Restaurants / Openings

Houston’s Steak Out — New Steakhouses on Washington Avenue and in The Heights Show Meat Still Rules in the Bayou City

A Closer Look at the Very Different Rare and Patton's

BY // 03.24.22

If you have an appetite for red meat, particularly pricey prime grade cuts, this is your moment. Two new steakhouses, quite different from each other, have just opened in Houston. Get ready for Rare on Washington Avenue and Patton’s in The Heights.

Chef Don Bowie is behind the new two-story restaurant named Rare on Washington Avenue. Bowie, who developed quite a following in Houston with his first restaurant Taste Kitchen + Bar, has diners lining up outside that Midtown locale often for hours to secure a table at the Southern food hotspot, which is serving up some of the most decadent grits, waffles, fried chicken and macaroni and cheese in the city.

At his new steakhouse Rare, Bowie brings a chef-driven menu of prime graded steaks, seafood and signature cocktails, coupled with live entertainment every day. From a jazz band to R & B singers to a DJ poised just upstairs in the lounge. Bowie has partnered on this new venture with rapper, philanthropist and entrepreneur Akon and former Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson. Rare’s dramatic dining room features touches of black and white marble, bright brass and lipstick red banquettes, its seats embossed with an alligator print pulled up to white tablecloth cloaked tables.

Dining Room of Rare – Credit JRMH Photos
The dramatic dining room of Rare on Washington Avenue. (Photo by JRMH)

Rare craft cocktails that inspired us to partake include “the soother” ($18), a tincture made with cognac, cucumber, watermelon and piquant Tajin spice, and the royal mule ($18) made with gin, lime juice, hibiscus ginger beer and pomegranate syrup. For those who prefer wine, there is a well-edited selection by the glass from $10 to $25.

Appetizers include a molten queso Fuego ($18), a melted mélange of cheese flavored with roasted garlic and studded — if you like — with bacon ($5) or lump crab ($12) with spears of toasted focaccia at its side. The jumbo lump crab cakes are chock full of mighty chunks of crab ($24/$47) and arrive on a small pool of beurre blanc. The lobster bisque ($20) is a rich, velvety soup bobbing with fresh lobster meat and can be easily split in the kitchen.

The steaks selection includes a 16-ounce ribeye ($85), an 8-ounce filet ($70), a 14-ounce New York Strip ($75), a whopping 32-ounce Tomahawk ($175) and Wagyu ribeye (market price). Each includes your choice of spice rub from the house blend to Caribbean jerk to a blackened Louisiana seasoning, while sides include a sweet potato souffle ($17), corn Brulee ($15), or Blanco mac and cheese ($16). There is also a Thai curry salmon dish ($42) and Chilean sea bass ($56) and a bourbon-glazed pork chop ($45).

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Patton’s Heights World

Meanwhile, in the heart of Houston Heights, you’ll find the new Patton’s tucked inside Savoir Restaurant. This hideaway steak joint (the only steakhouse at the moment in The Heights) is situated in the space that used to house the cocktail bar SIP. Arrive at this bright brasserie, and you’ll be ushered behind the bar through their wine cellar to an intimate hideaway replete with crystal chandeliers and dark drapery. There are just 38 seats at Patton’s (plus six at a small bar).

Patton’s Beef Carpaccio
Patton’s beef carpaccio

Chef Eric Johnson’s menu is priced accessibly with portions that don’t overwhelm. Like an iceberg wedge dressed with bacon, blue cheese buttermilk dressing ($16), tuna tartare ($23) with smoked paprika aioli and beef carpaccio ($20) dressed with crisp shallots and onions with a spiked tuna aioli.

Prime steaks include a buttery Wagyu New York Strip ($90), a 6-ounce filet ($55), an 16-ounce ribeye ($60) to name a few offered with an array of sauces ($5 each) like bearnaise, house A1 sauce, bordelaise, chimichurri and au Poivre along with a choice of flavored butters.

Don’t miss the creamed corn spiked with Dijon mustard and brie ($13). Other go-withs include parmesan fries ($12), roasted mushrooms ($14), and broccolini with roasted garlic vinaigrette ($14).

Patton’s is open for dinner only on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 10 pm. Pre-dinner cocktails will be available during happy hour at Savoir Tuesdays through Fridays from 1 pm to 5 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 3 pm to 5 pm. Reservations recommended. For more information, call (346) 802-2842 or head to SavoirHouston.com.

Rare is open Mondays through Thursdays for dinner only from 5 pm to midnight and Fridays from 5 pm to 2 am. Brunch is available Saturdays from 10 am to 3 p.m with dinner served from 5 pm to 2 am. Brunch is also served Sundays from 10 am to 3 pm with dinner available from 5 pm to midnight. Reservations are available on Resy.com.

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