Red Onion Cafe

Was a great place, but I think the freeway construction killed it. The NW Freeway location is definitely closed. The owner had told me he wanted to move to the Heights, but I don’t know if they have reopened there.

I always liked this place, but according to today’s Houston Chronicle, El Tiempo is going to open a restaurant at «the former home of Café Red Onion at 12 440 U.S. 290». So apparently, it’s now closed. :-(

A great fusion place, with a South American flare. We’ve tried a bunch of different dishes. First off, they have amazing salsas when you sit down, a red one and a mango one. Both fantastic, but the red one we usually go through 2 – 3 bowls before the meal. I’ve had the chimichurri steak salad, which was good, needed more sauce. Steak was cooked medium rare with a ton of flavor. Now they have a dish called the Brazilian chicken. It was loaded with flavor, a perfectly cooked moist chicken breast with an egg plant layer and cheese sauce. Very very very rich, probably the only meal you can eat, but really good. My bf tried the Cuban pork, very good, rich, just really heavy. A ton of food for each plate as well. Also the southwest snapper, cooked perfect, juicy, tons of flavor, with that South American twist. Overall excellent food, good service, always empty. We kinda wish more people would discover them, as they serve great food. We don’t like American food, so when we find places like this we would love for them to stay in business. The 290 construction is killing them and Houston is so ridiculously slow, only God knows when it’ll be done.

Don’t let the construction scare you. The food is always good here. It is Latin fusion. Today I had crab tamales and they were the best I’ve ever had. I’m glad I tried something different.

Oh, my gosh. So, so good. Every. Single. Time.
The owners come around & introduce themselves & make sure you’re happy with your food. It’s amazing, over & over. Unfortunately, I never have room for dessert, so I can’t comment on that. Lol
Owner says the construction on 290 is hurting them, so everyone get out to this place asap! A treasure in NW Houston.

Have recommended this place for years. Met up with an old friend for lunch yesterday after many years and ordered the usual Chilean Sea Bass salad with Jicama, Avocado, Orange and Chimichurri sauce. The salad we both received had tilapia instead of sea bass on it! The waitress didn’t speak much English but seemed to understand our concern. She came back from speaking with the chef (assumption on my part) and stated that the chef insists this is sea bass.
If I could load a photo to this post you would agree. Deception should not be part of your business model. Offer tilapia to save money. No harm in that. And it tasted great. Just don’t assume your guests are ignorant.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS LOCATION!!!
I have been a fan of Red Onion for a long time, but this location is so sub-​par that I would caution anyone from eating here.
To start our meal, they brought out the delicious pineapple salsa, but instead of fresh chips or fried plantains, they brought out stale, bagged tortilla chips.
The waitress, who spoke very little English, brought us menus and we ordered. However, we later found out that the menu prices were not what we were actually charged. They brought us a lunch menu to order, then charged us way more (dinner prices). When I questioned and said that these weren’t the prices on the menu, she brought out a dinner menu and said yes they were. Shady tactic to say the least.
All of our food, thought decent, was store bought, reheated food. Nothing was prepared fresh. My side of «steamed vegetables» was an uncut head of broccoli with two steamed onion rings looped around the stalk. My «safron rice» was minute rice.
On the menu we were shown at the time of order, this dish was $ 10.95. However, when the bill came out, it was $ 14.95. My wife’s was worse. Her meal was $ 9.95 on the menu, but we were charged over $ 19 because of an up-​charge for substituted sides from a dish of the same menu price.
The manager was also the chef, a waitress, and the bartender.
Oh yeah, the hallway to the restrooms had buckets catching water from the leaking roof.

My husband and I used to love this place and their other 2 locations (shut down now). We hadn’t been to the 290 location in a couple years and went on a Saturday night about 8pm. The place was empty… only 2 other tables. When we pulled up we weren’t even sure if they were open because we are used to seeing the parking lot full. Our service was okay, no complaints there but the food is not the same. We both had the seafood enchiladas. The rice tasted like minute rice! I only had 1 bite. The black beans were ok. They used to have great presentation and now plate looked boring. Husband ordered a margarita on the rocks and he said it was not good. Tasted like tequila with water. I don’t think we’ll be back. They might as well close down. It’s sad how empty it was and how the food has changed.

Love this fusion central/​South American food! Too bad their 2 locations closed down closer to Houston :(. Food is amazing — you will love the complimentary pineapple salsa and I recommend the Mayan Chicken!
The staff was clearly going above and beyond to change the bad service reputation — they could not have been more attentive!
Chef/​owner even came out and warmly welcomed us.
Let’s keep this unique place alive!

The food was PK, but they’re definitely not set up for large parties. We showed up with a reservation for 30, and they were not staffed for the group. The owner of the restaurant checked in with each table in the restaurant… except ours. Most in the party were disappointed with the meals they did get… and made for a not great couple’s dinner the night before Valentine’s Day.
And on the way out, the owner tried to tell some of the folks who didn’t get their food that they should pay 50% of the cost of the meal they didn’t receive.

Pricey but good. The pineapple salsa! Yum.
The bad– the ONE dish I always order they were out of the pork. I had something the waitress suggested it wasn’t bad just wasn’t that great red onion experience I was hoping for.

We have been Red Onion fans for several years and our recent visits spanning over the last two years have been disappointing primarily due to service.
The wait staff is occasionally eager to please, but needs to be managed and coached. We found soupy refried beans covering the plate of beef al carbon enchiladas detracted from the usual attractive presentation we have grown accustomed to expect. Otherwise, the food remains delicious and definitely reasonably priced. The popularity of this restaurant has declined over time, which is really a shame considering the tasty menu options.

I had always heard good things about Café Red Onion, so we decided to give it a try this past Friday for dinner. Very impressed! Don’t let the construction traffic, or the exterior stop you from going in. The menu is a unique Latin fusion, and it is delicious!
They have a great pineapple salsa for your chips. I ordered the seafood enchiladas which was very tasty, and my girlfriend had the Chicken Brazil. Everything was very fresh, service was good, and the Chef even came personally and greeted our table. Very excited to hear more locations are coming soon.
We will definitely return!

Always heard good things about this place and thought I would give it a try. Dispute what some people have said we didn’t have any problem communicating in English with any of the staff. This place was hardly that authentic. Chips were straight out of the bag as both salsas had similar taste. Pineapple salsa was just crushed pineapple with no other flavors in it. Red salsa was on par with mild rotel out of the can. Restrooms were a tad neglected with soap pumps filled with water.
Not to mention got a hair in my salad. The chef really needs to touch up the grey. But thats fine I don’t eat salads anyway.
So why not 1 star? The chef makes an awesome steak. Order it if you ever end up here. I most likely won’t go back however.

I have now been to Red Onion Café and have had the same experience twice. The food is creative, original, and very tasty. Check out their menu on line and your mouth will start to water. Their ingredients always taste fresh. I actually can’t say enough about their food.
Here is the one star: bad service. It has happened twice now. The last time I went recently that no one at our table left a tip. I can’t remember the last time I left without tipping, but I couldn’t justify a tip because we didn’t get service and what we did was bad. I had the same experience the first time I went there. My friend and I said we would give them one more try because of the food. I can’t go back now. The service was really nonexistent/​poor.
It is really sad to me that great food gets lost in bad management. If they could work on the operations/​service side, this would easily be a 4 – 5 star place to go. It doesn’t look nice on the outside, but the inside is nice. I’m left shaking my head. :(

Waited over an hour and a half for lunch on a Thursday after being told «40 minutes», «5minutes» and «coming right out.» We came in and the place was completely empty.

Eh. Horrible service. I think the special of the day was No with a steaming side of No. Can I add shrimp? No
Do you have a kids menu so I don’t have to buy a $ 13 quesadilla for my 5 year old? No
No, ad nauseum.
I had the goat cheese and spinach enchiladas. I shouldn’t have. I wasn’t in the mood for tortilla lasagna.
We had to go to the bar to pay because our server was busy saying no to the other 2 tables in the whole restaurant.
Bummer.

I went to Red Onion for lunch to say goodbye to a colleague and there were probably upwards of 25 people. I was worried because it explicitly states on the menu that they do not do split checks, but apparently they made an exception for our group and did a great job separating and keeping track of everything.
The corn chips were warm and nicely salted and the wait staff kept them coming! I liked the red salsa, but wasn’t so crazy about the pineapple. In fact, I found myself wishing that the red salsa was a bit spicier in order to combat the sweetness of the other. Maybe pineapple salsa with chips just isn’t my thing — I could see it going very well with fish though.
I had the mixed tacos al carbon which came with a side of charro beans and rice. The tacos themselves were great — the beef and chicken were both cooked perfectly and well seasoned. The sides were a bit too salty for me but I could eat those tacos all day long!
I live close and had no idea this place was here. Hopefully I can come back soon and try the margaritas and other signature items.

I had always imagined the Red Onion to be some sort of veggie-​focused, health-​conscious restaurant (most likely an assumption based on their name after a giant vegetable), except it is quite the opposite. I haven’t had much exposure with Latin fusion cuisine and after my experience here, I can say that I am a fan!
Each meal starts off with crunchy tortilla chips served with 2 types of salsas– a traditional tomato salsa & a pineapple salsa. The pineapple salsa deserves a shout out because it is good enough to drink on its own. The menu includes a wide range of options from fajitas and enchiladas to pork chops and strip steak. I’ve tried the Mayan Chicken dish and the Mayan Chicken Salad. Mayan Chicken anything on the menu I would order again and again. However, I’ve got my eyes on the Salmon Don Juan and Seafood Enchiladas for next time.
My only gripe would be the service here. Both times I came around 11:30 for lunch and even though the restaurant was less than half full, it took awhile to receive our checks after asking several times. Oddly enough they fill up on water incredibly fast.

Because I like this place, I came back! I enjoyed this visit very much. The food was yum, the service top notch, in and out within an hour. Yes I enjoy good cooked food for lunch. I also enjoy great service. Red Onion delivered.