An Average Joe in San Antonio

I am a Whataburger fan boy.

I’ve been to the double-decker store near the beach in Corpus.  I pine for the return of the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich.  I have a fancy ketchup shirt, and bought my fiancé the pure honey shirt for Christmas.  You can imagine how excited I was when I found out that Whataburger was releasing their spicy ketchup yesterday.  Could it live up to the bar that the fancy ketchup set?

To heck with the New Year’s diet.  With only a limited batch, I knew I had to try the spicy ketchup before they were gone, so I made my way over to the local Whataburger.  (Speaking of – have you noticed how Whataburger is the master of “limited time only” items on their menu?  My mouth will literally start watering when I hear that the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich has returned; they also once had a great promotion where you could call a help line to cope with the absence of the A1 Thick and Hearty Burger.  I expect Whataburger will toy with our tastebuds with the spicy ketchup as well.)

The packaging is clever; the black label evokes something dangerous, mysterious as compared to the affable red packaging of the fancy ketchup.  I was surprised to see that the ketchup indeed had a kick that came from red jalapeños which lingers in your mouth.  While not a replacement for the fancy ketchup, the spicy sister sauce is a terrific compliment for their crispy French fries.  The spicy ketchup can also be a sauce of choice in the morning for the hash browns that accompany their ranchero styled Breakfast on a Bun.

I can only hope that they make this limited item a regularly appearing item on the menu; if not for the sauce, simply for the fact that I want a new black spicy ketchup t-shirt.

With limited supplies, be sure to try some of their spicy ketchup today and let me know what you think in the comments below!

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Yes, I have been a lousy food blogger recently.  Other than having a bunch of articles about eating healthy, I have really slacked off on the Quick Bites and reviews on restaurants.  My bad.

I satisfied my cravings for Mexican food this past week by visiting Taqueria Datapoint a couple of times.  So you get a two-for-one review to make up for me neglecting the blog.

Last week Big Red sent me a sample pack of their Big Red Zero to try before it hit the shelves.  I decided to take it to work and knew that it had to be paired with Taqueria Datapoint’s barbacoa to give it a true taste test.  The only way to tell if the Big Red soda with zero calories is any good is to actually drink it while eating barbacoa. 

I went up to the restaurant on Medical Drive to pick up my pound of barbacoa and was happy to see that the restaurant has expanded to include the storefront to the left of the entrance.  The waitresses were incredibly friendly and I soon had my pound of barbacoa and was on my way in to work.

Pound of barbacoa from Taqueria Datapoint with some Big Red Zero.

What I love the most about their barbacoa set up is that they give you all the fixins – you get a side of cilantro, onions and avocado to help make your tacos.  The corn tortillas are thick and go well with the barbacoa.  If you are a gringo and prefer your breakfast tacos to be made with a flour tortilla, do yourself a favor and opt for the corn when eating barbacoa at Taqueria Datapoint.  You won’t regret it.

The barbacoa was devoured by my coworkers in an instant.  (Pro Tip: if you are going to be a little late at work, bring barbacoa and all will be forgiven).  The Big Red Zero was spot on; it was as sweet as the original and didn’t have that funky diet aftertaste.  Since it paired well with the barbacoa you know that it is the real deal.  Now, if they could just get to work on making fat free barbacoa that tastes as good as the real thing…

This weekend I again found myself craving a big Mexican breakfast and was drawn back to Taqueria Datapoint.  I decided to dine in and really liked how the new seating area opened up the restaurant.  The walls are painted with a bright orange color that was sponged on so you can still see some white.  The front of the restaurant is entirely made of windows that let in a flood of natural light which gives the restaurant an airy feel.

Sitting in the new section at Taqueria Datapoint; I love the orange walls and natural light coming in from the windows.

I also love the sound of the restaurant because while it isn’t loud it also isn’t dampened: you can hear a mix of both English and Spanish from the customers and waitresses, laughing at tables across the way, the sound of breakfast tacos being wrapped up in bags and delivered to go, and the occasional Tejano song on the jukebox.  The language of choice is Spanish, and most likely the waitress will initially ask you “¿Cómo estás?”  If you don’t speak Spanish (or just know a couple of words like me), don’t fret and reply with a “Hello” and you’ll be on your way.

While I was tempted to order barbacoa again, I decided to give their chilaquiles plate a try along with a cup of coffee.  The chilaquiles were made with the white cheese instead of the yellow and were very tasty.  While there were not a lot of peppers in the chilaquiles, there was a green salsa that had a strong bite on it that could wake it up.  I wish that the tortilla strips in the chilaquiles were a little more crispy, but that was not a huge complaint.

The green salsa is delicious with chilaquiles plate at Taqueria Datapoint.

The refried beans were outstanding; I don’t know what makes their beans taste so good, but I think that they are some of the best in the city.  They were particularly tasty with the green salsa and the flour tortillas.  While I was eating breakfast I saw an assortment of soups, street tacos and fajitas come out that looked delicious.  I am definitely going to have to come back to check them out for lunch.

The next time you are craving barbaco or a big Mexican breakfast, check out Taqueria Datapoint, one of the best restaurants to showcase the multicultural flavor of San Antonio.

Flour Power Bakery and Cafe has moved from their old location on Huebner Road to the new location on NW Military.  Juice in the City, a local deal site for moms, is running a deal today where you get $12 of food for just $6!

As the name might imply, Flour Power has kind of a hippy/funky atmosphere with brightly painted walls.  There are a lot of windows which helps make the restaurant well lit and appealing to stop by for a Sunday morning brunch which is what I did yesterday.

The brunch is $10.95 and includes selections from the buffet line along with made to order eggs, omelets, pancakes and waffles.  I decided to start our with the buffet while I waited for my order of the European omelet to be finished.

The buffet had a wide variety of hot items, so  I loaded up my plate with biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage and a spinach quiche.  I was happy with how crispy the bacon was and the quiche was loaded with a lot of cheese, spinach, and mushrooms.  The buffet didn’t have a dessert pastry this day which was strange because when I have visited before they had different fruit tarts and sweet rolls.  I had to pace myself because I wanted to order the European omelet and also a waffle to try everything that they had to offer.

Some of the items I got off of the Sunday morning buffet.

The European omelet came out next and that was by far my favorite item.  Made with fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, and Parmesan and Brie cheese, this omelet is full of flavor.  In addition to more exotic omelets, Flour Power would scramble up anything that your heart desired.

The European omelet was very tasty.

Finally, I ordered a strawberry waffle to complete my meal.  The waffle was excellent, but I was disappointed with the amount of strawberries that came on top of it.  If I were you, I would forgo the extra expense to get a fruit topped waffle and just stick with the normal kind.

The strawberry waffle was good but didn't come with a lot of strawberries.

Please note that Juice in the City paid for my meal so that I could review Flour Power in advance of their daily deal.

Situated in the recently developed “city center” portion of the Alamo Quarry, Urban Taco presents an interesting take on traditional Mexican food.  I have heard good things from friends and coworkers about this restaurant, but was reticent to go because of one thing: you had to pay for your chips and salsa.  This was a major hangup that took me a while to get over.  I could not believe that there would be a Mexican restaurant in town that would require payment for the pr-meal staple.  Finally one of my friends convinced me to stop by the restaurant with them for lunch.

Walking into the restaurant for lunch, I was impressed by the smart decor.  The space has a fresh and light feeling; Urban Taco feels more like a chic restaurant in LA than one in San Antonio.  The bar is well stocked and I can imagine that this is quite the hotspot at night.

Our server was wonderful; she was bubbly without being oppressively happy and good at making conversation.  In fact, the entire staff seemed top notch and quick on the draw with drink refills and checking on their tables.  This attention to detail further complemented the atmosphere.

My friend insisted on picking up the salsa since he knew that was a major hangup of mine.  For $3 you get to choose between three different salsas, so we chose chose guajilo piquin (a sharp spicy taste), avacado lime crema (a smooth gaucamole-esque sauce), and jalapeño zucchini (not bad, but not my favorite; moderately spicy).  The salsas came with a bowl of homemade chips that were light and not greasy at all.  Furthermore there was a little bowl of yuca chips that were tasty.

The salsas had me at the first taste and I quickly realized how crazy (and stubborn) I was for not trying this restaurant sooner.

The guajilo piquin on the left was my favorite. For three bucks you can choose three salsas from the 11 that they offer.

For my meal I decided to order the Quesadillas de Jamón which was a traditional quesadilla topped with the Spanish jamón serrano. When I lived in Spain, jamón serrano was one of foods that I loved; it is cured ham and many Spanish families will have this pig leg sitting in their kitchen with a small knife.  You can take the knife and take thin slices of meat from the leg which are delicious.

The quesadilla was remarkable; the inside cheese was gooey and the outside had cheese that was crispy from being cooked.  Topping that was the thin slices of ham with another type of cheese on top of them.  This quesadilla was the best that I have ever had, the saltiness of the cured ham brought out all the flavors of the cheese and vegetables inside the quesadilla.  At $11, this can be an expensive lunch option, but you are really getting a high quality meal.

With a funky take on the quesadilla, the Quesadillas de Jamón knocked it out of the park.

Hip, fresh, friendly and good food, Urban Taco hit every mark on a outstanding dining experience.  For all you average Joes out there like me, don’t get caught up in the fact that you have to pay for the chips and salsa and get down to Urban Taco.  The food and experience is more than worth the slightly higher costs that you have to pay.

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Website: http://urban-taco.com
Follow on Twitter: @UrbanTaco

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El Mirasol is one of my mom’s favorite restaurants in San Antonio.  She would always eat there when she traveled to San Antonio with her previous job.  When she visited me after I moved to San Antonio six years ago, El Mirasol was one of the first restaurants we went to.  Unfortunately for my mom, I am always finding new places to eat when she visits town, so we rarely visit the same restaurant twice.  Since it had been a while, I decided that we should go dine at one of her favorite spots.

While the inside of El Mirasol is charming with the red tiled tabletops, the real action is happening outside on the patio.  Even though it was a 100+ degrees outside, the patio immediately to the right of the entrance was packed so we had to sit at the secondary patio up the stairs.  This was not a problem because there was a nice breeze and the sun was setting.

Obviously a cool drink doesn’t hurt, so I ordered the house margarita which is very refreshing and strong.  We all stayed late into the night talking and trying other drinks, but I have to say the drink of the night had to be the strawberry mojito that my girlfriend ordered.  The sweet taste was understated and not too sugary (unlike the overbearingly sweet peach mojito she tried later on) and was complimented nicely by the mint.  As much as I like margaritas, this might be the drink that you should check out on your next visit.

While I love margaritas, this strawberry mojito was exceptional (picture taken by my girlfriend).

Now the reason why my mom loves El Mirasol is because of their enchiladas antiguas which is an enchilada made with farmers cheese and topped with an ancho sauce, a darker sauce made from a dried poblano pepper.  The unique taste of their enchiladas antiguas comes from the fact that they use cinnamon in the sauce.

We had a great server who was very engaged with our table.  She overheard our conversation about how my mom doesn’t get to come to El Mirasol often and how she pines for their cinnamon-y tasting enchiladas.  Our waitress spoke up and had some bad news for my mom: they had changed their recipe to the ancho sauce to be spicier and did not have as much cinnamon in it.  She suggested that we try a sample to make sure it was what my mom wanted to order.

Much to my mom’s disappointment, the waitress was spot on in her assessment.  There was hardly any cinnamon to the sauce any more.  The waitress did have a bit of good news and said that their sister restaurant, Soluna, still had the original recipe.

My mom’s loss was my gain; I really enjoyed the newer version of the sauce and decided to order the plate myself with a side of rice and borracho beans.  The enchiladas were delicious with a spicy kick from the ancho sauce that was smoothed out by the farmers cheese and crema.  The rice is some of the best in the city and enjoy their borracho beans.

Even though the enchiladas antiguas had a less cinnamon-y ancho sauce than in the past, I really loved the new version that was more spicy.

(A quick aside on the borracho beans at El Mirasol.  I always like to ask restaurants if they use beer in their borracho beans (for you gringos like me, borracho means “drunk,” hence the beans are made usually with a can of beer) and on a visit to El Mirasol many years ago I asked my waitress this question.  She didn’t know and went to ask the cook in the back.  The waitress came back and said, “I have some bad news and some good news about the borracho beans.  The bad news is that they are not made with beer.  The good news, however, is that the cook said he was drunk while he made them.”  This is one of my favorite stories ever and to this day I tell it whenever I order borracho beans!)

I look forward to taking my mom down to Soluna the next time she is in town to see if their enchiladas antiguas taste like she remembers them, but regardless, I had a great night at El Mirasol filled with wonderful food and even better conversation.

View El Mirasol on a Map
Website: http://sasmexicanfood.com/

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