In a word: pretentious. I cannot deny the quality of the food (which is certainly above average, though not the best I've had), but this restaurant only wants to serve SNOBS. After getting an embarrassingly bad haircut, I needed to wear a hat for a while, but shortly after sitting down at Houston's, I was told that I would have to remove the hat or be kicked out. I would expect this kind of snobbery from a restaurant in Beverly Hills, but this is Manhattan Beach! What I love about this area so much is that it's simultaneously upscale and casual, but not Houston's. I've also noticed that they tend to give much better service to older people, and that whether you're wearing a tee shirt or dress shirt makes a HUGE difference in the quality of service that you get (which ranges from excellent to awful). So, if you're okay with that sort of thing, then by all means, pay them a visit. But frankly, I no longer feel comfortable over there.

My husband and I went here to celebrate our anniversary. The only reason we came here is because we had a gift card, otherwise we wouldn’t have chosen this restaurant. We made reservations well in advance and confirmed them a few days before, yet we still ended up waiting over a half hour to be seated and the hostesses were very rude about it. The food was mediocre at best. We were pressured into ordering an appetizer even though I really wasn’t interested in one. The salad was awful. Don’t order the Caesar, because it tastes nothing like a Caesar should; it tasted like a Chinese salad. The steak was okay, but way under cooked from what I ordered. To top if off, they wouldn’t accept our gift card. They claimed that it had already been redeemed, but it hadn’t. Instead of accepting the mistake, the manager basically implied that I was a liar. I will never eat at this restaurant again, and I hope you won’t either. This was the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant in my life.