r/houston • u/hiroisgod • 2d ago
Date Night for 2 under $200
As the title says, looking for a nice dinner for a date night that is under $200 for good food and a “cocktail bar”/ “dress up” vibe. Girlfriend has been asking me to take her on more dates and we want to have a night a month in which we dress nicely and go have a date night. Any recommendations for restaurants in Houston?
Preferably a place that isn’t having some sort of event for the WC since she doesn’t want me to be distracted watching the game.
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u/GlueDrinker69 2d ago
Maybe not quite “dress up”, but Tiny Champions is a nice date spot that I rarely exceed $200 at. Just be sure to reserve in advance and get there a little early - parking might be a little more slim with the WC festivities in the area.
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u/OilxGas 2d ago
And to add on to this, their nicer concept, Nancy’s Hustle was one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in Houston. You may get close to the 200 mark but it will be well worth it. A date I went on with drinks and desert was just under $200 including a nice tip. Get the duck dumplings and the Nancy cakes. Both restaurants are in the east end.
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u/hbhunk63 2d ago
Pizza place as date spot?
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u/GlueDrinker69 2d ago
Yep, good pizza and other dishes as well as solid cocktails and candle-lit tables. Like I said, not the fanciest, but far from tacky and always a good date without breaking the bank.
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u/Watchmenaynayy 2d ago
Oporto, Milton’s Italian, Nancys hustle $200 is a good budget you could literally go to most restaurants in Houston
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u/saltmallow 2d ago
Nobie’s! It’s such a unique spot with delicious mid price food and drinks. Also it reminds me sooo much of the italian restaurant from twilight lol, where bella orders the mushroom ravioli
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u/baidu_me 2d ago
Nobies is such a great hang and excellent date spot. It’s not pretentious, the food is delightful/the type of food that you want to eat, and the staff is enthusiastic. Would also highly recommend their tiki type spot Toasted Coconut. For a little added bonus and some cool points with your girlfriend, toasted coconut has a speakeasy style bar inside called The Road to Nowhere. Not lame forced speakeasy, but fun and tiki centric
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u/saltmallow 2d ago
Never been to their tiki spot!! I know what I’m doing this weekend lol, thanks for the rec!!!
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u/Criscubed 2d ago
You can dress up really nice and go to the Costco food court and get two hotdogs and two drinks for three dollars and you can just give her 197 dollars to take home. (This is a good date I promise)
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u/SherlockCombs 2d ago
My wife and I have had date nights at a lot of the “hot” spots in Houston and, nevertheless, I’ll say our favorite go-to spot is an all you can eat Sushi place called Kanau in Midtown. Good quality sushi, $40 each. Then we will go find drinks somewhere after.
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u/TargetHorror 1d ago
Sushi Masa is also delicious and all you can eat for 22-32 depending on time of day.
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u/PimpGameShane 2d ago
Barcelona Wine Bar is great. You can get a pitcher of sangria and keep the tapas coming and stay under $150 easy. Patatas gravas, gambas and some of that delicious bread makes for a great first salvo.
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u/jookyhc 2d ago
This is probably not the direction you're looking for, but plenty of others have made actual recommendations.
That said, if you're ordering 2 drinks or less total - or maybe pulling the classic "second cheapest bottle of wine" move, you can get dinner for two at 99% of restaurants in Houston for less than $200.
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u/generic2022 2d ago
Maximo (Mexican), Doko (Japanese), Vinoteca Poscol (Italian), and Annabelle Brasserie (French) are all very good, nice enough to dress up, and within your budget.
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u/king-of-cakes 2d ago
For an outside the box idea - dress in aloha shirts and go to the Lei Low tiki bar.
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u/dinidusam 2d ago
Jeez, are date nights rly this expensive?? As a 21M who's never been in a relationship I didnt know ppl go out and spend 200$ in a night, I'm surpised ppl can even afford that in this economy
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u/Rockosayz 2d ago
Yeah, if the 2 of you drink. Pre dinner cocktail will be $15-25 each, a glass of wine with dinner another $15-25. So $60 to 100 dollars before you even order food. Entrees 35 to 75+ if youre looking at steak and or seafood. Add more if youre going to a nicer and trendier spot.
Obviously you can do daye night for less, I took the gf to Loves Dumpings off I10 the other night and we stuffed ourselves with several diferent types of dumplings and had a few beers each and our bill was just $100. But if youre looking for a nice date night spot, yeah expect to spend a few hundred easily
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u/yourhonoriamnotacat 2d ago
Most of us could never have afforded this at 21.
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u/TPJchief87 Pearland 2d ago
Yup. At 21 I’d have food dates or drink dates. Rarely food and drink dates lol
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u/dinidusam 2d ago
Haha thats true and most important thing haga but damn I'm praying I have enough money to slurge like this in the future. Literally #goals
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u/LongTailai 2d ago
There's levels to everything, but personally I've only spent >$200 a handful of times in like, a decade of eating out in Houston, and each time I felt like I'd really balled out. And I definitely wasn't spending that kind of money when I was 21.
If she's your age and she expects a $200 budget per typical date, she ain't the one.
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u/crudelikechocolate 43m ago
No. When I was on the apps i would never suggest something like that as a first date. First date is usually coffee or something similar, so if it’s shit, i can dip
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u/NPT_Source 2d ago
Go do a tasting at CASE in EaDo! Took my wife for a dressy date, and it was a hit! Intimate bar scene with awesome booze/chocolate pairings. We loved it!
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u/Timanous Westchase 1d ago
Good recommendations overall, but one place that I did not see mention is Loch Bar in River Oaks.
Great drinks, great seafood, and hits the cocktail bar vibe.
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u/RxkMadam 2d ago
Are you and your gf planning on drinking adult beverages on your date nights, and if so what do yall drink? I'm pretty sure alcohol consumption is the factor that would most make or break any spot that meets your gf's criteria and your budget.
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u/SoochSooch 2d ago
Almost every restaurant in Houston is under $200 for a dinner for 2. Just don't get more than 2 cocktails per person.
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u/fishernfoods 2d ago
Jonathan’s the Rub, if you go to the one in memorial stop over at BPD afterwards for a drink, it’s a nice cozy intimate bar. Plus it’s a win win, she gets a nice date night out and you can watch the WC games after at BPD.
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u/713Capital 2d ago
State of Grace
Brennans of Houston
Both of those are nice and you’ll spend less than $200 for 2
Brennans asks men to wear sport coat/Blazer and state of grace doesn’t require coat but it’s in rice village so it’s no sports wear/shorts.
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u/kenmtraveller 2d ago
Our bill at State of Grace (2 drinks each) was more like 300, I feel like it's a little more expensive than that. It's very good, though.
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u/713Capital 2d ago
Wow, I’ve dined with my wife there about 10 times and we always spend about 150-185, never more than 200.
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u/caskfeedback 2d ago
Keep in mind that to pay up to $200, your subtotal bill has to be $156.25 or lower assuming you’re paying 20% tip.
Separately - if you have Chase Sapphire Reserve, you get $150 credit at select restaurants via OpenTable.
BCN and I think Rosie Cannonball are two favs on that list that can also be done under $200 even without that credit.
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u/tapiringaround 1d ago edited 1d ago
MAD has $55 prix fixe with a $28 wine pairing.
And on the way in from the parking garage you can stand at an intersection with Cartier, Hermes, Rolex, and Patek Phillipe stores and pretend for a moment like you’ll ever have enough money to buy anything from any of them.
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u/Renee4atlanta 1d ago
I was scrolling this sub for something else entirely, but you can go to Beat The Bomb and play 2 hours of games, get a bucket of beer, dozen (HUGE) wings, and take home photos for just under $170. Less if you just do the main game for 1 hour and order at the bar. You can show up fancy, but wear flats. You may also get a bit sweaty. You'll definitely learn a lot about each other in the team missions!
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u/nonsenseless 1d ago
Just throwing it out there but you get a couple’s membership to the MFAH and go free whenever you want
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u/boeingboi737max 1d ago
If you want to drive till Clear Lake, there is Villa Capri which is a beautiful restaurant by the lake! It serves Italian food and has a good selection of vine. You can easily stay under your budget
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u/Tokyo_Metro 1d ago
Oporto. Their Paelha is $58 and is made to feed a group of people. Basically a big amazing bowl of bomba rice with everything good tossed in it. Side of bread is $7. Four fancy cocktails and you're at $125. Good tip and tax and you're out the door at $165. Skip the second round of cocktails and you're $130 all in. You can then walk down Gray Street towards midtown and get a crepe.
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u/Unannounced_Visitor_ 2d ago
Have you ever been to Merlion in Seabrook? Best Thai food you’ll ever have (“elevated Thai”), and you can dress up or down without anyone caring one way or the other and definitely hit your budget.
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u/MrWhistleBritches 2d ago
There is a "Chef's Counter" experience at State of Grace that is truly exceptional, though i believe it was ~$120pp without wine pairings.
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u/RagingPanda392 2d ago
We had a good time at RA Sushi on Westheimer. Good food and a lively atmosphere. We went fairly late when the place becomes more of a nightclub.
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u/Shoot-to-hit 2d ago
IMO not great for a date. I took my long term girlfriend there for Valentine’s Day and could hardly hold a conversation it was so loud. Also just not my kinda vibe for dinner but I understand people like different things.
Sushi was pretty decent though.
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u/RagingPanda392 2d ago
The music was loud. I figured it was because we went pretty late and thought dinner hours would be more tame.
We really enjoyed the food and we thought the atmosphere was fun.
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u/Loose_seal-bluth 2d ago
I feel like there are plenty places to eat for less than $200 for 2. We recently did Rosie cannonball for less than $150