Mastrantos

Small, odd Venezuelan+Italian place in the heights. Make their own pastas, however no one was blown away with their selection. Did I mention small? Small tables. Close chairs. They smash you in there, was actually almost uncomfortable to be with 4 people. We had a Venezuelan in our group who was a little puzzled as the the Italian/Venezuelan fusion they had going on. It wasn't traditional Venezuelan and it wasn't traditional Italian, it's their own attempt at trying to blend the two. With lack-luster confusing taste results unfortunately. Starter: TexQueno, 3 pieces of lukewarm cheese with a thin puff pastry outside, with a nothing-special-about-it sauce that detracted from the enjoyment, more than it added. Might have been better if it was piping hot, but was not noteworthy. Skip.Entrees: No one outright complained, but was definitely lack-luster in taste/enjoyment. Pappadelle pasta- the noodle quality was not bad, made in-house they say, al dente, firm, dense, but the sauce just non-existent, not bad just..not worth it. Maybe the one time truffle oil didn't help an entree. I passed it on to my hungry boyfriend, as he will eat anything. His Bolognese, very small portion and it was looked at in disappointment when placed on the table, but gobbled up out of sheer hunger. He said "it's just alright" which is he way of saying, wouldn't order it again. Scarpinocc pasta, also small portion, this was more politely described as "interesting" by the Venezuelan. Waitress was nice, she got our margarita orders wrong, gave everyone the same smoked spicy drink which could have been a bartender fault. All in all, it was an interesting but not-worth it attempt, too small for comfort, not for over 3+ group. Give it 2.5 stars, but round up to 3 since it's not an option. Would not go again, not the place to go if you're hunting for either Italian or Venezuelan food.

We came to this quaint restaurant after happy hour without reservations to see if we could get a table. It was a Friday night so we weren't too sure if we would be able to be seated, especially because there is very limited seating inside. We sat at the bar for about 15 minutes and were able to get a table. The host and servers were great and made sure that we were kept up to date on the status of our table and made sure we had everything we needed throughout the night. Our server was also very honest about portion sizes and flavors which was incredibly helpful as we made our choice on what to order.The drinks were pretty decent but the pasta was the star of the show. They had some really great pasta options that we absolutely loved. We ordered the Taleggio filled Scarpinocc pasta (my personal favorite), the potato gnocchi, and the beef ragu bolognese and we were all very pleased with our dishes. We also ordered the Grilled butcher's cut which was slightly overcooked and I'm not a huge fan of yucca, but was decent overall.

Incredible little restaurant. We came here for Houston Restaurant Weeks and it was such a treat! Everything we got was so delicious and special. The wait staff was very knowledgeable and friendly. We could tell they really care about food here. Everything felt very intentional.Stand outs were the Paloma, the Texquenos, Porte de Catalunya, and for dessert: the chocolate ravioli. The cortados we ordered were impressive as well.We'll be back!

My lady and I enjoyed our dinner in the dark experience here. The food was so good we cannot wait to come back. Being blind folded I felt like I could hear so many conversations about the food. All were good. Everyone around us enjoyed everything served. The pork dish that tasted like steak blew my mind! Meeting the chef was really cool. The fact that you can sit at the chefs table is an added perk for sure.

Had a reservation that we wanted to discuss with staff. Absolutely could not reach them via phone or messages.

Great food, incredible experience will return. Did dinner in the dark and was a great date night with the wife to try something fun!

Always drive by but finally decided to plan a dinner with friends. The inside of this place was very cute and low lit, perfect for a date night or chill dinner. We all enjoyed the appetizer of TexQueños and some delicious cocktails from the bar. Then for the main meal I enjoyed the Chroizo Carbonara, it had a really delicious sauce and the meat packed some good flavor. Will be back for that dish alone.

Dining in the dark was fun but we wished it was truly jet black inside the blind folds deduct from the experience & we were unable to hear to waiter & announcer give the descriptions.

Love this place but tonight I ordered the Paesoto and 3 of the 5 mussels did not open and so were inedible and I have heard could cause illness. I told 2 people about them, and neither person offered anything to address the potential dangerous meal. I wasn't expecting a comped meal but maybe a dessert or an after dinner drink after our meal where we also had a bottle of wine? We'll be back but won't get anything with mussels in the future. I hope they make it, but there were only 4 tables in the whole place Sunday night during spring break. Please go here but avoid the shellfish.

My husband and I went to a recent event at Mastrantos and we were looking forward to the French wine and dining experience. I moved from Chicago and I am constantly disappointed in the Houston offerings. Mastrantos ambience is great. Love the lighting, decor, and intimate quaintness of this establishment. The owner and the service were very friendly! When I look at the standard menu, I wonder why none of these selections were offered Wednesday evening. They offered 4 courses which included pate, a salad leaf wrapped with cucumber, French fries with a dab of aioli and mashed potatoes with dark gravy with a few pieces of chicken. We were also surprised that no dessert was offered. The wine provided was a sample of 5 French wines that were very small pours and didn't offer fresh glass or opportunity to rinse the glass as you'd see at a typical wine tasting event. The cost was $90 per person with tax and tip. The pate was superb, the salad dressing was good, but the other two offerings were an odd combo and quite frankly nothing special. The 5 samples of wine did not even equal one glass of wine...Our Uber ride was totally unnecessary!!I really wanted this to be something we could brag about and look forward to being a routine diner at Mastrantos, but it was not worth the money nor the time and effort to go out in middle of the week.