Big Woodrows

The only bad thing about this particular woodrows closing is that the staff are likely dispersed to the other, better locations. Woodrows has been around for a long time, and I’ve been here on and off at least 50 times over the years, when I was 21, there was an issue with some dickhead that apparently couldn’t read an ID card and accused me of being under age, outraged I argued and he went into the kitchen and came out with a bunch of mexican guys and threatened me off the property, I want to be clear, I probably was an ass, but only in reaction to this dipstick’s attitude. I didn’t return for several years.
A friend talked me into going back, who has been a regular there since the place opened and assured me the guy I met initially was no longer employed there. I came back, for a while the staff turn around was really nice and I enjoyed the outdoor atmosphere and mostly unencumbering lack of clientele; then they made another staff turnaround and hired a bunch of really shitty people, I mean rude, and there were major issues with the sanitary aspects of how the bar was kept, dirty pint glass and plates with food cooked onto them were pretty normal, I also heard lots of people suggest you not get anything that wasn’t freshly fried because hair in the entrees was an issue. So I stopped going again.
Eventually, I was talked into coming back, yet again, and I hung out there for a while until I found Knuckleheads, which is a much, much better bar, with much, much friendlier people and didn’t return, eventually I moved out to spring and this place was no longer a factor my weekend equations.
Should it reopen, I hope they go back to hiring staff like Jeff and the girls that worked there around his heyday; but with such inconsistent comportment throughout the establishments employees, it was impossible to suggest it to anyone.

Closed… and the Heights location reopening has been delayed… or is it a ‘rebranding’.

Look at the reviews… Mostly bad. They closed because they sucked! Nothing at all to do with landlord disputes!

Woodrows is fun. It’s casual and laid back and frequently the food is good. The draft beer is becoming inconsistent however. Reliable tap maintenance is an essential element of pouring a quality cold beer right every time. If beer goes flat after the first 30 seconds of pouring and has a stale flavor I AM NOT HAPPY. Many people find this acceptable I do not.
This issue is not present in all the draft as you can see from the picture I posted one is a Coors and the fresh beer is a Icon Green.

So I came here even after reading the reviews and I should have listened. I am a huge LSU fan and I thought I should check this place out. I met my girlfriend here after work around 9:45 on a Friday night and the place was not busy. She had gotten there before me and had a beer. When I got there my girlfriend went to order our drinks. I wanted an Abita Andygator and she wanted an Abita wrought iron. She ordered at the bar then came and sat down at the table. We were brought our drinks and they were not even close to what we ordered. So we had to go back and get the right beers. We didn’t stay long because we were hungry and didn’t want to try the food. My girlfriend went to pay and the ticket said over $ 20 for three beers. She said we only had three that is much so they changed it but it still seemed to pricy.
So I guess what I am trying to say out of this review and why I gave them 2 star is this. When it’s not busy how hard is it to get a drink order right and over charge? I would recommend anyone coming here to pay cash for every drink and not open a tab because they will probably over charge. If you are a little tipsy you might not catch it. I will not be coming back I’m very disappointed.
On a positive note it is a good atmosphere to watch a game just don’t order anything.

How do you run out of steaks at 7pm on Wednesday Steak night??? And why do … Not happy!

Great Atmosphere, AWESOME crawfish, felt the service could have been better, but it was Friday and 8PM.

Love this place! Great food, great drinks and an amazing bartender, Victoria! Great for a drink after a long day or watching the game!

Visited for a drink. Instead of just doing what needed to be done, the bartender complained about being too busy and told us we would have to wait to pay for the drinks we were served so we could step away from the bar.
Upon selecting a seat on the patio, the smell of old crawfish permeated the air. Appetites gone.
Once that smell was overcome, a stench rose from the deck that can’t be described any way other than the assumption that there were feral cats living and defecating underneath. Finished drinks as soon as possible, and left. Will not go back.

Get at least 3 – 5 lbs, its addictive! I’ve had all kind of crawfish, this is the best I’ve had. Great atmosphere and service!
UPDATE They changed chefs and the crawfish is barely average now.

This place has seriously gone down in my book, I will never return. Ordered 4lbs of crawfish which never came for right at an hour. The poor server was running around doing what he could but food was so slow.

I saw this place was voted Best Of Houston 2014 for Neighborhood Spot in the Galleria area and couldn’t remember why I stopped frequenting the place about four years ago. One visit and it all came back to me.
We were excited about $ 8 Abita pitchers during game day and promptly ordered one along with macho nachos and boudin balls for the happy hour prices. Our pitcher came quickly… with no glasses. It took 10 minutes to get a glass. Over the course of the next two hours we were only able order two more pitchers because we would be empty for 20 – 30 minutes while trying to flag a waitress down which was almost impossible. We weren’t the only table doing this and it wasn’t nearly as crowded as it is during LSU games.
The boudin balls were great just like I remember but the nachos made ¾ people sick and they each had their own order and didn’t eat off the same plate.
We asked for our checks at 8:30 and they came with none of the listed special prices. We had to show our waitress where it said the Abita pitchers and appetizers were on special. After three rounds of incorrect checks (including me pointing out an item was missing from mine that I’d like to pay for) she said it was fine and didn’t charge us for a pitcher (it seemed that neither the staff or managers could figure out how this worked). Forty-​five minutes after asking for the check… We finally got to leave. The terrible service and inability to get checks correct were the reasons I stopped coming here several years ago… That part hasn’t changed.
The pros include plenty of TVs, a good crowd and certain delicious menu items (boudin balls, fried pickles to name some).
It’s a great place to watch a game if you don’t care about service or being charged correctly. Stay away from the nachos though and check your bill.

Great service! Staff here was super attentive. Food was excellent (real queso on nachos, not the fake cheese) and craft cucumber cocktail was so yummy!
Will def return soon for a game.

FRIED TURKEY and fixins!
I took advantage of Ms Ruthie’s catering for Thanksgiving this year, and it was awesome! I ordered the Fried Turkey along with Dirty rice, gravy, and last but def not least was the Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce. It was all so yummy! Not only is the food yummy but the service is outstanding. They insisted on carrying my order out to my car for me. Nice touch!

Left a lot to be desired but proximity to the office and really friendly servers earns this place a star. Alligator on the menu and Abita on tap earns star number 2.

We came here for an lsu game last Saturday and I made some great choices that night. El jefe or something like that to drink. and a shrimp poboy. It was great! We also got the delicious boudin balls and took some home which we actually ate later! We normally just bring home food for funsies.
Tonight we came again super excited for a Louisiana Friday night. and that was the first bad choice. Apparently as early as 8 30pm on a friday, they have karaōke. Very loud karaōke. If it had been turned down about 6 notches, I would have said, eh. kinda loud but it’s to make singers comfortable so no biggie!
My next bad choice was getting a crawfish poboy. Which came recommended by our server (who aside from this was great!) It had no seasoning, the little crawfish intestine/​poop string was visible through the frying so I’m pretty sure they didn’t do much to clean them, the bread tasted so dry that feeling it fall apart and then crunching on the crawfish just made me spit it out awkwardly bc i couldn’t tell what was happening in my mouth. They had some cocktail sauce on the side that i had to crush with my fork because it was still frozen. I left most of my meal on the plate. The onion rings were good but I didn’t want to make that my whole meal because they were like deep beer battered which was super tasty… but it’s not dinner.
My bf got the fried oysters which he was not too pleased with either. I’ll wait for him to become a Unilocaler so he can leave his own reviews.
As a Louisiana catering bar, I will definitely be back! I really do hope they get some Tony’s, and maybe some pepper on the table or samthin! And some good crab boil for the crawfish!
But anyways, we left after we paid the bill. No staying for a drink for me. I was so excited for some quietness that I almost fell over when an ambulance siren came on around the corner. I’m not an old or cranky person, but I definitely felt like one upon leaving.
The service was excellent and that is consistent with the first visit too.

Abita purple haze on draft here! They play the saints and LSU games and have a great «Who Dat» atmosphere upstairs. Otherwise I’d prolly not bother coming here. The televisions and projectors are subpar at best!!! Badly in need of an upgrade. The food prices are extremely high and the food pretty much sucks. If you’re looking for good cajun food don’t bother with this place. Just read the rest of the reviews…
Oh, and don’t even get me started on the damn utensils. What a joke!!!

We decided to stop at Big Woodrows after work for happy hour and a quick bite. We shared the seafood platter and enjoyed it! Great place for drinks and a fast dinner!

Let’s just say that for my first time much was needed to be enhanced. The wait staff is not the problem: They are awesome, courteous, attentive, and diligent. I think the issue is with management.
I won’t go into the old crawfish, poorly friend wings… the hassle with rectifying charges on the bill. Would I recommend it? No… but not on an account of the excellent wait staff.

NEVER AGAIN!!!
If i had a choice of zero stars that is what i would be giving this restaurant. Terrible service, charging a flat fee of $ 5 for valet parking, poor management practices… the list goes on and on. Long story short… i ordered 2lbs of crawfish… i expect it to be spicy but it was literally coated in season salt. I was barely able to stomach it and because the waitress was so slow in coming back to our table i ended up eating about half of it. Once the waitress finally appeared, i sent it back. The manager told her that i had eaten too much of it for it to be returned… he wouldnt even comp my bill for the half that i returned uneaten! When i got home i promptly disputed the charge with Chase Bank and they refunded the $ 16.50 charge that the douchebag manager would not take off my ticket.

Worst service of my entire life. The waitress never showed, and we had to flag someone else down to get our drinks and order. This was maybe after 20 minutes after us sitting? Given, it was a busy night. But 20 minutes? No, sorry.
Then the waitress came and apologized to us. Gave us a sob story as to why she was in her words a «shitty waitress.» Told us how many hours she was working, and all of her drama — that we honestly couldn’t care about. Of course, we didn’t see her again for awhile, and had to flag someone down and ask for our checks.
She gave us our checks. One of our friends offered to pay for the tip, and the rest of us wouldn’t have to. Our checks/​credit cards come back, the waitress asks one of us why did she give her the exact cash amount with no tip. Never witnessed a waitress ballsy enough to ask for a tip before. We were flabbergasted. With her kind of service, why should she even be surprised if we stiffed her? Furthermore, she watched the rest of the party sign our checks, and one by one she opened them, looked at the amount we signed to give her. She said thanks and walked off.
Words can’t even explain how unprofessional and rude that was. Just FYI, we did tip her something, but not 20%. We called the manager the next day and told him what happened, and he offered us a round of free drinks at our next visit.
The food wasn’t bad, but it definitely isn’t good enough for me to come back.

The WORST experience I’ve had at a restaurant/​bar. Rude staff, spotty service, dirty pints, and unsanitary food.
I ventured outside the Loop with about 6 of my friends — many of them, like me, had never been there before. We were looking forward to trying their spicy crawfish that we’d heard so much about.
There were about ten tables of patrons full in the bar, served by two waitresses and one bartender. After not being approached at our table for at least 15 minutes, we went to the bar to order our pitcher of beer. After seeing us try to get the beer, the waitress finally came to our table saying «What you want?» We ordered our crawfish and beer and water. Another 10 – 15 minutes, we still don’t have our drinks. So, I go to the bar to pick up some water, if nothing else. I was parched. I get back to the table and I notice it has several specks of black in it. So, I put it to the side as the waitress brings by the beer about 5 minutes later.
Another 15 – 20 minutes, we haven’t seen the waitress and we are wondering where the crawfish is, so we inquire about it. The waitress seemed annoyed that we were bugging her, but the crawfish comes out within 5 minutes. I try one mud bug, then a corn. It was spicy, and I liked the flavor — but then I went to eat the potato and there were two black hairs on it. Disgusted, I complain to the server. She comes around and picks up my plate and says «yeah ok» and walks off. She comes back less than 5 minutes later saying «I had the chef make you a fresh batch of crawfish, here you go». She sets it down in front of me and runs off. It takes me 5 seconds to realize it is the same exact tray she took away. with the same eaten corn and crawfish. but the potatoes were mixed around. (obviously, the scene from «Waiting» comes to mind. *shudders*)
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that our waitress did not think this was a serious sanitation issue. I asked her about it — and she said it was all out of the «same batch» of crawfish and took away the plate and thew it in the trash before I could ask for a manager. I then asked the bartender for the manager. There seemed to be confusion who the manager was — and it took at least 10 minutes for them to hunt him down to come to our table. I believe he said his name was Mick. He was friendly and asked what he could do — but he did not seem all that concerned about the sanitation risk of the crawfish, because he asked if he could bring me more of it.
At this point, I was so disgusted, I had lost my appetite for crawfish and asked for a fried sample platter instead. He seemed courteous, but aloof to the horrible customer service being given to the patrons of the bar. Our waitress continued to give us spotty service throughout our time there — with us continually having to go to the bar to refill beer. When she did come by with beer we ordered, the pint glasses were dirty and obviously not washed properly. But the waitress did not seem to be interested in what she was serving us. Mind you, the bar was not that full.
When the bill came, we were charged for our food initially — along with a gratuity. I had to ask for the manager again — in order to have the food taken off the ticket. We still paid for what we ate –AND– paid 18% gratuity to the waitress.
The manager did give a listening ear, but seemed oblivious to how the waitress treated customers. It should be no surprise, my friends and I do not intend to eat or drink here again. And I would not suggest this place unless it had a complete overhaul of staff and sanitation practices.

We were in Houston last weekend to visit my little sister G, and K really wanted to watch the Saints game. I looked for a place and told him about Woodrow’s and he wanted to check it out. I found their website and saw that they had a 8 wings for $ 5 special on Sundays so I was going to go with him and eat some wings before I check out the Galleria Mall while he watches the game.
Except we got there and there was no wings special. Boo. I mentioned that I had seen it on the website and they still didn’t honor it. So I didn’t order any. K asked me if I didn’t order them because I was mad. I wasn’t mad, I just expect better service. If I put on my website that I offer a special and forgot to take it down and a customer comes asking for it, it would only make sense for me to provide that special. And then go and take that thing right down the website. But they didn’t. So whatever.
People seemed to be pretty friendly. It’s a LSU and Saints sports bar, so I guess all the Louisiana folks in Houston go to this place to watch the game. There was also a Texans game going on at the same time and there were quite a few Texans fans, and the audio they played was for the Texans game. We weren’t quite sure why they weren’t playing the Saints audio when the bar advertises itself as a place to watch the Saints games. But then we later realized that K should have gone upstairs, where all the Saints fans were and where they *did* have the audio for the Saints game.
Again, my problem with the server. People at our table asked if they could have the audio for the Saints game and she never told us what was upstairs. But K was happy because the Saints won and because he got to watch the game even though it was without the audio.
So I guess if we’re in Houston again when we have a game, he’ll probably go back. And go upstairs this time.