The Mad Potter

Great place to take the family or have a date night. Loved it! The kids and I had such a fun time, and the service was great! Would definitely recommend to other families and couples.

Great date night place. The staff is super friendly and it is a fun activity. If you need help with ideas they have examples out, but the staff can help you come up with ideas and print things out for assistance. Most importantly it is BYOB ($ 5.00 per bottle or box), but they don’t really provide anything so unless you want to drink out of tiny plastic cups; bring your own glasses.
I would recommend planning for extra time. We were there for an hour and half and ran out of time when then close at 9:00. If you go later in the evening there are not as many children. Saturday there are usually 45,000 kids, at least.

I have only been here once recently but I love it! My friend and I already have plans to come back this week. We are addicted! They have so many cute pottery for you to paint. The ladies working here are so helpful with ideas and suggestions. The dangerous part is you’re having so much fun painting that you don’t realize how much everything adds up in the end! I personally think it is all worth it though. I can’t wait to come back!

What a fun little place. The prices for the ceramics are better than other ones (like Purple Glaze). I don’t know if it’s particular for this location, but it does get pretty crowded very quickly, esp on the weekends. We nearly didn’t get to sit down and turn over times are usually 30min. Best if you call ahead and ask if they have any reservations that may occupy the whole place. they often do.
Anyway, lots of ceramics here. You write down the first 6 colours you want and they’ll get it for you. They recommend about 3 layers of the colour so it stays well when it’s finally glazed. They have other materials to help you with your craft… plenty of brushes to go around, etc, there’s a hair dryer nearby.
The employees are attentive and will be around to ask you if you need more paint. I guess it depends on who’s working, but some know better tips than others.
It was about $ 44 for two people, with the two ceramic cups and the base studio pay for each person.
Anyway, we’re no Michelangelo here but the glazed finish REALLY looks so well polished! They’re usually ready in about 3 days. They said if cracks appear on the glaze, we can bring em back and they’ll put it back in the fire… for free! They also mentioned that they’re dishwasher safe. I asked about microwave use, and the lady I talked to said she only puts hers in for no longer than 2 minutes.
I highly recommend this place. I’d love to be back!

I’ve painted pottery quite a few times and in many different places. My experience here was less than impressive. They did not have that many stencils to use and the stencils that they did have were fairly worn. What irritated me the most was the fact that they were completely empty yet the staff was rushing us almost the entire time. this location closes at 9 pm and by 8 o’clock they were asking for our payment and interrupting our painting time. If you ask me I think we should have been allowed to paint until 9 and then pay as we leave. It was distracting and rude to interrupt us while we were trying to hurry to finish our pottery before 9 p.m. I doubt that after this experience I will return to this location or for that matter any Mad Potter.

My boyfriend and I decided to do something different for date night, so we decided to come here and it was amazing ! The staff is extremely helpful, they explained everything to us and helped us paint our first piece. I can’t wait to pick up our memory box ! The prices are a bit high for the pieces but it really is a fun experience so to me it doesn’t matter. Make sure that you come 3 hours before close because you’ll have more time painting your piece. I can’t wait to come back, it was a great experience.

When I visit Houston this is top on my list!!! I love going here! I’m sure there are other places like this that I could go to (since I live on the east coast) but they will never compare to The Mad Potter!

I love the mad potter every time the staff is really happy to be there and always make sure you have your colors full. I love the pottery selection every time I go they have something new. Place is pretty quiet the times I have gone. I usually try to reserve a table during the week instead of weekends. You can also take your own Snacks, and they also have some for sell. It’s a perfect place to go to. I love it. The only thing is that parking kinda sucks.

I love this place! It’s a great concept and a great place to go with friends or family. The employees are also always great.

I have been to the Mad Potter many times before and always enjoyed it until this visit. Literally an hour before they closed, the staff began their duties and made it clear we were an inconvenience. One staff member tried cleaning our table and taking our paint before we were done. Practically throwing a brush at me. The other staff member literally stopped me while painting and asked if I could pay my bill then, instead of when we’re finished. Incredibly poor customer service to the point of just being rude. It will be a very long time, if we return at all.
Update: I went to pick up my pottery today and complained to management. They were very apologetic and offered coupons for another visit. While this makes amends for the poor service, I do hope they fire the staff that was working that day. If that is the kind of people you want representing your business, you won’t be in business very long. I am upgrading my review to 3 stars only because management did something to make it right. Thank you Will.

My husband and I came in for the first time for a date. We had so much fun! We made w reservation on a Saturday, which is definitely the way to go. We definitely recommend coming here! We plan on coming back soon.

I came to this place in May due to a groupon. The process was explained to us — you pick your item, pick your colors (write them down on a sheet of paper), a store person will get the colors for you, and you pay at the end. Studio time’s $ 8, and then you pay for the pottery on top of that. I decided on a butter dish, since I didn’t have one, and it was easy enough to paint. We went on a Saturday, and it was ready for pickup by Wednesday. I liked it!
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. For once I was lazy and decided to put the butter dish in the dishwasher (top rack) instead of hand washing. It survived perfectly! I was so pleased I tweeted about it, mentioned Mad Potter, and also CCed my friend. They tweeted back and said I needed a matching plate, so my friend and I got free studio time! All we had to do is show my tweet! We had no problems checking out and getting free studio time upon completion, which was great!
Reservations are needed if you are going to come in on a weekend afternoon. My friends and I got there early enough last week on Sunday, but a woman came in with four children, and they were turned away. Even though my friends and I were the only people in the store (just one table), the woman was told reservations were made, so they’d have to come another time. We knew there was a party arriving, and we saw there was one other table with a reserved sign, but we didn’t see the other three tables reserved — very strange!
My only problem with Mad Potter is the lack of affordable choices for those of us who are more utilitarian. I have zero interest in painting figurines, such as a dog or penguin, but I do love to cook. Unfortunately many of the practical dishes, e.g. platters, casserole trays, etc, are very expensive, anywhere from $ 30-​$ 40 each. I can buy them already done for much cheaper. Furthermore, you can’t bake food inside of these finished ceramic dishes. While I understand the reason, there should be a way to do this! As a result of lack of variety of products, I think after two trips, there’s really nothing else for me to paint!

We came here for our 4^th anniversary to do something special and fun. It was great! Huge amount of pottery to choose from. It may get a bit pricey for the pieces (the paint is cheap). However, if you go for a mug or a dinner plate you’ll come off with a decent check. One suggestion I feel giving is do not go in close to opening time, the staff was quite cold and rude, and they only seemed to notice us after a bunch of other customers were in and painting. Finally, we were worthy of being asked how things were going with our experience. Overall a good experience. I’ll go back definetly.

I was looking for something different to do in Houston & I came across The Mad Potter.
My sister, boyfriend & I decided to check it out after we read online that walk ins were welcome.
We walked in and we were greeted by a young girl who explained about how the process worked. It can add up quickly depending on what you choose to paint. It’s 8 bucks for adults plus the cost of pottery. 6 bucks for kids. I would say anything decent sized will cost 15 – 20 bucks. Also you must wait 3 – 4 days to pick up your pieces.
We chose our pieces & the young lady asked to choose our paint & then explained to us that if we did not finish we would take our pieces home & come back another day to finish & pay another 8 bucks.
Through the whole time we were there the manager was just wonderful he was very helpful & just awesome, we did compliment him. I can’t wait to go pick up my pieces! I will be going back often!

It’s my first time going to a place like this so it was definitely interesting. It’s cheap to paint but the prices can quickly go up depending on what you chose to paint on. After sitting down at the table, we sat there and picked our colors. It takes some time for them to get the colors for you and it would be nice if they gave you a lot of your primary color (since that runs out first). Be sure to et your brushes early because the good ones tend to run out or be gone. If you’re lucky there will be some freshly washed ones out soon. It was a bit packed since there was a birthday party there but it was still okay. You have to be careful because sometimes kids walk around and bump into you while you’re painting, so watch out for your masterpiece! We came a little bit before closing and they allowed us to come back the next day to finish (which is nice). They do give you some instructions on how to paint things and don’t be shy to ask someone to come refill your paint. It’s going to take a while if you just expect them to come by and ask if you want it.

Much better than trying to do this on your own at home… they provide the supplies and all. Comparing the cost of buying your own stuff and not using it all is cool.
So the colors are plentiful and the options are more than enough to enjoy your time.

A whole lot of fun, especially for birthday parties. Even for 29 year olds. It’s BYOB. A little pricy, but very cool.

Concept: pick some pottery, paint it, and pick up in less than a week. The concept is fantastic. It’s fun for every age (maybe age 6+). There are several places like this concept around town, so it’s all in the execution.
There are a lot of different types of pottery to choose from. You can do something small like a ring holder or small wall hanging to a huge platter or tiled tray. There are some custom items like jack-​o-​lanterns, etc… We each chose something we could get painted in the 1 – 2 hours we had left before they closed. It’d too bad they took so long to get our paints, so we could have been more thorough in our painting.
There are different paints, brushes, stencils, stamps, and a variety of tools to help you out. You don’t have to be artistic to paint here.
I really enjoyed painting and the store is cute, but they need more staff. We made a reservation and our table was ready when we arrived. Once we chose our pottery, it took about 30 minutes before we could get one of the two girls working to get our paint. You can’t get your own paint. Also, we were given no instructions before starting. Once we starting painting, they came by and said, «oh yeah, don’t paint light colors over dark, they won’t show up» and other comments like that. We were all frustrated. My mom wiped all the paint off her bowl. My sister completely changed the colors she used after that point because we were never told this to begin with. The paints are thick and seem like they would show up. Some basic laminated instructions at the table would really help the newbies.
There were two girls working. This simply isn’t enough for a Saturday night. One girl was super friendly and was doing the best she could. The other girl was grumpy and unpleasant. The two girls were responsible for check in, check out, paint distribution, answering questions, etc… it’s just too much for 2 people.
I love the idea and my piece turned out great. This location just needs one more person working there on the weekends and those people need to be pleasant and happy.

Cute place to come as a girls nights out!

This place is so much fun.
My girlfriends and I visited for their St. Patrick’s day special. Paint a beer stein, drink some beer and get some pretzels.
You pick the colors you want to use the most, they give you a little palette with those colors, they explain how the paint works and how sometimes you need to do a few coats, then the baking process, and picking up the final product a few days later.
That’s basically it in a nutshell.
The problem? It’s so much fun you’ll get hooked. We’ve already planned another visit for my friend’s birthday.
There are so many items you could paint from kitchenware to clocks. Lots of cute things.
Ok but a real problem? Coming up with something creative to paint. We probably killed about 30 minutes trying to get an idea as we painted the base color.
There’s lots of room for creativity though.
A good place to take kids for a party and even adults. I’m excited to go back!