Tableside Presentations Are Making a Comeback at Houston’s Newest Restaurants

New restaurants like the Marigold Club and Turner’s Cut brought extra tableside pizzazz to Houston this summer, and there are no signs of this trend stopping anytime soon

Houston’s culinary scene has long been known to create memorable dining experiences. Mainstays Brennan’s and Tony’s thrill guests with flamboyant tableside displays like flambéed bananas Foster and salt-baked snapper filleted in front of diners, respectively. Lombardi Cucina Italiana finishes its tagliolini pasta in a Grana Padano cheese wheel and La Griglia carves a whole roasted hen tableside, serving it with roasted potatoes and chicken jus. Still, the popularity of tableside service in Houston has seen a particular resurgence in 2024, with newer, more upscale restaurants offering intentional tableside service with personal touches.

At Toca Madera, a Mexican steakhouse that opened at Autry Park in June, steaks are served with theatrical flair. A 40-ounce American wagyu tomahawk rib-eye gets rubbed in a chipotle charcoal ash rub and broiled before it’s transferred to the dining room to meet its fiery finish. With the help of a drizzle of Wild Turkey 101 bourbon, a server sets the steak ablaze and serves it on a custom cutting board adorned with sachets of fresh sage and thyme, which are also ignited to fill the air with an herbal scent.

TJ Perez

The dish first made waves at Toca Madera’s Las Vegas location (the restaurant also has locations in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona). “In Toca Madera’s darkened dining spaces, it turns heads and provides that wow factor,” says Nicholas Foegal, the executive chef for Noble 33, the hospitality group that operates Toca Madera. “We’ve even seen other restaurants across the country take inspiration from our presentation.”

At Goodnight Hospitality’s latest restaurant, the Marigold Club, dessert is not just an afterthought — it’s a full-on event. A tuxedoed server rolls out a bespoke sundae cart packed with decadent toppings like rum-infused banana jam, vanilla chantilly, brownie bites, and candied hazelnuts; homemade ice creams for diners to choose from include flavors like chai, clotted cream, and chocolate. Before the restaurant’s opening, the hospitality team, which includes partner and chef Austin Waiter, embarked on a research journey to London. There, the martini cart in Mayfair’s Connaught Bar, an award-winning cocktail den, sparked the idea for Marigold’s tableside dessert service. The group hired industrial designer Aaron Rodil (Goodnight Hospitality CEO June Rodil’s husband) to build and customize the cart to be easily convertible when wine and martini services roll out in the coming months.

Turner’s Cut, one of the most lavish steakhouses in Houston, opened in June with tableside cart service for its martinis. Diners can customize their drinks from start to finish, beginning with the choice of top-shelf vodkas or gins. But the tableside experience doesn’t end there: Diners can further personalize their martini to flavor preference by adding vermouth, orange bitters, olive juice, or citrus. The final flourish comes in the form of a lemon twist or regular or blue cheese-stuffed olives, all incorporated at the table.

The trend in Houston is on track with how tableside and cart experiences are manifesting throughout the country. Trade publication Restaurant Business reported earlier this year that consumers are seeking unique dining experiences for special occasions, which includes a significant revival in tableside preparations. Reservation platform and hospitality tech company SevenRooms’s 2024 annual report revealed that Americans are still largely willing to pay more for upgrades while dining out. A representative for the Texas Restaurant Association tells Eater that more and more restaurants are offering unique presentations and interactive elements to enhance the dining experience.

Duc Hoang

Social media plays a role in driving customers to restaurants that invest in the visual appeal of tableside presentations. According to SevenRooms, more than half of diners report trying out restaurants because of what they see on social platforms. “People will make decisions on where to eat based on what they see on social media,” says David Skinner, chef and owner of Ishtia, an Indigenous tasting menu restaurant in Kemah. Virality can influence other restaurateurs to add similar dishes or serving formats to their menus. “It wouldn’t surprise me if somebody at one restaurant looked at it, saw it was popular, and thought, ‘Well, we need one of those, right?’” says Skinner.

Nonetheless, while tableside service is having a resurgence here, Skinner says that in other parts of the world, particularly at the Michelin-starred restaurants he visits in Europe, tableside service is the norm. “Most of them have some kind of rolling cart or tableside presentation. Sometimes, it’s a dessert cart or bread service,” says Skinner. “Less often, it’s something savory, and that’s what we’re playing to do with Ishtia.”

Similar to the intermission-like tableside bread service offered at his former tasting menu restaurant Eculent, Skinner plans to debut a wild game and root vegetable tableside option at Ishtia in the fall that will include squab, quail, and seasonal squashes. “Tableside brings a level of excitement and intimacy to the dinner,” he says. “People, regardless of what they’re paying for dinner, want an experience.”

Adding tableside service also allows restaurants to better control certain aspects of a dish, including its temperature, especially when heat is used. This makes it a win-win for restaurants hoping to deliver the optimal meal and diners looking for a one-of-a-kind experience. “There’s a quality component to it,” says Skinner. “And it makes it more personal.”

Zach Horst