El Botero Tapas + Wine Bar — Restaurant in Boerne

My wife was here the day before the 2022 Super Bowl with our son and daughter in-law, and they really enjoyed it. So much so that my wife wanted to bring me here when we were in Boerne in early December 2022. We regret coming.

The first omen that it wasn't going to go well was when we arrived. We got there right at 12 noon, their opening time, and the employee who greeted us at the door said they were having a staff meeting and asked us to come back in five minutes. Not a great way to be greeted.

We came back in about ten minutes and followed a group of four into the restaurant. They were the only other customers, so the restaurant was not busy. We did not want alcoholic beverages for lunch, which limits one's choices for beverages to tap water, sparkling water, Coke or Diet Coke. No tea, lemonade or other choices.

We ordered four tapas, only to find out they were out of the beef used in the Medalliones. So we ordered the meatballs, only to be told later they were out of that, too. So we got the Cordero Sliders, the empanadas, the chorizo tostadas, and the Chistorra. The Chistorra sausage was very tasty, but it was served with only one very small slice of bread, baguette sized. The photo on their online menu shows two slices of bread, and with the item ordered by a couple, one would think it would be served with two slices. It felt very much like they were cutting corners.

Of the three empanadas, only the mushroom and cheese one was any good. The chicken one was way too dry, and the beef in the third empanada was overcooked. I thought the pastry itself was pretty good, though.

The Cordero Sliders were the tastiest of the four items we ordered, from an ingredients and seasoning perspective. But the beef was way overdone. Way overdone.

The fourth item, the chorizo tostadas, weren't bad, but way too greasy. We know chorizo can be greasy, but the tostadas were served on a small, flat piece of stone, and the grease ran down the sides and left a pool of grease in the middle of the table. Which the server left sitting there when he took the stone away.

The final comments are related to the service. We were given a carafe of water to drink, but we emptied it and the server didn't ask if we wanted more. We waited a very long time for our food, especially given there were only two tables in use. Overall the server wasn't at all attentive, as exhibited by the chorizo grease left on the table. Then we attempted to pay in cash, and he couldn't make change for a $50 bill to leave a tip. After just opening.

This restaurant is rather pretentious, to the point of offering a bottle of wine at $1,600. However, you'd likely get better service almost anywhere else in town, and the food would likely be better too.

Save your money and...

Decided to make the short drive out to Boerne for a Friday evening dinner with some music. Made reservations a day in advance as the seating seemed limited. There were about 10 tables on the inside and 10 tables on the outside. Showed up right on time and was promptly seated after verifying my reservation. Most tables stayed full throughout the evening, so reservations were a good idea. The musician (Noelle Goforth) was outside, but with the open doors, could hear the music on the inside, but easily have a conversation over the music. Noelle had a nice voice and played many good songs.

Waiter promptly came over to take the drink orders and explain the menu. I always enjoy Tapas restaurants as it's always nice to share small dishes, but also gives you the opportunity to try several things on the menu. Started off with some Scallop Ceviche, Crab Risotto, and Crema Poblana soup. For drinks, tried all their different Sangrias. Food and drinks all came out within 10 minutes. Serving sizes were just right for Tapas.

Made some lucky guesses on the food as these were my favorites dishes. Ultimate favorite was the Crema Poblana soup as the taste was amazing, very rich taste and smooth texture. The Scallop Ceviche was my second favorite dish of the night. The Risotto and sangrias were also good. Of all the sangrias, I enjoyed the white sangria the most, but they were good and not overly sweet.

For the next round, ordered the Roasted Eggplant, Octopus in its ink, Beef Ribs, and Wagyu meatball. These came out as they were ready, but all came out within 15 minutes. These were all good as well. The Beef Ribs fell right off the bone, Eggplant was a nice vegetarian dish, Octopus had a nice consistency, and the beef meatball had a nice mix of different flavors. To close out, wanted to try the cheesecake and the churros, but they were out of the cheesecake. The churros were decent, but I'll try another dessert next time.

Overall, was a nice Tapas dinner with nice jazz music in the background. Service was good and prompt. It was a nice find of a restaurant without driving too far from San Antonio. Pics won't do the food justice as it was dark inside, so are overexposed to make them at...

Place was nice. Waiter was initially very attentive and reaponsive to us. We ordered one red and one lavender sangria. The red was delicious, but the lavender not as much. It seemed watered down and lacking any flavor. We ordered three tapas, morcillas, buñuelos de bacalao and el duo empanadas. The morcilla (blood sausage) was very good, but they padded the plate with what seemed like half an sauted onion. The buñuelos (cod fritters) were equally delicious and the sauce had just the right amount of spice. The empanadas were on the small side, one was mushrooms and the other aas chicken. They were both good and the sauce (seemed like chimichurri) did enhanced the flavor. We also decided to order the paella botero. When they say it will take 45 minutes, they really mean it. If you are even considering ordering any of the paellas, make sure you order it early. The paella was good (have had much better elsewhere), but the rice was shallow and burnt on the bottom (the whole rice dish tasted smoked) the meats and seafood were adecuate but it seemed like they were counted. We got 2 mussels, 4 pieces of chicken, 4 pieces of pork/meat (it was very tough, but tasty) 8 shrimps (not the listed head-on prawns) and no clams to be seen. I usually dont pay attention to the number of items in my food, but this was way too obvious. I personally do not think it was worth the price they charged for the paella. The tapas were reasonable and we probably should have stuck with just tapas. I would definitely go back for the tapas, but will not order the paella again. In general it was a nice dinner. The atmosphere was very nice, dimmly lit with nice music. At the end we wanted to leave, but our waiter was nowhere to be seen. After what seemed like an eternity, he came over to check on another table and I caught his attention to...