Ambler Texas Kitchen + Cocktails — Restaurant in San Antonio

The first thing you need to know about this amazing restaurant is that it's inside the Hotel Contessa which, if you're not familiar with this excellent hotel, you need to go look that up separately. But my wife and I were only going to the Ambler for dinner, not to stay the night; we were going out to celebrate our anniversary, and we really had no idea what to expect, apart from the excellent (but pretty vague) write-ups from various online sources. If we'd had any solid expectations, whatsoever, our experience there would have exceeded them. From the time we arrived, and I handed over my car for valet parking to the moment we finally drove off into the sunset after our meal, the staff "took care of us", making everything we did there simple and easy. And delicious. (Bonus note about the valet parking. Obviously, it's great to have no searching around downtown for parking! And your vehicle is parked in a covered location, with the first 2 hours free, if you're dining there!) We arrived a little earlier than planned, due to traffic to downtown being less horrific than usual, so we got there with about an hour to kill before our 5 p.m. dinner reservation, and decided to go stroll down the Riverwalk to nearby La Villita and visit the shops. The head bellhop/concierge saw us headed out the door to the Riverwalk, called out, and--unsolicited--offered to store my bag until we returned from our walk. I informed him we weren't guests there, and he said, no matter, and handed me a ticket for my bag. (Which I later claimed without issue, at the front desk.) When we got back from our stroll, we were still about 15 minutes early for our 5 p.m. dinner reservation, and informed the guy standing out in front of the Ambler entrance we would be waiting at the bar (conveniently placed right next to the entrance) and he said, no problem, come back inside now, in the cool and quiet, and I'll get you whatever you want from the bar. The venue was gorgeous, the house specialty drinks were superb--very tasty!--and our waiter was attentive but not intrusive...the perfect mix. The food is deceptively simple sounding. Standard Texas fare like Chicken Fried Steak, and Bone-in Pork Chops, but when received, were both "upscale" versions of these common items, and prepared to perfection. I've never had either dish cooked, seasoned and served so well anywhere else, and we've eaten at many other venues here in town, and around the world. The complimentary crème brûlée (to help us celebrate our anniversary!) was the equal of any I've had, with assorted, tasty fresh berries decorating the crisp-but-delicate glaze on top. The cap on the evening came when I discovered I'd lost my ticket to pick up my car. Not only did the attendant remember me, he held up the matching ticket so I could take a picture to get comped at the front desk. Followed by the counter person there accepting that photo without question as being valid, and then called back out to the front to confirm my free parking to the attendant...and then handed me my bag. What could have been a minor disaster was turned into a non-issue by the top-notch staff in all locations throughout the Hotel. All in all, my wife and I could not have wished for a more positive, relaxing, magical celebration of our anniversary, from start to finish--with an excellent meal in the middle. All thanks to the amazing folks at Hotel Contessa...

It's been almost 3 weeks since I checked out of the Contessa and I'm STILL trying to get a refund for a fraudulent charge. I never once went to their restaurant but they charged me over $200.

I had to call to figure out what this was. It took several days to get a manager to actually answer their phone. Finally the front desk manager looked into it, told me it was a restaurant charge for lunch on the day I left. Once again, never ate at the restaurant, bar, or even ordered room service. They connected to the restaurant and a manager there took my information and said they'd refund me. That was on Feb 24th. It's now March 7th. I gave them a few days to wait for the refund and nothing.

I called multiple times over the last few days and somehow the restaurant manager is NEVER there. I called billing for the hotel and they took my information and sent them an email since the hotel can't refund me apparently. I left a voicemail for the restaurant manager. No call back. Called again today and spoke to a restaurant shift manager who took my information down. Some notes they had showed that the manager called me and already gave me the refund? Both false. No one has ever reached out to me via call or email despite someone taking down my information every single time I reach out.

I've tried to be polite and resolve this with the hotel and restaurant directly but I'm tired of having to call multiple times a day for a manager to somehow always be out of office or in a meeting. If I don't get resolution soon I'm just going to call my bank and dispute this charge as fraud like I probably should have weeks ago. Never staying at this hotel again and definitely never going to their fraudulent restaurant.

Update 3/10: called again and surprise, still no manager available. Went ahead and reported this as...

This review is for my experience during Culinaria week in January 2023 - the items reviewed may not be on the regular menu.

The service was very good and upscale. The wine selection is very good, but the beer selection is limited to 4 or 5 choices (what do I know?). I will comment that the servers really know their wine, and they can provide excellent pairings.

For starters, we had the roasted butternut squash bisque and the Ambler Caesar salad. If you like the taste of pumpkin pie, you should go for the butternut squash bisque - it was literally the same taste (I like the dessert, but it doesn't belong in a bisque, in my opinion). The Caesar salad was much more refreshing for a starter - the chipotle Caesar dressing, along with the crisp greens were really tasty.

The steak: grilled TX Akashi Flat Iron steak - not the best steak in town for the price - it arrived as ordered (medium rare), but it was still a bit on the chewy side. The smoked cheddar grits - kind of plain tasting. The fried brussels seemed like they were candied, and they were very sweet tasting - too sweet to finish them all.

The blackened salmon - it was cooked very well and had a good seasoning to it, but it didn't taste like the usual blackened seasoning. It was tasty, but nothing to write home about. It came with a saffron citrus risotto that was REALLY good, and also a side of garlic braised broccolini.

The desserts: we had the crème brûlée and the apple crisp with ice cream. The apple crisp was good (anything with ice cream is good!), but the crème brûlée was the best experience in my entire life, LOL!

4 stars for a date night , but you can find 5 stars for date night if you look a...