Cool Mint Cafe & Catering

Rest in piece Cool Mint Cafè. Your tomato bisque soup will be dearly missed. The world isn’t right without cool mint in the dinner discussions.

The area around Texas State University is naturally surrounded by college eats. I’ll let you discern how you feel about college eats, but well Cool Mint Café & Catering was quite refreshing! Many restaurants in the area seem to warm up their foods rather than cook to order.
The inside is pretty cute. They converted a house into a restaurant. Each table had a live flower on it. It had a pretty intimate feel, as you walked further in on the hollow wooden floors. I liked it.
It seems they tried their best to locally source their food, and make sure its organic. I forgot what exactly was organic, or what exactly came from a local farm, but they have quite the list in their menu.
Our waiter took awhile to take our order, and it took another while for our food to arrive. I ordered a Teriyaki Salmon burger, with a pear spinach salad on the side. The food was breath taking. The Salmon was cooked just right, and oddly enough for me to describe it as not chewy. I’ve had chewy salmon burger, and that crap is disgusting. The pear salad had my tongue dancing. I’ve never thought to use pear in my salad, but it’s definitely a new favorite.
I really enjoyed that they put a little mint leaf in your water to go along with their mint theme.
Sadly I heard they were going to be converting their restaurant to student housing, so I will try my best to come back one more time to enjoy their food.

I am lowering my rating one star because on my last catering I was charged 20% of my total order for delivery/​paper goods. It was 20 miles so I can understand an up charge on delivery (New Braunfels from San Marcos) but 20% on a $ 500 charge that I was made aware of 2 days before the event was excessive. The 20% was $ 105 dollars on a lunch delivery which included no chafing dishes/​items they had to pick up/​servers. I like the food here, however, I will not be ordering again for catering.

The times we have been we have loved it. We are so sick of the mounds of fast-​food places in San Marcos and are pleased to add Cool Mint to our short list of restaurants we truly enjoy in town. Their tomato soup is amazing and I loved their portabello mushroom burger too!
Cute story: One time the waitress asked if we wanted dessert when we first ordered. We hardly ever order dessert so said we didn’t know. She suggested a few things and continued asking each time she came by. We got so amused and curious by this that we finally ordered dessert at the end of our meal. Then we found out why she kept asking. They made each individual dessert fresh upon order. We had to wait longer for the dessert than we did our food!!! But we were in no hurry that evening so sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere and chatted.
Moral of the story: if they still make made-​to-​order desserts, order one at the start or midpoint of your meal. But if you forget, they are worth the wait.

My wife and I have been going here since it opened almost a decade ago. Still one of our favorite date night restaurants.

Lovely atmosphere and the terrific food. I ordered the salmon burger with cool mint salad. Delicious! Full of flavor and with the option of a slice of pineapple there was a great combination of moist fish and a slight crunch of the grilled fruit. Also tried my mother-in-law’s sweet potato enchilada which was also fabulous. It had the perfect amount of spivey kick to it.

Lovely and quaint gem in the thralls of TexMex and Fried food land. A welcome respite for the weary travelers coming to find bargains at the outlet shopping centers. From crisp and clean décor, to the fresh and local ingredients, this place is a must for vegan, health conscious and foodies alike. Fabulously yummy food… Try whatever your sever suggests! You won’t be disappointed! Mmmm delish!

Cute place. Knowledgeable waitress. A little pricey for lunch but they make it worth every penny. A lot of healthy yet tasty options. Roasted Chile en Nogada was de-​lish!

A little pricey (no lunch menu) but the food is pretty good and it is in an adorable little house. Parking can be tricky. The rolls were fabulous and I love that mint and lemon are placed in the water. The tomato basil soup was good but not great and the grilled cheese sliders are just plain boring. That being said, I would definitely go back. The servers were very attentive.

After consulting Unilocal,my husband and I had lunch at the Cool Mint Café. It was charming and the hostess seated us immediately. However, we were disappointed in the service and food. The service was very slow and after waiting over 20 minutes-​I had to get up and «find the waiter” — who was making a personal call on his cell, from the kitchen area. He provided a hummus platter –and an apology. I had to ask for the rolls.
I ordered the Rack of Lamb, a favorite of mine and it was served raw! Yes, raw– I asked to speak with the chef over to show him and he said he was sorry and — cooked it once again. My husband had the tomato basil soup, which was good but at room temperature. On the positive side, my pear and spinach salad was good.
I am sure we will not return or recommend this restaurant.

So on a day trip which brought us thru San Marcos, we wanted to find a place to eat. As always we consulted our Unilocal Mobile Guide, and after narrowing down some options we settled on trying Cool Mint Café. Nestled on a corner in a neighborhood with a mix of Apartments and houses, you can almost miss it.
Being as it was Saturday around 1:00 or so, my expectation was that it would be on the downswing of whatever Saturday Brunch business they do. I was almost right. There were a few tables with people there, and with one server working…
(Side note: as someone who has been the lonely server who stayed behind after a early shift, in the hopes that people will come in while I have the entire restaurant to myself, will attest… You want the tables, but you want them to come in a pace that is manageable. I dont envy any server who takes this role, but I have to say, now that you have the place to yourself, you need to step up your game…)
That being said, Sam, who was the server mentioned above, did a fairly good job. There were a few times I saw him scrambling around for things… Key word here is Consolidate those steps…
Anyway, enough about that… So we ordered, we got our drinks and food. And let me tell you, it was delicious.
Kids ordered Burger Sliders with Tomato soup for the boy and fruit for the girl. Joy order a Thai Salmon Burger with a pear salad, which had this delicious Vanilla Pear Vinaigrette…
I had a Grilled Onion Blue Cheese Burger… also served with Tomato Soup.
The Tomato Soup had a dollop of Pesto (?), it was real good eatin…
The Buns apparently were baked in house, delicious.
So we will give Sam the Server some slack, cause his boss makes really yummy food.
Before we left, I made sure to find the BOH and thank the Chef, which I think also might be the owner, his name was Scott (?). Either way it was awesome and GREAT find… Thanks Unilocal and Thanks Cool Mint Café. We will try to be back soon.

I can’t believe I hadn’t yet visited the Cool Mint! Finally it was my chance. Yesterday I parked in front of the light-​green arts and crafts style bungalow from the 1920s that was now home to the Cool Mint Café. The first thing I thought when I walked inside, was just how darn cute this place was. It’s apparently an old 1920’s Sears Roebuck Kit House. There were hard wood floors, wonderful antique hard wood tables and chairs, and plenty of natural lighting spilled in through the large windows. It made me happy.
As my mom and I stood in the entry hall, we were surprised to be greeted by the Executive Chef, Ryan Hernandez. He was warm in welcoming us to the Cool Mint Café and seated us in one of the dining rooms, handed us menus and left us to enjoy the warm sun that came splashing in through the window we sat next to.
What I enjoyed was the quaint, simple and clean décor, and the obvious cleanliness throughout.
I loved the brilliant red hibiscus iced tea. Man, these were SO pretty. The sunlight filtering through made these teas look like enormous rubies. The tea itself was light, citrusy and very refreshing.
My mom and I put our order in for our Spicy Beef Lettuce Wraps (with sweet plum sauce & ginger-​carrot slaw), and for our entrees. I ordered the Thai Style Salmon Burger (with lettuce, spring onion & Thai sauce), on Romaine with a Cool Mint Signature Salad (olives, red onions, lemon-​garlic vinaigrette). My mom ordered the Lemon-​Brie Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich on romaine (with spinach, red onion, lemon-​chive aioli) and the signature salad, with her dressing on the side.
Something that impressed me was that Chef Hernandez picked up on both of us ordering without buns. He asked if there was a gluten allergy, and if so, we should change our appetizer order, as the beef wraps contained gluten. My mom and I are allergy-​free, however, that was really thoughtful and quite notable.
While we waited for our lettuce wraps, the chef brought us some steamy, hot, homemade yeast rolls, which by the way were totally delicious. They were sweet, fluffy and warm.
When the lettuce wraps arrived, my mouth began to water. First of all, the dish was beautiful. The lettuce was a deep green and the ginger-​carrot slaw was bright and colorful. The meat was dark and seductive. The glaze coated each part of the beef. Then came the aroma of the sweet and spicy plum sauce mixed with the ginger and vinegar from the slaw. The whole combination just smelled so intoxicating; the sweet notes from the plum and spices from the chilies mixed so well. As for taste, the glaze on the beef was both sweet and heat, and combined well with the bright flavors from the slaw. The textural elements with the crunchy slaw and the crumbled meat had a nice mouth-​feel, and the lettuce was fresh and made for a nice wrapper.
After a few more glasses of the tea and some good conversation, we were presented with our bun-​less burgers. My Thai Salmon Burger looked attractive on the bed of romaine, and the Thai style sauce smelled almost identical to the glaze from the beef lettuce wraps. I don’t mind if it was the same sauce, mostly because I loved it so much on the beef. The lemon-​garlic dressing on salad tasted citrusy-​sour and added a nice contrast to the sweet and smoky salmon burger. I liked the two together.
Anyway, the salmon burger was moist and tangy. I liked the consistency and the bit of crust it had, likely from grilling with the Thai sauce. Something that I missed was the garnish. On the menu, it shows that the Thai Style Salmon Burger comes with lettuce and spring onion. No lettuce and spring onion for me! However, I’m not sure if that’s because I ordered my burger without a bun. Whatever the case may be, I truly wished I had the spring onion to add a bit more flavor. I’m a garnish and condiment gal, what can I say?
My mom’s Lemon-​Brie Chicken smelled good, but I just adore the pungency of melted brie. It is a strong and unique smell, for sure. I was offered a taste, and I must say, it was a tad bland, but with a shake of the salt and pepper, the chicken was quite tasty. The Lemon Aioli that came on the side was packed full of flavor and added a lot to the chicken too.
But the trend continued; where were her garnishes of spinach and red onion? Again, maybe it was because of the lack of bun that they didn’t feel it was necessary to provide the burger-​style elements. We missed them though.
The lack of garnish didn’t stop me from cleaning my plate and enjoying each bite of it.

We had a quick lunch meeting in San Marcos and I based my lunch rec on all these Unilocal recommendations, not knowing the town well myself. We found this cool as a cucumber little spot without much difficulty and settled in to wait on our companions.
The bread they brought out as a meal starter looked homemade and fluffy and fresh and we were served tea and water quickly enough. Our food was brought out at a leisurely pace — certainly not a rushed business lunch — and that was nice as well since we were engaged in conversation. Our server was completely non intrusive and really efficient and I can always appreciate that during a business meet.
Things that I think hold this spot back from being remarkable are the parking (very small) and the food. I appreciate that everything is organic, local and home grown but I felt like my salad was lacking in pizzazz. Just a romaine salad with green oilves in it and a chicken breast. Nothing special. I added salt and pepper to give it some zing but I feel like that could have been done better. It’s like a just-​learning sibling of blue dahlia. The food was all nice — but relatively unforgettable.
These guys have a good thing going but it may be time to take a look at the menu and think about how they can make each dish stand out.

My miscalculation of the year (and yes this was in December): the outlet malls won’t be THAT bad on a Friday between Christmas and New Year’s. The kind of endurance and patience necessary to navigate the shops without smacking a bitch is deserving of a pretty good late lunch. I was hungry, tired, and really not in the mood for Chili’s or Johnny Carino’s (which is all I had naively assumed that San Marcos had to offer)…so my adorable husband did some Unilocaling and found us this little gem.
I haven’t really navigated the streets around Texas State much, so I’m not sure why I was so surprised to find this place in the vicinity. The friendly, humble little house-​turned-​restaurant was just what we needed that day. We were seated quickly among the few other patrons, and ordered our food: smoked curried chicken salad with a cup of tomato-​basil bisque for me, and the Mediterranean plate for my husband. Our food was out within ten minutes, and everything was just amazing. The hot, savory tomato soup with a drizzle of pesto was a perfect comforting start to the meal, and my curried chicken salad was equally great… tasty, wholesome, and healthy. I sampled my husband’s Mediterranean plate, and damn, those were some good hummus. The tabouleh, which I am normally «meh» about, was pretty delicious as well. Everything was fresh and satisfying. And let me tell you, after three days full of Texas vacation food at its finest (i.e. Tex-​Mex, breakfast tacos, and Texas-​style BBQ), it was a cleansing, refreshing treat.
We paid our bill (around $ 30 for the two of us, not bad at all) and continued happily on our drive. I may just have to make Cool Mint Café my go-​to restaurant when I’m in the area, because I’m not sure there’s anything else like it. GREAT spot… check it out!

This is the best restaurant in San Marcos. It has a level of class and simplicity in its food that I never found anywhere else in that town.
The service is wonderful. Even now that my favorite waiter who used to sneak us extra yeast rolls is gone, the remaining staff is highly attentive and polite, ensuring your water glass is always full and your food is always perfect.
They have seasonal menus which is nice, the summer mediterranean platter was delicious (although they also put mint in the tabbouleh like Cedar’s, not so much to my tastes). The star of the menu is the tomato basil bisque, however. They recognize this, thank goodness, and keep it on the menu year round. Its so good it literally almost makes me cry. I dream about the stuff. I found a pasta sauce recently that smelled similar to it and I keep going to my fridge and closing my eyes as I sniff it, imagining the bowl of soup, with the yeast roll grilled cheeses that come with it in front of me. I’m obsessed with it, you have to try it.
Overall this is hands down the nicest and highest quality place in San Marcos. If you need a nice place for a fancy date, parents coming to town, or any other special occasion, this is the place to go.

$ 6 mimosas. What?
$ 12 French toast. What?
Got up and left after waiting for my water for 25 minutes.

Very disappointed… usually great. The last visit was a horrible experience. My wife and I are gluten free due to medical reasons and eat here because they cater to people with gluten allergies.
Not only was our gluten free meal served with non gluten free pita bread but when i brought it to the attention of our server he removed the pita from the plate leaving all the flour remnants from the pita on the plate. We were charged $ 1000.94 for the meal. I caught the discrepency and was then over charged by $ 30.00… Caught that and got out as fast as we could Called twice to speak to the owner and let her know about it. No one ever returned my call. My wife and I will never go back again and we will make sure all our friends know of our experience

I’m a San Marcos local and I love the mission of this café: local and seasonal ingredients and housemade everything. I’m willing to wait for good food. I’m willing to pay a little extra for fine ingredients. I allow for some variation in quality because the menu changes to accomodate the seasonal ingredients. However, I have decided not to go back.
First impressions die hard. My first meal there, two and a half years ago, was fine. The habenero sauce was delicious and the service was great. On a scale of hit or miss, the food since then has been mostly miss. The gnocci was mushy, the quail was all bone, the white beans were bland, the sandwiches were average, and everything was expensive. The friendly attentive service has declined. The menu lacks consistency. I make better dressings at home. For all the hype about quality ingredients, the sum of the dish is average.
Last night was the last straw. I ordered the trout and my husband ordered the chicken cordon bleu. The fish was bland, the chicken was undercooked– pink and raw in the center. We sent the chicken back, but overheard the chef say that there was nothing wrong with it and were charged full price. What happened to customer service?
The chefs at this café seem overly proud of their mission and unwilling to bend to what their customers want or enjoy.

I was pretty disappointed in the offerings of this restaurant; especially for the price ($ 14 for vegetarian enchiladas). Becausee verything is local and it’s chef prepared, I expected the food to blow me away.
But, unfortunately, I would probably not chose this place again. The vegetarian enchiladas were very good but they came with a quinoa pilaf that had absolutely no flavor. The chef salad was what you’d expect but the dressing pretty tasteless. The Chile Relleno was absolutely beautiful but the sauce it came with was so hot, it was almost inedible (not to mention they brought us a pork relleno instead of the vegan one ordered).
The salad with pear and blue cheese was probably my favorite. It was a great combination of flavors and textures.
I am sad that for such a cute and friendly place that I had to give it such a low score. I REALLY wanted it to be my favorite.
A few side notes:
–Parking here is horrific. If you can’t stand driving around from block to block in hopes of finding a spot, I suggest you eat elsewhere.
–The patio is dog friendly so if you still want to give it a try, bring Fido with you.

I know it’s hackneyed, but I really did want to like this place. So did my wife.
From the outside to the inside, this place has a nice feel. So does the menu. And the reviews are great! But the execution was lacking.
Being that it is in San Marcos, I want to give it extra credit. There are not very many places in that town that are unique and good. But we were let down. The main complaint? Bland, bland and more bland.
We went for brunch. I had the Quail and Bruschetta Scramble. The quail, and I stress the singular, was very tasty. Locally farmed from Lockhart, it was also diminutive. Like quail tend to be. It was artfully placed on an amazingly bland pile of scrambled eggs. There was garlic and tomatoes and goat cheese with the eggs, but it was still somehow bland. I asked for Tabasco, which did not really improve it, but gave it a bit of heat.
My wife had the Migas. She was very disappointed. Bland scrambled eggs that were placed on top of some very bland rice and beans. There was a trio of salsas which did not really invigorate her taste buds.
The kids had the grilled cheese mini’s, served with the Tomato Bisque, which was very good. Too bad the kids didn’t like it more. But they did love the homemade dinner rolls served with real butter pats!
The salads were ok. We sampled the Cool Mint salad and the spinach/​pear. Nice, but nothing remarkable. Maybe too reliant on lemon juice…
I hate to be too hard on this place. It is probably the best place to eat in San Marcos, since Palmer’s heyday. But they have a way to go. The locale is good, the menu is solid, but what I want to see is some FLAVOR in the food, not the décor.