Top off your Café Rabelais French feast with an unforgettable dessert, like the mixed nut and chocolate silk pie “fondant au chocolate sur croute de noix” or the fruity “sorbet du jour” and wash it down with a fresh, hot espresso.
Menu
This lovely French bistro has become one of my favorite restaurants in Houston. The food, drink and ambiance is great. The wait staff is committed and thoughtful. It has good outdoor dining during COVID.
Food was served cold and had to be returned for re-heating. Mashed potatoes returned cold.
Went for our 25th anniversary and it was a wonderful dining experience; excellent service and food and we loved the atmosphere. Highly recommend! We will be back!
amazing escargot. we asked for a second order they were so good. perfect amount of garlic sweetness and very tender. not tough or chewy at all. can't wait to go get more.
Fresh delicious perfect
I had mussels and my friend had the steak and frites. Both were perfectly prepared and the service was excellent. We sat outside on the patio and it was very pleasant. Extensive wine list and fairly good value.
The mussel is excellent, especially the sauce
This is a lovely French restaurant in Rice Village. Traditional French food, nicely presented. The menu is small and wine is pricey. Otherwise, a great date night place.
Wonderful as always. I love that you never feel rushed. Our server was fantastic - so nice and charismatic. It was an absolute joy.
We have missed our French restaurant.
As usual, the food was awesome and the service was superb. The wine was perfectly paired with the food. And the wine dinner is an excellent value.
Good food and ambience.
Consistently great place for many years - steak was cooked medium rare to perfection
Great place
Love the food
Excellent food and wine. Absolutely fresh. Their mussels were the best.
Just live this place, makes me feel like I'm back home. Food is great and for all budget. You can get a great sandwich and French fries under 10$ or amazing lamb if you have a bigger budget. Service is also amazing!
Went for restaurant week and everything was amazing! Will definitely be back
Long time fav kitchen. Adding 4 stars this time as it seemed a bit off this visit.
I did enjoy the fish on HRW menu.
Fresh bread was very nice.
Don't get too excited about the HRW wine list, some recently printed options are sold out.
We went to Cafe Rabelais for Houston Restaurant Weeks. I am not sure why, but I selected the filet mignon for my entree as did my husband. I was expecting a nice steak with a very good sauce. That filet was one of the best I had ever had. Comparable to the best steak houses in Houston. It was tender with astonishing flavor and cooked exactly as I had requested - rare. My husband had the same comments that I did. We sat there throughout dinner marveling at the quality of the meat. The rest of the meal was also excellent, as was the service, but the steak was the star of the show. We would highly recommend Cafe Rabelais with the filet entree for Restaurant Weeks, although I am sure you would not be disappointed with anything on the menu. They are also conscientious about sanitizing, the tables are spaced far apart, and there is an option for outdoor dining.
Fabulous food as always!
The food was excellent, particularly the fish and the abbreviated wine list offers enough choice to satisfy any preferences. We were concerned that, with limited space, the restaurant might not be able to operate effectively in the current environment. No problem, the staff have done a great job in respecting the Covid-19 protocols and making customers feel safe. This restaurant is a village jewel.
Fantastic little French restaurant in Rice Village. Had the smoked salmon sandwich - delicious! Glad they’re open!
They went above and beyond per usual. The food and service are always great!
Father’s Day
The food at Cafe Rabelais was delicious and generous and the service prompt, professional, and friendly.
I appreciate the C-19 circumstances, but we looked at a very limited menu selection (6 entrees...). With a Friday night 7:30 reservation we were slowly told (waiter returned twice...) over a bottle of wine and a starter that they ran out of our desired main courses (with only 3 and more expensive entrees remaining which were a bad choice. By that time we could not leave really... For a Friday night very, very poor planning...I would say to Chef and Management: take a course in restaurant logistics and prepare better if you like to keep customers...we were regulars....
Cozy in a good way...taking into account appropriate social distancing requirements. Great menu selection - appetizers, entrees and desserts. Relaxing environment with great waitstaff that didn’t rush the evening. A great place
Service is outstanding. The food was so delicious. Grouper with beurre blanc sauce should stay on the menu forever. It was unbelievably delicious!
It's great to be able to go back to this wonderful neighborhood favorite!
Glad Cafe Rabelais is back. Great food (we had the snapper w salad), attentive service, excellent wine recommendations.
A wonderful evening! The food and service are excellent. One of our favorite restaurants!
Even though living in The Woodlands, making an occasional trip to Houston to have dinner with friends at Cafe Rabelais is surely a treat for all of us. The food is always superb and we enjoy the wines, salads and entree's with enthusiasm. The bread of course is a must and don't hesitate to ask for more butter. LOL The service always the best and having a nice table for four in front simply reminds us of a great French bistro with tasty foods and flavors unmatched. Be patient when dining and enjoy the wine of course as the table sizes are intimate, even in the current world of social distancing and further apart now. We simply had a great time and enjoyed the rack of lamb and Cornish game hens preceded my a big salad of fresh greens, pear (or was it apple) and tasty creamy blue cheese. We also requested Champagne vinaigrette which is a house specialty to use on the salad as well. Go for it when in Houston.
It’s back and has not lost a step. Outstanding in every way.
Imagine finding a small, immaculate bistro with fantastic food, helpful and attentive staff and the best wines in town. And having the place almost to yourselves! That was our experience this week at the low-capacity Cafe Rabelais. That a different ambiance than usual, quite the pleasant change. But they're open, food remains superb and the staff hasn't missed a beat. Highly recommended.
Bibb & Gorgonzola salad followed by Mussels and frites, accompanied by a few bottles of Sancerre topped off by a cheese plate and profiteroles with two glasses of Sauternes. Great service, while a bit pricy for lunch, it was all very well prepared and worth every penny.
Birthday celebration
Had a delicious dinner last weekend. I had mussels and they were wonderful! We split the onion torte appetizer and really enjoyed it. I had not been here in a while but will be back soon.
Aery nice menu with plenty of choices. Great restaurant for a weeknight meal.
This establishment is a hidden gem in Rice Village. The menu changes (at least somewhat) daily but there is always a good selection. The wines by the glass are a little pricey but excellent. The service is attentive but not oppressive, and the bread is some of the best in town. I don’t know what I might be missing elsewhere by returning here so often, but as long as the quality stays so even I’ll keep coming back.
We have not been to this restaurant for many years. Thought it would be a nice, quiet evening to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary. It was even better than expected. The wait staff was highly attentive, the food was perfect and the prices were excellent. We will return soon.
FAQs
Cafe Rabelais is rated 4.7 stars by 296 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.
