32 Reviews(ratings breakdown)
14 Reviews 3 Reviews 5 Reviews 5 Reviews 4 Reviews
2541 Broadway Bluffs Drive
Columbia, MO 65201
(573) 815-7210
Lunch outside on the patio included great weather, food and service. Took two hands to handle giant burger cooked perfectly (hint of pink), waitress very helpful, knew when exactly to freshen drinks and surprised us with a tasty treat at the end of lunch.
Weather was nice, so went to sit outside on the patio. Service was slow to address our table and once we ordered drinks (bloody mary) waitress took awhile to bring them and take our order. I ordered the french onion soup and tuna wontons (which are my favorite). The food is always consistently good and I enjoyed my meal despite the slow service which was the first time as I usually go for lunch 15 minutes or its free.
I came here expecting just another chain restaurant, but my was i in for a different experience that far exceeded my expectations. The ambiance in the restaurant created a five star feel and the food that followed would definitely keep me coming back for more. The portion size was perfect unlike some places where you might pay double, and the service was incredible. My waitress was nothing but nice and willing to stand and chat since admittedly I can be a bit of a chatty kathy. Overall loved the experience and cannot wait to get back there in the near future. You should give this place a chance if your on the fence like i was.
Love this place! Def. the best place for a drink in Columbia!
I Love Houlihans. They have awsome food and Scott and Malorie are my favorites when I go there. Although I have never experienced a bad employee. They are all nice.
My wife and I have enjoyed the mushroom apetizers on two different occaisions. We also had good service but the food portions (scallops) could use some increase for the prices.
Took some of the girls from work there for lunch. We were all delighted with our lunches. We had fish tacos, french dip, pork tenderloins, etc. and everything was excellent! The potato soup is to die for!
My fiance and I went on Valentine's Day, as I had purchased a couple of the half off dining deals and needed to use them. My scallops were great until I saw a bug crawl out of the mixed greens on top of them. I was so grossed out! Needless to say, I still have my gift certificates that I will probably not use.
Their grilled chicken salad is AWESOME!!! It's got all kinds of goodies in it where at most places it's just a boring bland salad. The bread they serve with it is warm and yummy. I love how they are fun and irreverent. The nooner ad on the radio cracks me up too. Five stars
Nice place. Had the sliders and they hit the spot. They've got a good selection of beer on tap and the staff looked like they actually enjoyed working there.
I'll go back and I'd recommend it to others.
Well I wish I could leave a good review but being we waited 5-10 minutes for our server we elected to go to chilis being they never came. What a dis appointment this was. This was also at 4 in the afternoon. Also for the greeter please dont recommend me speaking to a MGR as my mind was already made up.
My husband and I went this past Friday night for appetizers and drinks and ended up with appetizers, entrees and dessert. The fajitas were amazing, and my husbands steak was perfectly cooked. Service was awesome. It was so nice to have such a friendly waiter. Everyone around us seemed to be having fun and i love the atmosphere.
My girlfiends and I go here often for their wonderful happy hour specials. I also go with my husband once a month or so. I am a vegetarian and have never had issues with special requests. As with most restaurants I would prefer more of a vegan/vegetarian selection but they are very accomodating. I love going in an seeing so many familiar faces. Scott was a server when I first started going and now he is a manager. He never fails to recognize me no matter who else is in the group. For a chain restaurant it is nice to feel like it is a corner restaurant. Sign up for their e-mail specials. They are really great.
My wife and I went to Houlihans last night for our 43rd anniversary. Granted, we arrived at 7:30, after the "Busy Time". However, we were seated promptly and Nate, our server, was quite attentive without being bothersome. Our order arrived in a timely manner and was exactly as stated on the menu. When we asked about the various desserts, Nate offered a detailed description of each one and suggestions based on our comments and questions. The other staff, when cleaning the tables from previous guests, not only cleaned the tops of the tables/booths, they also wiped down the pedestal bases. We were impressed with the attention to detail. We would not hesitate to recommend Houlihans to our friends and family.
This was one of the worse dining experiences I've had in terms of service in a long time.
After someone at the table ordered a vegetarian dish, the waitress came out and informed us that the kitchen couldn't make it because they were "too busy" and it involved extra time.
However, after ordering something "easier" (burger/sandwich), the food took over 30 minutes to come out, plus, every order on the table was messed up in some way. The soup that was ordered without croutons had croutons. The burger that was ordered "plain - with just meat and cheese" had veggies and condiments on it. A vegetarian sandwich that had been ordered without cheese had cheese on it. So everything ended up getting sent back anyway.
The waitress made the excuse, "Sorry, we're really busy tonight," but I live near there and I see their parking lot packed all the time. If busy is the norm, you can't use that as an excuse for poor service. Plus, the food is too expensive to receive bad service!
Definitely won't be going there again - would instead go to Chili's, which is right around the corner on Conley.
Talk about a 180! The new owners and managers have really improved things since last year! The restaurant is so much cleaner and nicer than the times I've been there before. I went with a friend to the grand reopening and was really blown away. We had a blast! The band on the patio was perfect, there were free appetizers being served (which tasted great)....the service from our waiter was fantastic! Every chair in the restaurant was filled. So much different than my previous experiences. We also ordered dinner...and as busy as it was, our food came out fast and hot, and everything tasted amazing! I will definitely be back and bringing friends!
In the 29 years I have lived in Columbia this has to be the worst dining experience I have EVER had. The food was ok. The service was TERRIBLE. While we were waiting on our drinks the waitor was chatting it up with his coworkers. While we were waiting to place our order, the waitor was flirting with another waitress. Half and hour later we got our food. Then while we were waiting on our check,the waitor was once again chatting it up and having a good time with his buddies. All the while a table next to us, with the same waitor, was eating and out of there...they arrived AFTER we did. This is the worst service I have ever had in Columbia. I would absolutely NOT recommend nor will I return.
My visit to Houlihan's was disappointing. The music was so loud my dinner companions and I could not hear each other easily, even speaking loudly. The decor was "pretentious generic chain trying to be chic" and was rather visually confused. It was actually a tad distracting. The lighting was...odd. It was on that fringe of a little too dark and just right, and served to further the visual distraction pervading the restaurant. The red wine marinade on my steak killed the flavor, but the loaded potato skin appetizer my husband ordered was good, most likely because they are after all a fairly uncomplicated concept. The service wasn't the worst I've ever received, but it wasn't good, either. The few friends I have who've been there have said the patio is better in terms of ambiance, but the food was terribly generic, sometimes on the point of unappealing, and one might more comfortably eat at a Ruby Tuesday's, where at least the steamed broccoli is edible and the atmosphere is calmer.
The food and drinks are fabulous. I love the long island drink special. It's a great atmosphere to meet and eat with friends! The service was great too!
Went to Houlihans before the Eagles concert on March 17th. Arrived at 4:30pm in order to get a table. Service was slow to non-existant. Drinks were not refilled. Food arrived over an hour after ordering and was cold. One person in our group didn't get his order at all and two others left in order to actually get something to eat before the concert. As we were leaving we overheard two ladies coming through the door saying "well service was bad last time, but let's give them another try"...we just thought good luck with that!
Tonight was my first visit to Houlihan's although my wife has been a few times. She did say the menu had been reduced but that it was likely her favorite restaurant in Columbia. I likened it to J.Alexander's in South Denver upon entering and it smelled fantastic from the lot, a wood fired grill in a beautiful building. She had raved about a desert they had akin to a s'more with chocolate & marshmallow melted in wax paper and built at the table, excellent....
We started with the stuffed mushrooms and they were excellent, the kids each ate one which is a rarity! We had the kids split a Tillamook cheeseburger with a side of Broccoli. They said the burger was good but I confirmed that the broccoli was cold upon hitting the table. I had the Brentwood chicken sand with a loaded baked potato. The sandwich was good, the potato was room temp with cold sour cream. My wife ordered a buffalo chicken salad which looked great albeit sloppily prepared. I was a bit surprised that a $12 dinner salad was chopped iceberg lettuce. She was expecting greens of some kind and to be honest, couldn't eat most of it as it was sour hearts of iceberg in large hard chunks.
The service was excellent although we did begin counting the number of servers/trips that a cloth napkin in the middle of a main aisle in the restaurant was walked over. We hit 15.
I'd give it a miss, it's an optimistic effort upon entering but we had good mexican a few nights before for the exact same price and we left full that night with no cold sides sent to the trash can....a bit pricey for the quality.
My wife and I visited this place recently and were not impressed.
Put simply it's just another clone in the RubyAppleFriday genre of restaurants that tries to come off as "hip" in its presentation.
The decor was okay but the portions are PITIFUL for the prices they charge. We spent over $50 for dinner (no alcohol) and left hungry.
We will not go back.
I am a pretty conservative person, so when I heard the new Houlihans ads on the radio, I was a little surprised. Not was I was expecting; I'll just leave it at that. BUT, I they were talking about their nooner menu. I went in with a coworker and was impressed. Normally I'm not a chain person, but this place didn't have that feel. Food was great!
I had lunch today at Houlihans and it's was kind of an odd experience. They weren't busy, but they seemed to think they were. about half the tables were full. First off, our food took about 30 minutes (its supposed to be 15 or it's free), but we didn't complain because it wasn't the waitresses fault. We were there for about an hour and nearly the entire time the manager kept yelling "I NEED FOOD RUNNERS". And they certainly did. There were plates everywhere. He probably yelled it 20+ times though so it was really obvious it was chaos in the kitchen. Our order was wrong, they forgot our salads then seemed confused when we asked for them. The waitress was very nice, but it seemed like they were massivly overwhelmed for no reason. The food was great once it was right, but all in all it was almost comical watching the place fall apart. **seriously though, I thought the manager was going to have a heart attack from all the screaming and running around**
I'll be back, but it wasn't the best.
food was good but pricey.
Food was OK a bit overpriced. The drinks were tasty but watered down, fair price though. Been there a couple of times. I won't go back however. The bar was full and they would not accommodate the same specials in the dinning area.
I don't know what the previous folks are complaining about (especially the one that didn't put any comments), but I have been to Houlihans several times for Happy Hour and with friends from work and had a great time every time. Never found it dirty. Now granted, I have been using a white glove, but if it was that bad, I think, I'd have noticed.
Love their Nachos! Love their pizzas! Love that I can go to a bar without feeling like I'm at a bar. Great food, great time and it doesn't break my bank account.
Seems to have gone downhill since the last time I ate there, which was a week or two after opening. The food wasn't as good. The restaurant as a whole was dirty. VERY DISAPPOINTING!
I came to this place for the first time a few backs after hearing a couple of my friends talk about it. I had the ahi fish tacos and looooved them. We also tried a few apps and I like them all. I was with a group of eight, with no reservations, and our server was great. I had a great lunch and a good time. I Will totally go back.
one of the very few corporate restaurants that I will go to. I love houlihans menu, their thai wings are dangerously addictive, they have bass on tap, (half price at happy hour) and their ahi tuna tacos are one of my favorite foods of all time. Yes the service isnt stellar but its decent I guess. I just wish management everywhere would outlaw servers chewing gum
This has to be one of the most pretentious restaurants I have ever been to. The obviously put too much into the attempt at décor, and not enough into the food or layout of the restaurant. It was eternally cold as the way the front door is set up lets cold air blow over half the restaurant. The metal menu covers tried to make the lame menu presentation look 'cool'. The water pitchers were incredibly awkward to use and clunky. I felt like I was going to spill it every time. The food came with things that were not in the description in the menu, things poured over the entrée that I could not stand and had to pick off. If it had been in the description, I could have requested it to be left off. The service was okay, but not stellar. The restroom just struck me as dumb. The faucet knob was just a metal rod. Into a basin that I would expect to see in a barn. I will NOT return to this restaurant.