Potente

What a terrific spot in downtown Houston for sophisticated and delicious Italian food. The space is beautifully designed to allow for intimate dinners or quiet conversation; service was both friendly and professional; and the food is spectacular. We had the beet salad and the mixed carpaccio (boar, a less salty ham than prociutto and waygu beef with delicious jam pairings), and then two pastas-a ragu of boar and a sublime crab ravioli with limoncello sauce. All the dishes were exceptional in taste and presentation. The wine list is notable and extensive, the sommelier was terrific in helping us select what proved to be a smooth and flavorful choice.
We will be back.

Excellent restaurant with impeccable service and delicious servings. Portion sizes are a bit small but the quality is top notch.

This is the best restrauant in Houston. So many speacilty items on the menu and a very relaxing
noise level.

Fabulous dining experience! Will return!

Food and service always great. If you like truffles you can go without getting the spaghetti.

On arrival, the valet guy gave us an attitude. We pulled up to valet but he was just looking at us and no there cars. I got out of passenger side to ask if they were not doing valet. He apologized and said he assumed we were not going to the restaurant.
We had a reservation for 630 but we were late for 20min, I apologized as soon as we got to the front desk staff as we were stuck in traffic. The lady at the front desk told us "I already cancelled your reservation- you did not call" we were shocked as she said it with an attitude. While at the front desk, 3 people entered and were treated very different by front staff. Waited for 5 minutes and we were seated. Next to our table were several empty tables.
The food was good and our server was ok. We are never going back or recommending to others.

Sadly overrated. Fine ambience and an exceptional waitstaff, but the menu offerings were somewhat limited and mediocre in flavor. The online menu did not match the actual menu, which was unfortunate. As an example, the soft shell crab was off the menu, which was our primary interest. In addition, the cost was excessive for the quality. Disappointing, and not worth a return trip downtown. Too many finer alternatives in Houston, so go elsewhere.

Food was exquisite and service was outstanding. Awesome spot for romantic date

Exceptional service. Our waiter was extremely attentive and curtious. The food was delicious.

Amazing food... worth every penny ... a must for downtown Houston Date Night

The most incredible truffle pasta and terrific wine and cocktail menu. First class service and amazing dessert

Excellent service and food.

Great Food. Very delicious.
Outstanding incredible service.
Great staff.
I will return now often.
Did not realize how great it was.

We had a great experience on our visit. The food and service are absolutely top notch, Freddy was our server and he was fantastic. Everything we had was perfectly prepared and delicious. I can't believe this was our first time here but we will be back soon.
Thank you for a great experience.

Amazing experience. First time dinners. Valentin was exceptions. Def. we will be back.

Love this restaurant! Remarkable staff and delicious food!

I had a great time, Matthew made us feel like bosses. It was my anniversary and they made sure the dinner was special.

Awesome, this was a wonderful place for a romantic evening. Nate and Amy were super as well as the rest of the staff.

An absolute find. Service is top, top shelf. I would recommend it to everybody and anybody. Not the least expensive but easily one of the best.

Amazing food and staff. The experience here is outstanding with fantastic waitstaff. We had Matt and he is a rockstar. Love the rotating locally based menu and fabulous wine menu

I ordered the Frutti di Mare and it was so salty it tasted like it was cooked with ocean water. The scallops were mostly raw. This is a stew and the seafood should have been cooked. Our dessert was supposed to include gelato but it tasted like ice cream from a carton. It definitely wasn’t gelato. I won’t be back.

Great food and very friendly staff. Love the light up menu.

Second year we’ve celebrated our anniversary at Potente, and it didn’t disappoint. Food, wine, and service were amazing! Definitely will be back.

This was our second time to visit Potente and we were super excited to go back. We made this our dinner stop before an event at the Toyota Center as it's not too far away. Everything from start to finish was amazing. They have an extensive wine list, the sommelier was very knowledgeable and recommended some great wines. The truffle spaghetti is a must order (ordered at our first visit), we opted to split that as an appetizer so that we could indulge in other entrees. I had the filet, my fiance had the lamb chops...both were superb. It was a pricey meal, but worth every cent. We look forward to our third opportunity to visit. Highly recommend.

Love the food, ambience and especially the service. It is outstanding.

Very unusual, creative & delicious food. Excellent service! Where we sat, we actually could hear each other and carry on s conversation. One of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to. Strongly recommend it.

It took about 8-10 minutes for anyone to come to the table. When we flagged down a manager he found our waiter right away. The waiter kept trying to dissuade us from ordering a cocktail as he said the bar was "too crazy". He asked what our timeline was and when were told him we were headed to the Astros game and needed to pay within 45 minutes he just laughed at us. The whole experience was awkward. We weren't sure if it was just a miscommunication or if he was just having a bad night. We won't be back.

Out fav Italian in Houston! Service is always extraordinary. They make us feel like family!

Excellent cuisine though noise level high. Service friendly, though somewhat slow.

Our first visit to Houston, taking in an Astros game. Potente came recommended and my goodness did it deliver! Wonderful food from a creative chef, impeccable service, impressive wine list with reasonable prices, special touches (like decorative wine decanters), and maitre d’ who understands gracious but never stuffy hospitality. Diners come dressed for a special night, which makes it all the more pleasing.

This is on my new “favorite restaurants”list. My husband and I were bowled over! A jewel!

Third time having dinner at a Potente, and again, very underwhelmed.

This was our second visit to Potente, this time for a birthday celebration. Maybe because it was an Astros game that night, where the staff was trying to serve quickly, but we felt rushed. Soon after we ordered, our appetizers arrived, and within a minute or two of those being cleared, our main courses arrived. That's the reason for my mediocre Service score. Staff was very attentive, and our server was particularly helpful and interesting. I just wish we had more time to relax and enjoy the meal.

We went here for our first anniversary and I'm so happy we did! The special anniversary menus and appetizer sent from the chef were such nice touches to start off the meal. The service was wonderful, despite it being pretty packed following a post season game (go stros!) We had a little of everything and were practically drooling. So happy Potente calls Houston home and can't wait to come back for more!

Potente was one of the best meals I've had. My wife and I shared the house made spaghetti and the scallops with crushed corn risotto. Ridiculously good. For dessert we ordered the creme brulee which was disappointing a cake which was pretty decent. We will definitely be back.

We enjoyed our dinner celebrating my sons birthday!! Food and service was outstanding . One of the best new restaurants we have been to for sometime.
We will return!!!
Thanks!
Dr. Alan Sexton

This is truly once of the best restaurants I have ever dined at. The food was absolutely terrific and the service was even better. This is no doubt a five star restaurant. The only drawback is it's a 1,000 miles from my house otherwise I'd be there weekly! A true gem, not to be missed.

Kim was our table manager and provided excellent service as well as her staff. Truly a magnificent dining experience! Portion sizes were perfect and the taste of everything was as good as promised. Chef Danny is a masterful chef. This is truly a Houston gem. We will return. Wonderful atmosphere for special occasions. We were not hurried away from our table. Valet parking makes it easy to dine downtown and the area is also less hectic if one goes when there is no live Astros’ game....it goes without saying.

Branzino was average. I was expecting more from a restaurant that appears in the Houstonian magazine as one of the 50 best restaurants. The appetizer vegetables quite simple. Not impressed at all. I will not recommend this restaurant

The restaurant is beautiful, the food is good, not great, the service was wonderful, but the bar tenders are clueless and the food doesn’t match the price $$. I enjoyed it, not sure if I’ll come back..