Earl Abel’s

I had to convince my partner to return because last time she found a hair that we hope was from a beard baked into our roll. The only reason I came back was because of the turkey. Well today, we found a fly in our strawberry shortcake. Instead of the manager being apologetic, she made an excuse about the weather being too hot. I don’t care how good the turkey is, we will never return. The 10% you took off was more of an insult on an $ 89 ticket.

We went early evening and it wasn’t busy. They did accommodate us which was planned for a week or so for the 30 people we had. 1 waitress for 30 people, that’s not enough. It took forever to order and receive our food. I can’t believe not one employee helped her run food. There was a waiter at the end that did.
The food for about half of us was awful. My chicken breast was soooo dry. Peoples chicken fried steaks were a hit and miss. Some looked small and from the freezer. Some looked homemade and was good. They were sent back.
It was soooooo hot in there. Now I’ll have to say they did go and purchase some fans. I give them credit for that. No apologies on the food and the service. I will have to say that our waitress did really well on her own and the fried pickles were really good! I won’t be back tho…

It was ok here but definitely not a five star restaurant to me. They do have a big menu and there were certain things that I did like including the cream of chicken soup, the bread rolls, and the fried mushrooms. I also had a chef salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing, it was ok. My boyfriend had the venison sausage plate which I don’t think was even venison it just kind of looked like a cheap peace of sausage. It didn’t look filling at all. I felt bad because it was not enough food for a $ 14.95 plate. All it had was a skinny piece of sausage and some green beans. There were also flies that keep trying to land on our food and then our heads. We had to keep trying to wave them away as we were eating our lunch it was really annoying. Not sure if we would come back.

Horrible. We had the fried vegetables which were falling apart when we ate them. The main courses
looked like they tasted. Gross. Figure we try it since it was on the way and had great reviews but we left running from the place. 36 $ wasted

I had the chicken and waffles for brunch. Wasn’t too bad but not spectacular. The food is good, service is good and the place is clean. Prices are reasonable as well.

The employees are nice and polite. Our server took a while to come to the table. We also didn’t get the full menu. We saw items on Unilocal people posted and couldn’t find it on the menu. We ordered the roast beef sandwich which we couldn’t find on the menu. They had it. They also had a list of omelets on another menu the server went to get when we asked to order an omlet. They use white cloth napkins here. My parents thought the diner roll was pretty. They liked the taste too. My iced tea didn’t arrive until I asked for it a 3^rd time after we had already received our salad and dinner rolls and lunch. He also forgot the extra lemon and gravy we had ordered, but brought the gravy on the 2^nd request. There is a TV on but no volume. They have specials after 6pm and 8pm, but I don’t think I would come to this area that late at night. Our waiter must have memory issues. We also asked for a box to take our left overs and he didn’t come back. Another waiter /​manager asked if we needed anything else and brought us the box. I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak. It had a crispy batter and tender meat inside, but the meat was a tad flat… like it was pounded down a tad to much. It was the white gravy and Mashed potatoes that was a bit bland. I like smooth mashed potatoes, but this seemed a little close to powdered mashed potatoes. I make powdered mashed potatoes at home, and it seemed similar to that. My dad ordered the sausage and cheese omlet with hash browns. My mom liked their hash browns. I did too. The roast beef sandwich was average. The meat was tender. My dad preferred it over his omlet. We tried each other’s meal.
Changed my rating from 3 to 4 star because Roger from the restaurant reviewed my post and is taking it into consideration the comments I made. I updated my post above to be more specific. I am also sending my parents back to review so I can update this review. Hoping they find something delicious to go back to again and again so they expand their restaurant options.

This place has a diner feel with a mixture of hearty home cooking. With a large selection of desserts you really can’t go wrong here! Try the turkey and dressing on Thursdays, so good!
They’ve been around for awhile so they’re doing something right!

The food is great, have never had a bad meal. So many choices that I haven’t repeated any of my meals yet. They are family friendly and it is clean. The fried chicken is good as is the pot roast and the gyro sandwich. They make their own potato chips and I loved them.

Not like the old Earl Abels, but it still good the staff were great and the wait person was fabulous

Good down home place to bring the family. I had the chicken fried steak and tried the maple pecan pie. I had really high expectations as I have read and heard many good things about Earls, but I don’t think it lived up to the reputation. Everything my family had was just okay to good, not great. Two complaints I had were the cleanliness of the restaurant which is a big deal breaker for me even in an older building. Management should really improve that and all the food was fine except my gravy, which was covering my potatoes and chicken fry were super salty. I like salty food, so when I say it was salty, I didn’t even finish it, but I don’t send food back. I’ll try to get a discount or refuse to pay if it’s just that horrible all the way around food and service wise, but everybody has bad days. Anyway, I don’t send food back, I’ve seen the movie Waiting!

The pancakes are worth coming for. They have a special combo, #2, with three thin pancakes, an egg and 2 slices of bacon. GET IT. But if you’re not in the mood for breakfast, the other specials are also delicious. The spaghetti that’s available on Saturdays has a meat sauce that’s on the sweeter side but is also great. Finish it off with their lemon chess pie, you won’t regret it. The chicken and rice soup is also a favorite. The crowd that frequents there is also one of my favorite parts about going, the senior citizens that can be found there are so cute.

WE went to Earl Abel’s yesterday for Valentines Day as I thought I was going to order their delicious Turkey/​Dressing, but I changed my mind and ordered Fried Chicken and my hubby had a steak. Both were absolutely delicious! The mac’n’cheese was the best I have had but was only luke warm. Our server Elizabeth took the time to take it to the big oven to get it good and hot for me. I had told her it was ok but she insisted on getting it right. I really appreciated her willingness to fix it. Her service was spot on and personality plus. I was surprised to find out they do not have a microwave which would save a lot of time if they needed to heat something up quickly. We had a very nice Valentines dinner thanks to the good chefs at Earl Abels and the great server. We will be back!

Would like to tell you how the food was, however our experience didn’t get that far. The first problem was that all of their high chairs didn’t have the belt on them, which is a safety issue for children. Second, ten minutes after ordering our drinks we still hadn’t received them, nor did the waitress take our food order. It wasn’t busy, so there wasn’t much of an excuse for the slow service. We left after waiting ten minutes to get our drinks and seeing our waitress standing around doing nothing.

Had breakfast this morning with the fiancé at Earl Abel’s. Everything was on point today. Coffee was hot and fresh (exactly what I needed). Fiancé had a Spanish omelet with chorizo added. She usually does not eat a whole plate. This morning however there was not a crumb left on that plate! I went with the Eggs Benedict. Kitchen, job well done. I know Earl uses quality ingredients and when the execution is done properly… it is awesome. Hollandaise is a simple sauce that is very easy to ruin. Today the consistency was smooth and velvety with a hint of yolk and citrus. Poached eggs were CIA final exam worthy. Very slight ooze in the middle and absolutely no mess.
Josie took care of us today and she was perfect. Always checking in to reenforce a quality dining experience without seeming intrusive or bothersome. This is the archetype of superior service. It was a very nice touch to even have two other servers stop by the table to make sure everything was alright. Please keep that in the training regimen, that is a telltale sign of a well trained staff.
210 Folks do yourself a favor and stop by. Breakfast, fried chicken, tortilla soup (Sunday only), and roast turkey (Thurs & Sun) are all hits in my book. If you cannot make it in
is incredibly efficient and reasonable.
Keep up the good work guys, I hope to visit again very soon.

Would like to say thank you to Roger whom I believe may be owner. I received a email back in regards to my review of my first dining experience at Earl Abels. I greatly appreciate the acknowledgement n appreciation of my review and a reply back. I will be back soon and regularly as again my dining was perfect and received great service. Thank you Roger for reply. Great restaurant and atmosphere .And best turkey dinner. And definitely will return and request Lisa as my server.

Food was excellent. Chicken and waffles were some of the best I’ve had. Wife’s pancakes were bigger than her head!!! Service was attentive and quick; will be going back again. Love the fact that they serve breakfast all day!

I will never come back here again. It felt like they wanted nothing to do with us. We waited to order our drinks and waited forever and a day. Then we waited to order our food… and when we finally got it it alright. I felt like dying from embarrassment. I have never been treated like this at a restaurant in my life. When we finally left we were there for 2 hours.

Waitress was super nice… sweet tea was good, veggies fried fresh. the fried chicken… maybe because it was 8:57pm. Menu says served till 9pm… but we asked, the chicken was so bad, I am taking it to go. I will broil it at home. Taste like it was refried soggy, not crisp… not fresh like the veggies. So ruined my fried chicken craving… maybe I will try this place again during the day when the chicken will be made to order.

You should probably call before driving all the way over there. Everything says they close at 10pm and we got there at 9:10pm and were kicked out because they decided to close early. We won’t be going there again!

Chicken fried steak taste blend no flavor… The best food I like muffins are delicious… We will go back again to try other foods…

I was horrified when I walked in with my very noisy family of 7. it was like a funeral parlor. I don’t know if everyone was just busy chewing, or if the crowd is anti-​talking, but it was so, so quiet! After we got over being a giant spectacle… we generally enjoyed the experience. The food is delivered in hefty portions (and the kids’ meals are full-​sized grown-​up meals!) and is all pretty standard diner fare. Think chicken fried steak. But they sneak a few random items on the menu to make it appealing to everyone (enchiladas…) and a huge plus, they serve breakfast all day! Also, kids meals are free Mon-​Thur 5−8pm (one per adult entrée) which made it an extremely reasonable dinner… The quotes on the walls are entertaining, and while the atmosphere is definitely odd and retirement-​community-​worthy, there is a lot to look at. I would not recommend eating here unless you have a lot of kids or are over the age of 50, but overall the food is good and service was fine.

Worst Thanksgiving Dinner meal I ever had in my life. I have been going to Earl Abel’s for years and usually like the place. So we decided not to cook a turkey this year, and went to Earl Abel’s for their $ 23 special Thanksgiving Dinner special. What a mistake. No reservation, two hour wait starting at noon. Sit down at 2 pm and a hurried waiter rushed us. Waited what seemed like an hour, meanwhile i got a chicken Waldorf salad that the waiter kept referring to as a «dwarf salad» I soon found out while. It was served in a black plastic half cup container. Then our turkey meal was served, small bread plate with a large scooped-​shaped turkey with a small center of tasteless stuffing and a half baked dinner roll kind of tossed half on it. No butter for the roll, of course. Some time later the yams came on a small serving dish, all three tablespoons of them. Nothing was particularly warm. Finally, dessert, we chose pecan pie, which was suddenly «out of stock.» This was 2 pm, just early into their afternoon.
Earl Able’s is an institution in San Antonio. It has a historical restaurant designation. Who in hell was responsible for this kind of nonsense special? It absolutely boggles my mind. This experience has so soured me that we will never go back their any more for any reason. There are too many newer restaurants opening up that do a much better job.
P. S. Forgot to mention their cranberry sauce they listed on their special. Yes, they served it… in a small black plastic thimble sized cup that the tip of my teaspoon would not fit into. Like on of those small butter or jam containers they use in a diner.

Please do not re-​heat or re-​fry the French fries. Make them up fresh. We deserve that much. It is so obvious by the way they look that they are old and being reheated. Also, please use hot grease when frying fresh potatoes. If the oil is too cool, the potato absorbs too much grease right off the bat. Yuk. Otherwise, the chicken salad croissant sandwich was just fine. But those fries…
The above was a week ago.
Today, I had my chicken salad croissant with fries. The fries were great — crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. Another nice touch was in addition to salt, they were also peppered. Tasty. Another plus was Earls still had fried chicken at 8:30 pm, thirty minutes before closing. Thanks again.

I love this place. It’s a San Antonio tradition for a reason. The new dining room is kitschy but the food is great and they have dome good beers. Stand out dishes include the seafood platter and chicken frieds steak. The jalapeño cheddar bean burger is great. Of course, everybody orders the fried chicken.
My preference is to call ahead for to go meals of the chicken. We also order pastries and desserts, especially around the holidays. The only downside is the crowd at times but they get you seated quickly.

I loved this place. Never wanted the sides. Always just wanted an extra drumstick and no sides. Apparently, now, they want $ 5 .00 for the extra drumstick, even though no sides. So I left. I came here 3 times a week at least spending $ 25 at least each visit. Wont come back.

My grandparents have been frequenting Earl Abel’s since they moved here in 1965 and it has since continued to be a family staple passed down to the younger generations through stories and new visits.
We love the food, have never had a bad experience with any menu item from breakfast to dessert aside from running out of eclairs.
I love the organic and natural selections available.
BUT, something has recently bugged me and my family. Aside from the venue change which couldn’t be helped, they’ve started playing new radio hits instead of jukebox classics and it just kills the wondeful nostalgic atmosphere we’ve loved them for.

Few of my coworkers and I were here for lunch on Friday.
We ordered the Chicken Fried Steak, Chicken Fried Bison, Angus Burger and Onion Ring.
Both the CFS and CFB are ok, they are bit salty for my taste.
The Angus Burger, according to my coworker, is very good
The Onion Ring is really good.
Service is outstanding.

Here’s the deal with Earl Abel’s — the food is not amazing, but it’s good. It is a great place if you have young children, like I do. I honestly probably wouldn’t go here all that much if I were single or my wife and I didn’t have young kids.
Great service, fun history, and the «thins» pancakes are pretty great.
Overall, not bad, just not all that great either. I am 100% sure I will be back, but wouldn’t strongly recommend it.

I had the fried chicken lunch special with a baked sweet potato, and mac n cheese. It was so good and a ton of food for thre price. Only negative was i got the vibe that my waitress didn’t really dig single diners. Other than that I really enjoy my self. I’d go back.

We went to the «old» location approx 10 yrs ago. I was on a personal hunt for the best hamburger in TX (we live in VA). I didn’t find the best hamburger & was severely chastised by a family member saying I should have gotten «the plate».
This visit was outstanding. The whole fam had the daily special pork loin roast over cornbread with gravy and spiced apples dinner roll & an additional side. Then we had dessert. French coconut pie & white butter cream cake. Boy oh boy we literally rolled out the place with big smiles on our faces. Yeah Earl Abel’s you & our waitress Katie rocked it out!

This was my first time at new Earl Abel’s location on Austin Highway. It has been years since I last went to the old Earl Abel’s on Hildebrand before the high rise was built. I had lunch with my sister & brother in law. My sister suggested I ordered the turkey & I did! I was very pleased with the generous portion, filled with lots of flavor. I didn’t save room for dessert, but was told the cakes are super delicious. The restaurant offers a unique old diner ambiance & a friendly family atmosphere. I look forward to future dines here & maybe next time try the coconut cake! I wonder if the restaurant plans to offer a customer loyalty program soon?

We ordered the fried chicken and the chicken fried steak dinners. The restaurant is designed in «Americana» style and it works well, placing customers at ease and furthering their desire for «comfort» food. The wait staff were courteous and prompt, refilling tea and water without needing us to ask. The food was delivered table side within 14minutes. The chicken had the most delicious batter, keeping the internal meat tender and tasty. Crackling gravy with the mashed potatoes was super yummy.
All in all a fantastic experience!