Grotto Downtown Houston

My husband and I, along with our friends, stayed at the Marriott Marquis and decided to dine at an Italian restaurant. The Grotto ended up being a fantastic choice for our evening out. The menu offered a variety of intriguing dishes, so we decided to start by sharing some appetizers and then ordered four different entrees. Every dish was beautifully presented and tasted delicious, especially when paired with a lovely Italian wine. We highly recommend saving some room for dessert. Our server, Louis, was very knowledgeable and provided excellent service. Both Louis and the food at The Grotto deserve a 5-star rating.

Our experience at the restaurant was mixed. We had a wonderful server and the appetizers we ordered, including the rosemary focaccia, short rib gnocchi, and meatball appetizer, were all delicious and came out quickly. However, the entrees did not meet our expectations. The margarita pizza had a bland canned sauce and chewy crust, while the eggplant parmigiana was unseasoned, mushy, slimy, and bitter. The cacio pepe pasta that came with it had great flavor but was overcooked. The grouper dish was generously portioned and fried well, but under seasoned. Overall, the service was good but the food was inconsistent.

The grouper was delicious! The menu had a lot of options to choose from.

Johnathan was an excellent server and was very attentive to our needs . His recommendations were spot on!

The food was absolutely delicious. Everything from the Caesar salad to the salmon. And they were able to accommodate my food allergy. Also, the cocktail I had was great! Highly recommend. In addition to being close to our hotel and the convention center.