Downtown Aquarium

Reviews

• KC

  Kayla Contreras

  4 days ago
  1.0
  ⭐ 1/5 Stars — SAVE YOUR MONEY! EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING! I honestly wish I could give this place ZERO stars. So sad I don’t ever try to complain and help Business thrive but My fiancé and I traveled THREE HOURS to Houston for his birthday trip, and one of the things I was most excited about was taking him to an aquarium for the VERY FIRST TIME. Unfortunately, the Downtown Aquarium was easily one of the biggest disappointments of our entire trip. The Dallas aquarium and anywhere else is better than the Houston one. I purchased all-day ride passes for THREE people, expecting a fun all day experience with plenty to see and do. Instead, there were only about 2 disappointing rides, and multiple attractions and exhibits were shut down, including the seahorses, train, and sharks! These were some of the main attractions we were looking forward to! To make matters worse, when we got to the ticket window, we were offered a refund, BUT if we still wanted to enter the aquarium that day, we would have to repurchase regular admission tickets for $16 each. How is that supposed to make the situation any better when that’s already the regular admission price? After driving three hours, we were basically left choosing between leaving without experiencing anything or paying again just to see what little was actually available.or to go see it full priced no refund and to just deal with it And let’s talk about the stingray exhibit. It was DIRTY and extremely disappointing. The overall experience was so underwhelming that we didn’t even want to stay and eat at the restaurant like we originally planned. We just wanted to LEAVE. Oh, and don’t forget the additional $15 we had to pay just for PARKING! I completely understand that certain attractions may close for maintenance, but when multiple major exhibits and attractions are unavailable, customers deserve to know exactly what they’re paying for BEFORE making the trip or purchasing expensive passes.i was going to buy them in person but thought it would be easier to buy online no where does it say how many lame rides there was or that the exhibits were closed or that there doing construction or work either. This was supposed to be a special birthday memory for my fiancé, and instead, it turned into a complete waste of our time and hard-earned money. We work hard for our money, and spending it on something this disappointing is incredibly frustrating. PLEASE, SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY! If you’re planning to drive from out of town expecting a full aquarium experience, I would seriously reconsider. There are so many better things to do in Houston. We drove THREE HOURS just to be disappointed. I genuinely wish we had spent our money somewhere else. Never again.
• LL

  Loraine Loraine

  4 days ago
  5.0
  So me and my man went here on a Saturday had a 430 reservation got in right on time. Staff was amazing but I want to Highlight Our server ADAM this man was on POINT I did not have to wait for nothing. He was so amazing Our food was delicious and martinis were just how we asked for them DIRTY af 😋. My man dropped his fork and I swear ADAM literally appeared out of thin air and brought us a new one. Definitely a must if your in Houston. Make sure you sit in ADAMS section and leave him a HEALTHY tip
• FQ

  Fariz N Qureshi

  Oct 7, 2026
  5.0
  I went there 5 months ago. I loved it. The place is super clean and animals were amazing and healthy. I was quite amazed when I saw the tiger exhibit. As if it was out some movie. Most I enjoyed the rides too. Specially the Shark Voyage train ride. Had an amazing experience on the Carousel and Drop tower. Only disappointment was that I couldn't be on the Ferris wheel. I was really looking forward to it. But the staff told us that it's under maintenance. I hope I can experience it when I come next time. And I'll surely try the restaurant too.
• BB

  Babybot

  Oct 3, 2026
  1.0
  Unfortunately, this was one of the more disappointing attractions we visited in Houston. The aquarium is surprisingly small—you can realistically walk through the entire thing in about 30 minutes. For the price of admission, we expected a much more substantial experience. Our baby slept through most of the aquarium and finally woke up once we reached the gift shop. Since we had literally just exited, we asked if we could go back through so she could see some of the fish. We were told we could not re-enter without a specific wristband. I understand having policies, but refusing re-entry to a family that had just walked out felt unnecessarily rigid, especially for an attraction that takes such a short amount of time to see in the first place. My biggest issue, however, was the tiger exhibit. Seeing a fully grown tiger inside what appeared to be a very small, limestone-style room with no visible grass, trees, or greenery was extremely uncomfortable. I understand the tigers have access to additional areas that visitors may not see, but that doesn’t change what is actually presented to guests. Calling the visible space a “conservatory” felt very generous. Regardless of what may exist behind the scenes, watching a tiger pace around that stark enclosure was difficult to see and felt completely out of place in an aquarium. There were a few enjoyable exhibits, but overall the experience felt underwhelming and overpriced. Between being able to finish the aquarium in roughly 30 minutes, the inflexible re-entry policy, and the tiger exhibit, I would not personally recommend it.
• BS

  Brand Schoolcraft

  Oct 2, 2026
  5.0
  Always a spectacular sight from the Pierce Elevated. Especially at night, with the Ferris Wheel lit up in bright colors… Zack is wonderfully attentive. The menu is a sensory overload of fried, broiled, and blackened seafood, steaks of all sorts, and some unusual appetizers. We order Castaway Combo Appetizer: Fried Gator, Chicken Quesadillas, Shrimp and crab melted cheese dip, Crispy fried cheese curds, parmesan crusted fried onions, and shishito peppers and chips. It is really hard to mess up fried with melted cheese. And the Aquarium does not mess it up. It is delectable! One of the most beautiful menus I have ever seen! You are seated staring at a house-sized aquarium with fish, sting-rays, schools of fish and shark varieties that are larger than the awe-struck humans staring on through, foot-thick glass! Spectacular! The decor, is pure Disney Magic level. You are in a place that is unlike any place you will go…pretty much, anywhere. The walls are imbedded with coral scenes, clear (acrylic) seaweed blades erected from a man-made coral seafloor along the walls of the dining hall, with blue illuminated underwater ocean scenes painted like a window into the underwater world around you. Really, Full Marks! This place is spectacular. The dining is on the second floor FYI, don’t worry, there are elevators, if you are in no hurry; because the elevators are not either. OR…a spiral staircase to the upper dining level around a central cylindrical wonderland fish tank the likes that makes Sea World jealous. Looking eye-to-eye with large salt water fish as you huff up the highly decorative stairs (take the stairs, unless you absolutely can’t, it’s worth it!) Oh, yeah, why are we here? We are hungry. Shrimp Scampi and Ravioli. Beautiful, massive grilled shrimp, atop a bed of sauce, cheese stuffed ravioli, asparagus, and mushrooms. Huge shrimp, wonderful reduction sauce, asparagus that, um leaves a little to be desired, and mushrooms that have soaked up that beautifulness wonderfully. Fish and Chips. Well, we recently had this dish several times in London. This is not that. Unfortunately, this is Long John Silver’s on its good day. These are four fat fish sticks. Now this will be hard to process…but, they fry things wonderfully here. The fish is tender, juicy even. The crust is crispy, thick and decadent. But, it tastes like grocery store frozen fish sticks that a restaurant kitchen prepared for you. Flavor is on vacation, somewhere in a place that looks a lot like this restaurant, but, not here tonight. Chips, meaning french fries, that, any respectable fast food establishment would scoff at. They are french fries. They are not worthy of “Fish and Chips,” though. Fish Tacos….drum roll. You know this is my go-to for restaurant break-in reviews. This is hard to say, because the execution is masterful. If I hadn’t eaten them and just took pictures, they would be 5 star. I order “blackened”, they are hot, slightly crispy at the edges, light and flaky interior fish. Delicately sprinkled pineapple pico de gallo, with a perfect portion of roasted chili mayo. Topped with a branch of Cilantro. and Lime wedge. Looks beautiful. Tastes like…um…well, chicken. and not in that delectable Chick-Fil-A way either. Just Tuesday night at home chicken. No flavor. the mayo…no flavor, almost at all. the pineapple salsa…was it even there? or did i imagine it. All that said…Everything was cooked perfectly. Executed flawlessly. Pretty and detailed. Portions are generous…Just built for the everyman palate. Is this place worth it? Yes. Surprised? Well, after you figure out how to park around here. Find the hidden entrance, and climb the stairs… This is a wonderland. The restrooms are a showstopper too. Really 5 star stuff. I LOVE this restroom. This is not a Foodie bucket-list spot (sorry for the heavy handed review, Aquarium), Carnival playground outside, Ferris Wheel, splash pad and other rides and attractions. You have to come. It is amazing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Downtown Aquarium