OpenTable’s Romantic Houston Blunder — Reservation Service Swings and Misses on City’s Best Spots for Love

These Top 100 Restaurant Picks Aren't Built for Wooing

BY Shelby Hodge // 02.04.20

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How could have OpenTable respondents missed the Rainbow Lodge as one of the most romantic restaurants in America?

There is no denying the romantic appeal of Brenner's on the Bayou which reopens for business on Friday as part of Landry's Inc. statewide reopening. (Brenner's On The Bayou's Facebook.)

OpenTable survey respondents selected Houston's Uchi as one of the most romantic restaurants in America.

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse named by OpenTable as one of two Houston restaurants considered among the 100 most romantic in the country.

Rainbow Lodge is as intimate as it gets.

The verdant grounds of the Rainbow Lodge add to the charming and decidedly romantic atmosphere.

The Rainbow Lodge is an authentic log cabin, rich with timber and ambience.

The intimate bar at Artisans with only three tables and banquette seating is cupid's playground.

Kate McLean returns to Tony's as executive chef and partner in February.

Fine dining at Tony's can be the perfectenvironment for inspiring a little night romance.

Emmaline's dining room is empty but the food service goes on with curbside pick-up and delivery in the Montrose neighborhood.

Massive oak trees set the stage at Emmaline for some enchanted evenings.

Emmaline has several dining areas that appeal to different personalities of diners.

Vic & Anthony's is one steakhouse regularly appearing on lists of Houston's most romantic restaurants.

Etoile Cuisine et Bar, participating in Houston Restaurant Weeks, brings old world French fare in a fine dining atmsophere.

Alex Brennan-Martin's portrait is made along aside the comforting and oh-so-private, over-sized wingback chairs.

It doesn't get any more romantic than on Brennan's patio where flowers bloom, birds sing, and the fountain gurgles.

The Barcelona-influenced restaurant continually receives rave reviews for both its sophisticated menu and ambience.

BCN Taste & Tradition in Montrose is popular with romantics as well as serious foodies

A former hunting lodge, Brenner's on the Bayou has long received accolades for its romantic ambience.

How could have OpenTable respondents missed the Rainbow Lodge as one of the most romantic restaurants in America?

Just in time for booking your Valentine’s dinner reservations, OpenTable, the online restaurant reservations service, has revealed its 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the country. Two are from Houston. Seriously, those two?

I beg to differ.

No, it’s not the uber romantic Rainbow Lodge or Brenner’s on the Bayou. It’s not Tony’s, THE go-to fine dining establishment for engagements and anniversaries.

One would think that the national list, curated from more than 80 million diner reviews of more than 30,000 restaurants, would have some authenticity. But just as the Iowa caucuses fell flat, so does this evaluation. (See specifics below.)

I’m not knocking the quality of their food or the ambiance. I’m just sayin’ that neither Uchi nor Pappas Bros. Steakhouse — the two Houston restaurants OpenTable selected as the most romantic — come to mind when pondering a dinner spot for love and romance.

Neither restaurant is mentioned in the romantic restaurant roundups of Trip Advisor, Yelp (which included 30, mostly dubious), Eater, Houston Press, Gayot.com, FourSquare and Zagat. PaperCity did not choose them on our list of Houston’s 10 Most Romantic Restaurants either.

Outdoor Dining with Bering's

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OpenTable selected Houston’s Uchi as one of the most romantic restaurants in America. — OpenTable survey respondents selected Houston’s Uchi as one of the most romantic restaurants in America.

Uchi is fab, the design great, the food unbeatable but the ambience? Romantic? No. Just try whispering sweet nothings into the ear of your tablemate. She/he won’t be able to hear them. At Pappas, I’m not in the mood for love after being forced to wait in the bar for half an hour after my reservation time. No quarrel, however, with the highly-praised steaks or the service and it’s a pretty swank setting.

Yes, it’s hard to imagine a beefy, manly steakhouse being romantic but there was one that appeared on a number of those listicles and that is Vic & Anthony’s. It’s beautiful, the food is outstanding and if tucked into one of the corner booths, I’d give it a 7 for romance.

My personal survey of the various romantic restaurant compilations found that certain eateries might be winners for the sheer number of times they were mentioned. So which Houston restaurants have won the affection of foodie sites?

Rainbow Lodge makes every list as everyone who has ever crossed into the cozy sanctum knows that the wood-beamed, fireplace-warmed ambience, cosseted in a grove of oaks, is pure romance.

Others winning the critics adoration as the place for salivating romance-seekers were Brennan’s, Brenner’s on the Bayou, Etoile, Da Marco, Artisans, BCN, Emmaline, and the aforementioned Tony’s.

In response to PaperCity’s request for details on the selection process (it’s complicated), OpenTable responded:

“OpenTable’s 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in America for 2020 is generated solely from diner reviews collected between December 1, 2018, and November 30, 2019. All restaurants with a minimum ‘overall’ score and number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. The overall score is made up of unique data points, such as overall diner rating, user klout, total number of reviews, and regional overall rating. Qualifying restaurants were then scored and sorted according to the percentage of reviews, for which ‘romantic’ was selected as a special feature.”

With that in mind, it’s our fault (certainly mine) that we don’t answer the OpenTable survey after booking our dinner reservations through the service. I am guilty of skipping the questions and, probably, so are you. Not any longer.