This means everything from the song selection playing over the speakers to the hand-picked menu is part of a decision-making process meant to make each customer feel comfortable, important and happy, she said.
“We are passionate about serving and making people happy with food,” she said in an interview. “A tiny place like this allows us to personalize that experience. We can listen to what guests like and don’t like. We listen to every positive comment or complaint, and we adapt to that. Our only goal is to make people in here feel comfortable and happy, to create a good moment.”
Simona’s Bistro opened Dec. 5 in East Shore Place in The Woodlands with only six inside tabletops, a small bar, a kitchen and a patio. Larralde said she would describe Simona’s as an upscale setting with an intimate feeling and authentic menu.
“Defining this place has been challenging,” she said. “We get asked what the restaurant concept is all the time, but the thing here is that we just decided to put together a menu with dishes that we can cook very well.”
The menu includes items from avocado toast, French toast and croissants to mole enchiladas, shrimp tacos and paninis. Specialty crafted cocktails and coffee options add to the fare with mezcal negronis, freshly made margaritas, espresso martinis, juices, smoothies and lattes.
Larralde said the food at Simona’s is made fresh in-house every day. Ingredients are locally sourced and organic. The kitchen does not include a freezer or storage to ensure the quality and freshness of the cuisine, she said.
“The menu is a summary of what people enjoy,” Larralde said. “We have a section of the menu that includes Mexican dishes, and the rest is food that is international or local. It’s really a fusion. We started with a larger menu, but we narrowed it down to the meals that people really wanted to eat.”
Even the furniture and art are personalized, Larralde said. The various pieces of art decor on the walls are hand-painted pieces from American and local artists, selected from an art gallery or specifically created for Simona’s Bistro.
Larralde said she created the restaurant with the idea of it becoming a space where businesspeople can come to convene meetings, close deals and bring clients.
“It’s an intimate space,” she said. “It’s small, so I wasn’t thinking about the family with six kids but creating a place where Realtors, brokers, women and men in business can come and close deals or get a conversation started with clients—a place where things happen.”
Simona’s Bistro also offers catering services and an “office party-in-a-box,” which includes small bite options from the menu and a margarita or mimosa bucket.
Simona’s Bistro
207 East Shore Drive, Ste. 170, The Woodlands
346-351-7094
www.simonasbistro.com
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 8 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
