Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide 2010 [Paperback]

Robin Goldstein (Author), Alexis Herschkowitsch (Editor), Erin McReynolds (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robin Goldstein is author of The Wine Trials and co-author of The Wine Trials 2010 and The Beer Trials. He is a contributor to the New York Times' Freakonomics blog, and has written for more than 30 Fodor's travel guides, from Italy to Argentina to Hong Kong. He has an A.B. in neuroscience and philosophy from Harvard University, a J.D. from the Yale Law School, a certificate in cooking from the French Culinary Institute in New York City, and a WSET advanced wine and spirits certificate.

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Fearless Critic Media; 2 edition (September 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981830595
• ISBN-13: 978-0981830599
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,185,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robin Goldstein is the author of The Wine Trials, the world's bestselling guide to inexpensive wines, and is founder and editor-in-chief of the Fearless Critic series. He has lectured on wine and behavioral economics around the world, and is also a contributor to the New York Times Freakonomics blog. He has authored six books of restaurant reviews and has written for more than 30 Fodor's travel guides, from Italy to Thailand, Argentina to Hong Kong. Robin is a graduate of Harvard University and the Yale Law School, and has a certificate in cooking from the French Culinary Institute in New York and a WSET advanced wine and spirits certificate.

You can visit his blog at http://blindtaste.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book to devour and help you devour in Houston - 3.8 rating, November 2, 2009

By 

J. Lee "imajeel" (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide 2010 (Paperback)

In a town that you could eat at three new restaurants a day and still not not cover them all, the fearless critic provides what it calls, and I paraphrase, "brutally honest ('the way we'd tell it to our friends, if they asked us'), one-page reviews of restaurants that merit a review either because of being unknown gems or well-known names that you may wonder about".

Here's the upsides and downsides I found with this book, both as a Houston foodie that eats almost every meal in a restaurant, and based upon their self-proclaimed mission:

- I devoured this book! The reviews are written that entertainingly well.
Who'd think you'd want to read a 528-page reference book end-to-end? Well, their one page reviews do live up to the promise of talking to you like you'd asked a foodie friend what they thought of a restaurant. Even to the point of saying - 'yes, if you have 20 bucks for lunch buring a hole in your pocket it was fine, but if it was us with that and looking for such-and-such we'd head over to nearby so-and-so instead'. While some of the reviews try to be overly-clever for the most part - it's good reading.

- The reviews are also informative.
Tips about what on the menus worked and didn't work for them, special deals, atmosphere, service, wine lists and even parking options are abundant. Tied with their rating system which provides a separate rating for food and feel, type of restaurant and gives the average purchase for a meal per person including one drink and tip - it's packed with useful info. Add some nifty indexes that break out their thoughts on each of the restaurants from everything from location and genre to date, kid or veggie friendly - and it's a handy resource no matter how you slice it.

- But, it's still all a matter of taste and experience, and you're bound to disagree sometimes.
I found most of the reviews, rating and thoughts - dead on. But, there were plenty I absolutely disagreed with! The fearless reviewers do have personal biases that become self-evident. (again like any friend you ask). They love Austin eateries over Houston's and that artsy-vibe feel, they love red meat and aren't chicken fans (I am), they look down their nose at Italian of any kind with some sort of self-developed, arrogant system and are equally disdainful of American-ized anything - which despite their thoughts is popular for a reason.

- The small group of reviewers can't try everything- so your experience can be very different!
The thing about the Houston scene is it evolves. I went to one place (Jenni's Noodles) and we ordered the two items they suggested. Nothing about them resembled their description in the book, though other things they said were accurate. For other restaurants (like Khyber) where they apparently only tried the buffet - they missed the best. While I give them grace on the variance of visiting a restaurant at any time, I don't on things like listing Baba Yega's as kid friendly. (You really need a kids menu to be kid-friendly).

- Finally, despite what they claim, I don't understand why some places get included.
Specs, Whole Foods, random coffee houses and bars, among others that have nothing to do w/ being a restaurant are included. Add on the reviews of Whataburger and James Coney Island hot dogs - and I began to think I was ripped off of about 25 of the 450 reviews they'd promised me.

Bottom Line: Despite my quibles, or disagreements with them this is a great resource for anyone wanting to explore the Houston restaurant scene. You're bound to pick up at least a few places you want to try - and a few that if you decide to try your expectations will be in line.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A fearless review, December 14, 2009

By 

Truth Teller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide 2010 (Paperback)

A fearless review for these fearless reviewers. This is not a book worth purchasing. Although I have read and agreed with some of the reviews in the past, I was highly disappointed with this recent purchase. Merely printing an annual edition and slapping on the present year does not make it current at all. There are numerous restaurant reviews that have severely out of date information, including highlights of "recent" openings that are actually many years old. I would rather read more accurate and free reviews online that are much more current and informative. The authors really are fearless in cheating people out of money for these annual editions that are nothing more than a copy and paste of the previous year.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good guide, needs updating, July 2, 2011

By 

L. Trees (Houston TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide 2010 (Paperback)

This is a solid guide to Houston restaurants and does a good job of highlighting food trucks, holes-in-the-wall, and other places you might not find (or would be scared to try) on your own. I don't agree with the writers on every restaurant, but many reviews are on-point, and they're always fun to read.

The only real problem is that the guide is not being properly updated, despite putting out a new annual addition each year. I realize you can't review each restaurant anew every year, but if you're going to publish a new edition, you should at least make sure that details like operating hours and liquor license status haven't changed, and if a restaurant has a new chef or a new menu, it probably deserves a new review. I've found several reviews with outdated info.