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Cafe Rabelais, Houston, TX

Cafe Rabelais

4.7
4.7
1026 Reviews
$31 to $50
French

Make a reservation

2 people
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
7:00 PM
Booked 20 times today

About this restaurant

  • Neighborhood gem
  • Great for fine wines
  • Good for special occasions
Houston’s Café Rabelais serves sumptuous French cuisine in its classic, European-inspired eatery. Fantastic starter options include the mouth-watering smoked salmon plate, the white bean and vegetable soup, as well as a variety of decadent cheese plates. Café Rabelais’s specialty dinner entrées include the seared duck breast with Szechuan demi-glace, the seared snapper in rich beurre blanc, the vegetarian orzo pasta with purple cauliflower and feta cheese and the red wine marinated ribeye with eggplant.

Top off your Café Rabelais French feast with an unforgettable dessert, like the mixed nut and chocolate silk pie “fondant au chocolate sur croute de noix” or the fruity “sorbet du jour” and wash it down with a fresh, hot espresso.

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Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    $31 to $50
  • Cuisines
    French, Bistro, Dessert
  • Hours of operation
    Lunch Tue–Sat 11:00 am–2:00 pm Dinner Tue, Wed 6:00 pm–9:00 pm Thu–Sat 6:00 pm–10:00 pm
  • Phone number
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Executive chef
    Soriano Frank
  • Neighborhood
    Rice Village
  • Cross street
    5499 kelvin Dr
  • Parking details
    Street Parking
  • Additional
    Beer, Cafe, Late Night, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Wheelchair Access, Wine

What 1,026 people are saying

Cafe Rabelais reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.7
4.7 based on recent ratings
  • 4.7Food
  • 4.5Service
  • 4.6Ambience
  • 4.5Value

NoiseModerate

Loved For

  • Houston

    French

  • Houston

    French

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Cafe Rabelais offers an authentic French dining experience with "outstanding food," a "perfect atmosphere," and a "superb wine list." Known for its cozy bistro vibe, it provides a delightful menu featuring classics like beef bourguignon and mussels. While service can be "slow" during peak times, the "amazing food" and intimate ambiance make it a favorite for many.
1,026 Reviews
  1. Ron VIP

    Houston45 reviews

    4.0

    Dined 1 day ago

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 5
    The menu is well edited, the food is excellent, the ambience is quiet and fitting. Unfortunately the service is schizophrenic. Our server was infinitely more interested in chatting up the other staff and apparently could not be bothered to do her job. Fortunately, the the other servers whom ours had not yet buttonholed recognized the problem and leaped into the breach.

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  2. Ralph VIP

    West Palm Beach32 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Jesus did a great job of welcoming us and made a great wine recommendation! Food was fantastic. We are visiting MD Anderson for treatment from Florida. It was a great get a way for a special Evening!!

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  3. JoAnne

    New Orleans2 reviews

    4.0

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 5
    Great food. Had beef burgignon. Service was good but harried. Could have used another waiter as restaurant was full. But a very enjoyable evening overall.

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  4. Raphael VIP

    San Francisco20 reviews

    5.0

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    A classic in Rice Village for 25+ years - I use to come quite often when I lived near by, great place, great menu for French expats like myself. Back in town after many years, could not resist but have lunch there: no disappointment, the menu is still very Parisian, great ingredients, right portion size, very friendly service and a fabulous wine list (even though I did not indulge). A number of classical French bistro dishes, salades niçoise, escargots, boeuf Bourguigon and steak-frites, to name a few. Desert menu is nice too. Hope Café Rabelais is still there for my next visit, hopefully before the next 25 years.

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  5. mary

    San Francisco22 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on March 20, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    As always, We had a lovely experience. Excellent food wine and service.

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  6. OpenTable Diner

    Houston1 review

    5.0

    Dined on March 9, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Always great food great people, I love this place

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  7. Binh

    Chicago1 review

    2.0

    Dined on March 7, 2025

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Easy to find. Lots of parking. Service was great. Place felt cozy. However food suck. Appetizer we shared Mussels Rabelais and frog legs. Both were ok, nothing outstanding. The whole dinner, i enjoyed the frog leg sauce the most. Our main course were Duck Confit Feuillete and Stuffed quail. We wanted rack if lamb but was sold out. Both courses tasted normal. Nothing outstanding. I can make better tasting food. I wouldnt recommend coming here. They need to taste their own food. Sad it has potential just horrible cooks or chef. I always enjoyed rainbow lodge or brennars, this place, to me, is a dissappointment

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  8. Nora VIP

    New York City17 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on March 5, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    We had an amazing lunch at Cafe Rebelais. We ordered the mussels and the escargot, the mussels were very creamy, I wosh we had ordered fries but the gave us bread and it was delicious. We also had the salmon, the chicken and the beef burgignon. All three plates were fantastic. I would totally go back!

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  9. ThorndikeH

    Houston7 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on March 5, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Told them it was a birthday for a friend, but they did not acknowledge the birthday. But food was excellent! Wine was great…recommended by our waitress.

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  10. LoriM

    Houston12 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on March 1, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    As always, the food and the service is perfect. Our waiter was attentive and quick to serve.

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FAQs

Cafe Rabelais is rated 4.7 stars by 1026 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation


Booked 20 times today
Google Map for Cafe Rabelais

2442 Times Blvd, Houston, TX 77005

Additional information

  • Cross street
    5499 kelvin Dr
  • Neighborhood
    Rice Village
  • Hours of operation
    Lunch Tue–Sat 11:00 am–2:00 pm Dinner Tue, Wed 6:00 pm–9:00 pm Thu–Sat 6:00 pm–10:00 pm
  • Price
    $31 to $50
  • Cuisines
    French, Bistro, Dessert
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Parking details
    Street Parking
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
  • Executive chef
    Soriano Frank
  • Additional
    Beer, Cafe, Late Night, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Wheelchair Access, Wine
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookies and Interest-Based Ads
  • Cookie Preferences
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