I apologize for the lack of a review. I have been in the midst of Hurricane Ike and upon my return to my real job, was greeted with over 200 new emails.
However, I recently came upon something available to review. Now, I'm no real food critic, but I know what good food is and what isn't. Grand Lux is the first victim to my unsual and sometimes picky tastebuds. The following is a review of a few of their menu items.
To begin:
Grand Lux is a highly rated and sometimes pricy restaurant with a location in the Galleria area of Houston, TX (where I am based...no stalkers, please!) They serve the standard items - meat, sandwich/burgers, salads, and pasta plates, all with their own 'signature style'. I suppose anything with garlic added to it must be a signature.
The first time I ate at the Galleria location was a few months ago with coworkers. I ordered the following combo for lunch:
Lunch Sandwich Special One-Half of a Chicken Salad, Turkey, B.L.T or Tuna “Nicoise” Sandwich, a Cup of Our Soup and a Small House Salad (source: http://www.grandluxcafe.com/menu.htm)
The price at this location was 10.95. A little high for my tastes, until I saw the amount of food I was presented. The salad was slightly bland with their house dressing and wasn't really dressed. The bread was sourdough, a Turkey sandwich. The soup? Fantastic. I ate the chicken mushroom soup and couldn't get enough of it. Fabulous.
This afternoon, my coworkers had another urge to return to the cafe, and I decided to try something different - and with less food. I ordered this:
Lunch Oven Baked Rustic Pizza & Salad A Half of an Oven Baked Pizza and a Small House Salad. Your Choice of: Margherita, Pepperoni, B.B.Q. Chicken or Fresh Mozzarella (Source same as above)
It was another giant portion. I ordered the mozzarella pizza with the house salad (ranch dressing - yep, they chunked garlic in there too.)
My friend ordered the margherita pizza and we decided to share, since we both wanted both pizzas.
The mozzarella pizza was tasty for the first two slices, then started to feel greasy as I continued to eat. The garlic chunks were large, with fresh spinach and sundried tomatoes. The salad was light, a typical house salad. The price: $10.95. For the size of the pizza and salad, this was fairly priced. The margherita pizza consisted mainly of tomatoes and cheese, and didn't have the feel of a true pizza like what one could purchase from the California Pizza Kitchen. The tomatoes could have used a little seasoning to them. However, both pizzas tasted fresh and well-prepared, the dough being crispy and soft in all the right places.
Overall, though the menu is high priced, the portions that are served coincide with the size of dollar you want to spend. With a glass of tea, my total came to $14.02. My server was well informed of the menu (as all servers are required to be at this place). The location was impecably clean, and food was served promptly during the busy lunch hour. I will continue to dine here, giving the restaurant a 3 1/2 out of a 5 star rating...for now. I may try a burger next time.
If you go, check out the chicken and mushroom soup! It's fantastic. Also check out their homemade chocolate chip and nut infused cookies. They are the size of a bread plate. Next time I will also attempt one of their desserts.
