Restaurant: Tony Mandola’s

Location: 1212 Waugh Dr, Houston, TX 77019. (713) 528-3474

Date: June 13, 2018

Cuisine: Creol

Rating: Old School but tasty!

One of my son’s math contests brought us to Texas and so I returned to Houston for the first time in 25 years.

My dad, who used to travel frequently to Houston for work, sent us to a few of his (old) favorites.

Tony Mandola’s had been around since well back into the 80s. It’s rocking that Houston feel.

And a somewhat dated interior, the heavy solid white plates, heavy glass stemware, and all that.



The menu, however, is full of creol goodness, which we don’t get a lot of in Southern California.

Not my usual fare.

And a glass of rose “champagne.”
Garlic bread.

Here the butter and garlic are inside — what’s not to love?

Oysters Domenico. Grilled oysters with bacon and sun-dried tomato butter. Bright tasting, salty, and delicious. Like pizza oysters!

Mama’s Gumbo. Mama Mandola’s seafood gumbo recipe served with rice. Had to try some classics. Nice.

Buttered pasta for the boy.

In Texas, even side Caesar salads come with bacon by default!

Salmon Sophia. Grilled salmon steak topped with jumbo lump crab meat and avocado dill relish (minus the crab in this photo).

Texas Red Fish Pontchartrain. Fresh red fish filet topped with rich brown butter Madeira wine sauce with crab, shrimp, and mushrooms. Good stuff and classically creol!

The dessert menu.

Vanilla ice cream.

Pecan pie! My wife loved it.

Coconut Creme Pie. This was one of the best coconut cream pies I’ve had since the Babalu bakery went out of business. I love coconut cream pie. sigh.

Tony Mandola’s felt a little 80’s Texas, and the plating isn’t the most elegant ever, but the food has held up well. Some very tasty stuff — with butter and crab and bacon on top!

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