Irma’s Southwest Grill

Not open for breakfast. This establishment does not open until 11:00 am. The listing needs to be corrected.

Looking for lunch at downtown Houston, Irma’s looked interesting so there I went!
Good nachos with excellent salsa was fine as starters, thus no dedicated starter required as such.
As there’s no real menu in this place I decided to play it safe and try a little bit of everything: $ 19 for a beef combo plate offering a kind of sampler. Some of that (like shrimp taco) was rather average but other parts (like carne asada) was excellent. All in all certainly worth four stars, not quite there for the full 5*. Size of the meal was perfect, no dessert needed and left with full stomach!
Local Ridgeback Ale ($ 5) was perfect as a drink. The restaurant was perhaps half full at around noon, service was very quick and friendly.
Would I return? Yes, for sure.

Delicious food. They were having a large party but still managed to accommodate us. The entire staff was friendly and helpful.

I used to live in Houston and would eat breakfast here all the time. I had really great memories of it. They’re still in downtown but at a different location from where they used to be many years ago. The Unilocal page here says that they are open at 8 AM. I was visiting from out of town and was excited to have breakfast here again. I dealt with all the construction in downtown, paid for parking and showed up for breakfast at 9:30 AM. They were not open at all. They don’t open until 11am. So I dealt with almost gridlock traffic in downtown and wasted money on a street parking permit just to walk over there and have it closed when the page says it’s open. I called the number and a man answered the phone. I explained the situation and his response was «yeah we’ve been trying to get the page fixed for a while.» What a disappointment from what I remembered.

Excellent food and value! Great carnitas and tres leche!
Very friendly and prompt service.

We stumbled upon this place walking by and decided to give them a try. Wow! This place is amazing! I absolutely love the Bacon wrapped Axis, the wild game combo! The green salsa is out of this world!!!

YES! We went last night and I will say its perfect! We live downtown and were loyal customers of Irmas by the ball park until the younger kids took over and took it down hill, we have been wanting to try Irmas Southwest for a while now but was afraid that it would be the same, What a SUPRISE, The restaurant is ran by Irmas oldest son and he is just like his mother very very good. The service was top notch Nick really was great! The food and drinks were the best Mexican in the city of Houston… This now will be a weekly stop for us!

Fabulous experience! First everyone greeted us wonderfully as if we walked into their home. The waiter came to our table and pulled a chair up to hear what we wanted to drink and if he could explain anything on the menu.
The guacamole was off the charts. I have struggled liking guacamole anywhere. Started to think only Arizona knew how to make it best. This was by far the best!!! Strong lime. Good amount of onions and perfect avocados.
I had a combo. Shrimp taco had a fabulous whit spicy sauce and fresh good size shrimp. Cheese enchilada had a mole sauce that was excellent and I don’t like mole. The beef fajita was flavorful and tender. Of course fresh tortillas.
My husband ordered carnitas and he said he had not had them that good since Carlsbad California. He’s a big carnitas eater and knows a good one.
Absolutely will be back. It was pouring and they so graciously helped me to my car with an umbrella.
Kudos to a great group!!! Food atmosphere and service couldn’t be better! We came because it was listed in Houston’s top 50 restaurants and it didn’t disappoint.

I had a really great meal at Irma’s and would 100% urge others to go. It seems like it’s fairly new that they’re serving dinner, just judging from a sign outside that I assume is new, so that may explain the lack of a crowd, or it could just be that that part of Houston is sleepy on a Tuesday night, but people are missing out if they don’t try this place.
I had delicious chicken fajitas, and weirdly the rice, which I didn’t even expect as part of the dish, was the standout for me, with a very tasty flavor and vegetables chopped and mixed into it. I couldn’t put my finger on the spices that I tasted but they were unusual and a perfect complement to the other aspects of the dish: the guac, chicken, grilled onion and peper, and beans. The tortillas were also very very good, with a texture almost like naan that I wasn’t expecting but loved just the same.
On top of the good food, the staff was extremely attentive and friendly, and the salsa that came with chips right after I sat down was really, really good.
I seldom write Unilocal reviews but I’m making an exception here because 1) I want to spread the word about this place and 2) I want to have a record of Irma’s so I can go back next time I find myself here!
Stay awesome, Irma’s.

Mixed feelings about this place. On the one hand, the food was nice, service was quick, and bar had a few local beers. On the other, the host touched my back as he was seating me, and the bartender mentioned how a women’s conference was in town and followed it up with a disgusted look and by saying, «ew, all those women in the same room? No thanks. » Also they don’t have a menu.
Not the worst option neat the conference center, but not really the best either.

Nice décor which turns a typical tex-​mex restaurant into a fine dining venue therefore very pricey for the quantity and quality servered. The table service was good but I found the food lacking in favor but not salt.

Not impressed with the food or atmosphere.
— Considering I was traveling from DC to Texas, I was hoping for some authentic TexMex here. However, I think I get tastier Mexican food in DC. Guac had no flavor (needs some salt) and fajitas were not too exciting (not served sizzling hot).
— Atmosphere is a bit dark and dated
— Best part was the pricing, which was affordable and close to the convention center
Overall, I think you can find a better place, but I am not familiar with others in the area.

Those shrimp tacos are the BOMB. That’s all I have to say on that.
Now back to reviewing… don’t expect a menu as you will not get one. I ordered right from their chalkboard of specials. Make sure to try their lemonade. It’s heavenly. Also they are a bit pricey but I expect that with restaurants downtown and they have good reason to be as their food is amazing.

beautiful! Nice location! Food ok, employees are very friendly people, also clean place, we have a good time there with friends and family but one thing that I like the most it was the background music takes me back in the days try it out and let me know what you think

This was my first time here. We had a quick bite before the game, so we just basically had some chips and jumped into the main course. This review pretty much pertains to how good my sea bass was. Chips and salsa were average, but the sea bass was perfectly done. I’m still thinking of it. It wasn’t only fresh, but also the texture and temperature was right. I have see so many times in restaurants where the sea bass is over cooked, which is very easily to do, or under cooked. In other words it is very easy to mess it up. However, this time I had a perfectly cooked sea bass with a light butter sauce over a chipotle mashed potatoes and green beans. I am planning on going again to taste some other things with more time to enjoy the meal.

Excellent food! Have to have the guac and queso!
This is the brother from the irmas around the corner. Both restaurants are AWESOME! The original irmas does not have menus whereas the southwest grill has them just an FYI. It is an institution!

No need to be alarmed my fellow Unilocalers, my first time at the establishment and I was wondering why I did not receive a menu. No menu… Unilocalers. You just order what you want and owner will hook you up, literally. Once you dine here, you will continue to come back.
Note: do not park in front of the restaurant. Parking will get your car towed or ticketed. Only political figures can violate the no parking ordinance with their special plates and the power the comes along with it. A political figure (not going to say any name, but last name rhymes with burner) parked in front like he is above everyone, not cool.
The service exceeded my expectation, the owner stopped by my table personally. He took a seat and we began talking about various authentic Mexican cuisine. He is really laid back and down to earth, which is beyond worthy of five stars alone.
Must order the lemonade. It is unlike any other. Homemade lemonade is not overly sweet, and had pineapple, melon and cantelope bites. Lemonade is amazing.
The pork carnitas was very good but too spicy for me. I ordered fajitas, which did not meet my expectations. The presentation was better than the flavor of the fajita steak. The steak was tender, but tastes like it was sautéed on the stove with veggies instead of the grilled fajita taste. My guest told me I should have ordered a specialty entrée. Excuse me, but I love fajitas and if a Mexican restaurant don’t have steak fajitas as a specialty, I don’t know what’s wrong.

Beautiful, accommodating, classy, welcoming, delicious. They were great to us from the time we walked in until the time we left.
The «lemonade» — which was a blend of different fresh fruits — was absolutely fantastic and they keep your glass topped off for no extra charge.
The guacamole was PERFECT. That’s all you need to know about that.
They don’t have menus so you can’t browse at your table but they do have their specials written up on a big Chalkboard as you enter. It’s worth mentioning that our waiter literally knew every single item on the menu by memory.
It felt like as I was thinking about asking for an extra napkin or a side of sour cream our waiter appeared before we could wonder where he was.
As we were leaving a staff member, maybe even the owner, walked us out and wished us a wonderful stay here in Houston. So awesome!
I would definitely recommend you go out of your way to check this place out!

Great authentic Mexican restaurant. I was greeted with a unique lemonade «on the house» and the medley of fruit flavors danced in my mouth. The guacamole appetizer is perfectly blended with ingredients that give it a smooth flavor with a kick. For my entrée, I had spinach and mushroom enchiladas which were made perfectly and topped with a warm tomatillo sauce. I will be back!

Went here with a client for lunch. Menu is up on a chalkboard and pretty bold. Not a massive amount of choices but good variety in what is being served up.
Excellent service, excellent food. Business people downtown know about this place as it filled up. Would go again and take wife there for dinner also. Looking at reviews apparently there is some lemonade to be had of the adult variety.
I give it 5 stars for high quality Tex Mex. if Houston had its own spin on Tex Mex this would be the standard.