Taqueria El Chilaquil

First of all, the waitress was running the show all by herself. She was attentive and smiled (Jessica). She was on turbo mode taking care of our refills and such. The owner should look into hiring staff. The food was better than I expected. Full of flavor and spicy just like I prefer it. I would definitely return and hope more waiters are available.

Went here religiously when I worked across the street. Good selection of authentic Mexican food and laid back ambiance. They have live music/​karaōke on Friday and Saturday nights. Check it out if you’re ever in the neighborhood.

TERRIBLE! Will deffiantly not go there again EVER!

Typical Mexican Food. Not Tex-​Mex and most of the menu is in Spanish. If you are looking for real Mexican food it is ok.

On our second day in San Antonio, we picked up Aunt Annie at the airport and drove to El Chilaquil for lunch. I had been looking for taquerias in the area and this one looked good. I think it has more promise than my three stars, but based on this experience I just can’t go higher. I’m guessing there are plenty of good things, the menu is huge and they are open for breakfast.
The salsa was good. It was pretty much straight jalapeño, with plenty of salt, good heat and very little sour. I don’t think the jalapenos were pickled because I don’t think they could rinse all of the vinegar out. They were probably cooked and pureed coarsely. I could not detect tomatillo in it. All of the seeds were chile seeds. I liked it a lot. The chips were the thin tasteless style.
I ordered a quesadilla de huitlacoche. In addition to the corn fungus it had a few kernels of corn. The quesadilla was good but the huitlacoche is very mild. To be honest, I could not taste the usual combination of fungus and corn that I normally get from it. I guess it got lost in the cheese.
Ms T ordered a chile relleno. We are used to mostly cheese stuffed chiles and this had no cheese, only ground meat. That’s OK, but the meat was not particularly flavorful. The sauce that covered the chile was a very watery tomato type that made the entire plate soggy, including the rice and beans.
I ordered lengua tacos with rice and beans. When the tacos came they were very large and did not look like any lengua that I have ever seen. Aunt Annie had one also. We asked the waitress and she assured us that they were lengua. Believe me they were not lengua. I grew up on a cattle feeding farm in Iowa. We had our own beef and always had the tongues. I routinely fix tongue at home for tacos and I order it when I am fortunate enough to be in a taquerias that serves it. I know its appearance, color, texture and taste. This was NOT lengua. There is nothing you can do to lengua to make it this color, texture or flavor. We all agreed on this. So we were left wondering why the waitress felt obligated to tell us that it was something that it was not. We assumed they were out of lengua and substituted, assuming los gringos estupidos would not know any better. It was a sort of beef stew (guisado de res), again too watery, juicy for tacos. It completely dissolved the corn tortillas so that you just had to eat the stew with a fork and spoon and forget the tortilla. Don’t get me wrong, the stew was not bad. It had tomato and onion, lots of onion. I repeat, not even in an alternate bizzaro universe was this the lengua that we ordered.
The frijoles refritos were excellent with a rich smoky flavor. The rice was moist and garlicky. Both were very good. Aunt Annie had a taco de barbacoa that was at least not so juicy as to ruin the tortilla. It had a good strong mutton flavor and was probably the best thing we had.
I would go back and try other things for lunch and would give breakfast a try. Ms T would not. So we were disappointed because it looked so promising. One other knock is that they let panhandlers into the restaurant and we were hit up twice during lunch.

* My kinda spot *
A bit outside of downtown, this little Mexican restaurant satisfied my Mexican food deprived appetite. Yes, living in Vancouver can be wonderful for a variety of food, but every now and then I really miss good hole in the wall Mexican food.
The lengua tacos were perfection. The tongue had been cubed and was perfectly tender nestled in its well spiced sauce on a freshly made corn tortilla. They were served with a large side of chopped onions and cilantro which were both very fresh, as well as 2 different salsas. $ 3.50 for two tacos. And they were delicious.
The carnitas were served on a VERY large platter and were nicely caramelized on the edges yet perfectly tender inside. They came with pleasantly hot charro beans that had a lovely kick. The pico de gallo complemented them perfectly, as did the fresh flour tortillas. Very nice dish.
The barbacoa de borrego was amazing. The mutton was still on the bone, and had a nice marbling of fat without being overpowering. It was so tender, and went perfectly with the flour tortillas. Delicious. Addictively delicious. Great stuff, and also a very generous portion.
Service was extremely friendly, and really made us feel welcome in this off the beaten path spot. It seems like they were set up to have some live music later in the evening — don’t know when exactly though. But I bet it is fun.
My apologies, but with the excitement of such a wonderful menu I entirely forgot to take photos! Shame on me!

This place is pretty darn yummy!!!
I got myself an enchilada plate that was delicious!!!
The service is pretty good.
And there’s some music on the weekends (we went on Friday night).
Great place to chat and eat!
And it’s really close to the Guadelupe Arts Center, which has amazing independent films for very cheap: D

I Have one word for this place:
HUITLACOCHE ([witakote] :) That’s right, that fungus/​mushroom that grows on corn and is cooked to perfection! This delicacy is mostly served in Quesadillas where it dances with melted cheese and has a party in my mouth! The staff at this place is so friendly. Their menu varies from Tacos, Flautas, Tortas, Menudo, Pozolé, and my second favorite– Chipocludas? Chipo-​what? They’re Chipotle + Tomato Enchiladas, filled and topped with Queso Panela:) Get yourself a glass of Agua Fresca before they sell out, very delicious!

We recently visited this west side joint for the late-​night dining. We got a whole lot more!
First, the food is fine. Many of my tablemates chose tacos al pastor, one got a gigantic plate of nachos with beef and I got the squash blossom quesadilla, which was just as lovely as it sounds with cheese and the blossoms in between two tortillas.
We also all enjoyed several beers served in big frosty mugs. The tab for our party of five’s dinner and drinks came to a little over $ 60.
Here’s where it gets really good though, as we were debating ordering one last drink, we saw several transvestites waltz into the restaurant and up to the small stage they have. They proceeded to put on an international lip-​synching contest, all entirely in Spanish, with contestants from Mexico, Spain and San Antonio. It was fabulous! But the best part might have been the non-​plussed reactions from the regular patrons, mainly families grabbing a late dinner or wait staff just off shift from another restaurant. A two-​year old with a pacifier even wandered up on stage while one lady was in the middle of her act.
It was excellent entertainment and a true West side original. Though I’m not sure how often the transvestite shows occur, when they’re not there, I’m told there’s some pretty fierce tejano karaōke.