, fresh, smooth sangria to share.
Our server was incredibly bubbly and friendly, and we talked through the menu with her. While the others ordered a few different meat/​seafood dishes, there were also plenty of vegetarian options to choose from and share.
The pao de queijo (Brazilian cheese rolls) were fun, bite-​sized starters. The texture of each cheese roll was dense and similar to that of a coconut macaroon. Paired with the preserved guava, the sweet/​savory result was simple, yet delightful.
We also split the marinated olives, which were bathed in citrus, rosemary, and lime. I am a big olive fan, so I definitely liked these, though I didn’t think they were anything out of the ordinary. They were salty and fleshy, and I did appreciate the wide variety of different olives in the mix, however.
The cauliflower & chayote casuela, topped with manchego cheese and toasted bread crumbs was another fun dish. There appeared to also be some zucchini thrown in, and the vegetables had a crisp, crunchy texture. The melted manchego added a lovely creaminess, which wove everything together nicely.
I had high hopes for the eggplant fries, but they mostly fell flat for me. Topped with cumin, mint, honey, and queso fresco, the soft (slightly soggy) breading and large spears of eggplant overpowered everything else. Perhaps if the eggplant was cut into smaller strips and the breading was lighter and crispier, all of the ingredients would have come together better. But as a whole, we all agreed that we could take or leave this dish.
The mushroom croquettes served with truffle aioli, on the other hand, were wonderful. What was interesting about these is that the mushrooms inside the croquettes were finely ground up, creating a texture akin to ground beef. They were incredibly rich, so one or two was plenty, but they were bursting with earthy mushroom flavor. The silky, decadent truffle aioli was the perfect compliment to the crispy croquettes. This was probably my favorite dish of the evening!
And for the record, tuna lovers: My bf absolutely adored the tiradito (yellowfin tun + avocado + aji panca ponzu)!
After we finished we still had a little time to kill, so I ordered a pineapple mojito, one of their specialty cocktails.
My bf said he could only taste pineapple, but I definitely caught a hint of lime and mint in my drink. It was super refreshing and served as a nice farewell-​to-​summer drink!
While I wasn’t completely floored by all of the food at Batanga, there were some dishes that I really enjoyed. What really sells the place for me though, is the atmosphere. Whether you dine inside the industrial, dim, sexy interior, or outside on the open, beautiful patio, you can’t go wrong. The service was great, and it’s for sure a fun option when dining out with a group!

Service was good. Place is cool — especially the outside seating with the twinkly lights. (Full disclosure: I’m a SUCKER for twinkly lights.) They had live music when we were there on a Saturday night.
The bad? The food was just so so. We had some tapas that were really good (fish tacos, tiradito), but most left me unsatisfied. And it was pricey, especially given that we were blown away by the food at all.
Won’t be back. Too bad, because it’s a cool spot.

I’ve been back here a few times since my original review and none of my experience was ever as good as the first one. I guess that was a fluke after all.
The last time I was here, it was during Houston Restaurant Weeks 2015 and my friend was celebrating his birthday at Henke & Pillot just down the street so he decided to start off with dinner here.
It was a big party; about 15 or so people. So our table was assigned with two waitstaff. This was a Saturday night during HRW so the restaurant was pretty much a full house. But here’s where things go so bad. After everybody had placed their order, the kitchen just couldn’t seem to handle these orders properly. The waitstaff also didn’t even bother to check on them.
Appetizers, entrees, and desserts didn’t all come to the table at the same time. Random appetizers would come out at different times, and then while some people already got their entrees, some people still wouldn’t get the apps. It got to the point where some people started eating desserts and some people hadn’t received the entrée. It was just unorganized the way the food was served.
One of our waiters was very apologetic about it. He admitted that the kitchen staff didn’t get it together and he had been frustrated about them. But then again, at the same time, he told us that it was his last night at the job because he was quitting and he really couldn’t care less about the kitchen, or the restaurant anymore. The other waiter just didn’t care. She was hard to find, not very helpful, and apparently didn’t care too much about waiting on our table since she knew she was going to get the automatic tip off the bill already anyway.
At the end of the night, since we had to leave for Henke & Pillot, one guy didn’t get his dessert, but he just didn’t care to ask for it anymore because he’d been asking for it. One girl was literally stuffing food into her mouth because her entrée just came out, along with her dessert at the same time.
When we asked to split the check, the waitress told us that she was just going to split it evenly because it would be so much easier for us to pay. We were like, «ummm no! Some of us had plenty of drinks, Some of us didn’t drink. Some of ordered more than the others. We want to pay for what we ordered.» But she was insistent until eventually, the birthday guy who was super frustrated at this point decided to pay for the whole bill and everybody could just pay him back.
I mean, seriously? Slow service, sub par food, unorganized? Get your act together, Batanga. Personally, I wouldn’t come here voluntarily. I’d only come if someone was having a celebration here. But if I could help it, I would tell that person to find another place to do so. This place is just not worth the hassle.

Server was very knowledgable on food and wine Elias is the reason we will come back music is great and food better love this place see you all again