The French Corner

1104 Old Spanish Trail, Houston, TX 77054, USA

Address:	1104 Old Spanish Trail, Houston, TX 77054, USA
Phone:	+1 713-661-5324
Site:	thefrenchcorner.com
Rating:	3.7
Working:	7AM–5PM 7AM–5PM 7AM–5PM 7AM–5PM 7AM–5PM Closed Closed

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Janessa Tomberlin

We went here for a tasting. My fiance contacted George weeks in advance. Letting him know we were interested in their services, but needed some guidance, as we have never dealt with caterers before. She called to confirm our visit and was spoken to with disrespect from George as if she were wasting his time. He forgot we were coming. Saying a tasting cant be done without meeting to talk about a menu, as if it were her fault. Why didnt he mention that in the several email they had exchanged? We still met with him, upon meeting, George laughed in our faces when he found out that we are a same sex couple. George was the most unhelpful person Ive ever met. We did not get catering menus to go over. He did not ask us questions to find out what we wanted. We did not know, we were unsure and he made no attempt to guide us or offer suggestions or different ideas. He made us feel uncomfortable and as if were were inconveniencing him. When we asked if there was a catering menu he said yes, then quickly said no. How do you not have a catering menu in your restaurant? He asked what our budget was, 3000-3500. He stepped away to draw up a quote for us. Came back with a quote that was more than double our budget. With appetizers we had no say in. Were not given any options. At that point we pulled up the catering menus on our phones. We noticed that items on our quote were priced higher than the items on the menu. George made no effort to work with us and our budget. He was completely unprofessional and disrespectful. He was not friendly or personable. He knew our budget when we first contacted him and if he had nothing in our price range, why didnt he say so? Why waste our time? The food we sampled was not great, the pasta was bland and the beef was tough. Yet he still charged us $18 for it and they werent even full servings with their accompaniments. Its not about the money, we could have afforded the price he quoted, little did he know. Its not that the food was not great. Its the fact that he didnt care and he went out of his way to prove as much. That he put no effort, was rude, didnt listen, or actually try to help us at all. If you did not want our business you could of just said that. You didnt need to go out of your way to show it. I will never return to this establishment again. We actually ended up picking a caterer that quoted us more than Georges price, well over our budget. The difference was they were personable, very friendly and showed us a menu within our initial price range. The asked questions and saw that we were hesitant and needed some guidance. They didnt rush us, but talked us through options and showed us samples of what they had done for past events. They were very helpful and knowledgeable. George should take a lesson from them. Honestly, I think giving one star was to generous given the discrimination we experienced.

Al P.

I want to love this place, but I cant help but feel like it has been really struggling lately. Ill start by saying that Ive been a frequent customer for 4-5 months, typically for breakfast, as its the only place nearby that serves breakfast. And the food is good, I mean theres a reason Ive kept coming back. The problem is that theyre trying to juggle being both a catering business and a restaurant. Apparently their catering is excellent, I can believe it. But the restaurant side of the business is VERY obviously suffering from the current arrangement—they essentially only have two servers, both wonderful ladies, who however must do catering work as well as the table waiting. Most of the time when I come in for breakfast (which they advertise prominently on their live/light-up street sign), 90% of the tables have cardboard lunchboxes covering them, which the employees are progressively filling with catering food. The servers work on this when theyre not waiting on you, and when the catering side is busy, the service side of the restaurant suffers. For a long time it seemed like they never washed their tablecloths, either, although that seems to have finally changed. However, one step forward, two back: now it looks like theyre only offering a breakfast buffet, no longer the menu and service. The other day they didnt have the "breakfast tacos" that their light-up sign advertises as the best in Houston—why? Because the kitchen was busy with catering stuff. So I had to have lukewarm scrambled eggs instead of eggs ordered the way I want them and freshly cooked, cold instead of fresh biscuits, hard bacon, etc. Admittedly I came in pretty late for breakfast that day, but its obvious to this regular that they need to either stop trying to do everything or hire more people. (Note, literally as I was writing this, another customer approached me to ask whether they served breakfast, since a server hadnt attended to her yet. Eventually she was directed to the buffet, which like I said, seems to be the new thing here, which is very disappointing. I have witnessed multiple other customers complain about service in similar circumstances on other occasions.) The positives are: good food (when the kitchen isnt too busy with catering to make it for you), great servers (again, when theyre not too busy with catering), decent atmosphere (again, except for when all the tables are covered with lunchboxes for catering), good prices (the one thing that the catering doesnt impact).

Gilbert Landras

More times than not lunch meetings greeted me with a bevy of dry bread and bagged chips from The French Corner! For a minute there I thought this place was a box lunch spot with a whirlwind of Tuna Salad, Roast Beef and Ham sandwiches. That was OK though...if it was free it was for me. Funny thing about the catering menu...although this place was called "The French Corner" there was not a section distinctly French/European in name. There was "Traditional American","Central/South American", and a lumped together "Tropical Island, Asian and Mediterranean" which is not a fusion section, promise. It was not until I was in the Medical Center area looking for a place to eat that I saw the place. Figured why not? Perhaps my limited experiences with them made me pleasantly surprised. Apart from the usual sandwiches there was a great "Three Salad Lunch" special with 6 different types of salads to choose from. Moving on there were a number of entrees that are rotated out (Which I recognize as similar to the catering menu). French Corner does put a lot of care into their ingredients. The flavor of the marinates, rubs and other sauces really shows that. Favorite entrees thus far? They include: - Grilled Chicken with Wild Mushroom Sauce - Salmon Pontchartrain - Homemade Meatloaf - Beef Brisket (I do realize there are better places but here its a safe bet) Catering? They are really great. Box lunch sandwiches are really well portioned (though I would ask for extra condiments like mayo to moisten the bread). Sit down restaurant? They are fantastic, pleasant and competitively priced. The catering price is slightly inflated compared to the eating in menu (assumption being that this is to compensate for additional catering stuff). Je vais manger ici encore une fois!

Diane Fitzgerald

Diane Fitzgerald (retired), The University of Texas Health Science Center, Medical School My first experience with the French Corner was over 25 years ago when I was a full time employee in the Medical Center. I continued to use their services until the day I retired in 2003 and then while I worked part time from 2003-2009. The French Corner initially approached my department for catering business, and I eagerly enlisted their services because the catering business to the Medical Center at that time was limited. I began to use them on an almost daily basis for residents conferences, Grand Rounds presentations, faculty meetings and evening receptions. I can say without a double the performance and quality of the French Corner never disappointed me and usually exceeded my requirements and expectations. They "saved the day" for me more than once by delivering an order that I had forgotten to place or needed at the last minute. The employees were always friendly and helpful, and thus made my job so much easier. I can highly recommend the French Corner without reservation for its catering services and the restaurant for an excellent dining experience.