An Average Joe in San Antonio

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.

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Website: http://sasmexicanfood.com/

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There are many places that make San Antonio unique.  Most of them are historic, but with the renovations of the Pearl Brewery, our city has a new hot spot that is attracting many interesting stores and restaurants.  La Gloria Ice House moved into the complex this past year and has fit right in.  Everything from the building to the menu proves that both the restaurant, and San Antonio’s culinary scene, has some chops.

As you walk towards the restaurant and see the calavera sitting on the bench, you know that you are in for a good time.  The restaurant gets every small detail perfect: from how their name is cut out of metal piece that holds items on your table, the table side purse rack for the ladies, and the really cool basket that the chips come in, the restaurant makes you feel carefree, like you are on a vacation.

The Margarita La Gloria: very blue, not so tart, and potent.

I had some friends who came into town from Austin and were looking at possibly relocating to San Antonio.  I wanted to highlight that our city also has a funky kind of vibe, so I decided to show off the Pearl Brewery, the Museum Reach river extension (they loved the F.I.S.H. sculptures), and La Gloria.

My friends have a 13-month year old daughter, and I knew that La Gloria would be the perfect place to take a toddler.  There is a good buzz in the air from all the conversation and how the acoustics work, so I knew she could be a little rambunctious without disturbing any restaurant goers.  Furthermore, with Pearl’s policy of “Please, Play on our Grass” I knew that mom or dad could take her outside to play.

La Gloria serves Mexican street food, so there are an abundance of tacos, tostadas, sopes, and tortas to choose from.  The portions are small to medium sized and are designed for you to eat and share with your table.

We wanted to try a little of everything so we got a molcajete of queso with chile, ceviche verde (on the suggestion of @ShrinkingFoodie), a traditional tlayuda (think Mexican pizza), panucho cochinita pibil, and tacos dorados de pollo verde (on the suggestion of Eva at Mesa a Mesa).

You absolutely have to order a molcajete when you go to La Gloria.  A molcajete is like a morter and pestle that is used to grind spices or prepare salsas in Mexican cuisine.  If you ever decide to purchase one, the best are made out of volcanic rock and you have to cure it out by grinding rice in it.  This will smooth out the molcajete which is very important because if you don’t do it the sharp edges will tear at your ingredients instead of grind them.  Trust me.  My friend tried to make a salsa with one I bought her before she cured it and it wasn’t working…

At any rate, the molcajetes at La Gloria come out of the oven at like a billion degrees and the contents are bubbling hot.  Don’t believe me? Check out this video that I shot.

My girlfriend went to La Gloria once before and raved about the queso molcajete so we ordered it.  The one we got was a little different because in addition to the queso there were a lot of chiles mixed in.  Regardless, it was delicious with just a very mild spice.  We spooned the boiling hot cheese onto corn tortillas and devoured the bowl in no time.

Since we ordered so much food and to avoid being verbose, I am going to show a picture and briefly say what I liked about each of them for the remainder of this post.

Ceviche Verde at La Gloria Ice House

I am not that big of a fan of ceviche, but the ceviche verde was working; what tied it together were the olives.

Traditional Tlayuda at La Gloria Ice House

The traditional tlayuda was on an enormous fried tortilla and had black beans, cheese, lettuce, avocado, and some really nice tomatoes.  Kick up the heat by topping it off with some of their house salsa.

Panucho Cochinita Pibil at La Gloria Ice House

The panucho cochinita pibil is the item that I would have left out (although it still was very good!).  The pork was similar to pulled pork that you might get at a barbecue joint without the BBQ sauce.

My favorite dish of the night, Tacos Dorads de Pollo Verde at La Gloria Ice House

The tacos dorados de pollo verde was my favorite dish of the night, and I don’t even like tomatillo sauce! (Whenever I hear of a verde sauce I immediately think of New Mexico green chiles so my taste buds are never prepared for the tartness of the tomatillo.)  You get three mini tacos that are stuffed with perfectly marinated chicken and topped with farmer’s cheese and crema that give it a smooth taste.  Be sure to get this dish when you visit!

To wash it all down, I had to try the Margarita La Gloria, which is a blue colored margarita.  While it is not as tart as traditional margaritas, it is every bit potent.  They also have a wide variety of aguas frescas, and when they brought out the sandia, or watermelon drink, I had to get a cup of it.  I liked that it was not too sweet and there was a good amount of pulp in it, in addition to the fact that you get unlimited refills!

Be sure to leave room for dessert! The Tres Leches Cake at La Gloria Ice House rocks!

Finally, you would be remiss not to order the tres leches cake at La Gloria.  Instead of garnishing the cake with sauce or chocolate, they let it stand on it’s own merits and it works quite nicely.  Incredibly sweet and moist, regardless of how full you are you have to have a bite.

Chef Johnny and his staff have created such a great experience for locals and tourists alike.  You would be well served to make a stop in midtown for not only a great atmosphere that extends from the restaurant to the river, but also for some incredible food.

Value: You can spend a little or a lot at La Gloria; while the plates can add up, you do have the ability to control how much you get.
Atmosphere: Such an amazing atmosphere! The devil is in the details and La Gloria gets it! What’s even better is that you are right by the Museum Reach portion of the river so you can go for an after dinner stroll
Service: The service had a couple of hiccups, but overall was pretty good (in fairness, they were slammed when I went); the main thing was  when my friend ordered a Caipirinha and got a pink fruity drink; the waiter said that it was correct but I know that the drink should not be pink; we pressed further and he finally got the right drink from the bartender.
Salsa: Fantastic salsa with the right amount of heat! The chips were delicious as well.
Taste: You aren’t going to go wrong with a meal at La Gloria, there is something for everyone and it all tastes fantastic! They are very deserving of the best new restaurant nod!

Twitter: Follow @LaGloriaSA
Facebook: Like La Gloria
Website: http://lagloriaicehouse.com
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Prior to moving to San Antonio, one of my good friends and owner of Giorgio’s in Lubbock, told me that I absolutely had to go to La Fogata.  He said that it was one of his favorites of San Antonio with good food and margaritas that would put you on the floor.  For the past five and a half years I have enjoyed going to La Fogata and realized that I hadn’t blogged about it.

La Fogata is located off of Vance Jackson and has the feel of being a neighborhood restaurant.  Parking used to be a pain as their tiny lot would fill and patrons had to park in the neighborhood (some home owners would place orange cones in front of their houses to try to keep people from crowding their street).  A year or two ago, the restaurant purchased a couple of houses across the street that they tore down to make an overflow parking lot that has alleviated much of the pain.

While there is limited indoor seating, the reason to go to La Fogata is to sit on the patio.  You will enter the patio through a huge wooden door that was once the entrance to a hacienda built in the 1880s in Mexico.  The patio has a lot of neon lights, so there is a soft blueish-pink glow.  No matter when you go there will be a wait, but don’t worry, grab a margarita from the bar and sit by the fountain while you wait for your name to be called.

I always have enjoyed the house margarita (it is on my Margarita Foodspotting Guide for San Antonio) because it is pretty big, more tart than sugary sweet, and poured by a heavy handed bartender.  My girlfriend decided to go with the frozen raspberry margarita that came with a test tube of Grand Marnier inside it (I have no clue why they didn’t mix it in).  I have to say, I was impressed by her fruity margarita and stole more than one sip from it.

The margarita at La Fogata; don't let that flower fool you, it is quite strong!

Their chips and salsa are some of the best in town with a roasted salsa that is a dark red color and a smokey flavor.  This is my dad’s favorite salsa and I will stop by HEB on the way out of town to pick him up several jars.  On each visit to La Fogata I will go through two of the bowls of salsa myself because it is so tasty.

La Fogata is one of those places that you have to get an appetizer.  I like to get either the queso flameado which they light on fire at your table side, guacamole a mano which is also prepared fresh at your table, but this time I opted for the rajas chile poblano (a lot of places might call it rajas con crema).  This appetizer is a bowl of poblano peppers and onions sauteed with white and cream cheese.  You scoop the mixture on a tortilla and it is really rich.

Rajas Chile Poblano under the neon glow of the patio.

For my main course, I went with the Tacos Norteños which is crispy tortillas filled with refried beans, cheese, and beef fajita meet and is cook on the grill.  The tacos are topped with cabbage, tomatoes, and slices of avocados.  They use a lot of fajita meat in these tacos so you definitely get your money’s worth.  While the borracho beans are amazing, the Mexican rice is not all that good.  They have improved it since my last visit, but still, it is so-so at best; this is the only drawback to the meal.

The Tacos Norteños have a lot of beef fajita meat.

The best part, however, is the fact that there will always be mariachis roaming around waiting to serenade you and your table.  Since moving to San Antone, I have found a special place in my heart for mariachis and if they are around, I have to get them to play a song.  If you are an out-of-towner, do a little research and suggest something besides La Bamba; some of my favorites include Guadalajara, Rancho Grande, El Mariachi, and Volver.  However, since I was with that special someone, I asked them to play Tu Solo Tu.

If you are in town and looking for that quintessential San Antonio experience, La Fogata will treat you right.  Have a designated driver, a healthy appetite, and $10 for the mariachis.

Value: 9/10 (the margaritas are a little pricey (and you might have more than one during your wait) but the food is reasonable)
Atmosphere: 10/10 (the best patio in town; the way it is set up takes you out of reality and into a fantasy land with a huge fountain and neon glow filled with food, friends, and tequila)
Service: 8/10 (they are usually swamped so the service can be a little slow)
Salsa: 10/10 (amazing salsa; if you are a visitor, you can find jars of it at HEB)
Taste: 9.5/10 (so good! I just wish that they could bring it with the rice!)
Website: http://lafogata.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lafogata
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If you like food, then you need to download the iPhone app called Foodspotting immediately (if you have an Android phone, I hear that they are in Beta right now).  In a nutshell, Foodspotting gives you the chance to snap a picture of what you’re eating, tell what it is and where you got it, and post any information you think would be interesting about the dish.

I really love to use Foodspotting when I am torn on what to order at a restaurant.  It is easy to see what other folks have spotted and what their experience/recommendations are.  This alone is worth getting the app.

The other reason that Foodspotting is awesome  is that I can browse restaurants while I’m at home and see where I should eat in the near future.  The platform is so easy to use and a lot of fun.

Recently, I published a couple of guides that you might be interested in: San Antonio Joe’s Favorite Mexican Food, San Antonio Joe’s Favorite Margaritas, and San Antonio Joe’s Top Beer Joints.  If you spot five of the items on a guide you can get a cool badge for your Foodspotting profile like the ones seen below.  On top of that, if you are the first person to spot ALL the items in a guide, I will mail you a cool prize (and yes, it is cool)!

I hope you can follow San Antonio Joe on Foodspotting and that you enjoy the app as much as I do!

Even though I have been in San Antonio for five and a half years now, there are still a few restaurants considered by many as staples of the Alamo City that I have yet to visit.  One of those restaurants is La Fonda on Main.

Operating on Main Street since 1930, La Fonda has been the go to place for many San Antonians, visiting actors (Gary Cooper, John Wayne), generals (Eisenhower, McArthur), and sitting presidents (FDR, LBJ).  As you can see, the restaurant is steeped in history.  I decided to go snag lunch there earlier this week with a friend.

Right off the bat, I was blown away by the atmosphere.  You feel like you are eating in a place that has a history, and since the weather was nice, we decided to go eat out on the patio next to a huge oak tree (I am guessing that it has to be over a hundred years old!).  One thing to be aware of (especially if you are not from San Antonio), this is the time where all our Live Oaks drop their acorns and this big tree has its fair share of them!

The service was great and we were promptly greeted by our waitress.  I started out with Steve’s Margarita, and the waitress forewarned me that it is essentially tequila and lime juice and is really tart.  This is my type of margarita.  I don’t know what tequila they used, but it did have a good, tart, refreshing taste (and packed a punch).  I think it misses a little something by not having an orange liquor, but it was good none-the-less.

I decided to order the Enchiladas Rojas de Queso which was enchiladas with a red tomato type sauce and the white cheese.  I thought it was going to be enchiladas with a red chile instead (I have recently been cooking a lot with some extra hot red chile I picked up in New Mexico), so it was not exactly what I was expecting.

Think about a time when you you ordered a Dr. Pepper but got a Coke instead; Coke isn’t necessarily bad but it wasn’t what you were looking for.  Overall the main dish was really good, however, I confess that it was not what I expected.  The enchiladas with the tomato sauce actually seemed like a Mexican take on manicotti with the tortillas subbing in for the pasta.  Since it is not what I was expecting, I am going to withhold my rating until another visit where I try something more in line with the Tex Mex that I love.

The Enchiladas Rojas de Queso has a tomato sauce that is good, but is not what I was looking for; order the La Fonda Special if you are looking for Tex Mex.

My friend ordered the La Fonda Special Plate and when I saw it I was immediately jealous.  It had every Tex Mex dish on it that you could imagine, even a nice tamale with guisada gravy.  I’ll tell you what, I KNOW what I am going to order the next time I return!

So I guess the jury is still out for me on La Fonda on Main.  I think that it is a restaurant that I could love, but I definitely have to get out there again and order a different dish.

Value: 7/10 (it is a little pricey for lunch (the La Fonda Special Plate is $12))
Atmosphere: 10/10 (awesome atmosphere with a lot of history; the patio has to be one of the best in town)
Service: 9/10 (great service that was incredibly fast and friendly (one of the little old ladies called me “handsome” completely out of the blue as I was leaving; flattery is worth something as far as I’m concerned!))
Salsa: 6/10 (I will say that I was a little disappointed in the salsa; it was fresh but it seemed like it was missing something; while adding a little salt will bring out the flavors, it is not spicy at all)
Taste: ???/10 (going to have to go back to get another plate; if you are in town for some Tex Mex, you would be best to avoid the Enchiladas Rojas de Queso as it tastes more Italian than Mexican to me)
Website: www.lafondaonmain.com/
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