Habanera And The Gringo

Overall so freaking satisfied!!! If it wasn’t for my sister in law I would have never heard about this place because it’s hidden!!! Well I guess it just doesn’t catch your eye off the freeway anyways I had a cucumber margarita and the enmoladas (enchiladas but with mole sauce) I have nothing bad to say everything was delicious!!! We started off with the chorizo nachos and boy oh boy will they get your taste buds going recommend for a dinner date or lunch so yummy

Went there a few weeks ago and it was pretty dead. But the food was amazing and the waiter was so friendly and helpful. So glad we went, definitely coming back again.

Great TexMex! Don’t be scared off by the exterior/​interior appearance!
The food is elevated above the typical. The Chorizo Nachos are so good, each chip is fully loaded. Their guacamole is so fresh and simply avocado and seasoning — I prefer that over onion and tomato with a smear of avocado. The fajitas are wonderfully marinated and my husband loved the Enchiladas Con Mole. Margaritas are delicious too.

This place has the absolute best margaritas and food ever!!! Would totally recommend it for everyone!

The best food I’ve had in a very long time. This is my new favorite Mexican place. I’ll definitely be back!!!

I am pretty sure they only have one employee. I went here for lunch with my coworkers, and it was about 30 minutes before we were given our order and another 45 minutes before we got our food.
Overall the food was ok at best, but having to wait over an hour to eat just makes this place not worth it.

From the outside and inside the restaurant, it looks and feels run down even the bartender looks like a drug head.
However, not all restaurants off of the Gulf Fwy in the SE Houston area are shady dumps filled with crackheads and homeless people.
This one for instance is worth stopping by, the food isn’t the best, but it sure beats most of the Mexican restaurants located off of Gulf Fwy since they actually speak the American language: ENGLISH and even treat their non-​Hispanic visitors like family.
Back to the food, the Enchiladas Verdes and Enchiladas con Mole were yummy, but like my mum mentioned, she had better verdes.
However, my mole chicken was tasty, but I didn’t like how the chicken was prepared. It had a strange taste of boiled chicken in it and not all the chicken were white, it had some dark meat to it.
My preference would be different as I fancy white meat over dark when it comes to chicken.
Though, everything was flavourful. Chicken mole wasn’t too sweet nor too savoury, it was just right.
Subsequently, the interior of the restaurant looks and feels like most work is put into the food and drinks, this place isn’t fancy. It feels old and looks like trash, but I didn’t come here to judge the building.
As I was eating, I could smell a odd odour coming from the kitchen, it smelled like the trash needed to be taken out which was lurking my nose.
The chips and salsa brought to the table was tasty, but the chips tasted stale and they were too salty. Sorry, but I don’t need HBP. Also, the salsa was yummy, but overly spicy.
It seems as if they are known for their alcoholic beverages like the margaritas. My mum absolutely loved the pineapple margarita and said it tasted better than Papagayos.
Just a heads up, if you need some Tums. There’s some for a quarter in the gumball machine near the entrance.
Also, if you coming from 45 S/​N take exit Airport Blvd and do the roundabout, stay on the feeter and you’ll see it under the Powerball/​Megamillion billboard.

After flying into Hobby at 730 I wanted to grab some food in the area. I was pleasantly surprised to find this little hole in the wall. The place was pretty quiet which at first made me nervous about the food. However, we were greeted by a friendly woman and given our pick of tables. Soon after fresh warm (likely handmade) chips with a unique fresh salsa that reminded me more of pico de gallo appeared. It was a great start to the meal. I ordered the enchaladas verdes while my dad went with the enchiladas mole and my mom with the Mexican hot-​dog (mostly because she wanted the queso fries). All the food was quite good and decent sized portions. You won’t leave here hungry. At about $ 10 a person you would be hard pressed to get a better meal for this price.

I often hear this place is a diamond in the rough. This is a true statement. Blackberry margaritas were good as well as the regular frozen. I over did it on the food. Chorizo nachos were miraculously presented and the flavors as you bite into one were complex. Very very tasty! Verdes enchiladas were very delicious. There was alot going on to the palette as I took bite after bite.
They could do better on attending to the customer but when they did they were ever so polite. That and the great flavors makes it all so forgiving.
I spent 2 hours here and enjoyed every bit of it.
Try this one out guys.

Picked this place because it was near the airport, and we were hungry after a very delayed flight. I’m regretting that decision now, but I’ll start with the pros.
Pros: the food is very tasty (especially the chorizo nachos and the enchiladas verdes) and the servers are nice
Now for all the mistakes that were made: we got the wrong order of tacos, for which they apologized profusely. But then we also got the wrong bill, which they again apologized for. Then to top it all off, both of us got sick after our meals. My bf got sick right at the restaurant, but I only felt it the morning after.
Despite the tastiness of the food, I probably won’t be back after the that experience.

This is the sort of place Food Network dreams about. Somebody needs to give Guy Fieri a call. Definitely order one of the Mexican beers while here — what you’ll get is a little mug of mixologist alchemy.
I’d move to Houston if I could just so I could eat here on a regular basis. It’s THAT good.

OMG… I sooooooo found a diamond in the ruff in my own neighborhood! I found this jewel on Unilocal.I was tired of the same-​ol’ same-​ol’.
Loved our waiter Chris. He answered all our questions being new to the restaurant. The MANGO Margarita is totally AWESOME! Can’t wait to come back and try them ALL.
This is not a Mexican food menu with dishes that is the same stuff as all the others. My husband & I were almost full on the EXCELLENT hot sauce & chips. My husband ate the Enchiladas Verdes and loved it! I ate the Ribeye Fajitas for 1 until I hurt myself and was about to bust! We even sampled a bacon wrapped hotdog. My Granddaughter ate the whole hotdog less our bite. (This is a big hot dog for a 6 year old)
The owner Vanessa is very sweet. She came out and gave me hints on which Margarita to try next. I’ll definitely be back with friends to try the Blueberry Jalapeño next. Everything I ate or tasted was really really good! Don’t be frightened off by the dark parking lot if you go at night the first time around. What’s inside, on the menu and in the blue rimmed glasses is definitely worth being adventurous for.
The only two things that could have made my experience better… Another margarita and remembering to use the 15% off coupon. Maybe next time. =.)
UPDATE: the parking lot is now lit up very NICELY. The owners Ben & Vanessa said a regular customer paid for the improvements. It is great to know there are still wonderful people who help those that they believe in their lives mission. I’m grateful to be a part of their process even if it’s only to be a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1) to their great success. The blueberry, sangria, pineapple and regular margaritas are truly excellent. I think I’m now considered a regular or at the very least; extremely happy with their business success. They have a new waitress. She’s wonderful too. I’ll learn her name sooner than later!

Food was good.
Service was slow and not friendly. Not proactive servers. Sat here for 20 minutes to wait to get a menu. Sat another 40 minutes for food to come out.

I wasn’t sure what to expect. Overall the experience was mediocre at best. Food wasn’t bad but service needs work. I wouldn’t recommend visiting.

Saw the reviews for this place and had to try it! My boyfriend was hesitant at first because it was almost noon and the whole place was empty. We decided to try it anyway and I’m glad we did! It turns out the open time was wrong on Unilocal.
Breakfast tostadas are a must try! Perfectly seasoned and filling. My boyfriend had the tacos dorado and loved it. Their regular tostadas with pico de gallo are homemade and were perfectly salted. For us that’s a win because we always have to salt our chips.
I highly recommend. We’ll be back to try more for sure!

Definitely a diamond in the rough. Without Unilocal,there’s no way in hell i would have went here lol. But thankfully Unilocal came through once again with a great dining establishment.
My mom and I went before she dropped me off at the airport. The chips were warm and perfectly salted and the salsa was fresh and spicy! My mom ordered a lemonade and I had two mango margaritas. The margaritas were AMAZEBALLZ. Small pieces of fresh mango, a hint of spice and a good amount of alcohol.
We also ordered chicken nachos which had great presentation. They were a little small on the serving size but they were damn good!
Would def make a trip back here next time I’m in Houston if only to try all of the different margarita flavors!

For beginners, Best chips and salsa! Freshly made hot tortilla chips and delicious salsa. This place always has great food, happy hour all day Wednesday and the best custom margaritas. I ordered a mango jalapeño and cilantro margarita and it’s so refreshing. Off the freeway in an auspicious spot but well worth the visit.

Found ourselves near Pasadena, rescuing a dog. Heard about this place from a friend & decided to check it out especially since it listed under dog friendly. I called to check and they said No but immediately called back to say Yes they are dog friendly. We ordered the strawberry pineapple margarita first, my guy said it was the best he ever had. Then I got a hibiscus margarita, really yummy! The chips & salsa are really tasty too. We ordered the pork belly tacos, tasty and rich. We also got the Rojas con Crema chicken breasts with cream over veggies, yes, very good & also rich. The service was good but the downside was the patio was too loud. It’s right off I45 & the noise from the freeway was ridiculous! I will go back but not sit outside. But it worked in a pinch with the new puppy!

This review is only for the service as the server was not interested in taking our order and more or less told us so. We sat down and ordered some drinks. Drinks came out quickly. He said he would be back in a minute to take our order. There were only three other groups in the restaurant. We waited and waited about 10 minutes. I finally got the waiters attention and he held up a finger indicating one minutes. We waited about about another 8 minutes and then decided to leave.
As we were leaving, the waiter asked if we were not going to eat? It was odd because the waiter was interested in the other couple tables and not wanting to have any contact with us.

This has been on my radar for some time now, and last Friday (Halloween) night I decided to go. Unfortunately, I wasn’t aware that they were recently in the paper and so everyone also decided to pay a visit! OH boy was Habanera and the Gringo not ready for the spike in business as service, food, and paying took awhile, yet they were quite apologetic in the end. Sadly, for many patrons, it was too late, as my bf and I sat there waiting to be acknowledged, drink orders to be taken/​provided, menus given, chips/​dip to be served and finally food to arrive, 3 tables around us straight up just left…
I really did feel bad for Habanera and the Gringo, as they do somewhat warn you with the sign on the door saying «Temporary Hours due to Short Staff», so luckily I went in ready for a wait, and wait I did but luckily not as long as others. It was quite strange as orders were being served by the entrée. For example, after about 40ish minutes of waiting we received our Enchiladas Verdes, when I mean we, I mean like me+2 other tables. Then about 15 minutes afterwards we+the 2 other tables received their Pork Belly Tacos. So pretty much, if you were lucky to order the right dish, then you didn’t go hungry, but if you got the wrong one, then the waiting game continues. It wasn’t uncommon to see an awkward person eating while their friend awkwardly stared back…
The Enchiladas Verdes was quite substantial in size but the quality wasn’t blow me away awesome… My main issue was the meal wasn’t super hot and required a knife to gnaw away at the tortilla which was thicker and chewier. They gave a good amount of cheese but not as much chicken and I wouldn’t mind an extra slice or two of avocado, and the white sauce, yummy but needed a bit more! OH, but the black beans were on point, I don’t usually eat beans but they were delicious, the Mexican rice was ok.
Pork Belly Tacos IS WHERE IT IS AT, I would absolutely give this dish 5 STARS. The pork belly was fried maintaining the tenderness of the meat and dude, that BBQ sauce. This isn’t your typical Mexican dish, but think more Asian inspired, as the BBQ sauce had a nice sweetness to it but I loved the addition of the habanero peppers to give it some heat. Same yummy black beans, but this time the rice was also on point and yay for a bit more guac!
TL/​DR-​I would give this place 3.5 stars from my current experience but I might be back if they can hire more help. I really enjoyed the pork belly tacos dish, the Verdes was OK, and their chips were very different-​thicker, more like eating a fried pita/​tortilla chip but I enjoyed the Salsa, OH yeah also don’t forget the Unilocal discount and get ready for a wait!