Houston's (Pasadena)

This place serves meat. They do all sorts of wonderful things with it. I usually choose burgers (try the hickory burger, it's excellent) and my sister is mildly obsessed with their ribs (also excellent), but it's really impossible to go wrong.

The service is occasionally slow, because it's very frequently running at full capacity; this place is _popular_, and most days it's hard not to get in without waiting at dinner (and they don't accept reservations). Despite this, the service is always enthusiastic and very professional.

There's a large main room with booths and tables, all of which are reasonably spaced out (hence private) and very comfortable.

The decor is "american traditional", whatever that means; practically, I would say it is slightly formal but not at all pretentious. You could just as soon have a business dinner here, or come to have a few beers and split some ribs with your friends.

There's an overall feel of professionalism that you don't get from many restaurants; this is a very polished and streamlined operation.