I enjoy going to Order Up and making ridiculous burgers. I thought I should keep a running tally of some of the epic ones that I have made, so here is the first installment:
Jack Cheese, Bacon, Guacamole, Grilled Serranos, Grilled Onions, Grilled Mushrooms, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Garlic
One of my coworkers decided to take several of us to one of her favorite restaurants that is a sandwich shop and doubles as a bakery. Founded by Nicole and David, Nicavid’s creates specialty sandwiches on home baked bread, along with soups and desserts from scratch.
The restaurant is kind of small on the inside and has a good feel. There is also a nice patio, and seeing that the day was nice, we decided to go outside to take in the beautiful day. While ordering at the register, you can look at the strategically placed shelf to the left with all the baked goodies. Let me tell you it is hard to resist; my sweet tooth couldn’t turn down the raspberry cheesecake!
I ordered the ½ Italian Stallion (I think it had prosciutto, salami, and maybe pepperoni) along with a cup of carrot ginger soup. I had to go with that soup because my coworker had been raving about it for the entire week, so even though I could not imagine how a carrot soup would taste good, I trusted her judgment and ordered it.
The bread was really good on the sandwich, but the amount of meat on the sandwich was a little disappointing. I guess overall it was a pretty good sandwich, but nothing that really was absolutely amazing. The soup on the other hand was really really good and warrants a trip to the restaurant! I don’t even really know how to describe it in a way that could possibly make anyone believe that carrot soup could be awesome, but you just have to trust me.
The ginger carrot soup was soooooo good that I ate it so fast and forgot to get a picture!
While the sandwich was not all that impressive, I do recommend going to this restaurant on a cold day to pick up some soup. In my next trip to the restaurant, I think I will be getting a full bowl.
Value: 7/10 (a little expensive for a smallish ½ sandwich and soup; I would like to give a shout out to one of my coworkers who bought my lunch!)
Atmosphere: 8.5/10 (enjoyed the bakery/restaurant atmosphere and the patio is good)
Service: 9/10 (really didn’t interact with anyone with the exception of at the register)
Taste: 6.5/10 (I got to go with a 6.5 here because the sandwiches were just all right to me; if I was purely judging on the soup, I would give it like a 8.5 or a 9 because it is really good; like no joke, I plan on going back when it starts getting cold just to get some soup and their bread and you should too.)
View Larger Map
One of the best parts about going to a restaurant is when you get the feeling that you belong and are truly welcomed into someone’s dining room. Most often, this happens at the places that you frequent on a regular basis; rarely does it happen when you come to a restaurant for the first time as it did to me at Lula’s Mexican Café. It was turning out that I was having a rough week, and decided to go to a new place for some Mexican breakfast. Upon sitting down at the table, Lula herself asked how I was doing. When I told her, “Not too well,” she told me that she was having a bad day too and she took a little extra time to sit and talk with me. When a business owner displays a certain sort of humanity with their customer that action lends itself to creating customers for life.
But enough about owner/consumer relations; you want to know about the food. Turns out that it was exceptional and warrants a discussion on both breakfast and lunch.
I had gone for breakfast on a Friday a few weeks prior, and I was in for a treat because it turns out that on Friday there is a special on the chilaquiles plate (that includes refried beans and potatoes) with a cup of Joe for $3.99! Seeing that I love chilaquiles, I could not pass that offer up.
I was shocked at how much food I received and how rich the flavor was; the beans had an exceptional flavor to them and went nice with the thick flour tortillas. The chilaquiles were made with the white cheese instead of the yellow cheese that I typically find in San Antonio restaurants and had quite the kick to them; to take them up a notch I used some of Lula’s green salsa (you have to ask for it) which really had a nice spice. The service was impeccable and I don’t think I was ever able to empty my coffee cup without it being promptly refilled.
A few weeks brought me back to Lula’s today for lunch. The chips and salsa were incredibly addicting as the chips were fresh and came out really warm. It was pretty rainy and cool outside which is always the perfect recipe for some caldo. I decided to get the caldo de pollo (basically chicken soup with vegetables) and was brought out a big steaming bowl of soup with a side of rice. The caldo was very tasty, having big chunks of zucchini, potato, carrots, corn on the cob, and a big chunk of chicken on the bone.
Some good caldo perfect for a cold, rainy day; you know it is legit because of the chicken still being on the bone!
Having the meat on the bone is truly the best way to serve caldo as it really gives the soup a nice flavor. I got corn tortillas on the side and they were just as thick as the flour ones; I love some corn tortillas that have a little thickness on them, and you will like Lula’s corn tortillas even if you are the flour tortilla loving gringo like me. I think that the lunch was around $6.50 and was entirely worth it as I shelved any sense of manners and picked up the bowl to make sure I got all the soup that was left!
Value: 10/10 (If you get the morning special, you are going to have a full plate of food, tortillas, and coffee for around $4! I think you can get two tacos and coffee for $2.50 – $3.00; it is unbelievable!)
Atmosphere: 8.5/10 (very clean and bright interior)
Service: 10/10 (incredible service from not only the owner, but also all the waitresses; when I went for lunch a coworker of mine was dying because the steak a la Mexicana had a lot of spice and the waitress was constantly on the lookout to refill his tea to help quench the spice!)
Salsa: 9.5/10 (if you like spicy, as for the green salsa to compliment your meal; the warm chips and salsa are addicting)
Taste: 10/10 (incredibly tasty; you can tell the food is prepared with a lot of pride; a new favorite of mine in the Alamo City)
View Larger Map
I love eating red meat. I also love all you can eat joints. So when my friend said that she would treat me to a meal at the recently opened Fogo de Chao downtown in the River Center Mall. Having heard about Fogo de Chao and Brazilian steakhouses for some time now, I have to admit that I was excited to finally get to taste one for myself.
The restaurant is located on Commerce Street just west of the entrance for the Marriott hotel. If the restaurant business is all about location, location, location, then the newly opened Fogo de Chao has it figured out; it is in a position where plenty of tourists walk by en route to the Riverwalk and even some locals occasionally pass by on the weekend. You can’t miss the restaurant as it has some ribs on a skewer spinning in the front window.
When our group all got to the restaurant, we were given an orientation of how everything worked. Initially, we were told to visit the salad bar and get some of the exotic vegetables, cheese, and meats. After we were finished, we could flip our little coaster from red to green to signal the guachos that we were ready for some meat. They would come by and let us know what variety they had and slice as much off as we wanted. I was pleased to find out that our waiter was actually from Brazil (as were probably a 1/4 to 1/3 of the waiters there), and having had a Brazilian exchange student stay at my parents house before, returned the Portuguese phrase of “Obrigado” upon him finishing his explanation.
For my drink, I ordered a caipirinha, which is the nation cocktail of Brazil. It is kind of like a mojito and had a nice refreshing taste to it considering outside was pretty dang hot. The salad bar was comprehensive, and I particularly enjoyed the different cheeses and prosciutto along with the artichoke bottoms. But don’t let me fool you, I was there to eat the meat, so I had to make sure that I had my stomach ready.
As you eat the salad, the waiters begin to bring out four hot sides: the cheese rolls, polenta, garlic mashed potatoes, and the fried bananas. The cheese rolls were exceptional and I would have continued to have eaten basket after basket had it not been for the fact that I was about to get some steak. The polenta and garlic potatoes were also good, and before they had the possibility of getting cold, the waiters would snag them away and bring you a fresh batch! While I like the fried bananas, they were not truly plantains, but rather your normal run of the mill banana you get at HEB and peel; now, I am not up on how the Brazilians do it, but I was thinking that they used plantains.
When it was time to eat the meat, I flipped over my little coaster to green. I was immediately bombarded by a bunch of gauchos ready to slice me off some meat. NOTE: Be prepared for some prompt service when you flip over your coaster to green and as soon as you have your fill, flip it back to red! It was funny watching some of the people at the table, because they were getting flustered by all the waiters stopping by the table with their skewers of meat. It was kind of like landing in Puerto Vallarta and having all the cab drivers vie for your business outside the airport!
The meat was pretty good, and I liked two cuts in particular. First, the alcatra, or the top sirloin, had a nice taste to it. I was able to get it medium rare, and it seemed to melt in my mouth. My other favorite was the picanha, or the prime cut of the top sirloin. The waiter mentioned that this was the most popular cut of meat at the restaurant, and it happened to be mine too! I believe I got the garlic seasoned piece of the meat, and I asked for them to cut a couple of pieces; the first cut had a nice crispiness from being licked by the fire and the other pieces had the good pink color.
I was glad that I got to visit Fogo de Chao, and would say that it is something worth trying. While it is fairly pricy (approximately $40 for the food – I mean, you could go to a nice steak restaurant for that), the experience made it worth it. If you have any guests coming from out of town, it is definitely something that they will enjoy.
Value: 7/10 (I mean, how much steak can you eat??)
Atmosphere: 9/10 (the restaurant was really nice, however, the music was pretty dubious; I think it was some smooth jazz musak that was pretty terrible; I would like to see them either put on real music or maybe traditional Brazilian music)
Service: 10/10 (exceptional service; the waiters were constantly bringing out fresh/hot side dishes and as soon as you turned your card, there was a skewer of meat waiting for you!)
Taste: 8.5/10 (pretty solid taste; the salad bar was really good, and while the meat was good and you were able to get a variety of it, I think that you probably could get a better cut of meat at a steakhouse for the same price)
View Larger Map
There is a saying that good things come in small packages, but would this prove true at Kong’s Burgers and Wings whose slogan is “Little Place, Big Taste”? The restaurant is situated across the street from the old Windsor Park Mall off of Walzem Highway in a tiny brick building that doesn’t have any indoor seating; don’t worry, if it is cold, you can just drive through.
The Kong Burger (the namesake of the restaurant) was billed at a full pound of beef; I wasn’t exactly all that hungry, so I opted for the smaller half pound burger and dressed it up with cheese, bacon, and avocado. I think that the burger had a base price of $3.99 and each of the items that I added were $0.70/item.
When I picked up my burger, I was shocked by how heavy the little bag was; I knew in spite of being the ½ Kong that this burger wasn’t going to be playing around. First off, let me talk about the bun. I have never had a bun quite like this one as it was incredibly dense and the bottom was toasted to perfection. Similar to Biff Buzby’s, the bun was sweet, but it was so thick it could have been a standalone meal all by itself! By saying the bottom was toasted, doesn’t really do it justice as it was more kind of a fried because it was pretty crispy. You will just have to order it because it is a beast unto its own!
That bun is a thing of beauty...
The bacon was a nice add-on and they got it right where it was crispy but still had a nice amount of grease. The avocado was more of a guacamole that was spread on the bottom and had a great flavor. In fact, I would advise getting these two add-ons along with the cheese.
The burger itself had a nice flavor and was seasoned right. Instead of spreading the ½ pound of meat in a big patty, it was more concentrated and was pretty thick. Napkins were definitely in order because it had a little bit of grease to it. Overall, all the ingredients worked well in concert with each other nicely and the burger just had an amazing taste to it!
I was with one of my friends who participated in burger week a few months ago, and we both agreed that had we ventured to Kong’s Burgers and Wings that this burger would have been given the top prize. In fact, this has to be the best burger that I have had in the city of San Antonio (maybe the world!)!
Value: 9/10 (you can get a ½ pound burger for like $4)
Atmosphere: 5/10 (there’s not really atmosphere; you sit on a picnic bench!)
Service: 9/10 (the lady at the window is incredibly nice and friendly)
Taste: 10/10 (NOW THAT’S A TASTY BURGER; the best one I have found in SA, maybe even the world; go just to experience the bun)
(Google Maps does not have them listed just yet, but if you go to the below location, you should see the restaurant across Walzem from the old Windsor Park Mall)
View Larger Map
San Antonio is a place full of Mexican food, but most of it is of the Tex-Mex variety. Where would you go to get some of the authentic stuff? Look no further than Guajillo’s on 410 and Blanco (in fact, I would suggest that you open their website while you read this review to get you in the mood; you’ll know what I am talking about when you open it), where you can get some fare that could be found on the streets of Mexico City.
The salsa that came with the chips lit me up; the waiter said that it was made with the namesake of the restaurant, the Guajillo chili. I don’t know if I have ever had that type of chili before, but the salsa had an orange looking tint to it and was incredibly spicy. In fact, I actually had to leave the table to grab a Kleenex because it had cleared my sinuses right out. Then again, the spice could also have come from the michelada that I was drinking…
The waiters were very friendly, but when I asked them some of their suggestions from the menu, I got the “everything here is good” response. That response kind of irks me, I mean, a waiter should have a preference on what they really like at their particular restaurant. At least that is my opinion.
Since everything on the menu was good, I was going to rely on my own preferences. I decided on ordering the Tinga de Pollo which was shredded chicken stewed with onion and chipotle peppers. The dish had a kind of red tint to it and had a very rich taste to it (that was also pretty spicy too!). It almost tasted like a stewed chicken, except it was served on the plate.
Overall, I would say that the food was pretty good, the service pretty good, and the atmosphere pretty good, but for whatever reason, I didn’t really think of the place as being all that memorable. It’s weird, but I can’t think of much more to write than that.
Value: 7.5/10 (about $10 for a dinner plate)
Atmosphere: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10 (it wasn’t bad, but I got the “everything is good here” response)
Salsa: 9.5/10 (really good salsa with a color and a firey taste that I haven’t seen in San Antone)
Taste: 7.5/10 (good with a spicy flavor)
View Larger Map
I decided to try a place suggested to me in Southtown for some breakfast today, El Sol Bakery and Bistro. Tacked on to a traditional Mexican Bakery is a bistro that serves different healthy breakfast options. I thought that this might be a nice change from biscuits and gravy or chilaquiles that I love so much.
As you arrive into the bistro portion of the building, you are surely to be greeted by a rather tall man who is full of life. He will welcome you enthusiastically and encourage you to take a seat in the restaurant. I thought it would be best to sit at the bar as I was just by myself.
I started off with a cappuccino, however, it would have been smarter to have just got a cup of coffee as that comes with the meal. That’s all right, because the cappuccino was a pleasant surprise, it was made with Segafredo beans on their branded machine; heck, I even got my sugar in the little tube like packet and it was served with their branded cup. They even gave me a cookie from the bakery to accompany the cappuccino. All the sudden I felt as if I was transported back to Italy.
As much as I wanted the whole grain waffle, I decided to go with the #7 whole grain mini French loaves that had cheese, tomato, and bacon on them. I also got yogurt and granola on the side. How’s that for a light breakfast!
The meal was very tasty with the bread really soft and the saltiness of the bacon paired well with the tomato. I was actually really impressed with how good it came out. The yogurt was no slouch either with a lot of real fruit mixed in with it. Overall a very satisfactory breakfast, and had I got coffee that came with the meal, I would have only been out $6 for breakfast.
European-esque breakfast at El Sol
You do need to note that this is a bistro that is very encouraging of their clients sticking around and talking with each other; in other words, they are not in a hurry at all. In fact, I got there, took a leisurely breakfast while reading the paper, and when I left no one who was there when I first arrived was gone! It took me quite a while to get my bill, but I owe that to the fact that (1) this was a pretty relaxed environment and (2) the man behind the counter was also bustling back and forth into the bakery. If you have a long time to relax and want a healthy breakfast alternative, I would encourage you to give them a shot.
Value: 7 to 9/10 (the specialty coffee drinks are expensive, but if you just stick to the coffee that comes with your meal you can get out for like $6)
Atmosphere: 9/10 (there is a relaxed bistro feel; music is not piped over speakers, but you can hear it on an oldies station coming out of a boom box)
Service: 8.5/10 (the gentleman was very friendly and outgoing; if you are in a rush, don’t even attempt to eat here though as it can be a little slow (owing to the relaxed atmosphere))
Taste: 8.5/10 (overall enjoyed the meal and will be back to try them again)
View Larger Map
My girl roommate was having a lot of folks come into town for the weekend, so while she was waiting for all of them to get in, we decided to take a group out to Willie’s Ice House, one of her favorite restaurants. We went to the one of the new locations on 1604 and NW Military, and the place was PACKED! It seems as though Willie really knows how to do the business!
Let me just get this out of the way immediately; I hate the ordering process at Willie’s. You have to wait in a long line just to put in your order and then you sit down at a table. You then get a waitress who waits on you for the remainder of your meal. So he/she basically does everything but take your order. This makes no sense to me and I think that is just flat out confusing…
That being said, the table got two appetizers, fried pickles/jalapeños and a large order of onion rings. Both of these appetizers were amazing! The pickles and jalapeños came with some ranch dressing and nacho cheese to dip in. The onion rings were probably overkill, but you get a huge mountain of them for $6 and they are the flakey type of onion rings that I like, so even though it was a bit much, it was still nice!
Look at this mound of delicious onion rings!
I ended up ordering a blackened tilapia dish that came with rice, green beans and a side salad (proving that you can indeed eat healthy at Willies if you leave out the fried appetizers!). The salad and green beans were both delicious as they were really fresh vegetables. I know that a lot of people love tilapia because it is not a “fishy” fish, but it had a great taste to it; I only wish that the blackened seasoning had a little more of a bite to it.
The tilapia was nice, but I wish it was a little spicier.
Overall a pleasant night out, with a very friendly waitress that put up with a lot of our joking and even dished out some of her own. Definitely worth a stop to try them out if you haven’t.
Value: 8/10 (the main courses are reasonable for dinner (sub $8), but the beer can be a little expensive)
Atmosphere: 9/10 (old signs, tons of beer, and a sandbox for the kiddos)
Service: 9/10 (great service by the manager to both get us a table inside due to the pending rainstorm and great service from our waitress throughout the night; the only reason they get dinged is because of that dumb ordering system)
Taste: 9.5/10 (great taste all the way around, from the appetizers to the main course)
View Larger Map
Twitter Feed