Zaranda

Reviews

• SK

  Shana K

  3 days ago
  5.0
  Our first time visiting, we came to celebrate a friend’s birthday and I must say the experience was amazing. I loved the ambiance of the restaurant, our waiter was absolutely incredible! The drinks were refreshing and beautiful in presentation. Loved the food, we tried several things and I am pleased that the restaurant accommodated my friend that had multiple requests to modify some of the dishes due to her dietary restrictions. Overall we had a great time and will definitely revisit. Thank you for making our experience unforgettable.
• MS

  Martha Suarez

  5 days ago
  5.0
  Absolutely incredible experience! The place is stunning—elegant, beautifully designed, and with a great atmosphere. The drinks are truly the best in town, and the happy hour specials made it even better. What really set this visit apart was the service. William, our waiter, along with the entire team, went above and beyond to make us feel welcome. Their attention to detail and genuine care exceeded all our expectations. Highly recommend—can’t wait to come back!
• TT

  Temo

  5 days ago
  5.0
  April 2026: Six Stars for Zaranda!!!! The food is awesome, portions are just right, service is great, and the location just a few steps from the George R. Brown Convention Center is super convenient. This is the BEST place I have eaten at in a while. Food is just so fresh and tasty. I had a three course menu for 29usd, my pick was the Caesar salad, the Picanha (6oz of prime sirloin with paprika-nori-cumin dry rub, fries, lemon aioli), and the flan de queso (cheese flan). See pics. Another person in our party had the Trucha Zarandeada (trout in picture) and was perfectly marinated in a housemade zaranda adobo salsa, served with cucumber salad and flour tortillas. When in Houston I will always come back to Zaranda.
• JA

  Javier Alatorre

  Apr 7, 2026
  5.0
  We had a great dinner at Zaranda—the restaurant is beautiful, elegant, and has a really pleasant atmosphere. The view of Discovery Green is a big plus, and we appreciated how nice the acoustics were—you can have a conversation without having to talk over the room, which made the evening much more enjoyable. The service was courteous, kind, and attentive throughout the night, but never intrusive. The food was excellent. I had the pescado zarandeado, which was amazing, and the octopus was also phenomenal. The desserts were wonderful as well. Overall, we were very happy with the experience and will definitely be returning!
• RD

  Ricky Delatorre

  Mar 23, 2026
  3.0
  I honestly hate even writing this because my first experience here was so good that I chose to come back to celebrate my dad’s birthday. He loves seafood, and he was genuinely impressed the first time we came—which, if you know my dad, is not easy to do. That’s exactly why we picked this place again. But this time… it was just not the same. We came in on March 23rd, also a Monday, but it was a lot busier and we were a party of nine. I understand that changes things, but the drop in quality was very noticeable. Starting with the food: the octopus, which we specifically ordered again because we loved it last time, came out borderline burnt. It was hard in multiple areas with way too much char—not the good kind. Some pieces were okay, but overall, it was disappointing. The cooked oysters were honestly a nightmare. The cheese on top was completely hardened, like they had been sitting out too long before being served. They tasted overcooked and just off. I would not recommend those at all. We also ordered the seafood paella, and it had potential, but it was extremely salty—like overwhelmingly salty to the point where it ruined the entire dish. The steaks were another miss. We asked for something closer to medium, and they came out clearly medium rare. That’s a pretty basic request to get wrong. Service-wise, our waitress wasn’t terrible, but it just wasn’t there. I understand it was busy, but there was no real attentiveness. It felt more like she was focused on upselling, especially knowing we were a large party with automatic gratuity. The experience just didn’t feel genuine or taken care of. The only things that held up were the bread (which, honestly, maybe we just appreciated because we were hungry), the margaritas were okay, and dessert—specifically the sand dollar—was still just as good as I remembered. My dad still enjoyed himself, and that’s what matters most to me. But I can’t lie—I really wish the experience had matched what we had the first time, especially since we chose this place specifically for him. It just felt rushed, inconsistent, and lacking attention to detail. I didn’t even say anything while we were there—we were tired and just ready to leave. Unfortunately, I don’t see myself coming back after this.