Los Comales — Restaurant in Rockport

Let me preface this review with a couple facts before I get down to the details. I live in Houston and frequent some of the city’s finest Tex Mex. I have been both a server and bartender as well as managed some of the best Tex Mex spots in Dallas. I ordered take out from this place and when I arrived to pick up the food things weren’t quite ready yet. Or maybe they were. Either way, I indulged in a quick frozen margarita at the bar which tasted as good as any other in Houston and tasted like it was topped with a Grand Marnier melt down. How did they know? Possibly some learned habits in my ordering. When I went to pick up my Togo order, the bill was printed on screen and I noticed some inaccuracies from the prices that were on the menu i ordered from online. Namely, a single order of fajitas was like $18.00 online and on the computer they were $22.95. When I spoke with the manager she was like, yeah, we know that’s out there and we have had a hard time replacing it with a current version. I wasn’t up for an argument and remember thinking, the food better be good or they’re getting a bad review tonight and if the place is not good I have no problem leaving an honest review. So I get the food home, open in up and strangely, everything that was ordered was actually in the bag. A step in the right direction. Then I opened the containers and was taken aback by the beef fajitas which were basically busting out of the Togo container. Probably twice the weight of an order you would get from El Tiempo or Papasitos but that matters little if they aren’t delicious. But when I tired a piece of beef, my smile went broad, from ear to ear. The tortillas were very good. The accompanying side plate of beans, lettuce and pico (no guacamole or cheese) left a little to be desired but the meat made up for it all. Truth be told the fajitas were fat and delicious (see pic). If I was going to have any regrets, it would be the utter lack of regard I had to sample some desserts. At the end of the day, I would go back and eat here again. Breakfast lunch and dessert if they would have me. Enough...

Arrived for dinner on Wednesday evening and the parking lot was full and the place was packed. A good indication! So let’s start with the positive! I ordered the Carne Guisada meal with rice and refried beans. My wife ordered the chicken flauta plate.The Carne Guisada was Top Rate and the best I’ve tasted from restaurants in South Texas. My wife’s flautas were crispy and large and were excellent. The beans were very good as well as the Salsa and chips were very good. The service was excellent and our waitress did a great job and was always smiling and cheerful. Now for the not so good! As soon as we walked in I could smell the cigarette smoke. Apparently the restaurant bar is divided from the rest of the building but there is an open window where drinks from the bar are passed through to the wait staff. This window-like opening allows the cigarette smoke to waft into the Non-Smoking section. So we chose a table far away from the bar window. The cigarette smell was, faintly, still there but not as strong. The rice was the usual taste of no taste but the color was good and the rice was fluffy. The tortillas were just alright and tasted like they were something from a store. After we finished our meal this couple came in and ordered something with Jalapeño on a hot serving plate. If you don’t know what someone feels like when they are sprayed with Pepper Spray, this was it. Every table around them, including us, were coughing and choking from the smell. Everyone covered their nose in order to breathe. We quickly paid our bill departed coughing and choking from the smell. The final word is that We shall return! My qualifications as an Expert and Experienced Food and Service Critic; I have a BS in Management and have been trained in two Culinary Schools, to include on the job training at other venues. I’ve managed full service as well as fast food restaurants and have had my own successful Catering business. As a Trainer, I have trained personnel on how to provide superb cuisine and customer service. At the age of 73, I am now retired and enjoy being on the other side...

I hate to say this but awful just awful. I frequent this place often and decieded to recomend it to my grandparents in laws and my wife. Thier food was just awful. The service was horrible. My wifes enchiladas were covered in a tomato paste sauce with no flavor. She sent that back the the guy replaced it. But only after she flagged down anpther server for our serverbecause after 5 mins he did not come and check back with us. Never brought us extra napkins as requested. He was not even a few feet away serving other tables and never came by to check on us. My granpas food was the soft tacos and the meat on his tacos were flavorless and very greasy. After the plate that was sent back was brought back her chalupa had no meat on it and again we asked for more napkins. Our request went unheard again. The meal over all was sad excuse for mexican food. I can say that my grandmothers food was good but im sorry only an idiot can mess up cheese enchiladas. We will not come back for while if at all again. The most apauling thing tonight was he never once came back to our table to check if everything was ok even after the food was sent back we had to wave him down for togo boxes and the check at separete times because he would walk away to fast before we could say more than 2 words to him and worse off he never once told us his name. So i cant even tell u who it was. I wish oh god i wish we had the old los camales back with wonderous food and great service but oh well....