Barnes & Noble

This is perhaps the best bookstore in the Houston area! Two floors of any type of book or topic you may be interested in you can literally spend a whole day here without getting bored! With the advent of Amazon it seemed as if these chain bookstores would crumble and fold. Borders is a great example. But fortunately for us we still have this flagship Barnes and Nobles located smack dab in the middle of River Oaks, a posh affluent area in the big town of Houston, Texas!
Whenever I’m out in this area I love to plant myself here and while away some time catching up on some of my favorite reading. You have a nice café if you get hungry and right next door Americas if you want something different. Plenty of cozy seats and tables for you to relax in, bring your laptop and enjoy a relaxed weekend. Weekends are pretty full in this place with families and millennials who co-​habitat in peaceful harmony!
Bookstores and libraries are probably my favorite haunts and this is perhaps my favorite in town!
A great place to relax on the weekend!

This is easily one of the best bookstores in town. I love swinging by here to grab a book or a gift for a reader friend, or just to grab a cup of coffee and to sit down and read. The double-​decker location includes tables and chairs to work on if you need to study or read, and the café downstairs has the same. Make sure you sign up for the membership if you come by regularly (i.e. once a month or better). The $ 25 – 30 fee pays for itself in about 10 visits.
Parking out front is dicey and the side parking near the Starbucks has a habit of being invaded by jackass valets from Americas who pretty much try to block off every parking space that isn’t officially assigned to just one storefront. I’ve had to battle them a few times just to park and walk into the store.

This location has to me, the nicest selection in foreign fashion magazines, for example Vogue Espana. When I could not find Vogue in Chinese, the people in the help desk were able to guide me towards stores that would have what I needed.

I need to have a good reason to go to the West Gray/​River Oaks area since the traffic is horrendous. Well Michael Strahan was doing a book signing so obviously that was a great reason to make the trek to this location.
The event page on the B&N website (and the FB page for that matter) had absolutely no info on getting tickets for the book signing. I did call the store to get the deets. They told me that I had to purchase a book from that location. That was already a turn off as I live a good 30 minutes from this location and have a B&N about 10 minutes near my apartment. I asked if I could just buy it over the phone and have them hold it for me, but they said they couldn’t do that. I ended up reserving a copy of the book online. They hold it for you for 3 days and you pay for it once you pick it up. Easy and convenient (so I thought).
When I got there, they tried to tell me that I needed a wristband in order to go to the M&G. The lady on the phone did not mention a wristband. I spoke to an employee about it and eventually was able to get a wristband. They apparently sold out of books, but did have my reserved copy waiting. I was told that my receipt would be my ticket. At any rate I was able to meet Mr. Strahan so it worked out. There were some people there that had the book, but didn’t buy it from this particular store. They were able to hang around though and eventually meet him. At first, the staff tried to limit the upstairs area (where the signing was) to wristbands only, but that didn’t work because they have a big selection of books up there and if you’re wanting to browse upstairs, they can’t really make you wait an hour and a half. If I ever attend another signing, I will make sure to ask if there will be wristbands.
I didn’t even bother looking for parking on the street level. I went ahead and went to the garage. I couldn’t find garage parking, but there was a small section for valet. I went ahead and parked there any my car was fine. A lady in line was told that they don’t even have valet parking. I guess the sign is just there to deter people from parking in those spaces. I don’t know… it doesn’t make much sense. Anyway I would say park in valet at your own risk.

I love this location. 2 floors! They also have a parking garage to park. They have tables and chairs on the second floor. I also love there are search computer stations.
I love love books! Who comes to Barnes & Nobles black friday morning? Crazy Me! I had a 30% coupon to use today. They had complimentary coffee at the Starbucks café this morning. I love barnes and nobles.

Nice B&N with a café. Parking in the shopping center can be a bit sparse, but there’s a parking garage right behind it!

I really like that this Barnes and Noble is very spacious and has lots of area where readers can lounge and study. The aisles of books are very spacious and I love the variety and numerous books from each author. I know I can find what I need here, but that’s not saying that you can’t find the book you’re looking for in other locations, but if you’re interested in stumbling upon a book that you’ve never read before by an author you like. then this place is the definite place to visit.
The store is very clean and tidy and not too cold. I love that it’s not utter silence when you’re here, but it’s quiet enough to study and get some work done.

This two story Barnes and Noble offers all of the features that you need in a bookstore. It is well designed with a good selection of books, magazines, music, coffee and snacks, etc. The location of this property is attractive because you have so many River Oaks shopping and eating options within walking distance. The attached parking garage is very useful in visiting here. This B&N is also handy to hang out before or after a movie at River Oaks theater across the street.
This is my favorite B&N store in Houston. I always enjoy visiting it.

Bookstores are like a wormhole into another dimension. I love bookstores! This is my favorite B & N location. Libraries and bookstores always bring back a nostalgic type of feeling for me and this one does not disappoint. I like this location because there are two floors with plenty of space. I never have trouble finding a seat, or plugging in my laptop if needed. It is always clean including the bathrooms which are located on the second floor. I do not drink coffee but I do like the smell of it when I walk in the doors mixed along with the new book smell.

It’s one of the last brick and mortar B&N’s in town. With that being said they could basically just call it a huge ass Starbucks on the ground floor, with a few books in the remaining space. The footprint is large for the River Oaks strip center but the B&N space is mostly Starbucks if we are being honest. That seems almost unnecessary to have that much space devoted to hipsters using their Apple products in public to share their derivative, inane ramblings on the tweetbooks and facepages that are mostly distilled from Malcolm Gladwell’s freshman level analysis of an introductory level Sociology textbook designed for 16 year olds that read rill gud. Taking the escalator up to the second floor you are required to listen to them pontificate loudly, as the escalator runs along the edge of the huge ass Starbucks «barrier» separating the coffee from the books.
There is a small «top sellers» section on the ground floor, a few aisles of the deeply discounted «last chance» books by the registers, and then a whole bunch of music and films to round out the ground floor. This does not look like a book store from five or ten years ago, one of those old timey kinds of stores that actually had rows and rows of those paper things you could pick up and read. Thanks Obama.
I was able to pick up Murakami’s latest here for a last-​minute buy to accompany me on a trip out of town. So it’s not completely useless when you want a real paperback to hold in your hands rather than just another icon to click on your iPad. But they should really think about adding in more books and reducing the size of the coffee thing — I came here for books, not to see hipsters in their natural habitat with their crazy beard hair flying every which way.

I was in a bind for a last-​minute book and decided to stop by to browse the store. For a Tuesday night, parking was easy and close as I used the free parking garage. With a convenient elevator that is right next to the back store entrance, it really doesn’t matter what level you park on.
In addition to books, music and games, B&N has a fairly decent supply of gift offerings (albeit expensive). From candles to journals to lotions, they really do have a pretty extensive offering. I ended up purchasing a couple of the discounted books for a birthday gift. The price on the discounted books are pretty reasonable, probably still more expensive than Amazon, but this trip for me was more about convenience.
The check-​out line was short. However, the person that was in front of me finished his transaction and then continued to stand at the counter and speak with the cashier about Star Wars or some other nerd stuff and the cashier didn’t even acknowledge me until I forced her to face me when I walked right in front of her counter.
Other than that, for a quick trip to find a last minute gift, this was a good choice.

This is probably one of the better B&N in the Houston area. It has 2 levels, so it’s spacious and has plenty of chairs, nooks and crannies for casual reading on those lazy days. Of course they have free wifi as well. Starbucks downstairs has plenty of tables to study or read, but upstairs is my favorite area, grab a chair and a good book to browse while facing the windows overlooking River Oaks Shopping Center and W. Gray. Customer service has always been helpful and friendly on all my visits here.
Look for the discounted books and games in the bins behind the escalator on the first floor for bargains up to 75% off.

This is one of the last few remaining Barnes and Noble in Houston and it’s great! It’s got a Starbucks inside of it + another 2 Starbucks within a 100 yard perimeter. The store is set on two stories and is attached to a parking lot. I personally enjoy ordering my books online and picking them up at the store. This location has plenty of seating downstairs and upstairs as well as power outlet for laptops, it’s very clean and organized and the staff is friendly. If you can find a seat by the big window a upstairs you can enjoy a nice view when the sun sets. What’s also great is that this Barnes and Noble is walkable distance to a lot of stores and restaurants. I hope this store never closes!

Went to search for a birthday gift for my girlfriend and the service was pretty awesome way over the top he walked me through a few options and went above and beyond. Even called another store and reserved a copy of the second book I was looking for.

The interior and bathroom is nicer than the Barnes & Noble on Holcombe. There are also more spaces to study on the second floor, with some tables and couches spread out!
Besides the Starbucks inside, there is also one Starbucks next door and one Starbucks across the street (what the heck haha) if you want to use your Starbucks card. If only this place were closer to my house and easier to get to (driving down Shepherd is a nightmare right now with all the construction!), I would definitely come more often to read or study.

Well, considering this is one of the last Banes and Nobles in Houston, I’d say it’s pretty nice.
I rarely go in bookstores anymore, so when I walked in here, the smell immediately took me back to early 2000’s, when I used to love browsing in B&N. Many a fun Friday or Saturday night were spent strolling around a B&N, Starbucks in hand, after dinner.
I miss that.
So, I’m glad this one is holding on. Even though the stuff is definitely more expensive that getting it online, it’s nice to actually see the books you’re considering purchasing. And to interact with fellow book purchasers and see people studying in the café.
In support of real bookstores (even though I rarely go to them), I somewhat impulsively (and probably unwisely) purchased 3 books. $ 50. Ugh. I could have probably gotten them all 3 on Amazon for less than $ 30. Oh well.
The cashiers kept trying to get me to donate money or get a B&N account, which was annoying. Shouldn’t they just be happy to have a customer, without badgering me?
The café is nice, but annoying in that they don’t accept Starbucks cards. It’s so hard to remember who does and who doesn’t. The Starbucks kiosks in Kroger and Randall’s so accept gift cards, but the ones in B&N don’t.

This is a different type of review… sure, I’ve been in the store, purchased books and been happy with the experience. The last time I was there, the cashier made my teacher discount very easy even though I didn’t have the official BN teacher card with me.
A perfectly fine consumer experience has turned into a WOW experience as I have dealt with this store on a large purchase. I am coordinating a summer program for students and we had anticipating purchasing 300 Amazon Kindles. Amazon quoted us and then told us at the last minute that they didn’t have enough Kindles to fulfill the order (really, they couldn’t find 300 across the country?). This is where the Barnes and Noble on West Gray comes in. My financial person on my program worked with the store manager, Jacques, to rush an order of 280 Barnes and Noble Nooks to the store. He was able to coordinate everything with corporate BN to get the Nooks to the store within days. His team at the store then rushed and loaded two books on to every Nook. I’m sure that took some serious time! When I arrived yesterday to pick up the Nooks, I was so pleased that they were not only ready, but they had the books loaded and they had made sure that every Nook had at least an 80% charge. They went through all the details, gave me a spreadsheet of all serial numbers (and emailed it) and did all the things you’d expect with a large purchase. Michelle, community business development manager, offered several times to come to the program Monday and help out however she could.
I was so impressed in the speed in which they made this order happen, the constant contact via email, and the speed at which they loaded all the books on the devices so that everything will be super simple for me!
It appears that I will forever be known as «the Nook lady» at this store, but that’s fine by me. They will be known to me as the store that made it happen. This store has earned my business!

I love being here the smell of new books brings me happiness. Whenever I go to any Barnes and Noble it makes me want to go back to school to finish my masters. You can find any book your looking for. If by some reason you can’t find the book you are looking for you can go to the customer service desk and they can look it up and help you find it. If they can’t find it then they can order it for you so it can arrive at the store and you can pick it up. It takes about 3 to 5 days.
Make sure you have the Barnes and Noble membership rewards card it is 25 a year and it gives you great specials and coupons it’s worth it. To find out more about the membership ask any of the employees there. The customer service there is great they are always happy to help.
The only thing I didn’t like was the parking the parking in the front is always full so might as well park in the parking lot in the back.
I can’t wait to come back to this place. Love it!

Awesome Location
A lot of beautiful women
Great/​fast Starbucks inside
Two Floors
Lots of toy/​Legos
Place was packed with business/​people studying.
Bathroom on second floor bleh!

I just found out that the Starbucks Cafes inside B&N aren’t really Starbucks. Although the cafes do brew Starbucks brand coffees they are not associated with Starbucks otherwise. This is why they wouldn’t accept my Starbucks card as payment.
In any case, had the associate explained this set up in a friendly and informative matter it would have made a big difference in my annoyance at not having my card honored. Instead the fellow gave me a snippy-​snot attitude with no clarification whatsoever on why they didn’t accept Starbucks cards.
Even though I now know that this B&N Café isn’t really Starbucks, the attitude of the associate in the Café as well as the others in the store keep me standing at two stars for this place.