Safina

We had an amazing dining experience at Safina Mediterranean Fine Dine in Houston. The Piccata Chicken was a perfect balance of flavor and tenderness, while the Wagyu Short Ribs were absolutely mouthwatering with a rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture. The Mediterranean-inspired dishes were exceptional, and the overall ambience added to the charm of the evening—elegant yet welcoming. A fantastic spot for anyone looking to enjoy high-quality cuisine in a beautiful setting. Highly recommend!

I'm pleasantly surprised! The service and staff are great, the food is super! The mixed bites/ appetizer had falafel and the taste and texture are on point! The lamb shank very nice has more of an Indo-pakistani flavor. We also had the rack of lamb one of the best I had in houston so far, bravo! I sure will come again, and I do recommend to try Safina

Food is ok. I think it really depends on who is the chef because we’ve had it twice and the first time was excellent and the second time was just plain. We had the salad with poached pairs (they did not have the Brie cheese so they gave us feta) which to me was not a good combination, made it lack flavor. The Brussel sprouts were still a little hard, I order them more tender. We shared a ribeye and it was lacking some flavor. We also had the le yo soup ( not in the picture) and it was delicious! The server was great though! Very attentive and super kind!

The chef is creating delicious and beautiful dishes. Really tasty. We had the Eggplant Involti and the Salmon beet, pear salad. Both had a depth of flavor and lovely presentation. Reasonable prices. Great service!

We went last night for my friend birthday dinner. It was our first time going & the service was great! our server & he was very helpful in all courses of the meal. Amazing food & such an intimate atmosphere. Will absolutely be coming back!

Had a amazing experience with the mediterranean fusion food. Salute to the chef, each dish has it own taste and still could tell that food does not loose its authenticity. I wish I could try more dishes that day. Will always be a my list for nice dining.

Good restaurant, food tastes good and the portions are big (to be expected in Texas). However, the staff use their sweet time seating customers and the ticket time is a bit too long, specially since the restaurant is a bit overpriced. My partner asked for his breakfast sandwich without bacon as he is vegetarian, and it came out eventually with bacon on. So we sent it back and it returned without bacon, but there were still pieces of bacon the sandwich as they’d just scraped of the bacon that was on instead of making a new one. Also the fresh vegetables for the hummus dip was yesterday’s news, they were visibly old and the word “fresh” did not come to mind. Seems a bit unprofessional for an establishment that charges quite a bit for a normal breakfast.

Excellent service. Service team very attentive. Food is great, very good ambience. If you are a foodie, Safina Mediterranean is a must try restaurant while in Houston.

Matt is an attentive, polite, charming bartender. Easy to talk with and a witty sense of humor. Nicely kept full bar with a decent wine list. The food menu is labeled Mediterranean ~ it has a wide variety of dishes and sides at reasonable ("hotel") pricing. Situated in a glassed-in corner of the Intercontinental's lobby, Safina's atmosphere is welcoming and great for people watching inside and out. If you'd prefer, there are two muted televisions, as well. Lots of comfortable, open seating, options from which to choose. You'll like it here!

The location is very beautiful. If you are in the med center this is a good casual restaurant to visit. We did enjoy the food, but unfortunately i can only speak for the appetizers. The waitress never came back to take our entree order that we got full off just appetizers & decided to leave.

It was Beyoncé weekend in Houston and we were in the numbers! We were staying at the Intercontinental. The restaurant is in the hotel. Location: it was nice and easy for because it was just a few floors down Parking: unsure - we were guests at the hotel Service: we made reservations for 5 pm, they opened at 5 pm. We did not wait and the service was good but I notice at high end restaurants the wait between drinks and the courses are extended. Otherwise Our server was phenomenal. Ambience/Crowd: mixed, not a lot of ppl in there due to it being early. Food/drink : 6/10 our food was pretty good, my favorite was the calamari. My friends had the chefs choice for that day. I had the lobster ravioli, it was different but just as delicious. Will I be back? I would go back it just wouldn't be my first choice

This is a fancy little restaurant in the Intercontinental hotel. The area is tastefully decorated and booth seating is comfortable. The food and drinks look appetizing and tasted delightful. The Pisco Punch cocktail is absolutely unique, with pomegranates in it! Just wow. Very strong too. Mediterranean platter is a great assortment of snacks including samosa, cheese artichoke balls and falafel. The vegetarian ratatouille is delicious. All the servers were nice and greeted guests with a smile. Definitely a great option for dining when staying at the IHG hotel.

We had a wonderful dinner here while staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. This beautiful restaurant is located in the lobby area. They serve breakfast and brunch here as well. We flew in that day and we were tired from our travels. We decided it would be easy to just have dinner in the hotel. We each ordered a Manhattan to drink with our meals and they were perfectly made. They paired nicely with my grilled lamp chops and my husbands dry aged rib eye. We also had the parmesan squash dish which had slices of squash in a super rich and cheesy parmesan fondue. While the lamb was great, it was even better dipped into this dish. Beautiful location, friendly service. If you don't feel like leaving the hotel, this is a great option for dinner.

We eat her often. Great service and good food. The Ambiance is nice, especially if you get a seat by the floor to ceiling windows.

The food was great. Period. HOWEVER. The service was terrible. My group had a reservation for a Winter Formal dinner before our dance and had confirmed AT LEAST three times, once as we were driving there. When we arrived we were told it was canceled and we had to wait over 30 minutes for a table given our large group. We would have to find a new place since our dance was in two hour and we could not wait that long. After seeing a whole room in the back open and ready for the exact amount of people we had, words were said and we were seated. We were then told that separate checks were not possible and no sharing. Afterwards we found out it was a joke. After being seated the service was fine but our reception was rude.

Really enjoyed our group lunch here on a Friday. We had reservations because it was a group of 7, but it wasn't full so especially if your party is smaller you could probably walk in and get a table pretty quickly The lentil soup was great, not overly salty. My cacio e pepe ravioli was delicious. The tres leches cake was so good- I wanted more bites and was sad when it was gone. Tiramisu was also great.

Stayed in the hotel above the restaurant so I decided to give them a try. They have a small menu, but I think that is a good thing as they can execute well on those dishes. We started with the crispy brussel sprouts and shorts ribs, both of which were delicious. For my entree I went with the lamb chops and a side of grilled asparagus. The lamb chops were cooked perfectly and the asparagus was good too. I also had a Moscow mule which was tasty. Service was a bit slow, especially for a weekday. Overall, a solid dining experience with quality protein options. Would definitely recommend giving them a try.

Had a delicious seafood dish and a nice glass of wine at Safina for dinner. The ambience is beautiful and there was a live jazz pianist. Service was excellent and I had a friendly and professional waiter.

This is attached to Hotel Intercontinental. I stay here frequently So dined here dozens of times! Sure it's a captive audience in ways BUT I can say I have never had a average or Below par dinner meal. The menu changes and the dishes are amazing. The food Is excellent. Great apps and deserts as well. Had the best tiramisu of my life. Prepared table side. Sadly since Menu changes it's not available currently. Decor is a bit too bright and informal for me. Probably because they serve lunch and breakfast which below average. I'm reviewing dinner. Service is quick but hit or miss. Not the best atmosphere but food makes up for it. Check it out.

this is simply a review on the breakfast option provided at this location. I went down for the breakfast buffet and it wasn't bad. It's about the same as I've had at most hotels for free or a small fee. Then, I got the bill and 30 FREAKiNG DOLLARS!!!!!!!! im From CT and there that's a real nice steak dinner. Not cartoned eggs and protien just shoved and heated in an oven!!!! That is what is supposed to make it inexpensive. I'm pretty sure Gordon Ramsey does not work there so I can't fathom the reason for that. Shame on you! The staff was very nice, attentive and the place is clean so you get a star for that. But your prices are the pits. The food is not that good.

I NEVER knew it was possible for a hotel restaurant to taste so good! My colleagues stopped by Safina for a business meeting awhile back and BOY were we ever surprised! I had the pleasure of partaking in their brussel sprouts, hummus, and their spinach fettuccine. I would highly recommend this place as a dinner spot, and while you're at it.....stop by their lobby bar too!

Location: inside the Intercontinental Hotel at Houston Medical Plaza Service: spot on. Water glass was always filled. And the food arrived, servers knew when to pop in or out. Food: decent specially at a restaurant inside a hotel. Sometimes it can be a hit or miss

Came during noon on a Monday and not packed at all. I partaked in HRW lunch and was not disappointed! The anchovy honey butter added to crispy brussel sprouts is a game changer. I mean mouthwatering, spoon licking, and bowl licking good. I couldn't eat it all because I got full so fast but I'm already dreaming about eating it for lunch tomorrow. Of course I boxed it up to go! Not letting any of it go to waste. Green asparagus risotto was delicious. If you love asaparagus and risotto then you won't be let down with this dish! They only thing that was mis-leading is that in the HRW menu it shows 3 courses you can choose from but in reality you can only choose 2 courses out of 3. We didn't see that listed on the menu but unless we are blind as bats and didn't see it then it probably should be added on. Our waitress always had a smile on her face! She gave us really good tips and suggestions that helped us with our choices. Thanks to her we found out you can only choose 2 course of the 3 listed. That definitely changed my friend's mind on picking off the HRW menu. I love the clean decor! All the different chairs and bar stools are to die for!!

While I've dined here before, and most times Safina was fine, this most recent experience was the pits. Tried to reach the restaurant by phone from my room in the Intercontinental to make a reservation. The hotel room phones don't have a button to call the restaurant directly, so I phoned "Instant Service". Desk staff answered then put me on hold for more than ten minutes. Far from "Instant". When she finally picked up she transferred my call to the maitre d' station in the restaurant, where it immediately rolled over to voicemail. Not wanting to repeat this vile exercise in time wasting, I made a reservation on OpenTable, which works, in contrast to the host at Safina. Service at Safina was also vile. The server kept pressing one of my daughters over and over every minute to make up her mind for a dinner order. Came back to push her five times. So rude! This is not congenial service, this is a jerk who wants to finish work and get out early. The meal was fine; my daughter liked the tres leches cake for dessert. The host made a big display of how proud he was of inventing the entree that I ordered. In my opinion it would have been a much more pleasant restaurant meal without the jerk and the loudly attired braggart. I won't be staying at the Intercontinental the next time I'm staying by the Medical Center; both the Hilton and the Marriott have more congenial service levels and adequate restaurants.

Food was decent and the staff were friendly, only down side was our orders were messed up but the waiter insists the orders were correct. Just trying to cover up his mistake. I didn't complain since we were at a business meeting but worth noting the issue.

The Ribeye is always very very good! You can cut it with a fork and it is always perfectly seasoned. I get the green beans and asparagus which is perfectly cooked and tastes like it came from my garden.

The food is delicious, reasonable and a very nice decor in the dining room. Pleasant service and inviting. The soups are wonderful.

A $15 poached pear salad with $16 of dried out shrimp (3) was extremely disappointing given their beef sandwich and chicken lollipops were good. The salad (to go) came in a 6x4" to go box with no dressing. Who does that at a top end hotel? Buyer beware.

The food was good, nice atmosphere, it was early, so it was quiet and our food came out quickly. I would say the managment need to update their menu and photos on Google Maps since it's been 2 years...

We had a great experience here. Our service was really good and we enjoyed the food. The house salad was my favorite. I definitely would go back for the salad and add a protein for lunch. I also had the calamari, chicken picatta and tried my husbands truffle fries. All good!

I had no plans to be in Houston when my husband and I ended up there for two weeks for a medical emergency. I stayed at the Intercontinental for about ten days and Safina was an absolute highlight. The food was wonderful -- and over the course of my visit, I tried about half of the menu! Loved the lamb, the short ribs, the beet salad with Salmon or shrimp. The lentil soup was great. The Lebanese breakfast was amazing. I'd skip the bagel with salmon. As a New Yorker, the bagel did not meet my standards. I appreciated the biscotti with my coffee/tea. When my husband joined me, the owner and chef were completely open to helping him create meals that were heart healthy. The space is open and comfortable, the staff responsive and professional. I could have changed hotels mid-visit (the Final Four was in town) but Safina kept me at the Intercontinental. Highly recommend!

Came here for lunch on a Thursday around 11:30am. We were immediately seated however it took a while for the waitress to attend to our table. It was odd since the place was pretty empty. When she arrived at our table, she didn't introduce herself or provide any details about the menu. She just asked what we wanted. I felt like I was at a 5 star McDonalds. Service was very poor and extremely slow however the food was not bad. I ordered the chicken and asked for the butter/wine sauce on the side. The chicken was very tender but a little salty. My friend got the mushroom risotto which was extremely rich but super good. I think if they improved their service, more people would actually swing by from the med center for a nice meal.

4 stars only because they had a limited menu, which was not reflected on the online menu. Safina is beautiful, located in a wing of the intercontinental hotel. I ordered the hummus for the table, I prefer my hummus with a little bit more flavor but for $6 it was a great portion to share. The chicken salad sandwich was great AMAZING! It tasted so fresh, and the brioche bun was toasted perfectly! I look forward to returning once they have their full menu back.

Honestly. Don't even waste your time. This place literally ruined my night. We called around 6pm to see if a party of two could be accommodated at 6:30. The woman on the phone said there was one table so she'd go ahead and make our reservation. We asked about parking on the phone and were told valet is $7 or we could self-park in the garage and Safina would validate up to 2 hours. We got there and the valet guy took our keys and didn't give us a valet slip. When we asked about it, he said' "I'm the door man, I'll take care of you." Umm okay, cool? But if we have no proof that we gave you our car and it isn't here when we come out, we're going to have a serious problem. When we finally walked inside, the place was dead. We even wondered if we were at the wrong location. I guess the woman meant there was only one occupied table? We sit down and our server is so awkward - he just giggles when we talk to him and doesn't know how to respond or communicate at all. We were given the regular menu but not the HRW menu. When we finally got a hold of that, we asked what the "grilled beef grenadines" were and all our server could say was "it's beef, obviously." Well.... duh? What kind of beef? What cut? How is it prepared? He proceeded to tell us it came with potatoes and green beans and a mushroom sauce. Yep. Got that. It says that on the menu. How about let's talk about the type of beef. So he finally tells us it's tenderloin only after we asked if it was filet, a strip, a tenderloin, etc. So we told him we would try it. He didn't ask for the temperature so I asked if I could specify the temperature and asked for medium rare. He said he would ask if the kitchen could do that. He came back after we ordered and said the kitchen would make it medium rare. Well I surely hope this fine dining-marketed establishment can cook a piece of meat for a few seconds on each side. The appetizers came out and the tomato and watermelon in the caprese were both mealy and not fresh. The Brussels sprouts were actually pretty good but the sauce was overly sweet. The cioppino literally tasted like a Red Baron frozen pizza. The seafood was fresh but it just wasn't very good and the excessive peppers and tomatoes were overkill. The "medium rare tenderloin" was a well done hangar steak smothered in a salty cream sauce with mushrooms. Our server asked how the food was and I said it was fine but the steak was well done. He made a face at me and started a staring competition. I never lose staring competitions so he finally broke into giggles (here we go again) and said he would check with the kitchen. Well that was the last time we saw him for the remainder of the night until we had to flag him down for our check because we had been sitting there for 30 minutes and honestly just wanted nothing more than to leave. The desserts were tiny and salty and the whole experience was just kind of awful. Their regular menu looked limited and expensive. Not sure how any of this qualifies as Mediterranean food. If you want Mediterranean, go to Pasha or maybe pop into Aladdin but definitely don't waste your time and go here. When we were finally leaving, we showed up at the valet and the "doorman" gave us car keys. That WEREN'T ours. I mean a whole key ring with house keys and loyalty/membership cards attached. We literally could have driven off with someone else's vehicle. We told him those weren't our keys and he reached back into his pocket and lucky number 2 ours popped out. What if he had given our keys to someone else who wasn't as honest? What a night.

Safina is located inside the InterContinental Houston - Medical Center. Came here during lunch with coworkers and I had a lovely time. My coworkers and I shared the Classic Hummus (Crispy garbanzo with pita bread; $9) and the Roasted Eggplant (Tahini, pomegranate seeds with pita bread; $12). Both were delicious and refreshing, although I have to say my favorite was the Roasted Eggplant. I would recommend ordering this! For my lunch entree, I ordered the Wild Mushroom Risotto (Hen of the woods mushrooms, aged parmigiano reggiano; $21). The risotto was divine and had a lovely creaminess to it. The mushrooms were cooked well and very flavorful. Great service and ambiance. Parking can be a bit tedious since the restaurant is located inside a hotel.

My husband and I ate at beautiful Safina four nights in a row during our recent visit to Houston from California to be with a relative who was in a hospital there in the Texas Medical complex. The food was fabulous and the service exemplary. We got to know our wonderful young server Sydney and requested her each night. Kristen, the manager I believe, was also excellent and made us feel at home during what was a hard time for us. My husband had the rack of lamb and each of the steaks on the menu. The quality of the meat and the attention to preparation and presentation was evident in each dish. I had the salmon, the barramundi, a Mediterranean appetizer platter and the chicken piccata. All were excellent including the Caesar salad which we shared each night. We had an opportunity to meet the chef and we were happy to express how wonderful our experience was. We thank them for their gracious hospitality and would highly recommend Safina.

Best food and great service. It's one of the best places I ever been to. Mr. Carl is great. He took good care of us and made sure we spend a wonderful time. Highly recommend

Gorgeous interior. The restaurant is to the right when you walk into the hotel lobby. The ceilings are really high and the restaurant has a themed Mediterranean decor. Service was exceptionally fast and the food was delicious. I got the cavatelli pasta and added chicken. The noise level in the restaurant was very low. I think the restaurant lights could have been dimmed a bit for ambiance but overall, great place for dinner. I made a reservation on Open Table and was immediately seated. There was very limited street parking directly across from the hotel after 7 pm, so we were lucky and managed to park there. Otherwise, I think we would have had to valet.

Tried this restaurant for Restaurant Week and was impressed by first the decor. I really liked the Greek/white aesthetic of the place! For dinner, my friend and I shared the brussel sprouts and prosciutto and melon as starters. Both were delicious and the latter was a great combo of sweet/salty and refreshing! As the main, I had the seafood cioppino and my friend chose the asparagus risotto. The cioppino was alright but I did like the plentiful seafood in it! Lastly the desserts were really cute and tiny, which was good since we were both pretty full at that point. My friend's mascarpone cheesecake was unexpectedly "deconstructed" which was funny but my strawberry tart was great! Overall, a solid restaurant though with limited to 2 hrs parking from the Intercontinental Hotel it's in, but I probably wouldn't have come if not for the Restaurant Week deal!

Yummy, I was very happily surprised by my dinner here. I actually ordered it by room service and it was still hot and delish even the salmon was cooked perfectly and arrived hot. Would highly recommend. The hummus also was freshly made and I enjoyed it very much.

Came here on a weekday for lunch. Promptly seated amidst the beautiful, airy decor. Eggplant appetizer - 5/5 - so good and very filling! Chicken eggplant sandwich - 4/5 - delicious but took off a star since i couldn't taste the eggplant Chicken cous cous - 5/5 - husband said this was delicious too!

Food was good. Portion size for the short rib was a little on the small side. The Beet salad was vey good and I really enjoyed the Lamb. Service was a bit inattentive but very polite.

Exceptional food, service and ambience! A great place of respite after a long day at the medical center! Such a wonderful treat!

I sat at the bar on a not so busy Sunday afternoon. Service was excellent, bar was clean and the food was delicious! I would definitely dine here again

Christmas Day menu was great! The service was phenomenal. Plenty social distance & they have air filters purifiers. Beautiful decor!

Safina was so kind to donate 30 meals to my hospital and our floor. It wasn't even just the food but the fact that our sandwiches were gourmet and top notch. They were delicious and well made and used high quality ingredients. Also they included two delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in each box and gave us chips. Good food and good people.

Don't bother come over here for lunch if you don't have 2-3 hours to spend at lunch. My coworkers and I went there for we thought a quick lunch Houston Restaurants week. Love the atmosphere and decorations which you should expected from Intercontinental hotel. We ordered supposedly the best Brussel spouts. Well it was not, it was brunt and gave us really bad after tastes. One of my coworker ordered GRILLED BEEF GRENADINES and his green beans taste it like uncooked green beans (see picture). I ordered SEAFOOD CIOPPINO it was ok. Worst service from 5 stars hotel experience I have ever had. The servers were just standing at corners talking and not came by to check on us (we had to asked to refill our water). I don't know if 4 tables are too much for 5-6 servers to handles or what. I personally not recommended this place go somewhere else.

The food here is absolutely fantastic! Particularly the salmon and mashed potatoes! I would give them a 5 star rating, but they are sooooo slow! It takes forever to get your food, so don't be in a hurry or you'll be extremely frustrated. Doesn't matter if it's a Saturday night or Monday at 3pm, call in for pickup or dining in. You WILL be waiting too long. But the food is really good once you do get it! And if you live at The Latitude, be sure to claim your 10% discount.

Menu is very limited and I don't understand why when you call it says press 5 for latitude room service if they don't offer room service that was honestly the main reason I moved into this building but the bartender Carl is really cool so for that reason I give them 2 and not 1 star

Food was very fresh and tasty Had a couscous bowl with chicken Good flavor Good service Pleasant helpful staff Iced tea good also

Very pretty place. Staff was really nice. Only had humus and cheese platter which was nice. Will come back for dinner

Food was good. Service was good. But the tabletops looked like they went through a war. Given the prices, they could put down table cloths.

We went for HRW and the food was delicious & unique, beautifully presented. It's located in the InterContinental Hotel. I made reservations but it wasn't necessary--there was a lot of room. The waiter was very friendly and attentive (we had 2 kids who were a little active and vocal). It's a beautiful setting and conveniently located for me. Also, note that self-park is validated, while valet is not, so take a few extra moments to park yourself. I strongly recommend it and look forward to visiting again soon.

Food was amazing!! Very friendly and helpful staff! Atmosphere in this beautiful new hotel and restaurant was top of the line. They will adjust any menu item to your liking as I was with my 10 year old granddaughter and they can get picky! Super friendly and accommodating staff!

The food can be really good but the service is a totally different story. We have an apartment in the connected building so it's very convenient for us while we are here with our baby at Texas Children's, but there have been multiple times we have come to eat lunch in between appointments, and we end up having to get the entrees to go because it takes so long. We have been here at least 10 times and about 4 of those I have had to go find a server multiple times to close out my tab. We probably will not be eating here again.

This is a terrible place to eat service sucks so bad it's unbelievable. I can't believe they have this restaurant it's such a nice hotel. The food was overpriced rude service don't waste your money go somewhere else.

Had a wonderful experience here last week during a girls night out dinner. The restaurant is inside the hotel and is very clean, well lit with a great atmosphere. When you arrive the parking can be a bit confusing. Valet is not complimentary but the garage is validated for up to 2 hours. Be careful on the 2 hours if you get to chatting! My friends ordered off HRW and I chose 2 apps off the regular menu. The grapefruit salad was fresh and very satisfying, and the babaganoush was good but didn't have that smoked flavor I like in that dish. The desserts are deconstructed versions of the names. We didn't particularly like them but it's worth trying out. I will say our server and all the staff were SUPER friendly which made our night more enjoyable. They honored the free wine with yelp check in even though one friend didn't order an entree. And they waived the parking fee for over 2 hours because we didn't realize we had passed it. Most places are sticklers for some things which can be annoying!