Sunday, January 06, 2008

Restaurant Review: Beavers

For the second time in a month my wife and I went to the new BBQ/Ice House/New 'It Spot' Beaver's in the Heights in Houston. Owned by Monica Pope (check out her other scrumptious and amazing restaurant T'afia's), Beaver's is primarily pit BBQ joint. It serves only hormone free beef, quail, fish, etc. The first time we went there was when it had first opened and to say it had some kinks to work out was an understatement. The food came out in a disorganized manner. You would get your sides, then maybe an appetizer, then you entree. Or some of the folks at our table would get their Entree before their sides or any appetizers came out. Now the waiter let us know before hand this would be the case but it was still a little chaotic. Thankfully the food was amazing. Smoky, flavorful, and for the most part tender.
We were expecting much better things when we went back this weekend, and we weren't disappointed. We got there around 7 pm and were told it would be a 45 minute wait. Which was fine because I wanted to check the bar out anyways. They are supposed to have some really good mixed drinks there, and I wanted to get one for my wife. The mixologist is a fellow blogger so if your interested in cocktails go checkout his Explore the pour. The drinks were really good, and really well made, my wife had a Mayahaul Fizz. Myself? I partook in one of the 60 bottled beers they offer. They have an incredible selection of microbrews here and their beer list is organized really well dark to light by style. Very well done. Only a few on tap but many bottles from the local Texas Microbrews Saint Arnold's and Real Ale. I started the evening off with a BANG and had a bottle of Real Ale Sisyphus. When we got to the table we ordered appetizers of Campechana Seafood and Sweet Potato French Fries. Both were absolutely incredible. With the food I decided to order a Saint Arnold's Winter Stout (served on Draft). Thinking that the nice sweetness of the beer would go well with the sweet smokiness of the BBQ. For dinner I ordered a Rack of ribs and my wife got the brisket. The brisket was amazing, tender juicy and just fabulous. The rub on the brisket and the sauce were outstanding. The ribs were fairly good. they were dry rubbed and very tasty, however they were not fall off the bone tender which is what I'm used to. They were a little tough at times nearly impossible to pull away from the bone with my teeth. I was disappointed in that because they were extremely flavorful. However the food came out quickly and the service was excellent. We finished the night with a dessert cocktail that Robert made us. It again like all the cocktails we had was fabulous. All in all Beavers is a great new addition to the Houston dining scene, with its own twist on Texas BBQ and Texas Icehouses.
Service: A
Food: B
Beer Selection: A
Cocktails: A

5 comments:

Robert Heugel said...

Well, well, your true identity revealed! You should have said something when you were in and identified yourself with your blog. Hopefully, we can get a chance to talk a little more the next time you come in. That was our busiest night yet, so even though we had some time to chat, we didn't get to properly introduce ourselves to one another.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words; they are very much appreciated. If you get a chance, come in during the week and we can talk beer a little more. We are actually going to be working on improving the beer list tomorrow and will be adding some stuff, which is always exciting.

Alright, I guess I am taking over your comment section now, sorry, lol. I hope to see you again soon, thanks for the write-up and am glad you had a good time.

Barleyvine said...

You guys were so busy on Saturday I didn't want to get in your way, thats why I didn't introduce myself. Its great to hear that you guys are getting busier. I'll try to stop by in the next week or so and chat.

The Dude said...

That sounds like a pretty tasty venture. I might have to try that out myself, although Rib Tickler in Tomball has me sort of spoiled to the fall-off-the-bone tenderness you speak of. The beer selection has me intrigued though.

Another restaurant my wife and I used to hit on occasion is King Biscuit. It's also in The Heights (White Oak) and they also had a good beer selection as I remember, but it's been quite a while since we've been down there. Ever been?

Barleyvine said...

No, I haven't been. I've heard about it, but haven't made it over there. I'll have to check it out. The other place I want to go is J's Bistro but its up on the northwest side outside the Beltway.

Robert Heugel said...

Oh I understand and appreciate your consideration; I was just messing around. However, I would have made an exception to talk more with you. Its always good to meet another blogger face to face. I hope to see you this week if you get the chance.