Cova

Was not a horrible experience but wouldn’t go back. Much better venues like this in town.
Main complaint is $ 10 cork fee on EVERY bottle of wine you purchase!!! So if you purchase 3 bottles of wine=$ 30 in cork fees. They shouldn’t do this when your purchasing a bottle. It’s not a BYOB place…
This is not a five star restaruant, the only thing worth eating in here are the wide variety of cheeses for your wine pairing. Place gets really loud and tables too close together.
Would go back grudgingly, but definitely not on my own free will. Everything is over priced for what it is. It’s a strip center joint,

Oh My God
Got there at 6;30, ordered the cheese and meat sampler. Ordered our entrees at 6:50. At 8:15, the meals finally came. Between that time, the waiter would come over every 15 or so minutes and say «just a few minutes». Sat there and watched other people place thier orders after us and get it before us.
He had the lobster risotto. It smelled funny and didnt tast very good — he maybe had 3 – 4 bites. I had the shrimp. 8 small shrimp in a little broth that had very little taste. The waiter came by and asked if wanted to take the risotto home and we said «ummm…NO WAY». He said OK, gave us our bill, never asked how the meal was, and walked off. Had to flag someone else to have ake my credit card.
I had also mentioned in the reservation it was my 50^th birthday. Never heard word one from them.
What a let down, never again

My friend and I made it for their happy hour menu right before 8PM. All I have to say is that their lobster risotto is amazing. Im usually not a fan of risotto but this dish hit the spot. We also ordered the eggplant pizza with goat cheese off the happy hour menu. This was served very thin and the portion size was good to feed us hungry folks both.
I wish that the server was a bit more attentive but it looked like there were only 2 on a Tues night. Parking here isn’t that great but there’s valet. You can also try to find parking on the side streets to save some money.
The ambiance is cozy and it’s dark inside. I can see it being a cute romantic date spot.

Good:
Wonderful eggplant bruchetta
Excellent caprese salad
Very informed waiters and waitresses — food and wine.
Nice patio area, quiet.
Bad:
Don’t bring a hungry man here.
If you don’t like smaller portions, probably not your place.
very limited beer selection
patio chairs are uncomfy — switch them out for the indoor chairs.

food: portions are small and food was salty.
i ordered to carry out and they ran out of asparagus for my dish and didn’t tell me. I found out when I got home and had to call in to inquire if I got the wrong dish. Manager said he was sorry.
ambiance: cute and casual
staff: friendly.

I came here with my boyfriend b/​c I had a groupon of some sort. We started off with a selection of cheeses, that the waiter recommended. I enjoyed them, my boyfriend wasn’t a fan, I can’t remember what kinds we got though. We ordered the green bean casserole, lobster pizza, and foie gras. We both really enjoyed all 3 dishes! There were so many appetizing items on the menu that I can’t wait to go back and try some more.
The reason for the 3 stars instead of 4 is that the service wasn’t exactly up to par with the quality of the food. I agree with the comments about the valet, that was unnecessary and annoying. The waiter did not blow me away with his knowledge of wine, although we ended up liking the wine we selected, was not a recommendation from him though. He was often hard to find at times too when we needed a new glass of wine or something for the table. Also, there were members of the wait staff and kitchen that apparently had gotten off work, but were hanging out at the bar and talking /​laughing very loudly. It was very unprofessional.
I will try this restaurant again though as there were more items on the menu that I would like to taste and I could definitely go back for some foie gras. Hopefully the service will be a little better next time.

Came with a group of my girlfriends for a light dinner and drinks. We got a pretty cool table near the wine, so it felt like we were in a cellar drinking.
Our server was good about explaining the wines and the different things available, and he was ever better about not interrupting four girls chatting away!
All four of us got flights, which was really cool. It was the perfect amount of wine and I really liked trying just a bit of everything. It was pretty decently priced too, I got the cabernet flight and it was about $ 13 dollars.
We split 2 pizzas between the four of us and they were both really good. I preferred the blanco with mushrooms but we also had the margherita pizza that was still pretty yummy.
They dimmed the lights and brought us a candle to our table. It was very intimate, low key and fun.
Although this is yet another place that you have to valet. I hate seeing them pull my car into the spot right in front of where I was already. If you haven’t figured out yet, I hate to valet!
Valet aside, I really liked this little place.

Cool wine bar — I had a groupon of some sort so came with a group and we sat outside and enjoyed the patio. Bottles were all pretty cheap, I was pretty surprised that there wasn’t more of a range. We got a bottle of white that the waiter recommended and really enjoyed it.
Parking was stupid, there was a decent sized lot but all the spaces were empty and coned off for «valet» so we all had to park on the street, oh Washington Ave…
Pretty impressed with the food overall:
–Brussel sprouts were a hefty portion of ~15 sprouts, I expected maybe 5 at most. They came with a heavier sauce than I’m used to but it was a pleasant change.
–Lobster pizza was delicious and light
–Risotto was average, a little stiff

Came to Cova a couple weeks ago for a meeting and was very disappointed.
First of all, our wine tasted a bit old and bitter. Second of all, the wait staff there is pathetic! It is simply a hang out for them, not a place of work.
The décor is nice, and there are a couple parking spots outside but its very similar to Tasting Room. Why go here when I can just as easily go there… no thanks!

I came here for steak night last night, but encountered a bait & switch. When I ordered the lobster risotto & steak night dinner, the waiter told me that they ran out of the steak night steak & offered the regular steak instead for $ 35. I spent $ 114 there anyways for 2 entrees & 4 glasses of wine because I wanted to make the most of it while I was there, but was disappointed about not having the steak night dinner which was advertised on the restaurant’s website.
I know most restaurants’ menus change regularly, but Cova’s menu was different than what’s on the website. It wasn’t noted that it’s a sample menu. I often depend on a restaurant’s online menu to see whether I would want to eat there. I’ve reviewed over 100 restaurants & bars & never gave a 1-​star review until now.
Lobster Pizza: 3.5÷5
Lobster Risotto: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ⁴⁄₅ — Besides the bait & switch, the waiter was good. There were way too many empty valet spaces, totally unnecessary. Patrons just have to walk a little futher to the restaurant/​bar.
Ambience: ⁴⁄₅

This was a cozy little wine bar. The selection was quite good and the décor was lovely.
The valet was awkward and seemed unnecessary. The waiter didn’t really know what he was talking about through the whole night. This applied to cheeses, wines, and beers. All in all, it was a good experience though.
The selection of cheeses was nice. The green bean casserole was really quite good. The party I went with was just there for some before dinner drinks and it served that purpose well. I don’t know if I would return, as it’d be just as simple to run down to specs and buy what I want and know I enjoy for cheaper.

3.5 stars, but I’m leaning toward three. It’s a cute wine bar with a decent selection of wines (especially happy to see Argentinian and Australian wines on there), with a decent selection of tapas. The tapas are sized perfectly — not too much, nor too little. The scallops were nice and flavorful. I just noticed there’s a
coupon: I think with that I would bump it up to four stars for value.
I guess I was just expecting a little more variety of a selection for a wine bar.

After ‘Yelping’ to find a great spot for a night out with a girlfriend — we were craving tapas and some great wines; we found this place. Was really looking forward to some nice flights of wine; some Lobster Risotto and some Osso Buco.
We arrived (only about a 25 minute drive from Humble) and parked over near the CVS to avoid the lack of parking we had heard existed closer to the restaurant — and that was a great choice. A short walk and we were there.
Nice subdued décor — very comfortable and classy. We sat at the bar; and were surprised to find out we still had about 10 minutes left on Happy Hour! We both ordered a $ 5 glass of Malbec — (2^nd favorite wine of the night); and an assortment of Charcuterie and cheeses — the brie and the triple cream Brillat were amazing. We also had the proscuitto and the Fioniccho (sp?) salami. They were served thinly sliced, with a side of the perfectly thin sliced french bread drizzled with a bit of EVOO. Happy Hour pricing had this appetizer at a mere $ 9. Party in my mouth!
Then we found out they had recently changed the menu; and I was initially disappointed… but all of that changed! We ordered the Pulled Duck Confit Pizza… with fennel, red onion and Piave. It was the PERFECT thing to go with the flight of Pinot’s we ordered (about $ 15, 3 wines and Robert, our server gave us some great information about them). Served with clearly in-​house made THIN crust — just the right amount of topping (no skimping on the duck) — it was fabulous.
We had also ordered a flight of Cabernet’s…and I have to say; the first one I drank was AMAZING — my favorite wine of the night. The second wine was not a favorite of my friend or myself — but the third was full-​bodied and fantastic with the «OH-​My-​Gosh-​I-​Had-​A-​When-​Harry-​Met-​Sally-​Moment» Beef Shortribs with mushroom risotto. (Tell me you understand that… right? I mean; when you have to close your eyes and take a minute to recover from the onslaught to your tastebuds that overwhelms your brain with a total Food-Gasm…wow!)
I told Eric, the chef that I wasn’t mad about the fact that they had changed their menu and there was no more Lobster Risotto or Osso Buco – those boneless melt-​in-​your-​mouth shortribs and that creamy delicious risotto were the best thing I have eaten in probably a year (or more)!
We finished the night with a 10 year old Tawny Port — (Yum-​O) and this amazing dinner; fabulous wine — and the great new friends we made by sitting at the bar (Gary Fruge and Sherry (?) of Fruge Foreign Car Repair (just across the street on Washington) — and our total bill was under $ 100. Fantastic. We will be back… I can already hear the Beef Shortribs calling my name…

Great selection of value-​based wines picked out by Monsterville Horton IV. This guy is one of handful of Certified Wine Educators in the country. If you haven’t taken one of his classes and you like wine, you are missing something special. Washington location has some fantastic waitresses (Mairim and Sade), who are very helpful and not afraid to share their views on the menu. The «tasting» pours are a great way to sample a lot of wine, and the red and white wine flights are a great way to taste similar wines from different regions of the world

In search of a late dinner (11:30 PM on a Saturday) that didn’t require a trip down to Chinatown or a Ruchi’s run, we ended up at Cova on Washington. I’ve driven past it plenty of times and it always seemed pretty popular.
The place was empty except for a table outside and a few people perched at the bar, which is understandable since they stop serving dinner at midnight and the place closes at 1 AM.
We weren’t looking into any drinks but the wine selection looked quite good so we ended up getting a flight of white wines just for the hell of it. The bartender came over and answered all our questions regarding the wines. Overall it was a good choice and a good deal; 3 samples of about 3 – 4 oz each for $ 14.
We had the pizza di giorno with spinach, goat cheese and tomatoes. There was supposed to be pancetta (for an extra $ 2) but they sent out the pizza w/​o out. No big deal as it was quite good as it was. We also ordered the pork loin with smoked tomato sauce (best dish we had) and the seared foie gras (tasty but the foie gras portion was a little too small for $ 18).
All in all I enjoyed it. I would like to check it out during regular hours and/​or during happy hour. They have a lot of events so check their website out if interested.

On the suggestion of
today I ventured to a part of my neighborhood I wouldn’t normally go: Washington Corridor. But they promised $ 5 glasses of wine and $ 5 app’s. Seriously? Monsterville’s gonna let me taste his rec’s for $ 5?!
NOT disappointed. While they only have 8 parking places and few [conenient] street parking, if you get there early [we were there at 4:30 — hey it’s Friday in summer] you can snag a spot. Greeted soon and told happy hour is at [small] bar only w/​o asking. Manager apologized for ‘state of the bar’ b/​c they just their shipment.
I chose the Pilar Box Australian & my friend chose a Chilean Estacion Cabernet. We ended up switching and being VERY happy. Ordered the spinach/​goat cheese pizza. It took over 30 min. Manager apologized for a ‘temperamental oven’ and offered to comp.
For those that don’t deal well with white flour, Cova’s pizza’s are thin crust and wheat [YAY]! *THIS IS HUGE FOR ME!* And it was DELICIOUS! Atmosphere was perfect mix [not douchey]. When we closed out, pizza wasn’t comp’d but I didn’t mind at all. I had a great time with friend, found a fab new wine & loved my pizza.
2 glasses of fab wine + perfect pizza = $ 15. Seriously. It’s a treat but def filing away to come back in future … as long as I can get parking.

My favorite way of eating is to have a little taste of everything, so I love eating tapas and drinking wine in flights. Cova has an extensive list of flights, rather than just «the red flight» or «the white flight.» If you don’t pick one of these dozen or so options, all of the wines were offered in tasting portions as well as glasses, so you could build your own. I think my flight was called the sexy reds, I had a merlot, a zin, and a tempranillo. I couldn’t tell if our waitress was actually well-​versed in describing wine, or just had a few memorized, but we were all pleased with our selections.
We shared the caprese salad, watercress & arugula salad, sea scallops (with wilted spinach & corn butter), lobster risotto, and a wood-​fired pizza with goat cheese and prosciutto. Everything was delicious. The risotto was so rich, the potion was a perfect size to share. The corn butter with the scallops had a delicate flavor and was the perfect complement. The pizza had the option of with or without prosciutto — I would recommend the former, since the salty meat enhanced the flavor of the creamy cheese. We were too stuffed for dessert, which was my only regret.
I’d been reluctant to try Cova because of the limited menu on its website. It was much better than I’d expected. The décor has the appearance of a shop (like Houston Wine Merchants, for example) rather than a restaurant. It reminds me of Napa, and offers retail wine as well. I’m really glad that I finally gave Cova a shot, and can’t wait to return!

Oh how I love a glass (who am I kidding… glasses) of wine on a patio when our Houston weather is perfect. Cova on Washington has a nice side patio with umbrellas and is a perfect spot for a date or getting the girls together.
Cova is a retail shop for wine and a bistro/​wine bar. What makes Cova different from other Houston wine bars is their Taste portion option, perfect for trying new wines, without having to commit to a bottle or full glass. They have a decent wine menu that changes on a regular basis, so it is easy to try something new. They also have interesting flights of wine, with the Tasting portion pours at reasonable prices. The staff is generally pretty knowledgeable about their offerings and can make good suggestions.
Good selection of appetizers that change regularly, as well. I had a triple cream cheese there the other night that I’ve been dreaming about. My friend saved the name of the cheese in his phone. Yeah… that good.

This is the first official wine bar I have been to, and am confident it was a good place to start. Went here with my sister and we ordered two flights of wine. The cabernet flight featured three very different types of the grape, but all very tasty. The flight I ordered had three types of white wine, one of which was sauvignon blanc; the other two wines had similar qualities. Aside from each wine being delicious and pleasing to the palate, the most enjoyable part of the tasting was discussing the different aromas and flavors. Definitely a great place for a group because of this.
We did not order an entrée, but instead split the «raciones» of cheese and meat. For this, you pick four types of cheese (hard or soft) and they throw in some jamon serrano and what appeared to be a form of chorizo. It was pretty delicious, I’m not gonna lie, and went very well with the wines we were tasting.
In short, this is a great place to go with a small group to try and brush up on your wine tasting skills. The advantage to tasting here, as opposed to doing your own with only two or three bottles, is being able to order multiple flights among your group and sample a wide range of wines. 5 Star experience.

One night my friends Crystal, Bri & I decided to go try a new place so we can go Unilocal about and ended up at Cova.
I’ll start off with saying that the service is very good and very attentive. I like that they have some tables outside for those nice weather days/​nights. I ordered the oxtail and it was delish! It had a very exquisite taste and very nice presentation. The portions were small… well compared to what us Americans are used to… but they weren’t too small to where I was still hungry afterwards. So if you are coming here expecting Texas-​size portions, you might be disappointed. I also tried a couple of white wines through recommendation from the manager and they were great as well. So all in all, I like this place, and would recommend it to anyone that appreciates good food.