Kelvin Arms

Seems to be a lot more trendy on its media base. Decent drinks and a cool ambiance. Attentive bartender when I was there. The back room with the vault door was cool but not quite as cool as it was made out to be online. Would return

Steak night? Yes, please. The five stars is specifically for how amazing their steak night is. Probably one of the most underrated steak nights in the city.
The steak is large and cooked exactly as ordered. Being a huge fan of medium rare, I’m used to getting steaks that turn out more on the well done side. Not the case here! This is a large, juicy, perfectly cooked, buttery steak served with sides of mashed potatoes and veggies.
Come on a Thursday night, sit at the bar, order a drink a three, and go for the steak night. Quick service, chill atmosphere. Guaranteed you’ll have a relaxed Thursday night and go home with a full belly. Yum.

Great bar with wonderful atmosphere. They have this big bank vault inside which is really nice and comfy for any group to kick back in. Outside, is a great patio where you can play chess and talk to some great people.
The thing that makes this place amazing to me though is the bartender, funny, engaging while still maintaining professionalism. One of the best I have ever met.

I absolutely love the scotch selection here. Knowledgeable bartenders too so you can experiment a bit with confidence they won’t lead you wrong.

Not a bad place to grab a drink at all. Came here around 7:30 pm on a Thursday night and stayed for a few hours, but it never seemed to get crowded. Wide selection of beers on tap, interesting décor and lots of comfortable indoors/​outdoors seating. Odd mix of music playing (Weird Al, the Weeknd, etc.) but somehow it worked.
The only downfall is that because this place shares a parking lot with Benjy’s and Local Foods, parking will SUCK at peak hours (i.e. 7:30 pm on a Thursday night). Be prepared to lurk around the parking lot, or on the street, or valet. Also, be wary of the meter maids out and about to getchu.

This is a review for their steak night. Maybe I had low expectations maybe I was hungry but it was the best steak I’ve ever tasted ! I went with a few girlfriends who told me their steal was good, no one told me or was steakhouse good. Simple fast easy and no waiters harassing you.

One of the few bars in the Village that actually has parking. One of the rooms inside is an old bank vault.

Very quaint pub, situated in rice village and has all the trappings that would seem to make it authentic… Except there was almost no one there. Granted I was there on a Wednesday afternoon, so I will give this place another try and change my review if I change my mind.

Love it. It’s got that «pub» feel with an upgraded interior. I can’t wait to go back again. Big tv behind the bar and a cheap jukebox. Mostly a small crowd, so it’s a chill bar.

I came here around happy hour time and easily found a spot in the lot, surprisingly. Although I only had a quick drink here (cape cod) with a friend, we were able to sit in the bank vault which I thought was pretty damn cool. They have various other seating areas though, depending on your mood or the weather. I’ll definitely be back again soon!

Only went into this bar because it was right next door to Benjy’s where we had dinner. Yes, the Vault was interesting, but other than that — nothing else was. This place could stand for a good cleaning. It has rugs everywhere, including the bathrooms. All of them, are dirty with big stains on them. The couches in the vault smelled muggy, and everything — I mean everything, was dusty. I love dogs and I believe they are man’s best friend, but I do not want to be in a lounge where they are running freely — especially in the evening when trying to enjoy myself. Want to take your dog out to run or walk, do it, but please be considerate of others. In addition, this place stunk big time. We left after we finished our one and only drink.

Parking was decent. Décor was great. Vault is interesting. The bar had a great selection of beer with a very helpful and friendly bartender. Huge TVs. Jukebox playing good music. Private section in the back for darts and pool. I think its great for a close group of people who want to hang out but stay low key. Could be good for a date as well due to its intimate feel. I wore shorts, tee and a cap and I didn’t feel like I was severely under-​dressed– which matters ’cause some of these bars want you to be so darn fancy! ugh… I ranted and raved about this place to a few people already. It’s pretty darn awesome and if I lived in the area, I would be a regular.

Cool room inside, with comfy couches and interesting décor. I felt like I walked into a secret library room in an old castle where you sit around smoking cigars and sipping on … Scotch, I guess?
Nice patio outside with wooden benches.
My friend ordered a $ 25 Whiskey. For One Glass.
That’s all I got to say.

Came in for a beer after a 8 mile run. I had to replenish my carbs someway somehow. I walked in and it was eerily quiet, but I realized that it was trivia night. Patrons don’t play around when it comes to Kelvin Arms Wednesday trivia night. They have plenty of beers local and import on draft. It’s a chill atmosphere and very dog friendly. It was cool how they had a friendly dog roaming around. Should have came here after I ate dinner. Never listening to the boyfriend again about when to drink beer.

This is a great place to kick back and hang out with friends in an old bank (WITH A VALUT!!) There’s also pool tables and darts. The bartenders are excellent drink makers, and there is an excellent selection of seasonal and non-​seasonal, local and non-​local beers. Apparently, they also have an excellent Scotch selection. I’m not a Scotch drinker, but they do have quite the list for you to appreciate.
The bathrooms are clean, and the music is not overly loud. If you’re a smoker, there’s an area outside for you too. They don’t serve food, so you’ll have to hit up the restaurants next door (Benji’s, Local Foods, and Thai Spice).
The only only minus is the parking. It can get quite packed at peak hours.

The first time I came here, I was very surprised on how chill this place is, especially the next door establishment can be loud and crowded. The second thing you’ll notice is the knight’s armor guarding an opened vault door on your right. Kelvin Arms is labeled as Houston’s only Scottish pub. I never been to Scotland so I have no idea what a Scottish pub is like. But if every Scottish pub has a vault and the inside of the vault is an awesome library room, then I’m down for it.
In fact, the vault’s library theme room is by far, the best place for group of friends to come for a drink and hang out because 1. it’s a big area with couches, tables and seats for different party sizes, and most of all, a quiet area where you can actually hear what your friends are talking about. At the bar area, there’s definitely a good selection of beers on tap and the over all price for the drinks (including mix drinks) are decent price. Near the back of the bar is the pool table area along with dart board, but honestly, once you sit your butt down in the library room with your drink, you do not feel like getting up at all.
In fact, there should be a Scottish butler to come and serve the customers in the library room as that’s the only thing it’s lacking, but only one can dream. You have to know that they don’t have food unless it’s steak night. Of course, you can always BYOF (Bring Your Own Food) or order from local pizza joints as they know where to deliver the pizza.
As a person who doesn’t come to Rice Village much for social drinking, I say Kelvin Arms is still a good place for a group of friends to hang out inside the vault with nice, cozy air condition and fans cooling the room. If you have out of town friends who just want to sit down, relax, have a drink, and want to catch up, this would be the place to take them to.

Interesting bar, with a table made of a door and a room made from a vault. Big-​ass TV behind the bar with plenty small ones around which make this is a nice place to watch sports. Pool table, dart, and patio are available too. Tried the steak night and the steak is just alright, the portion is small for the price. The crowd seemed to know each other and friendly. Parking sucks since it shared the lot with several busy businesses.

This place greatly depends on who the manager is at the time. The first time I visited, I considered this one of my favorite bars in Houston. Plenty of good beers on tap. Many from Texas, even before there were a ton of Texas breweries to choose from. Also plenty of Belhaven on tap, being a «Scottish Bar» and all that. Tons of whisky, even true absinthe. This was well over 5 years ago.
In recent visits, you can tell exactly when there is a new manager, or the old manger gets a fire lite under his/​her behind. Selection, service, and how welcome one feels goes up and down depending on who the manger there is, and/​or the current managers mood. The regular bartenders mood attests to this. I use to be able to find stuff like Saint Arnold Divine Reserve’s, Real Ale special releases, North Coast, and tons of good Scotches. That selection goes up and down depending on the current managers tastes.
Anyway, the feel is a nifty dive bar. A long bar, a small area outside, and a «vault» that is a neat little hang out area. Though between the schizophrenic management and current selection makes this a very spotty place to visit. That makes me disappointed. This bar can be so much more.

This could be a fun low-​key bar. I say «could be» because the crowd I was with were not fun people at all. I was with a bunch of Rice University Historians and they were having debates over Joseph Stahlin and WW2. One guy asked me what I thought about Stahlin and my answer was «He’s dead. I don’t think about him at all.»
The whole time I was sitting at this table, I was wishing to be mingling with the other people (there were a lot of good looking people here).
Parking wasn’t terrible. They have their own private lot. This place doesn’t get super busy so there’s been parking every time I’ve been here or the bars next door.
I think the people I was with ruined this experience for me. I will definitely come back and try this place out again.

The Kelvin Arms is a good local choice for a drink if you live in the West U area. A roomy bar with an outside deck, pool table, and not so loud that you have to yell. We went here after dinner at benjy’s and found the place about a ¹⁄₃ full. There was plenty of seating inside the vault, definitely the most comfortable seating in the bar. You need comfortable seating after sitting on the chairs in benjy’s for hours, they are like torture devices. The vault area is a bit like my dad’s den when I was a kid, big leather chairs and couches.
I liked that this was a very casual bar, with people in jeans and flip flops. The hardest thing is the parking. With benjy’s, Kelvin Arms, and Antone’s all sharing a lot, certain times parking can be challenging. But still a good option for an after dinner drink the West U.