Zimm's Martini & Wine Bar

First (AND LAST!) time at Zimm's: by their own admission, ""You can go and find something MUCH more fun to do."" \r \r You know those hip, exclusive clubs with long lines, a guest list, and a hostess stationed outside to judge who looks cool enough to enter? Zimm's is not one of those places, except maybe in the imagination of the person (maybe the owner?) who insulted my friends and inspired this review.\r \r Zimm's appears to be an open lounge, but we weren't sure what ""appropriate dress"" meant, as several patrons were wearing costumes. I went in to ask. A friendly staff member said ""no flip flops, no hats... you look fine."" I went out to bring my friends in, but we were halted by a very unpleasant middle-aged woman. She gestured with disgust at my friends' modest casual attire, insinuated that we might be tolerated on a weeknight, and said maybe we might be allowed to sit outside and have a drink on the condition that afterward we'd ""move on and find somewhere much more fun. You don't want to be in there,"" she told us, ""those people really aren't having much fun at all."" \r \r I'm not upset that we couldn't get into Zimm's, but the confusion and rudeness we experienced there was regrettable. My group consisted of 5 graduate students, all smart and worldly enough to understand this much: (1) private parties are private, (2) dress codes vary, and (3) money is better spent at CatBirds! more

This review is for Zimm's martini bar and Zimm's Little Deck, which is down the street on Richmond and Jack St. The martini bar's bartenders drink and get drunk on the bar. I've been in there 3 times with friends and seen them doing shots. They get sloppy and always wind up hitting on us. We don't go back. Zimm's Little Deck has not courtesy for their neighbors- they put speakers up right next to residential houses and blast their music all the time-even when they don't have customers outside. more

Zimms is my favorite place to relax on a week night with some friends and have a glass (or two). The staff is friendly and I love the atmosphere. Great neighborhood bar! more

I met some friends here on Tuesday, Nov. 30 to do some mail outs. We were promptly greeted when we sat down and enjoyed the tasty spirits that were prepared for us! \r \r Great spot for a date night or meet and greet. Nice music, nice artwork, an overall nice experience. Will definitely be back! Drinks are a lil pricey but with great service, I don't mind paying at all. more

This is a good place to go if you're looking for a low key, yet hip place. The drinks are great and so is the service! more

I had the most amazing time at this very chic establishment. Drinks are strong, service even better, I went this Saturday night with three guy friends and we had a blast. Great music and artwork too! I am not sure what this person is talking about below but I had a great time and was treated very fairly. I too am a non-caucasian customer and this was not an issue for me and I didn't even bring any girls! more

The management is rude . No matter how much you spend there if you are not caucasian you don’t matter. Even the Hispanic hired help is racist to non-caucasian people. What’s ironic about it all is that they are good enough to bus dirty dishes, but not good enough to bar tend or be servers. I arrived there at 7pm with my wife and a friend on a Saturday. We together ordered 6 martini’s over an hour and a half and then decided to move to a table outside. We sat there for about an hour or so and my wife kept drinking. I decided to order one more and was thinking about my drive home and wanted to make sure I was sober enough to safely get back. After I finished my drink I only ordered water for about two hours, my wife ordered one more drink at some point. The “BUS BOY” came up to me and asked if we were going to order anything else, if not he said other people were waiting to sit down (white people), and asked us to leave. I was furious I told him that I spent $100 so far on drinks and that he had no right to come up to me and say what he said and told him to leave my table. I went to the bar and expressed my outrage, then told the bartender I wanted my check and I was not tipping and paid with my credit card. When the waitress brought me my check I noticed that they added gratuity. I went back inside and told the bar tender that I was not going to pay gratuity and asked him to take it off he wouldn’t, then I went to talk to the manager. I explained what happened to the manager afterward I asked him what he thought about what happened. He said that there was nothing he could do and that if I had of come to him sooner he would have looked into it. Outraged at his response and lack of concern, I told him that I was not paying the gratuity, it was my choice to tip and I was not happy with the treatment I received. I also asked him to show me where it said that gratuity would be added in the menu and told him that I was never informed that it was going to be added. He couldn’t answer my questions, and brought me a menu which mentioned nothing about gratuity. He then went behind the bar and grabbed a three ring binder and flipped through a few pages and found something that mentioned gratuity. I then explained to him that I was not shown this binder and was never verbally informed prior to ordering. He never offered any type of apology and said that I could leave with the receipt and not sign it. We were disputing a $15.00 charge, with good service I usually tip over 20%. I paid with my American Express and informed him that I would be disputing the unauthorized charge (American Express will stand behind the consumer UNTIL the CONSUMER is HAPPY). He said that was my right, unsatisfied I called the police to file a report for my case. When the police arrived I explained what happened and they then went to talk to the manager. He was unwilling to be cooperative and still refused to take gratuity off even after I offered to pay the bill in cash without the gratuity to settle things and have the charge reversed on my card. He still refused, this makes no sense to me. He was successful in loosing non-caucasian customers, I will never go back there. In fact, I will tell others I know not to support their bar. It is a sad that some customers mean absolutely nothing to this bar. I wonder if the owner is aware of this? I will make another post with the outcome of all of this nonsense. more

My wife and I came here on our first date. 8 Years later, it's still our favorite. We try to come here every time we visit Houston, and it's always a treat. The atmosphere is great, with mood lighting and neat little converstion nooks. Plus, there's always cool art on the wall.\r \r The variety of martinis is great. My wife loves the apple and chocolate, but I'm too manly to admit that they're also my favorites :)\r \r Finally, and most importantly, the staff is always friendly and helpful. Pros: Great atmosphere, Yummy Martinis more

What is the deal with forcing people to valet when there are almost no cars in their parking lot?? I got there at 6pm on a weekend night and was forced to pay $5 to valet when there must have been 10 open parking spots and the bar was virtually empty. I can see why you'd have valet service later in the evening when the place fills up and parking is scarce, but forcing people to valet at 6:00 when the place is empty?? Give me a break. Next time I'll go to Benjy's. Pros: cool bar Cons: parking more

I've been in Houston for a long time and pretty much been to most hotspots but I can't believe I never checked this place out. Usually when I go to a yuppie/upscale bar, I expect the D-Bag bouncer, fake line at the door, attitude, etc. With Zimm's, the Door guy actually said ""Welcome to Zimm's, enjoy your evening"". I was shocked! A popular place that actually wants business! Their chocolate Martini's were awsome and very strong (hey straight guys can drink them too), but I think they were $12 each. When we left, we were even told ""thank you for coming"". It's a simple concept but believe me I will come there again. Who needs Washington? Pros: Polite doorman, bartenders, Cons: pricey more

I LOVE THE MUSIC IN THIS LOUNGE. THE DECOR IS SEDUCTIVE AND STYLISH. I DID LEARN THE HARD WAY THAT ON THE WEEKENDS A STYLISH DRESSCODE IS STRICTLY ENFORCED. THAT'S OK WITH ME BECAUSE THE GUYS LOOK HOT. THE BARTENDER TOLD ME THE BAR HAD BEEN THERE FOR 15 YEARS AND HAD ALWAYS BEEN UPSCALE. CALL FOR RESERVATIONS IF YOU HAVE A GROUP SO YOUR EVENING CAN BE ORGANIZED. I LIKE TO GO TO A LOT OF BARS BUT ZIMMS IS MY FAVORITE. Pros: CLIENTS ARE TOLD THANK YOU AND GREAT MUSIC Cons: NOT AN AFTER HOURS BAR --HINT HINT more

IF YOU LIKE A LOT OF ATTENTION AND SERVICE THIS IS YOUR PLACE IF SEEMS ATTENTION TO CUSTOMERS GREAT INTERIOR SPACE AND A GREAT PATIO STAFF IS TRAINED TO BE EXTRA FRIENDLY ZIMMS HAS BEEN IN HOUSTON SEVERAL YEARS ABOUT 15 AND IS STILL A FAVORITE WENT LAST WEEK AND SAW SOME OLD FRIENDS OWNER HAS UPDATED ALL THE FURNITURE AND THE PLACE LOOKS GREAT THE MUSIC IS STILL THE BEST LOUNGE SOUND AROUND SORRY SOME OF YOU HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE TRY AGAIN AND I AM SURE ALL WILL BE GOOD MY FAVORITE PLACE TO CHILL ALL FURNITURE AND THE PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF PAINTINGS ARE PERFECT Pros: WELL TRAINED STAFF more

I HAVE HEARD A LOT ABOUT ZIMMS. IT'S REALLY UPSCALE AND LOTS OF COOL PEOPLE GO THERE. I JUST MOVED HERE AND DECIDED TO TRY IT OUT. THE SERVICE IS REALLY GOOD I LOVED THE MUSIC AND THE PLACE I REALLY LIKED THE MOOD EXPENSIVE BUT GREAT QUALITY DRESS CODE IS A BIG DEAL IT IS MY KIND OF PLACE HAPPY TO HAVE FOUND A HOT AND UPSCALE LOUNGE IN MY NEW HOME IF YOUR ARE LOOKING FOR YOUNG GUYS WITH MONEY THIS IS YOUR PLACE Pros: AMBIENCE MUSIC CLIENTELE DECOR Cons: SO FAR----NONE more

Don't ever go to this place...I had a friend in town and I told her about this place, so myself and a few other girlfriends decided to start the night here for a few drinks. WHY???? We should have never even bothered to go to this pace. We ordered our first round of drinks and sat our money on the counter which did not include the tip at that point because we were still sitting at the bar and was not ready to check out. Well the bartender takes the money and comes back and THROWS it on the counter and says ""You need to add some more to this!!"" and we were like we are not even finish drinking our drinks and would have liked to order more. I have never had my money thrown to me before in my life. The manager Joe was totally out of line and told me to tell ""MY PEOPLE"" don't come back there anymore. Well I want to tell everyone not to go there because these people are NASTY and just plain RUDE!!! Cons: THE BAR TENDERS and MANAGER JOE more

Everything you've read about this spot, good and bad, is likely true.\r \r Zimm's has a bad case of cool. In fact, it thinks it is cooler than it actually is. It's a rather unattractive quality, and frankly a downside, to a bar that was beautifully designed and appointed. When you really take the time to watch people, they look around as if they are looking for a mirror.....read that sentence again. \r \r The staff here is ""sometimey"". My guess is, they like the money, but hate the self-loving, obnoxious clientele. There is always the possibility that they also percieve themselves too 'special' to behave respectfully, but if you scratch the surface on the majority of the crowd that occupies Zimm's on a regular basis, you will find the same sparkly, but vacant and useless, gold-plated piles of poo that have simultaneously defined and destroyed the mid-town social scene.\r \r Go ahead and laugh...you know it is true. Pros: Beautiful interior...great dirty martinis...accessible location. Cons: Rivals the midtown crowd for most obnoxious and self-involved. more

I recently visited Zimms from out of town this weekend. Let me begin by saying, the crowd was very classy. I was greeted and charmed by all its regulars who are fixtures at this lounge. The service was great and all the bartenders were charming. I also enjoyed the various music selections played untill the DJ arrived. I highly reccomend and will be back soon!!! The belini martini was the best!!!!!!!!!!! more

This bar is pretty much my second home and its hard to pull me out of it at times. I Love Danny, Ginger, Donald, Matt, Ross and Curtis. Really cool people and they will put a smile on your face and a drink in your hand when you need it. I have had My birthday, My boyfriends birthday, and Valentines in Zimm's. Great place to take your friends if you want to relax with real people who are classy and not obnoxious. Such a relief from bars with guys who wear their shades in the dark and girls who are ""promoters"". I love you Zimm's! Pros: Staff Cons: Nothing more

Im a regular at this awesome bar now!!! Just outside of the montrose area by the museum district makes it a perfect place for young beautiful people to hang out !!!!! last time we went the place was packed with beautiful women and tons of fun!!! the two floor managers (just ask for matt or donald) will bend over backwards to make your night enjoyable!! the bartenders and waitresses are top notch as well!!!! if you are into the midtown crowded bars i suggest checking this place out it won't disappoint :) do need to dress up but that will help attract the gorgeous women Pros: atmosphere, staff, clientelle, everything about this place Cons: owner but staff makes up for it more

I went to Zimm's this weekend with a fabulous group of girls (all minorities). All 3 bartenders (2 men and 1 woman) were rude in how they took our order, wouldn't even look at us and gave us so much attitude. What is ironic is that the second our order was taken, the bartender took another order from some white, females and they were as nice as could be. Me and my friends left almost no tip. What is unfortunate is that the ambience, decor and atmosphere is perfect. It was like being at spa and getting beat up. Stressful and not worth it. Bad service, insanely unnecessary attitudes and rude staff. Pros: Atmosphere, decor, good for talking and catching up with friends Cons: Awful service, poorly managed and rude staff more

I went to Zimm's in November with a friend and I thought it was a pretty cool place to go. At the end of the night when I closed my tab, I thought everything was great and Zimm's would be a place I would be a regular at. A few days later, my bank statement shows I was charged $20.00 more than I spent there and when I called the manager told me I had to receipt to prove it. I reported Zimm's for the horrible service and I got an apology letter from the owner, saying she would reinverse my money. SHE NEVER DID! When I wrote her asking when I would receive my money, she didn't respond. This is a horrible place with horrible service and a horrible owner to go along with it. Never again will I go here nor will I reccomend it to anyone. more