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Houston Restaurant Weeks (HRW) – every year I say I will attend a restaurant, but every year I fail to do so. What is HRW? Taken from their website:

What is Houston Restaurant Weeks?

Houston Restaurant Weeks in the largest annual fundraiser for America's largest food bank.

Planned by volunteers, HRW donates 100% of the funds raised to the Houston Food Bank.

Participating restaurants make donations to the Food Bank based upon how many brunches, lunches and dinners they sell during the event.

To someone like me, HRW is an opportunity to be exposed to places that I didn’t even know existed in the 4th largest city in America! It is a chance to sample some really elegant places, often times, without breaking the bank in a time of economic uncertainty. Yet, every year, I fail to make use of this now 5 week event, until this great year of 2015! I looked at many of the places on the list, and came across one with a really cool sounding name and menu options – B & B Butchers and Restaurant.

There is an old adage that simply states that one should not judge a book by its cover. This place is not raggedy on the outside, by any means. This place has a pig as a logo. This place has the word “Butchers” under the aforementioned pig. One would be inclined to believe that you may have to take off your good footwear to walk in a place of this nature, but your inclinations would be really wrong. This place is very well maintained, and if you like wine…well…you will not be whining about the selection! That joke was horrible wasn’t it?!?

I am not a drinker. I cannot emphasis this enough. A restaurant cannot give me an alcoholic beverage to dull my taste buds and senses! In regards to spice level, this place cooks for everyone. My burger would have been perfect if they would have thrown some Louisiana spices in the meat mixture. Just a liberal amount of Tony’s seasoning…or Slap Ya Mama spices could have truly set this burger on a planet of its own! Outside of that catering to everyone spice level, the burger itself is supreme! The burger truly had great texture, and you can tell that the meat was fresh. The ingredients were fresh that was placed on top of it as well, with special crunch shout out to the onions and lettuce. The burger was perfectly complimented with white cheddar and a very hardy and thick applewood smoked bacon. The fries that I was served are comparable to the McDonalds fries without the heaping mounds of salt normally placed on them at the Gold Arches. The fries truly had very good texture and very crisp crunch on every bite.

I actually started off my 3 course meal with the B&B beef and barley soup which is really good as well. Once again, if you add spices to it, the soup is perfect. The chunks of beef were really tasty and tender in the broth and the broth really had a homemade soup taste.

The third course I chose was the cheesecake. I was told by the waiter that the owner has a favorite place in New York City that serves cheesecake the way he likes it. Because of him wanting to get that authentic New York cheesecake taste, he flies cheesecake in from New York from that very favorited spot. The Cheesecake is light, fluffy and creamy and I truly enjoyed it with minimal toppings.

In regards to service, this place is top notch. The waiters are very observant and responsive. One good thing that I saw and loved was them changing the linens as each patron left their table for good. This restaurant is really clean, and even maintains clean standards during peak times. They also have a purse tree looking contraption for the ladies to hang their purses high for added peace of mine while dining.

B & B Butchers & Restaurant

As aforementioned, if you actually drink wine, this place is definitely for you. There is an extensive wine selection here. I was able to taste the “Soup de Jour,” which was the tomato and basil soup, which was also good and had a homemade taste. I also tasted the sorbet trio which was also excellent on a hot, Texas summer!

All in all, you definitely should give this place a try. Keep in mind, this place is elegant, so you will pay accordingly! This place is 3 out of 5 on the frugal scale, 5 out of 5 on the service scale, and 4 out of 5 on a taste scale. Roughly, this place is a 4 out of 5 for overall dining experience. Don't forget to check out the butcher part of the restaurant. It brings a cool element to your dining experience. You can actually order various cooked items from the butcher part of the restaurant, as well as pick up uncooked sausages, and many other butcher items, including that thick and delicious bacon. This place is worth your time and experience.