18 Oaks

Not worth the price. Chewy overcooked wagu steak, truffle creamed corn had not even a hint of truffle, salad ok. Our service was good. Not worth the high prices at all. Had better steak at Saltgrass. Will not return.

This review is strictly for the bar— we walked in to cool off after walking around the resort and didn’t leave until 4 hours later. The bar staff was just awesome and very fun to talk to. Drinks were excellently poured and we were given some yummy pickles and beef jerky. Beyond excellent was the steak we ordered– sooo delish. Much better than The steak place on the river walk that begins with a B. I wish I could have had desert

Too expensive for poor service, dry chicken, and over cooked filet mignon. Two stars for the bread butter and beef jerky. Also the cauliflower was good. But yeah just too expensive for the poor quality. Sad.

Ate here last night. Overall disappointed, ordered the Wild Game entrée, came out shredded wild boar (pulled pork) terrible. Overpriced for the subpar quality and at a JW Marriott.

I was just at the resort with 6 friends for a girl’s weekend. We couldn’t have been more disappointed with our dinner at 18 Oaks. We arrived for our 9pm reservation on time, were sat & it was downhill from there. We ordered our appetizers & entrees right away (it was late & we were hungry). They brought my oysters which were TINY. I know this can’t be helped, but they should have brought twice as many to make up for it. They proceeded to bring our dinner an hour and a half later. My friends, who by that point were starving (they hadn’t ordered the puny oysters) were served bone dry chicken & quarter size crab cakes. Management made excuse after excuse about how the kitchen was backed up and brought 2 cocktail shrimps to compensate. We just wanted what we ordered in a timely fashion. They comped the chicken & oysters, but we paid for everything else. The food was fair at best, and the service was absolutely awful. Fortunately, the resort & Cibolo Moon restaurant were a joy.

I made a reservation for Mother’s Day two months ago at 18 Oaks and was told by an employee that more than likely I would have a spot to take my parents and siblings next week for brunch, and I was told that I would get a phone call the week before to confirm the reservation. I never got a phone call, so when I called today at 18 oaks the supervisor told me that even though they promised us a spot, they will not be able to fulfill that promise to get us a reservation. Now a week before Mother’s Day, I am scrambling to find another place to book a reservation to take my mom out for brunch. Thanks a lot for the heads up, JW Marriott.

My wife surprised me by setting up a birthday weekend at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa and making reservations at 18 Oaks for dinner that night. We arrived almost an hour early to see if they had any openings to get us in early and they seated us right away.
The layout of the facility was interesting. It bordered on a lodge and club house mixed with a ski resort dining room. The light fixtures were cool and I wish I had taken a picture for this review.
The reason for the three stars was the service. The service staff were ill-​dressed (clothing not fitting well both too large and too small depending on the server). Not only that but they were not graceful like one would expect from a «fine dining» type establishment as they claim to be. One was sitting on his knees on the seats as he played with items on the table before clearing them off. Much like a toddler who was helping clear the table after dinner. Our server did not know the menu and was very choppy in his presentation of it. Not only that but his buttons were screaming for mercy.
The food, when we got it, was quite delicious as was the little sample of beef jerky and restaurant made pickles. THOSE WERE GREAT! Our drinks were never refilled though our server walked by dozens of times looking straight at them. Our bar drinks were STRONG so I guess that can be considered both a good and bad thing. I did not enjoy mine as it was much too strong and really quite poorly composed.
Other than the service, the food was great but the cost was not worthy of the experience. For the price we paid you would have expected a much higher level of excellence, even in the food but more so in the service quality.

I waited a month to write this review, and I will be copying this to TripAdvisor because people have to be aware and the GM needs to understand he has some real issues with the service and with the kitchen. This was for a business dinner I was hosting with 4 of my largest clients.
So, here we go…
I got there early before my group arrived, just to make sure I was a good host. I originally made reservations for 12, and my group dropped to 10 so I let the hostess know. One of my counterparts who was speaking at the conference there joined me at the bar, and wanted a beer. No big deal. I sat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine, and it came promptly, and that brings the good part of my review to a conclusion.
I decided to use the men’s room, went in to find a lake on the floor. Not really sure which part of the room caused it, but let’s just say, the leather soles of my shoes were SOAKED. I got out of there ASAP and informed the hostess. This time she looked at me like I had 3 heads, so I suggested she contact maintenance and they will know what to do… but I digress.
Finally my group started to arrive. Once we had 7 people, I requested we get seated. No problem. Finally the rest of the group arrived, and it turned out one additional business guest. My friendly hostess, once again struggled. We had more than enough room, and I suggested we grab another chair and setting, and it would be all just fine. She decided she needed to discuss this with the manager. In the meantime, we grabbed a chair and all took our seats. The manager came by and asked where we needed another chair since everyone was seated. I told her we grabbed a chair and only needed a place setting. It came, and we sat and waited… and waited… and waited. All we wanted was to order a cocktail and wine while we looked over the menus. Finally, after 20 minutes of waiting, I went to find the manager and ask her to send over our waiter since we all had ample time to review the menu multiple times.
10 minutes later Eric appeared. Trying to come up with the right adjective, but I am going to say he seemed to be under the influence of a «performance enhancing drug.» He flitted about the table and was going to tell us the specials, when one of my guests suggested he take our drink order first, he can put in the order and come back to give us the specials. So he took the orders and disappeared again…10 minutes later, I found our manager and asked if she could send Eric over again. I also asked if this was his only table, and she said yes. At the same time he magically appeared. He had 2 bottles of wine in hand and I brought him back to the table. He filled our glasses, the manager brought the other cocktails over, we heard the specials, we ordered appetizers and toasted each other and figured life was good!
Appetizers came out promptly and they were excellent. I asked that we place our meal order and he took it. Wow… everything is going well. I also suggested he bring another bottle of wine to the table and he told me he only had one left, and I said fine, we’ll take it.
Now we waited again… salads and soup came out and Eric and his assistants disappeared. I happened to look over at the gentleman next to me who ordered soup, and asked why he wasn’t eating it. He said «we don’t have spoons.» Sure enough, 4 of my guests with soup were looking at their soup waiting for spoons… so guess what your happy host did… you got it, I found the manager! She got spoons and *poof* Eric appeared with a bottle of wine!
Soup and salads continued without a hitch and eventually entrees came out. Now i get that trying to get everything out at the same time for large groups can cause and issue, so I am pretty mellow about that. I told my table to please eat as it comes out so nothing gets cold. The guy next to me (yep…spoonless Bob) was looking at his plate after it was placed down, and I realized it wasn’t his order… he ordered bone-​in filet and got the Kobe filet. Eric said «no problem, keep that and I will get another.» But my meal was missing. Eric came back and wanted to know if everything was ok with the table. I told him my meal was missing. Bob also told him that’s he’d eat the Kobe. So the table was almost done with the entrees, and my steak finally came out. Now, I like medium rare steak, but this thing was almost completely raw. I choked down a few bites, but decided if I sent it back, it might be Labor Day before I saw it again.
My main man Eric came back and asked if we wanted desserts… there was some hesitation, but a few decided to get dessert. I just asked for a box for my raw meat. A couple after dinner drinks were ordered and it all seemed to go smoothly (we are now 3:20 into our meal and the place was pretty empty). The bill came and he told me he comped the desserts. I was thankful, paid him and we left. Over 3 ½ hours for a dinner is excessive. I hope this helps.

Sunday brunch was really good. Unlimited mimosas and good variety of breakfast/​lunch food. The banana foster was amazing and one of the best I’ve ever had. The price for the brunch is a little too expensive for me but it’s a really nice place with a great view, great service and very good food.

Excellent food and and service.
Thank you Eric for your service!

Pricy but with correspondingly appropriate value. The service is also outstanding.
Just to be clear, this is a higher end restaurant for people of the carnivorous variety. The menu and staff take much pride in their offerings made from local artisans, sustainable fisheries, and other organic ingredients.
Everything we ordered was delicious — from the pickles and jerky served with the dinner rolls to the creamed spinach and sweet potatoes fries accompanying our entrees of short ribs, and Wagyu filet and flat iron. A big standout — or must order — for any diner at 18 Oaks is goat cheese potato gratin.

Worst dining experience I’ve had in a really long time. Food was either bland, salty or greasy. The scallops were disgusting and under cooked. Our server wasn’t attentive. The food took forever to come out. Legitimately just the worst. If you want to have terrible, over priced food and mediocre service eat here.

Had the best steak ever at this restaurant! Yes, it was expensive but it was worth it. Also tasted a bunch of sides — the cauliflower and the au gratin goat cheese potatoes were sooo good!

Amazing brunch!!! Went on Sunday and was one of the best brunches. Menu items that are brought to your table, small servings so you can try many things. I recommend the short rib. Crab legs, lobster spinach avocado omelets, bananas foster and unlimited mimosas. Great selections also meat carving station of turkey and prime rib. A little pricey but worth it, with beautiful view of golf course, piano player and very attentive staff.

I’ll start with the good before I get to the really bad. We went to 18 Oaks on January 1^st with a large party. There were 12 of us and they put us in a really nice private room that fit our party perfectly. The service started out okay and the appetizers were really good, that was about it.
The drinks took a very long time to get and several of my friends drinks were not brought out, or the wrong drinks were brought to the table.
When the server brought out the entrees, he gave my steak to someone else at the table who proceeded to eat my medium steak, no big deal, right? Well the server told me I should just eat the well done steak that was intended for my friend. I opted for them to cook me a new steak. Unfortunately everyone at the table was done when my steak arrived. I guess they were in such a hurry to get my steak done that it was charred on the outside and rare on the inside. Not a good steak at all.
Throughout our ordering process, I thought we made it very clear we wanted separate checks by letting the waiter know, «put this on our check» or «put that on their check». When it came time for the check, the waiter said, «I hope it’s okay, I put this on one check.» Uh, No.
It took them 20 minutes (no exaggeration) to split the check. The women in our party got sick of waiting so they left and went back to the hotel. When we finally got the split checks, they were all wrong. At that point we were all sick of being there and our experience was ruined, so we all just threw in cash and left.
If you come to this restaurant with a party of 2 or 4, I imagine it could be pretty good. Several of the people in our party liked their entrees, but the general feeling we had when we left was a very bad one.

This is a «white glove» style restaurant. You can certainly imagine the golf pros dining here as it has a very unique, rustic appearance. I was here with a colleague and customer for a business dinner. Most everything on the menu is a la carte.
I started off with a caesar salad with extra anchovies. My guest had the beet salad and the iceberg salad. We ordered mushroom as well as blue cheese creamed spinach as sides. For the main course, my customer and I ordered the seasonal catch which was Amberjack with crab. My colleague ordered the bone-​in ribeye. We finished off by sharing a chocolate cake. That and 2 bottles of Malbec later, it was a great business dinner. It was a bit pricey, though. But you could also say it’s worth it.

The food was unique without being haute, the service was attentive without being rushed and the décor works with the location and menu.
The food and service made both nights great experiences. While the adults enjoyed the double cut house bacon and charcuteric board (dried meat & cheese), the waiter helped my vegan daughter navigate the menu. I am a sucker for short ribs. They were served in white wine and broth garnished with gremolata and risotto alla milanese. The memory is making my mouth water. The food was excellent across the whole table.
Speaking of tables, the tables are a little close together. Another aspect to keep in mind is the cost; This is an expensive restaurant at $ 50+ per person. Finally, 18 Oaks is out of the way if you are not staying at the resort. However, the décor is appropriate for being in the hill country as opposed to downtown. The food and service made both nights great experiences.

Decided to grab dinner at 18 Oaks at the JW Marriott in San Antonio. Long story short. It wasn’t anything to write home about.
Mike the bartender was friendly and suggested a local beer: Weekend Warrior Pale Ale from Karbach Brewing Co. This beer was the high point. It was absolutely delicious! It was also the last time I had any interaction with him.
I ordered the beef filet and a side of risotto for dinner. Cuz when in Texas, ya gotta eat beef. The steak came out Rare (med rare was ordered), and was topped with compound butter. Texture and taste of the steak was good.
The risotto was ok at best. It was not very cheesy, and it was too milky.
Over all, I would say. Service was like a tomahawk missile — fire & forget. The food was so-​so. Although the guy next to me asked me to try his short ribs, and they were delightfully tender & flavorful. It’s not a bad place for dinner, it just didn’t exceed my expectations.

Fantastic place — very expensive but I prefer it to all the other fancy steak places in town save perhaps for Bohannans which I have been to in awhile.
Went there while staying at the JW Marriot which is where it is located, but I would totally go back to have it again. Neat location looking out over the hill country, very neat bar menu on iPads, and fantastic steaks.

4 ½ Stars. After playing golf here at the TPC Golf course and spending the day at Lantana Spa it was practical to dine here for dinner.
After checking into the hotel and upgraded to a suite I made reservations on open table for dinner. I started off the evening by ordering adult beverages from the E tablet. From wine to mixed drinks, cognac and even cigars were just a click away! For starters I went with a wedge salad that was wonderful — cheesy and loaded with crispy bacon. For the main course — the tomahawk Pork chop. Ala carte sides chosen were the creamed spinach and fingering potatoes that was plentiful for two. I sampled the honey jalapeño scallops and it was the bomb! Our waiter Bryan was a character who knew how to joke around but kept it semi professional. I admire that he noticed our food was taking longer than normal and gave us complimentary upside down peach cake topped with gelato which was sinful tasting!
BTW the décor here is classy but has a casual upper end feel to the place which I really enjoyed.
Overall a wonderful dinner to top off an incredible day at the JW Marriott resort.