El Rio Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Boerne

Years ago my mom waitressed here as a second job. We recently were celebrating her life after her passing and chose to eat here with out of state friends. Friday night at 7pm and there were only 2 cars there. This should have flagged something but didn't. We were seated immediately since I had made a reservation, obviously not necessary. The oil used for everything fried was extremely old. The chips, puffy taco and chimichanga came out super dark and tasted almost waxy because of it. The beans appear to be canned beans and taste much like bean dip out of the can. Considering the occasion we just wanted to enjoy our company and leave. We didn't realize the restaurant closed at 9 but was rather apparent when they started turning off the TVs and lights around us to hint to leave. It took them less than 15 minutes to lock up and leave so I'm pretty sure the oil was not changed out that night at end of shift either. The few positive take aways, the enchiladas and salsa were exactly as I remembered and they were good. The one margarita my husband got, he was very happy with. So sad that this place has gone downhill so much. I was born and raised in Boerne and remember what a big deal going to eat here use to be when we were kids. Not a positive experience for my mom's memory that it should have been.

*Since I cannot reply to your comment I'm editing here. When we arrived there for our reservation at 730, there were 2 other tables that left before we got our food. 1 table arrived after us and left before we did. You turned off all of the TVs in the dining area where we were sitting. I was not talking about the other section that was completely empty when we arrived! The beans were awful and if that is fresh then that is shameful. They were cold and the texture says otherwise. It was not a matter of just the chips. The oil was old. Everything fried was a very dark color, the puffy taco was not even edible because of the bad taste. I used my fork to pick out the chicken. Looking at previous reviews below...that is not at all what our food looked like. Your response is in an effort to save face instead of admitting that we did not receive quality food. $95 for food that made us sick! You...

How long has it been since you had a nice, hot, steaming plate of tex-mex? Well . . . that's too long! For us it has been about 4 years since we visited this quaint strip center restaurant with a solid menu of tex-mex favorites as well as some great seafood.

Here you get Pepsi products to drink (which ruffles the feathers of my Coke only wife. They did have bottled though). If you are dying for a cold one, the frosted schooners of beer coming from the kitchen looked mighty appealing.

An overly crispy beef puffy defied a folding grasp, but yielded a Frito level crunch and a snap, crackle, pop of taco good and plenty. Good sides served with the plates of beef / cheese and shrimp enchilada lava tubes. You want to eat these right away, you'd better have an asbestos sheath for your tongue! No wimpy shrimpy here. Popcorn size . . .? P-f-f-h-h! Those shrimp enchiladas were plump with U20 size crustaceans! They did have to swim for their lives though with the encroaching pyroclastic flow of frijoles (see the picture).

Definitely enjoyed rolling on El Rio once again for their consistently well prepared meals and comfortable,...

I'm about to get very real with you Boerne. If you consider this place a good Mexican restaurant you need to stop reviewing food places as you're past your prime or retarded. Let's start with the tables, dirty and in need of replacing. Next the salt on my table had water in it from a leak in the roof. then we get to my food. cheese enchiladas and a beef taco, rice and beans. One thing that brings my piss to a boil is reusing old rice and beans from the past day and then nuking my plate in a microwave trying to pass the hot plate trick off on me. Nah fam your 2 day old rice was crunchy and oily, beans had that old nuked taste. the enchiladas are made with...drum roll here folks...velveeta cheese....like how in the F#%@! Then the taco shell was stale and the beef that obviously stat in a vat of hot water until needed to be slapped in the shell was wet and gross. Seriously if you made it this far go to taco bell, this isn't a troll or a joke I'm going to save you a head ache. Yeah both will give you diarrhea but at least you will leave satisfied...