Visit this time warp. Decor and food is American standards from 50s and 60s. Over 50 items on the salad bar - including deviled eggs and ambrosia (that marshmallow/jello/fruit salad that tastes like childhood summers 🥳). Drinks are a nice pour, so order tall if you want to stay awake through dinner. Bar pricing very reasonable - high end gin (Bombay Sapphire) and vodka (Grey Goose) cocktails about $8. Had a good steak with a side of candied yams and salad bar. Tablemates tried fried chicken (great), ribs (raved about the sauce) and frog legs (interesting). Service was efficient, sassy and experienced. Not sure I need to go back, but definitely glad we tried it. Placed filled up fast with elderly clientele. Very convivial atmosphere and it must have been ugly Xmas sweater night. Great people watching.

1st time here didnt know what to expect after reading reviews. Thank goodness I went, even more thankful that Emily was our server. Do yourself a huge service try this place out.

Disappointed. Place was cold, drafty, and in need of repair! Salad bar was awful and claims to be famous for it. Tasteless and not many options, what was on there wasnt fresh (salad wilted)

Very family oriented dinner place. The frog legs were amazing. Didnt even want to use sauce on them in fear of masking the flavor. Salad bar was delicious with a large variety of choices. Well worth the drive and money.

We love this place! The food is always cooked to perfection! Ive been going for about 38 years, and its still a great place to be! :-)

I love this restaurant! They have decent food, their menu is large, The chef in that spot is very experienced, I enjoy a lot eating all their food. The food is consistently of high qualtity, the attitude towards the visitors is efficient. I frequently visit this restaurant and I not even once was unsatisfied. I highly recommend it.

Houston Inn usually has great food, but the last few times I have gone there has not lived up to their reputation. I got fried chicken for the first time tonight. People have always raved about it. The chicken I got was not good. It was so tough I could barely chew it. And the dressing was just as bad. I doubt if we will be returning in the near future if at all. I hear the place is for sale. Maybe it has run Its course after all these years. Very disappointing to say the least, as I have many good memories of going there.

A great experience and great frog legs and great service. A must!

Was very crowded, that was to be expected. The food came in a timely matter. I did not like the ribs they tasted like they were boiled, I like my ribs grilled. The frog legs were cold. The pork chops were good. I would have to go back and try it again.

This is one of the few places that still serves liver and onions. Very reasonable price...$6.95 included mashed potatoes and gravy. They were fairly large portions of both. Plenty of sauteed onions too. 3 of the 8 in our party had this.

The staff was excellent! The food was AMAZING! Best dining experience weve had in a very long time. We will definitely return.

Great waitress, best salad bar Ive had in a real long time. Look forward to going back. It is outdated but I figure Im not going for the decor, Im going for the good home cooking!!!! Just to let you know....... If you are going to eat the salad bar, ask the waitress to hold your food order until you tell them, that way your food wont get cold. However, when we go back, Im just getting the salad bar. The food was good, the salad bar is AMAZING!!!!!👍

This place is highly over rated. Im new to the area (originally from NYC), and had read all sorts of glowing reviews of this place. I finally had the opportunity to go, and from the moment I set foot into the place I knew it was not going to be a great meal.It looks like the last time it has been remodeled was some time in the 1980s, several light fixtures had burned out bulbs, and there was a smell of old attic dry wood that overrode the food smells. Not an auspicious start. I had the highly vaunted prime rib, it was nothing special at all. It reminded me of a piece of fully cooked frozen prime rib roast you can mail order, not something that had been roasted that day. It was accompanied by a sad looking baked potato. The whole presentation was not much different than just plopped on the plate, with no eye appeal at all. I didnt bother with dessert, I just wanted to finish and leave.

Great place for a meal. Prices are just right. Hugh salad bar... It is meal by itself.Step back in time to an old time steak house. It is worth the drive.

For me I really liked the setting, reminded me of the Diners I would go to with my parents. Food was very good. Staff were friendly and professional. Try it. Lots of menu choices and a pretty good salad bar.

The service and salad bar were very good. I had a large well priced steak that only lacked in seasoning. The giant piece of cheesecake made up for it tho.

Best salad bar selection! Many nice items to select that aren’t typically available on other sale bars. Service always quick and fast.

As usual the food and service were fine. We have never had a bad meal or bad service. Great place to get a great meal.

Had my retirement dinner here tonight. They put a sign outside to guide all our guests to our private room. The room was nicely set up when we arrived. The waitresses were very professional, pleasant and on the spot efficient. The food was excellent and everyone had a lovely evening. Thank you Lou and staff for a memorable evening. Would recommend to everyone.

I felt out of place being under the age of 65. Items in the buffet are targeted toward senior citizens. The decor hasnt been changed since the place opened. Mediocre service, the owner was doing his books in the middle of the dining room at the entrance. In desperate need of capital upgrades. You can tell how bad the water leaks through the roof/ceiling on a rainy day. There is obvious water damage everywhere. I hoped for more when I read other peoples reviews. Maybe its just a local thing.

I rounded up to 4 stars from 3.5. Neat old fashioned place with an old fashioned crowd. Food was good. The cod was great. The salad bar is surprisingly good - there wasnt a single thing I tried I didnt like.

Nice place to eat. Salad bar is great. My wife likes frog legs and also scallops and pasta. The prime rib is great that is what I get.

We used to love the food. Now the steaks have no seasoning and the salad bar has less items. We had a group of 15 there to celebrate my birthday. Took forever to get my husbands tea.

We went here for my great grandmothers 84 birthday and our waitress was so extremely nice to us that we gave her some cake and the food was so good that Im coming back. This is a great place for a family to sit down, talk, and, enjoy great food!

A really nice place. A huge salad bar with 50 items on it. Everything from deviled eggs to chicken salad and ham salad to pudding. This salad bar comes with your meal. The roast beef dinner was amazing- - - very thick cut beef. Gravy was excellent. Dinners are also served with rolls. Reasonable prices. Would recommend you try it out!!!!

Service and staff is fantastic. Atmosphere is definitely long term locals. Everyone knows everyone. Salad bar is set up backwards and not much true vegetables for big salad. Dessert and fruit items on salad bar are mixed in with side items. Can be confusing, especially since they are not labeled. Other menu items are decent with a little higher prices than expected, everything considered. Actual building and parking lot could use a deep cleaning with freshened carpet, seats, etc.

Best service and live and onions on the planet. Whole menu satisfied the pickiest taste buds. Real people making you feel welcomed.

First time there. On New Years Eve, had dinner with friends. Friends have eaten there many times and love it. The service was impeccable, however, I had the salmon, and it was dry as cardboard...reason why I gave them 3 stars instead of 5. I will probably try them again, probably wont try the salmon. My friend all had steaks, and they looked amazing.

We had a great meal, prices were very reasonable and we left stuffed! I had never heard of this place and came here with friends who have been patrons for years. Nice change of pace from all the chains.

AMAZING salad bar. Frog legs were excellent. Steaks were a bit tough. Service was exceptional!! Manager quite apologetic and took care of steak issue immediately. 4 plus! And I will DEFINATELY go back . Prices very reasonable!

This place was fantastic! We went for Sunday lunch after a soccer game. My husband ordered the open face roast beef sandwich. Three large slices of roast beef with gravy over bread and mashed potatoes. It was probably the best open faced sandwich we have had in Cincinnati. I ordered the stuffed pork chop with mashed potatoes, the portion was very large and great. The server was absolutely fantastic and brought my son, who was too hot and tired to eat, a piece of Apple Brown Betty (not on the menu, it was made by another server but our server really wanted him to eat something, which was really sweet). We are already planning our return trip. We all recommend times 10.

Three people. First meal soggy potato wedges, meat not cooked all the way, second meal very dry frog legs, third meal stuffing not throughly mixed before cooking (ate raw bread crumbs often), green beans bland but meat was tender. Salad bar was fine, and thats why it is getting a 1 star. Its worth mentioning- while ordering one person did not want the salad bar. Told the waitress this. She replied that if she sees this person eating any of our salads (2 ordered salad), she would be charging us. If we wanted the salad bar, we could have purchased it. Money was not the issue. One person simply did not want the salad bar. No need to assume we were trying to ditch the bill. Not a good start.

Family dinner for my birthday. 11 adults, 3 toddlers......everyone left happy with the choices.

Very good food. Waitress Pamela was outstanding! We ordered Lous Famous Chicken, and The Cod and it was outstanding! We would of liked if our Kendal Jackson Chardonnay would of been a bigger pour, but other than that our meal and salad, and Corn Bread was delicious, and Pamela was always checking on us and very attentive and had the best personality and bubble and very pretty and bright!Such a lovely evening at Houston Inn!Thank You,Barry Whalen and Terri

Roast beef isnt fresh, but kids chicken tenders were great. got charged for a $10 salad (lots of option... yes and no...I only had 1 plate, not too many great ones for me....maybe add some dried cranberries, apples, blue cheese, goat cheese crumbs, cucumbers, some other protein than ham...I can go on) cause I didnt like my 2 day old beef at $13.

We didnt realize they close at 9:30 on a Friday night, but when we arrived at 8:50 we were immediatly sat. Nobody tried to rush us and our service was fantastic. I had lamb chops for the first time and they were delicious! Their salad bar is fantastic 👌The bill was surprisingly low for the quality of food and service received. Will definitely be back!

Food was delicious. Liver and onions was tender and very tasty. My wife loves their pork chops. Salad bar has many selections to choose from. Server was very efficient and very friendly. Always their to refill coffee and water. Highly recommended.

I love this place. Always great food and service. There may also be a long wait as those in the know fill the seats quickly. Ya might phone ahead to see the availability of seats! Trust me, you will love the food!

Never disappoints...old school food with a serious salad bar. Deviled eggs are crack. Specials are always fantastic! My parents went there in the 1980s and hadnt been since. They said it was still as good as they remember! We have become somewhat regulars and do not mind the drive! Well worth it! Also a great place for large groups!

Great food and service! Quiet with older music playing softly. Tables were covered with white tablecloths. I highly recommend it!!

Best liver & onions! Love their frog legs! Reasonable prices! Nice atmosphere, beautifully decorated, nice people. My wife loves their pickled watermelon rinds! Great salad bar! In short, we love Hustons! Oh! Almost forgot, we love the selection of music that they play while you are enjoying your delicious meal!

The steak was excellent. This place has a terrific salad bar. It even has candied watermelon rinds and chow chow. Service was great

Amazing atmosphere. Amazing wait staff. Amazing food. What more could you ask for???

I love this place, Ive been going here for over 18 years. The staff is great. The manager Lou adds charm and character. Its the best place to take the whole family.

The salad bar here is 2nd to none. The fish sandwich is so flaky & delicious & big! Ive never had a bad meal here. The staff is so friendly. I highly recommend . Houston Inn does not disappoint.

Service good. Food good. Seating good. Parking good. Decor good. Overall? Good but slightly overrated

Another one of my favorite spots for brunch or a nice dinner. Ive found, over the years, that the salad bar has such a variety, including fruit, light dessert items that with a beverage youre more than satisfied.

Food great...they have a huge salad bar...prices reasonable...we had a fabulous waitress. We got there around 4ish on a Saturday, perfect timing really was getting busy when we left.

Food was not appetizing. Lettuce on the salad bar from a bag. Way over priced for the quality. Sorry

Great food but I think I would go just for the salad bar. Great salad bar.Building needs serious attention which really takes away from the whole dining experience. If we werent with family members whove eaten there previously, we would have probably walked out before giving the food a chance.

Wait staff was fine, salad bar was okay, just poorly labeled. Our main entrees was... bland. I had a New York Strip that had minimal flavor. I had to put some salt on it to give it a flavor. The fried chicken my brother got, was very greasy and only flavor that we could taste (we all tried a bit of it) was grease. My dad had ribs and said the BBQ sauce was about the flavor of ketchup. Last but not least, my mom had catfish although the big issue she had with it was the fact it tasted and didnt look like catfish. My dad despises catfish and he tried it and said it tasted nothing like catfish.All the food was hot it was all cooked properly. Just it was all ehh on flavor. Unfortunately with us all having a bad experience I cannot reccomend this to anyone and probably wont be back.

Had a wonderful time. Food was excellent. Only wish I had met the owner, former neighbor of mine.

Loved this place! Drove by it for 7yrs and thought it was a just too old fashioned looking for me. Nope, super good food and very friendly people :)

Fabulous meal and unbelievable salad bar! Prime rib special delicious! Hosts and wait staff so genuine and friendly. (But, you dont go there for the atmosphere or ambiance....)

Grouper was fabulous for lunch. Salad bar...WOW, loads and loads of scrumptious choices! Service was tip top! Ill be back!

I have eaten here a few times with family and we havent found anything we didnt like! The buffet is great and always well-stocked. I only wish they were open on Mondays so I could eat here more often!

Excellent food. Good service. Best liver and onions in cinti.

My family and I had heard good things about this place, but were not impressed at all. The staff was very nice, and our waitress was great, but we felt that most of the food was blah. The fried chicken was too tough, cornbread didnt taste like anything. Dont understand the rave reviews on the salad bar. There isnt anything fancy on it, just your typical cold salad bar items. The collassal cheesecake doesnt look the same in person, and also tasted funny, I thought. I did think the mashed potatoes and gravy were good though. Dont mean to sound disrespectful, just giving my honest opinion. Maybe were just too picky. But thanks again for the great service.

Great service and outstanding NY Strip. Great salad bar. Very quaint. Wont find 10 televisions and loud noise. No one is sitting on top of each other. I like chains every now and again, but will be back here.

Astonishingly bad. Made the drive on recommendation from a friend on a Tuesday night. Truly cant believe how pitiful it was. Im not a foodie but Ive lived in cities where you can eat well for $15 and if youre paying $30+ you can eat like a king. The famous prime rib was abhorrent. Cant believe they have the gall to charge $26 for it. Remember when Wendys had a salad bar- well that was 100 times better than this. If youre old enough to remember Ponderosa- thats what the steaks are like, just twice as expensive. Side dishes tasted like they were straight out of a can. I will steer people away from this forever. Do yourself a favor- if youre driving north - go to Golden Lamb in Lebanon instead. If youre driving south, just go to any decent place in Mason or Blue Ash.

We enjoy the really good home cooking . A great place for tasty frog legs, baked chicken, prime rib, and many other meals. The salad bar alone can be a nice meal itself. We enjoy the devilled eggs, the many salad dressings, and the fresh and crispy lettuce. We have had great service every time.

Really good

The tables have too many legs. The waitress puts her arm in your mouth. The salad bar had 54 delicious items. Pickles should be both kinds. Several overweight golfers showed up in shorts and baseball caps. The dinners were par excellence, but we had to go to Bob Evans for desserts.

Love the food and service here and especially love their salad bar with so many items.

Always a treat. Home cooking but first class. Great service. A salad bar like no other...Huge variety and delicious. Bring the fam or come alone.

Super nice formal dining room.. top notch salad bar and the best frog-legs around.. 🐸

Great service and you can get food here that isnt typically served anywhere else. The Frog legs are great and the chef specials are awesome comfort foods. Huge salad bar and a nice wine list

Very good, and the staff is always very nice. The place is always clean and the salad bar is very good. Only problem is that its very expensive.

Great food and friendly staff. Ran out of corn muffins because of big party. Husband never got any, they are his favorite. Food was great like always.

The place jas been here forever and just really good comfort food. I would give them 3 1/2 stars if possible. Mostly an older senior crowd.

Diner food in a nicer setting. not bad at all. The salad bar has recipes your mother made in the 1950s! Portions are a bit skimpy but the prices are very reasonable. Id go back if in the area.

This place is good! Good pricing, big portions and the employees are regularly very nice.

We had our family Christmas dinner last night. 20+ ppl Everything was great! The wait staff ( Nate and?)was perfect. The salad bar was excellent Amy entree exactly what I ordered and delicious.

My family and I have gone to this restaurant since the early 70’s..We’ve always have had great experiences .Last year we took the whole family here last year to celebrate are 50 year anniversary..The waiters when out of their to ensure everyone had a great experience. Highly recommend this restaurant to everyone...

Always good food, great servers and a very comfortable atmosphere. We have been going here for nearly 50 years. Highly recommend!!

This is a solid comfort food restaurant that has an excellent salad bar and some good entrees. Its a very dated place and you wont find adventurous food here. But you will get a good variety of down home entrees and earnest service.

Enjoyed the Salmon very much here, good Salad bar, Service was great!

Frog legs were delicious as always, and their salad bar is the biggest around with a lot of delicious choices!

The service was excellent Stellar actually, but the food was just so so. the salad bar so many talk about is just kind of a mishmash of funky country kind of stuff. Kind of like what I would expect at Cracker Barrel if they had a buffet.

It read a nice family atmosphere. We had a private room for a birthday party and everything was perfect except they were out of frog legs!! On a Saturday!

This is a historic eatery with good, old fashioned food. The salad bar is phenomenal. Soooo many toppings to choose from and random extras in there as well. Definitely worth a trip. The owner is kind as can be and always stops to talk to our little boy. The decor could use a serious update though.

Awesome place too eat. Salad bar and ambiance was real nice and very affordable.

It was day before Easter and very crowded, but still the food and service were top notch. This place never disappoints us! Every week or so and Ive got to have my Houston Inn fix! One of our favorite restaurants!

Enjoyed our banquet there.. Food was hot and plentiful.. Service was very attentive.. Prices reasonable.

It had been quite awhile since I last visited the Houston Inn. The service was outstanding! Food Great! Anyone who loves cheesecake it will not disappoint:)!!!!

If you havent ate here yet, you are missing out. Fantastic and friendly staff and owners. Amazing food, great amtosphere, I go here all the time for lunch. Menu is great, specials are always attractive. This place also has one of the best salad bars around.

Excellent food. Love the broiled pork chops. Outstanding salad bar, no one has a better one. Treat yourself to a very enjoyable lunch or dinner.

We use to look forward to eating here. Time before I had the shrimp. Not good at all. Tried fried chicken last night. Served very hot but I and my wife both said how bland it was. Very disappointed. Dont plan on a return visit.

Best salad bar in 100 miles. Good ribs and steaks. Known for their frog legs. Family owned. Extremely friendly staff. Good place for gatherings.

As always a top notch experience perfect service and great food

We have not eaten here in a couple of years, but place had a bad odor and did not seem as clean as in past visits.Frog legs were not up to the standards of past meals there.Actually very disappointed since this is one of the special restaurants over the years.

Meh. Old people’s food. The atmosphere is old, the food is institutional is taste and presentation. I guess it was once “the place to dine”. It’s hard to see why today. The place was clean and the service was prompt and polite.

Its always a pleasant experience eating here. The salad bar is wonderful and the waitresses are special. Nice treat today for my wifes birthday.

Food was delicious. Value priced. Atmosphere was great. Waitress was very friendly n helpful.

Havent been there in a while. Probably wont go back. Very disappointed. Not sure what they used as BBQ sauce for my ribs. Tasted like ketchup and vinegar. And the ribs were dry and tough. Husband got the frog leggs. Said they were OK but nothing special.

We went here to try the infamous salad bar. Which includes dressings as one of its 56 items.It’s great if you need gummable old people food. So not impressed. Service was poor as well.

Very good food and reasonably priced. It is like taking a step back in time when you go inside. My husband and I love going here.

I love their salad bar and the people was very friendly and good service

The service was excellent (especially considering we were a group of 25 who didnt give them much notice) as was my entree (fried chicken)! We had a few vegetarians in our group who were a bit disappointed, since most of the sides are cooked with some type of meat, but the servers worked with them to find something that they could eat besides the salad bar.

40 years ago this place was fantastic. Its been a while between visits. Ill just say I was underwhelmed..... today it looks like a place that was fantastic 40 years ago and they quit trying.