Ernesto’s Mexican Specialties & Seafood

The owner is very passionate about his food. But service is extremely slow and it was not busy. Very small portions and the rice tasted like water. Waiter didn’t even ask if we wanted more drinks. We choose this restaurant because of the great reviews, but I would not go back to try it for a second time.

This is an amazing place. My wife and I are coming here every year for our anniversary. Wish we lived close just to come eat here. You will not regret coming here. Food and service is amazing.

This was a real jewel of a find. Many thanks Unilocal.Some of the best food I have ever had. I enjoyed the red snapper with lump crab. The tortilla soup was fantastic and Ernesto was a delight to meet. Top shelf dining experience!

Food blew us away! On point. Very personal attention, staff bent over backwards to please. Décor needs updating. Bathrooms need complete remodel.
Very much a great place to make your «special occasion» go to.

The BEST food in town. Everything and I mean everything is homemade. All the sauces are mouthwatering. Please try them all or let them decide for you. Had the steak with oysters and mojo de ajo sauce. Camera crepes for dessert.

Excellent food. Many great sauces are a mixture of French and Mexican influence. A luxurious-​atmosphere restaurant. Excellent personal service by owner, Ernesto. No need for menu, the owner will take care of you. I wish we had not been pressed for time.

The fried oysters came highly recommended and did not disappoint. For the entrees we had the steak san antonio and the stuffed red snapper both expertly prepared and delicious.

Excellent! We both had the Mexican plate and it was delicious. The enchilada was especially good.

The food, the service… everything was impeccable.
My only regret was that we have not been going to them for all these years.
My husband and are food snobs. I am from New Orleans, raised with a mother chef.
My husband has 20 plus years of restaurant in his belt.
This food is the best in seafood… better than Galatoires in NO…
I lost track of how many times my husband said Wow…
You have to go.
Redfish and the tenderloin
Wow…
MM

Ernesto’s is probably the best Mexican restaurant in SA! I’ve been coming to this place for a few months now and I cannot get enough of The Salsa’s that Ernesto makes! The dinning experience is unmatched, Ernesto comes to my table every time and provides me his suggestion which is always spot on as well as wine pairing suggestions. Do not hesitate about this place you will not be disappointed.

Fantastic dinner tonight. Hubs had stuffed snapper and mother in law had San Antonio steak. excellent, well made and beautiful plating. I had fried oysters. Not a fan. Way to much batter, not much flavor. We are huge fans of this restaurant. In-​laws have been coming here since the 1980’s. Service is fantastic, they really go out of their way to make you feel important. Highly recommend.

I was looking for a special place to take my daughters and found Ernesto’s restaurant, I did not know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised by the extremely good service and excellent food, it was an added pleasure to have mr. Ernesto himself come to our table and speaking to my daughters and myself explaining the history of Ernesto’s cuisine. I just want to say it was a wonderful experience and I definitely will return and will recommend Ernesto’s to my friends. Thank you mr. Ernesto for a memorable evening.

The sauces, the freshness, and all the great flavors. This place is awesome. Wonderful family run business. Try something with seafood. Best Mexican food I have had in San Antonio.

This place has it all! Excellent food, superior service and relaxing atmosphere. Ernesto personally oversees all preparations and will greet and explain his recipes and concepts. Will definitely return whenever I’m in the area!

I brought my parents here when they came for a visit. The owner was really passionate about the food, and I could tell that a great amount of thought and effort went into creating the menu.
Most of the items on the menu were authentic, but there were some Tex-​Mex styled foods as well. The menu had a lot of options for the sauces that accompanied the dishes; they seemed special because I’ve never heard of some of the kinds of sauces before. Chips were served with the meal, and they were different too, in a great way — I think I could get addicted to their chips and salsa. The owner informed us that the sauce won the «best» title in San Antonio for two years in a row. I ended up having an enchilada, which I really liked. Although I’ve never tried the actual seafood, I would like to the next time that I return.

Great Mexican Restuarant. Excellent quality food with a French flair. Closed from 2 pm to 5 pm

We were in San Antonio for a conference and wanted to get away for a night for some good local food. Upon arrival to the small resturant, we were greated by Ernesto’s son and quickly seated and provided drinks. Ernesto greated us at the table and quickly described his cullanary up bringing with French influence. His sauces are amazing and paired perfectly with the great selection of dishes. Ernesto was fantastic at suggesting selections and we gave him free rien to provide everything from apps, dinner, deserts and the awesome coffee. The entire experience was very memorable and would return again.

It was prime time meal rush and my friend and I wanted to eat Mexican food. Somehow we looked at Unilocal reviews and drove here. There was plenty of parking at night around 8pm (yes we got there late). Surprisingly, this Mexican restaurant wasn’t super super packed and crazy (probably due to the location). Inside the restaurant was a beautiful clean atmosphere with candles lit on every table. It was kind of romantic and was wondering if we walked into the right restaurant (two guys).
We were greeted an older man who turned out to be Ernesto himself. He was friendly and accommodating. He explained the specials to us and gave us time to think about the menu. He also said he could create custom orders based on his recommendations. My friend ordered a tortilla soup and I ordered their special fried oysters with cerviche for the appetizer. For the main course, I ordered the Crab meat and shrimp veracruz and my friend ordered shrimp and steak. Ernesto helped us out and said he would add his suggestions to our orders.
My fried oysters were very good: You could taste the oysters and the fried shell around it without either overwhelming each other. I tried my friend’s tortilla soup and it was excellent too. For the main course, the shrimp tasted very good and the crab meat taste lingered in my mouth. Best seafood I’ve tasted in a long time. Ernesto revealed to us that it is unusual to have Mexican seafood, and theirs uses a little bit of French methods. For desert we got cinnamon ice cream and crepes (two small pieces). It was delicious also and melted right in our mouth.
The total bill came out to about $ 98. It was worth every penny. It also turns out that Ernesto’s is a family restaurant with his son and grandson working there, also named Ernesto. What I enjoyed about Ernesto’s restaurant is that they provided great service and connected with us (also helped that we beat the dinnertime crowd so it wasn’t crowded) and gave us recommendations that worked. I would definitely come here again.

This is not your average Mexican food. Yes, they have some of the staples you will recognize, but they certainly put a twist on things to create unique flavor combinations.
The tortilla soup was delicious, and the queso al carbon was very good as well. Everyone at the table (6 of us) had a different seafood/​sauce combination, and they all enjoyed them.
Ernesto himself was great, taking the time to introduce all of the unfamiliar menu items, and to make sure we were well taken care of. All of the other wait staff was very attentive as well. By the time we were finished, my uncle was asking to take a picture with Ernesto, like he was part of the family!

The food was pretty good here. I was kinda surprised how dead the place was when we got here. It also feels like this place has an identity crisis… inside felt like a cheap Italian restaurant with classical music playing. Weird.
Onto the food though! The chips and salsa? Was actually really good. It was a green sauce but just had an interesting flavor to it. I got the Mexican plate and it was pretty huge for $ 10. Not the greatest but it was worth the price.
I guess for me… if you call it an upscale Mexican restaurant but everything inside is just weird and cheap but your prices don’t reflect it. you may need to rethink it.
Still a decent place to grab food at… I just personally wasn’t too impressed