Two Tacos from Garcia's

Garcia's is a tiny place on the corner of Fredericksburg and W Craig. The orange exterior and cock fighting velvet paintings (see below) hanging on the interior make this a lively place to grab a bite. This place is also very close to my house, so it's another spot that my family frequents.

Garcia's Mexican Food To Go
842 Fredericksburg Rd - (210) 735-4525

My husband went to pick up the food this morning. As he arrived the food it was being put in the paper bag. In my experience it takes a little longer at Garcia's than other restaurants, but the wait is so worth it.

I selected a Bean and Rice and Potato, Egg, and Cheese this morning. They included a few little cups of their green salsa. I sat down , unwrapped the foil, uncapped the salsa, dipped the taco and took the first bite.

I chose to start with the Bean and Rice. The tortillas at Garcia's are hand made and perfect. Chewy, soft, stretchy, pliable. They are very very tasty tortillas indeed. I'm not sure if the corn are hand made, but the flour are heavenly. The beans had a wonderful flavor and texture. I could actually tell that the beans were refried by hand, as they had a slightly lumpy consistency and the skins were discernible. The rice was fluffy and firm, yet yielding. An absolutley perfect accompaniment to the beans.

The salsa was a bright green with wonderful fresh flavor. It was pretty spicy. Two dips into the salsa cup had my mouth pretty warm throughout the entire meal.

The Potato with Egg and Cheese was delightful. There was not a terrible amount of flavor in the eggs, but the potatoes were cut very small and cooked until they were soft. They were mixed well together. Garcia's uses Cheddar cheese, though, which makes up for the lack of seasoning.

Neither of the tacos was greasy. They were fresh and tasty. Garcia's does not offer sweet tea, however, and the parking leaves something to be desired. There is a lot of variety offered at this local favorite and they have won their fair share of awards for their cooking. Vegetarians beware, some of the offerings are made with meat seasonings, and I believe the enchilada sauce is meat gravy.

My husband's favorite taco from Garcia's is the fresh Brisket with Guacamole. The house behind the restaurant has a BBQ pit in the back yard. They cook the brisket daily. If you're a meat eater, this is a highly recommended taco to try.

Overall, the tacos were excellent. The only improvements that I could think of would be free chips with lunch and dinner and the availability of sweet iced tea. Other than that, this is taco bliss.


I give them 3 1/2 out of 5 tacos.

Migas with Cheese at The Blanco Cafe

I'll start my first review off with the closest restaurant to my house. I eat there more than is probably healthy, but with tacos a mere block and a half away, it's too tempting to pass up. The restaurant was started over 30 years ago and is a San Antonio favorite. Now with multiple locations around the city and a reputation of greatness, it is a Tacoland staple.

The Blanco Cafe #1
1720 Blanco Rd, San Antonio, TX - (210) 732-6480

My husband called in the order for our food and in the time it took me to get on some shorts and shoes and drive down the block they were on the counter waiting for me. It never takes more than a few minutes to get our order when we eat here, and it's always pretty busy. This morning there were only two tables that were not occupied.

It should be noted that parking is a bit of a pain. Parking in front is of the parallel variety. Out back there is a gravel lot to fit one row of cars into. There are always cars parked up and down Elsmere. As my son and I made our way up the sidewalk he was chanting "Tacos! Tacos! Tacos!" It's his new favorite word lately.

My favorite waitress got me a huge cup of sweet tea to go with the foil wrapped deliciousness and we went back home. Truth be told, I downed half of it before I got to the car. Two old window unit air conditioners just isn't enough to keep the bustling Blanco cool. Luckily, their sweet tea is so delicious that you don't care that sweat is dripping from your body.

The corn tortilla strips were less crispy than I like. The saltiness of the egg was a perfect match for the subtle spice of the salsa. Their salsa is unique in that it's made with what seems like green chilis and tomato both. It's not too spicy, either. Your mouth simply has a nice warm tingle after you're finished eating. Good flavor, but not the end all be all in the neighborhood. The taco wasn't too greasy, either, which is a bonus for me. As much as I love tacos, I don't like the indigestion that can follow. The Blanco serves reasonably sized tacos for the price. One is enough for me, unless I'm really starving, in which case two leaves me stuffed.

The tortillas are handmade. They were more floury and less soft and chewy than they should be. Unfortunately, their corn tortillas are not made by hand. My main complaint is that they use American cheese on their tacos. American cheese is blasphemous, especially on a taco, so major points are deducted for that. Another great blasphemy in my opinion, no free chips. I have noticed that there are a lot of restaurants now charging for chips. This is an outrage to me, lover of Mexican food. Charge me an extra quarter for my meal and bring on the crisp tasty salty goodness!

Their vegetarian options aren't terrible and there are lots and lots of meat-eating options. They have been voted to have the best enchiladas in the city more than once, but be aware that there is meat in the sauce, even on the cheese variety. You can ask for the cheese sauce (my favorite) or the ranchero sauce instead. The bean and rice taco is also delicious, and I wanted one this morning, but the rice wasn't ready yet at 9:30am.

At under $2 for my taco and almost $2 for my tea, the price was right. The overall flavor and texture of the taco was pleasing. Don't expect wonderful service, though

I give them 2 1/2 out of 5 tacos.