Houston’s is a restaurant that has been on my radar for a while. It had always looked like some generic and boring American restaurant until a buddy of mine told me it had one of the best burgers he had ever eaten. Nonetheless, it took receiving a gift card to the place to finally get me out to the Houston’s in Pasadena.
The wife told me that Houston’s had a different menu for each location, which could be a good or a bad thing, but at least this location had both the burger and some good-looking steaks. Yet, somehow I had trouble deciding what to get and wound up somewhere in-between with the Famous French Dip Au Jus (you know, a steak sandwich). It was made with sliced prime rib on a French roll with horseradish sauce and au jus on the side. I opted for the fries as well.
It should be noted that I also ordered some chips and guac to start off the meal, but the picture turned out terribly and they were hard to eat because the guac was overly salted.
But back to the sandwich, which came out looking beautiful. The meat was a picture perfect red that would and should be expected in such a sandwich. Moreover, the flavor of the beef was left to shine on its own without additional seasoning aside from the side sauces. This was by far both the fanciest and most well-executed French Dip I’ve ever had (and yes, I have eaten at both Philippe’s and Cole’s). Of course, it comes with a price, but that price is well-worth it when it comes off of a gift card or when it’s just time to splurge.