Charivari Restaurant-Home of European Cuisine

Sophisticated delicious food, lovely quite atmosphere more

I went here with high expectations. I find that Houston generally has wonderful restaurants. But was I ever dissapointed, and rudely so. Too bad, really. The food was mediocre and some of it cold. The service slow and inattentive. We got through dinner as best we could but we could have just as easily gone to Luby's. Oh...and the chef comes out just to belittle the staff. He is crude. Well, I would not recommend this place if you are looking for good European food and well-mannered people. I wish there were negative stars to give. more

Some creative and unique flavors. Helpful staff. more

My husband and I experienced something similar to JRPR's evening. more

So disappointing. more

Shocked to say the least? in the most unpleasant way! As true gourmands who have traveled many continents we were so delighted to discover and experience Zagat?s only ?29? for Houston in food regardless of the ?20? in ambiance, if that. We quickly understood the low ambiance rating as we arrived at a strip shopping center in midtown but were willing to look aside for a hidden gem as true foodies. After the first course of bouillon of Atlantic (a signature dish) and Dracula's Garlic Cream Soup we felt there MIGHT have a menu worth sharing with others. Once the entrees were served the menu quickly and completely turned SOUTH. The Weiner Schnitzel was breaded in the most disgusting coating and brown gravy. The presentation could easily compare to a hospital cafeteria and I?m sad to say it actually trumped the Lamb Chops (another signature dish). The lamp chops were over-cooked without a hint of pink and lacked any flavor. Don?t even get me started about the presentation. Irmgard-Maria, wife of the chef, waited on us and I was cheering the restaurant on as both her and chef made the traditional rounds throughout the dining room. After the entrees I had enough disappointment. Dessert was not even an option. When will Houston step up and how in the world did Zagat give them this rating. more

My newest favorite restaurant!!!! If you are in Houston, and are looking for something special Charivari is the place to go! Everything was of exceptional quality. Food was delicious, well prepared and presented. The staff courteous and very attentive. The atmosphere very pleasant and inviting. more

Chef Shuster and his wife Maria have continued to surprise me every time we have dined at Charivari over the last several years. My latest visit was for lunch with two friends who never dined there before. I asked them about the special spread served with the homemade bread. No one ever quesses correctly. My friend did. It is caviar moose. He had to talk to Maria to find out who her supplier was. Of course, it is made by Maria. The lunch was so outstanding that he had to see the dinner menu. I know that they will dine there again. more

This Friday I took my wife to Charivari for her birthday celebration. This is a fantastic restaurant for any occasion but Chef Schuster and his wife, Maria, made this evening perhaps the finest dining experience of our lives. We had Beluga Blinis and Prosecco as an appetizer. The small buckwheat crepes were covered with sour cream and a large portion of Russian caviar. The explosion of flavors from that combination perked up our taste buds for rest of our meal. This was followed by butternut squash and lobster bisque. This is an amazing bisque that we have not found anywhere else in Houston. There is a synergistic effect of the combination of butternut squash and lobster that almost cannot be described but must be tasted. Raspberry sorbet cleared our palates for the entree of date stuffed Berkshire pork. This is an inspired dish that combines the extraordinary flavor of dates and the Berkshire pork. It was juicy but fully cooked and very lean. The chef recommended wine, Tacama Sinfonia, is a Peruvian wine that can only be found at Charivari. It complemented the stuffed Berkshire pork perfectly. For dessert we had panna cotta with fruit. The panna cotta melted in one's mouth. We were in food heaven the entire evening. What a memorable dining experience! In addition, there were five young German men at the bar who ordered weiner schitzel. They said the weinerschitzel was the finest they had ever had. From the glow on their smiling faces I believe them. Charivari should be your next fine dining destination. This is an amazing restaurant and a great value for the quality of the food and service. more

The lady and i went for Valentines day dinner. We had reservations at 6pm so the restaurant was not too packed yet. Service was exceptional during this point. As time went by, the service started getting slower and slower as the restaurant got up to full capacity. As once being a waiter myself, I understand waiters being busy but tonight seemed like they were understaffed. Although the food was exceptional, the desserts were not up to par. I expected something to sweep me off my seat at the end of my meal as our main courses and appetizers were excellent. Overall, this is a great restaurant to go to when they are not busy. Free valet and the restaurant is within a shopping strip. Once they hire 4-5 more waiters/waitresses, I'm sure this restaurant will become one of the best places in Houston. Pros: Ambience and Food Cons: Desserts, Service more

Last night my wife and I were looking around on the internet for somewhere to eat, and LOOK what we found, a little spot of HEAVEN, the restaraunt is in a strip center but very lovely inside and accomodating, there is a sit up bar if you wish. The service was absolutely second to none. The food was incredidle tasty, tender, hot and very filling. The woman who wrote the last review of this place must have been out of her mind, if TV dinners are this good, where does she shop!. We eat out at least 3 to 4 times a week and this one is one of the best. THIS IS A MUST TRY FOR EVERYONE. Thank you Maria for the great evening, hospitallity and steller food. Pros: great food great service customer is appreciated in this place Cons: mentally get past he strip center location and you will return many times more

Did I miss something here? I moved to NYC and then SF and used citysearch to find some decent food in Houston because yelp isn't popular enough. I must say that something is very wrong in Houston if Charivari is one of the locals' favorite restaurant here. I never write reviews, so you know this place must have been bad. First of all, I should have canceled the reservation when I was able to get a table for 4 on a Friday night (I called one hour before leaving). BTW, you can get one for Saturday easily. When we arrived at the strip mall location, the hostess said our name wasn't on her reservation list and gave us attitude even though the restaurant was half empty. The food was expensive for Houston. We had a salad that was $15 each (spinach with pear and goat cheese. the pear wasn't even cored or peeled) and several different entrees that ranged from $20-$35, which included super dry chicken with cranberry yogurt, one small lamb chop with bread dumplings that were as hard as rocks and a pork chop that look and tasted like a tv dinner. Also, all red wine is stored at room temp (if you care about that kind of thing.) Desserts looked good, but we couldn't get ourselves to stay any longer. It's not a surprise this place was empty. more

Charivari has become a place very special to my wife and I. We have dined there on numerous occasions, a number of which were special occasions. We always end up choosing Charivari because we know that we can count on the service being second to none, the food outsanding, both making for a wonderful dining experience. When the goal is to have a perfect evening, Chariviari will no doubt hold up to their end of the deal. Pros: Food and service are second to none Cons: Ambience, while good, does not match the food and service. more

Yes it is located in a strip center, no it's not in an old house or renovated church, but the menu BY FAR makes up for that. I had the lobster and after my first bite and had to sit back and take a moment because it was so good. Dined with a large party and every person raved about their meal. The chef/owner actually came out to make sure our food was prepared properly. Would definitely go back and highly recommend it to a friend. Pros: FOOD Cons: Expensive (but worth it for special occasion) more

First off the atmosphere isn't great. It's in a strip center (albeit an upscale one) and other than having white tablecloths doesn't make much of an impression inside either. But what it does have is great service and food. Pros: Service, Presentation, Tase Cons: Located in a Strip Center more

Food presentation, quality, value and portions are great - Highly recommended!! Service is sloooow. I went twice in a week - once for lunch on a Tuesday and once for dinner on Thursday evening. If you have / need a lot of time to talk with your guest, you'll enjoy this meal event. That was my lunch expereince. more

Fine European-style dining with fabulous service and delicious food that's unique to this restaurant. They've got seasonal specials, like their fall mushroom festival which we never miss! It's great for a group of friends who want to share good food and conversation because they don't overwhelm you with loud music and people trying to talk over it. I've never had anything I didn't like, but the mushroom kugel, spatzel, and risotto are really special. Oh, and the garlic soup is to die for. So is the garlic butter and bread they bring before. In fact, those are so good, you have to watch that you don't fill up on that. more

After reading all the glowing reviews about this restaurant, my husband and I were excited to try it on Valentine's night. What a huge disappointment! There is nothing romantic about this place. It is one big room with lots of tables and lighting that is barely lower than operating room level. The servive was terrrible. It took 10 minutes for anyone to even approach us and ask what we wanted to drink and it never improved throughout the meal. It was clear that they were grossly understaffed for such a big night. The ""special"" Valentine menu was very limited with only two seafood options (I don't eat red meat) and very expensive. As if all of that were not bad enough, the food was very mediocre. The famous garlic soup was good, but my husband's rib eye was tough (he overheard someone else complaining about the steak) and the salmon, redfish and lobster (small and tasteless) combination that I had was unexciting. We were so disappointed by the end of the entrees that we skipped dessert and went for ice cream! We will definitely not be going back. more

After relocating to Houston from the San Francisco area, we really missed a lot of our favorite restaurants. We tried lots of different European and French type foods in Houston and this is THE BEST thus far (based on our taste buds). My husband and I am working professional with zero kids. This affords us to eat out most of the week. We made reservation at 6:30pm (early dinner) and promptly seated. The service staff is very attentive. A dinner for two consists of 3 appetizers, 2 entrees, 4 desserts, one Cappuccino, 1 bottle of Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial, 1 glass of a German Riesling, 1 glass of a Hungarian sweet wine, and 1 bottle of Pellegrino. From start to finish, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. As you can ""read"", we like variety. We didn't finish all the food but really enjoyed the UNIQUE FLAVORS, preparation, and GREAT SERVICE of this restaurant. We love the meal so much that we made a reservation for the following Saturday. I read a few reviews thinking that there is nothing special to this restaurant. But for my husband and I, after tasting a dish like Foie Gras with at least 20 other highly rated Zagat restaurants, there is a HUGE difference. We simply love this restaurant and can't say enough good things about it. Pros: Food, Service, and Parking Cons: N/A more

I love eating at Charivari, I would reccomend this place to anyone with out reserve Pros: Great Food, Atmosphere more