★★ (2 Stars)

I’d seen HB’s Deli before and was wondering what the food was like, so I thought I’d venture in.  Upon entry, the restaurant looked really promising. I thought perhaps I’d finally found a really good deli downtown.

★★★ (3 Stars)

Uptown Deli is the perfect definition of a 3-star restaurant.  There is nothing fancy about this restaurant or its food.  The restaurant is located in a semi-rundown building that reminds me of an office kitchen/eating area.

The food is pretty good.  If you forgot your sandwich at home and really wanted a sandwich for lunch, Uptown Deli is perfect.  They have various sandwiches and salads at reasonable prices.  It was $6.99 for a sandwich, a side, and a canned soda.

I had the Uptown Club which is just a regular club that I could have made at home.  It was nicely stacked, though!  I think I’ll try the french dip or teriyaki chicken next time I’m there.

Superb customer service.

★★★ (3 Stars)

Schilo’s Revisted

I’m going to have to knock this deli off my 4 star list!

The last three times I’ve been there, I’ve had really bad service.  The first time, the lady charged me for each item individually instead of charging for the dinner, which would have been less expensive.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize it until I left.

Then, I went with a few friends at lunch-time and this waitress seemed to forget about us.  When I flagged her down for some sauce she ended up forgetting to bring the sauce.  She also forgot a side item I had ordered but had no trouble putting it on the bill.  I caught it this time and had her remove it.

Last night, I went in to place an order to go and on the menu they have something called Vienna Paprika Chicken.  It says it comes with noodles and above that it says it says it comes with two sides and a soup or salad.  The person taking my order told me the noodles count as a side and I could only have one additional side with the order.  I’ve ordered it before and it came with two sides and noodles that time.

I don’t know what the deal is with this place, but the waitresses constantly seem confused about the menu if you’re not ordering off the lunch-time section.  They should seriously get their service act together because if it weren’t for the food, I would not go back.

05/29/2008
★★★★ (4 Stars)

Schilo’s is great.  I’m going to make this one of my regular lunch spots.  The only downside to this place is finding and waiting for a place to sit down at.

The food is well priced and they have a good variety of things to eat like Reuben sandwiches, among other sandwiches; Wienerschnitzel; and other German favorites like Jaeger Schnitzel.

I think I paid about 10 dollars for a Reuben sandwich, German potato salad and a soda.  Not bad for the food and for being in the heart of downtown, tourist area San Antonio.

At first I was a little disheartened seeing my sandwich on the plate.  It looked skimpy compared to Reuben sandwiches at the likes of Jerry’s Deli in Los Angeles or Carnegie Deli at the Mirage in Vegas.  But, as soon as I took a bite, I noticed the premium quality of the pastrami, sauerkraut, and rye bread it sat on.  The pastrami was very lean and cut nice and thick.  Everything blended very well and didn’t have more of one ingredient than the other.  Schilo’s knows what it takes to make a perfect Reuben sandwich.

★★★ (3 Stars)

Deli Mama is an offshoot of the Mama’s Cafes that are dotted around San Antonio.  Although there is no shortage of delis in downtown San Antonio, Deli Mama provides another option with a menu that varies slightly from the rest.

I ordered the Turkey Fiesta sandwich, chips, and a soda for around $7.  The Turkey Fiesta sandwich tasted really fresh and had sliced turkey, sprouts, guacamole, lettuce, tomato and provolone.

- They have daily specials, so look for the board as you walk in.  I didn’t realize they had a special until I was walking out.
- Avoid the tables along the windows with the air conditioner vents underneath them unless you want to freeze!

★★★ (3 Stars)

Located on the downtown corner of Soledad and Houston, Murphy’s Deli, a franchise HQ’d in Houston, is a welcome change from the regular Subway or Quizno’s sandwich shops.  They are a notch above these other chains, but you can expect the prices to be as well.

Murphy’s Deli offers a variety of items featuring New Orleans style muffuletta sandwiches, gyros, soups, salads, and coffee.  They also have a variety of regular deli type sandwiches such as reubens, french dips, and BLTs.

Again, Murphy’s is located downtown, so the usual idea to expect to wait in line at lunchtime applies.  They have a credit card minimum of $3, which isn’t bad, but is against credit card merchant agreement policies nonetheless (http://www.msnbc.msn.c…).  Open during the weekday morning and lunch hours only.

★★★ (3 Stars)

There weren’t many places open downtown San Antonio on Memorial Day Weekend.  I was walking around to see what was open and found Delivery Market.

They had a nice little selection of sandwiches with fresh deli meats they slice right there.  The sandwich was tasty and they were quick to get the order out.

The sandwich I ordered was around 7 dollars.  I bought a soda and chips to go with it which brought the total to about 11 dollars; a little expensive for a sandwich, chips, and a soda, IMO.  Their website says that they offer pizza 1 large for 11.99.  Sounds like a better deal.  I’ll have to try it next time.

The service was really friendly and I think I’ll go every now and then when everywhere else is closed.  This way, I’m not paying a premium price for a sandwich.

In addition to the deli, they offer various grocery items such as chips, vegetables, bread, canned soup, and other regular grocery goods.  Of course, being that it’s a small market located downtown in a tourist area, the prices are a bit higher than going to a bigger grocery store such as H-E-B.

★★★★ (4 Stars)

I don’t know about you guys, but I really like their Pastrami Reuben.

The biggest problem I usually have at Jerry’s is deciding what to eat!  The menu is enormous and everything sounds really good.  I guess this is true especially late at night, but still!  Either way, I’ve always ordered the Pastrami Reuben, the buffalo chicken sandwich, or the chili/cheese hot dog.  Jerry’s has never done me wrong!

Oh, and I grabbed a piece of German Chocolate Cake, to go, the last time I was in there.  I think I need to go back for some more.  It was great.