Alamo Cafe — Restaurant in San Antonio

I recently dined at Alamo Cafe with a large group, hoping for a night of fun and good food. Regrettably, our experience was anything but. We were dismayed to find a conspicuous lack of service, which completely overshadowed any positive aspects of our visit.

The first and most glaring issue was the puzzling decision to assign a single server to our large party. We fully understand that everyone can have an off day, but what we experienced felt more like a disregard for basic restaurant etiquette. In a bustling restaurant scene, ensuring adequate staff coverage is not just an added benefit, it’s a fundamental necessity. It became clear that our server was overwhelmed, and we all paid the price for this mismanagement.

It’s not that the service was just slow - it was practically non-existent. We watched as our lone server rushed around, doing their best but stretched too thin. Drinks went unfilled, orders were mixed up, and we spent most of the night with empty plates in front of us.

We came to Alamo Cafe for a memorable experience, but unfortunately, the only memory we took away was one of frustration and disappointment. I believe in giving credit where it’s due, and I appreciate the effort our server put in under challenging circumstances, but it’s clear that the management at Alamo Cafe needs to step up their game.

Given our regrettable experience, it’s safe to say that we won’t be returning. There are plenty of other dining options where service and customer satisfaction are more than just an afterthought. We hope that Alamo Cafe takes this feedback to heart and considers improving their service for future diners. A large party should never be seen as an inconvenience, but as an opportunity to show your establishment at its best. Unfortunately, this time, Alamo Cafe...

It was Alamo Cafe. Alamo Cafe is its own restaurant in San Antonio. Nothing really like it. It’s has its own taste and it’s own atmosphere. Loved going here growing up in SA over the last 40 and is still officially my favorite restaurant on paper. Don’t visit it as much as I used too. But the tortillas are still on point and as fresh as ever. The beef fajita panchos are still the best nacho/pancho if you will in town and their Dr Pepper is by far the best you will taste no matter where you look, not just in SA. Always busy always loud. Didn’t appreciate the waiting for 30 minutes when we were the only ones waiting. Had to do the hostesses job for her and go find us a table but like I said that’s Alamo Cafe. They don’t have specials for lunch or for dinner. Which is not normal for any restaurant in town especially Tex-Mex. Why you might ask, put simply, they don’t have to. People line the place either to see the cloud ceiling or to watch the tortilla lady make endless tortillas it seems. If your not from here go check it out for sure. It really has nothing to do with the Alamo other than it’s here and it is shaped like the Alamo and the walls around it are like the Alamo’s and wait now that I think about it is actually built after the Alamo. What an idiot I am people. I guess you can still learn something...

TL;DR We were not gone but possibly forgotten. Good food, but we could've experienced better service.

We came here on a Sunday afternoon around 2 p.m. or so to avoid any lunch rush, but to our surprise, the restaurant was still packed. This didn't deter us, however, as it looked like there was ample seating all around. We were seated on the back patio. (Which we didn't mind due to the nice weather.) There didn't seem to be any rush to greet or serve us as we waited about 30 minutes collectively before getting our drinks and placing our order (despite us being ready to do both almost immediately); a young gentleman was waiting on us. It was practically the only time we saw him as our food was brought out and served to us shortly after that, but by that time, we had already drunk the contents of our glasses and were due for a refill. We are also not the ones to cause a fuss, so we didn't hold it against him, but he was all too quick to drop off our check and process our payment. We won't hold it against him as the food was delicious and outperformed any service that we were to be rendered anyway.

Going forward we might look at stopping during a regular lunchtime to see if service improves. Overall we would rate this a 4.5/5 stars, but don't feel it is appropriate as of yet to round up...