★★★★ (4 Stars)

Houston Street Bistro Revisited

I’ve been to Houston Street Bistro many times since I had written my last review (See Here).  I’ve come to enjoy the food and service here.  Their lunch special at $7.99 is really affordable and allows you to add salad and a soup at a low additional cost.

The food is really good.  I like when their specials include a fish entree.  They always come out really tasty.

I was told I have to try their meatloaf.  I’ll have to check it out when they have that special posted on their board.

★★★★ (4 Stars)

I wanted a burger but dreaded heading over to McDonald’s. So, I did a quick search of nearby burger joints and found Candy’s.

I went to check them out being that they’re one of the few restaurants above the Riverwalk that are open after 2:30PM.  They’re open until 7PM on weekdays and are closed on the weekends.

As I walked in I noticed the nostalgic decor and 50’s music playing from their stereo system.  They had quite a number of items to choose from on their menu.  Burgers were the reason I went, but I noticed they had Chicken Fried Steak, Fried Catfish and salads among other things.

The burger was fantastic.  It was juicy, hot and fresh.  As I kept eating, it seemed the flavor just got better as it sat a little bit.  The service was very friendly and I there’s really nothing I could think of as a negative for this place.  The food is great for the price and I’ve really enjoyed the few dishes I’ve tried.

★★★ (3 Stars)

I checked out Houston Street Bistro the other evening and aside from the poor service, the food and ambiance was fairly pleasant.  It took about 15-20 minutes for a server to approach us for our drink orders.  They only have beer & wine which was also a disappointment.

They set up some olive oil, parmesan, and pepper for some bread, but it took forever for the loaf to come to our table.  I think we were about halfway done with the meal when they finally brought the bread to the table.

The Caesar Salad was like any other, but the chicken stuffed with spinach and prosciutto, was excellent.  Because the good food saved their poor service, I will give them another try in the future .  Hopefully the service is better next time.

$50-$70 for two people (without beer or wine)
2.5 stars

★★★★ (4 Stars)

Barron’s at the Gunter Hotel, across the street from The Majestic Theatre, seems like it would be an expensive place to dine.  But, it certainly wasn’t expensive for lunch.

At lunch, they have a buffet for only $9.95 that has a huge salad bar stocked with 3 different lettuce mixes, artichoke hearts, cold pasta, cheeses, grilled veggies, and quite a bit more.

This salad bar is well worth the $9.95 alone, but the lunch buffet also has pizza, soup, desserts, and a pasta bar where a chef cooks the myriad of ingredients of your choosing right in front of your eyes. “oooohhhh ahhhhhh!”

Although very good, Barron’s doesn’t seem to get very busy.  I suppose the idea of pasta and salad doesn’t appease many of these business, lunch-time types that end up at every Mexican restaurant in the area.  But, this is a good thing because now you too hold the secret to a good lunch buffet, at a decent price, in the downtown area.

★★ (2 Stars)

I like the microbrewery/restaurant concept and Blue Star Brewing Co brings a sample of this to San Antonio.  There doesn’t seem to be many microbreweries around here and it’s nice to have this option.

I tried a few of their brews and I couldn’t settle on any one of them.  The beers were all harsh, bitter, and some had flavors that I really didn’t care for (ie. oaky flavors or smokey flavors).  I don’t know who the brewmaster is, but hopefully he gets some better recipes.

I didn’t try their menu, but the food looked decent.  It’s mainly sandwiches and burgers.  I’ll be back to try the fish and chips.

★★★ (3 Stars)

I’ve eaten at a Hard Rock Cafe before, a long while back, and since have always been extremely hesitant to give Hard Rock Cafe a nod.   Known primarily as a tourist restaurant, I’d always had the inclination that the food would be sub-par because it was just a major trap where tourists can get a T-Shirt and Shot Glasses that say you were in Hollywood, Chicago, San Antonio, etc.

Putting these thoughts aside, I decided to check out Hard Rock Cafe – San Antonio.  I was looking for a decent meal at a reasonable price; you know, the type of restaurants that have a variety on their menu and that typically have the same price range of restaurants like Chili’s, Applebee’s, Hooter’s, etc.

Hard Rock Cafe was just like the aforementioned restaurants.  But, I thought I would note that I was impressed with a specific item on their menu, the Creole Chicken Sandwich.  I didn’t know what to expect.  Actually, I expected some sort of gimmicky, blackened chicken burger, but what came out was actually pretty good.  It had a creole sauce that contained chunks of veggies and andouille sausage.  The combination of the sauce, andouille and blackened chicken was unexpected.  It was a really good sandwich and certainly very different than what any of the other burger places on the Riverwalk offer.

Now that they’ve hooked me in a little bit, you might find me here on occasion, even if I don’t ever buy a Hard Rock Cafe T-Shirt.  Perhaps I’ll try something else next time, but I know there’s always the different, tasty, not-so-expensive, Creole Chicken Sandwich at the Hard Rock Cafe.

★★ (2 Stars)

First, let me say I am rating this restaurant based on the type of restaurant this place strives to be: upscale/gourmet.

I visited The Vineyards in October/November of 2007 and wasn’t very impressed.  The food was decent, but they lacked quite a few things that any $$$$ restaurant should never lack.

We were promptly seated, as there were only about two other tables occupied.  We were given the menus and a wine list.  The wine list was okay, but seemed to lack what I was looking for.  In addition, the wine was very expensive; not at all the prices I was accustomed to in California.

So, instead of wine, I chose to go with a Bacardi and coke only to be told that they had no bar.  I asked for a beer listed on their menu and was told that they had run out because of a banquet earlier.  So, I asked for plain old sparkling water…  The waiter, with a puzzled expression, explained again to me that they had no bar; hence, no sparkling water.  I tried so hard not to laugh!  Did this guy think that people only drink sparkling water, such as San Pellegrino, with liquor?  There was no bottled water to be had.

I settled for tap water.  Heh.

I ordered my meal which came out in a good manner of time, and the food was fine.  The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that the sides were served lukewarm.  I like my meal hot, but it was a cold night and the building was rather cold, too; so, I tried to overlook it.

Overall, I might try this place again just to see if they’ve gotten a few things in order.  The price is up there, but that doesn’t automatically mean it’s a 5 star restaurant.  They get 2 stars from me.

★★ (2 Stars)

Bigger does not mean better.

Lulu’s is supposed to be known for their chicken fried steak, so that’s what I ordered.  What came out was an enormous, extremely beaten, flat, cubed steak severely breaded and deep fried.

The batter was not what i was hoping for.  It was bland, as was the meat, and it seemed to retain a lot of oil.  The steak within the batter was overcooked and crunchy.

I was not impressed and I don’t think I’ll be back.  There are way better places for chicken fried steak.  I don’t know how this place was “voted best chicken fried steak in town.”

★★★ (3 Stars)

I don’t know about Mount Charleston’s lodging, but their restaurant was fairly decent.  The views down the mountain from here are spectacular.  It was nice to get away from the strip in Vegas and enjoy some snow and weather in the mid 50’s.

The restaurant itself is not what I expected.  I thought it would be the traditional -lets gouge people with our prices because we have beautiful views- type of restaurant.  It was nothing like that at all.  In fact, the ambiance and food were fairly plain and casual.  The prices were just like eating at your local, corporate, chain restaurant.  They had game hen, elk and buffalo burgers, among other game based options.  It was nice to have varying options, like these, among traditional restaurant meals.

I was also surprised that the beer here was very well priced.  I had a Sam Adams for $4.  What a relief from the $8 bottles of Corona on the strip!

★★★★★ (5 Stars)

Wowza!

We were looking for a good place to eat before we went to see The Spelling Bee at the Wadsworth Theater.  We kept driving for a bit and noticed a sidecar / train dining car / trailer sitting on the side that had a COW logo on it.  Hey, anything with a cow on it HAS to be good, right?

We walked into the Pacific Dining Car restaurant and I quickly felt under dressed.  I think I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  The place was really, really nice.  The tables were set with crystal and gold silverware settings.  And, the dining rooms, yes they had multiple dining rooms each with their own name, looked like scenes from the Titanic.

After looking over the menu I decided on the filet mignon.  This is kind of repetitive because most of my reviews will probably say that I ordered the filet mignon!  But, I did!  And, it was probably one of the best filet’s I have ever had.

The service was perfect. It seemed the wait staff was always there by my side when I needed them.

I don’t know about the other reviewers, and maybe this place is hit-or-miss, but I really hit a great steakhouse by mistake on this day.  I haven’t been back, because I haven’t had a reason to be in that area, but it’s certainly on the top of my list for when I am.