Petrol Station

First time here so take this review with a grain of salt.   This is your classic neighborhood watering hole - surrounded by a bunch of houses in an increasingly popular part of town, there is street parking, and not much hoopla.  When the weather is nice, it seems like a nice place to sit out in the back yard.  

A few things that I wasn't a fan of:
1. the smell inside.  Holly crap that smelled like the entire Texans football team had left their post game laundry  there for a week - really pungent vinegar like smell.   My guess is that the likely culprit is beer on the floor, but I think it's time for a mop.  

2.  They just sell beer and wine.   I mean come on, it's a bar, not gas station (wait, it does say Patrol Station).  I'm just not a big beer drinker anymore (getting old sucks), and when I do drink beer, I prefer it out of the bottle since most bars (not saying this one) don't wash their glasses well and it's the start of the flu season.  

I was politely told that they only have beer on tap with a large selection, but as an added twist, it's nothing familiar and are all micro brews and such.   Again, I'm not a beer guy and I'm old so much as with music, I don't keep up with the coolest indie band from Austin that only a few dozen people have heard of so I had to go through the motion of describing the type of non-micro beer that I like and find the closest knockoff to it.  The bar-keep looked a bit annoyed (how dare he not know of our arbitrary beer names!) but to his credit, he was patient and described a couple of beers.     Nothing against micros, but I prefer British Ales when I drink my beer once in a blue moon.  Speaking of which, I would have loved to have a Blue Moon that night too.  

I'm sure I'll be back there and I will enjoy being there, but I wish "bars" had liquor and didn't smell bad.

Bookmarked this place over a year and a half ago and finally made it out here last Saturday. First I noticed that it was smack in the middle of a neighborhood so it was hard to find at night. As soon as I stepped out the car I knew it was a hipster type/laid back place from the exterior. Outside seating was plenty(which was awesome, bc unless it's cold I love to eat outside on the patio) and I liked the benches and umbrellas too. We arrived late about 9:30-10pm so we may have missed the dinner crowd and this was perfect because I feel this may have affected our service experience.

Inside the place is not really that big maybe about 6 tables and some cool decor. I arrived at the counter and was greeted by a guy with the coolest mustache ever(yes this isn't one of those fancy smacy joints, so come relaxed and not uptight). He took our order and handed us our number as we then grabbed a table outside.

We started off with the Scotch eggs which were pretty damn good being that I didn't know what the heck I ordered, Ha. Turned out to be soft boiled eggs wrapped in a deep fried crust served with some kind of mustard that went well together. Next I ordered a Petro Burger with American cheese and avocado, which blew my mind because it was cooked perfect and the bun was freshly made and soft. My wife ordered the famous, drumroll please....... Rancor and yes it's just as awesome as everyone on here raves about! Now, understand that I love me some fries and handcut are the "bees knees" and these hand cut fries are what totally perfected this meal, they were cut perfectly and seasoned just right and they weren't greasy, wow!!! I was so amazed as I was indulging in this epic meal.

Now I'm not a drinker so I can't really tell you about that part of the establishment but from what I saw it seemed like they had a good amount of beers on tap but then again, what do I know.

I will definitely put this place in heavy rotation. Great food-check, great outdoor patio-check, cool location-check, casual to where I can wear flip flops, shorts, a Buc-ees shirt, and a ball cap-check!!! It's places like these that I enjoy the most, because I really don't like getting all dressed up and valeting a car and having to whisper while I'm having dinner. Sometimes I wanna just talk loud or say cuss words during my conversation without snooty people staring at me. Hahaha!!! Yea I'm gone be back!!

One of my favorite places in Houston by far. This bar has an amazing beer selection (if you like IPAs) and an amazing food selection.

To any review complaining about the wait, here is my rant. If you walk in on an incredibly busy night to this small bar with a small kitchen, you will place your order, grab a few beers, sit down and maybe wait an hour an a half (at most). Compare that to any restaurant...maybe 45 minute wait and another 45 minutes to get your food. The only difference is, at Petrol you were sitting and drinking from an amazing beer selection. Also, look at their menu. Amazing burgers, Duck Tacos...at what other bar in Houston this size do you get that selection? Be patient, hang out, have some IPAs and relax...where else do you have to go?

One guy who works there, Jimmy, is awesome. He talked with me and my buddy on a slower Sunday for a while. He really cares about the place and the experience people get there.

If you go expecting a quick burger and a miller light at a bar, look elsewhere. For the rest of us, (who want a killer IPA and one of Houston's best burgers), grab a seat.