Quattro Italian Restaurant in Houston, TX: A Review

Quattro restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel in Houston, TX specializes in Italian cuisine so when I had an opportunity to purchase a half-off voucher I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately I chose to have dinner with my husband the evening before the Houston marathon which meant Quattro restaurant in Houston, TX had a limited menu due to their carb-lovers pasta buffet. I wish we would have been notified (when I made the reservation or when the reservation was confirmed) that this would be the case.

When we arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel we were informed that the valet parking lot was full due to the Houston marathon guests but fortunately the valet was able to park our vehicle in front of the hotel so we got lucky. We attempted to locate the Italian restaurant but were unsuccessful on our first attempt (and a flight up the stairs), so my husband walked to the front desk for directions. A-ha! Quattro restaurant in Houston, TX was on the third floor and had I actually looked at the details of my reservation I would have seen that. Oops!

When we finally found the restaurant we were seated quickly and were told about the pasta buffet. Though that's not what we were there for, we were intrigued so the hostess walked us over to the pasta buffet. For $46 per person we expected it to be plentiful but it was not, nor did it have anything exciting - just three different pasta dishes. We went back to our table and pondered which entrée we would have from the choice of five listed on the menu. While perusing the menu, I asked the waitress for bread. We were served olive bread with butter. Hm, I thought this was an Italian restaurant and was perplexed as to why our bread was not served with olive oil. The olive bread was hard and not very savory but I ate my roll because I was hungry.

We chose the beef carpaccio ($16) as an appetizer to share. Though we received a large portion, the beef was very fatty, tough and difficult to cut. The beef carpaccio was served with mushrooms and arugula which were nice accompaniments.

For my entrée I had the beef fillet which was served with grilled onion, a strange watery sauce on the side, and pureed tomato. The fillet did not come with any side dishes and for $35, that was very disappointing so we ordered a side of grilled thyme mushrooms. The mushrooms were less than pleasing on the palate and a waste of $7 in my opinion. The beef fillet was average. While it was easy to cut and mostly tender, it was not the best fillet I've ever had. In fact it was certainly not anything better than what I could have made at home. I expected more from Quattro Italian restaurant in the Four Season Hotel in Houston, TX - especially for the high prices.

My husband had the veal (34) which was breaded. He ate his food but he, too, did not think his entrée was worth the money or anything to brag about. Fortunately we did not have to pay full price for our meal but if we did, we would have been even more disappointed. My husband's glass of wine, a Bouch Pinot Noir, was $15.

Quattro means four in Italian so as the name suggests, the downtown Houston restaurant serves four different types of meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner and an antipasto bar. Quattro Restaurant is located at 1300 Lamar Street, Houston, TX, 77010. Their phone number is (713) 650-1300 and their website is http://www.fourseasons.com/houston/dining/quattro.

*Disclaimer: This review is the opinion of the writer based on her experience on Saturday, January 29, 2011. The writer encourages her readers to dine at Quattro and formulate their own opinion.