San Antonio: mexican food recommendation?

Someone wrote:
>Hi - I'll be in San Antonio and would like a recommendation for
>OUTSTANDING mexican food.  No corporate entries please.  Thanks
>Kent Rochford
>[email removed]

Kent --

Sorry to say SA does not have a clearly OUTSTANDING Mexican restaurant, but the good news is that it does have six or eight very good ones. I'll mention a few with a sentence or two describing the aspect of each one's character that sets it apart from the others.  A good meal is a very high probability in any of these.

La Calesa -- Run by a family that settled here from Mexico a few years ago, La Calesa probably gives the best combination of authenticity (i.e. Mexican, not Tex-Mex food) and high standards in the city.  Small dining rooms with gently Mexican decor.

Los Barrios -- Run by the Barrios family, Los Barrios features a particularly earthy and robust Mexican cooking style.  Not necessarily piquante, but always vigorous, it can be a real treat, but only for those who are sure that they like the flavors turned up.

La Fogata -- a few years ago this was the darling of almost all Mexican food buffs in town and it is still a cut above most places.  Success (or whatever) has taken its toll and standards are not what they were four or five years ago.  Most of the dishes are from the north of Mexico, all are made from apparently fresh ingredients, and some (such as the goat cheese taco) are truly outstanding.

Pico de Gallo -- a big noisy robust restaurant near downtown that attracts visitors to the city and natives alike.  A hearty species of TexMex is the kitchen's forte, but I suspect that some go there for the mariachis and the general high level of noise and enthusiasm.

Encinos -- Jury is still out, but this newcomer seems to be trying to serve the fancier upscale dishes of Mexico that have been unobtainable in SA before this (I have heard, but not verified, that El Mirador, just south of downtown may be doing the same thing, but I can not tell you that of my own experience.)  When I was there the Mex appetizers were stellar, but the main courses seemed to need work.  Maybe try it at lunch and if you like it go for the evening?

Ernesto's -- Not really thoroughtly Mexican, but kind of half and half, Ernestos is a seafood restaurant that serves Mexican flavors and foods with some of the techniques of France.  Sounds odd, but it works, and some of the dishes, such as fish Veracruzana are topnotch.  Plain straight-out Mexican food, however, is much better elsewhere.

And, for a breakfast, maybe El Milagrito a couple of miles north of downtown, where breakfast tacos seem better than at many other establishments.

Ben Fairbank

Someone wrote:

> Hi - I'll be in San Antonio and would like a recommendation for
> OUTSTANDING mexican food.  No corporate entries please.  Thanks
> Kent Rochford
> [email removed]

try rosario's or la fogata

Someone wrote:
>
>Hi - I'll be in San Antonio and would like a recommendation for
>OUTSTANDING mexican food.  No corporate entries please.  Thanks
>Kent Rochford
>[email removed]

Try Cafe Blanco on Blanco rd. ( there are two ), or Mi Tierra downtown in the Mercado area.

     					Dick Stanford