Carriqui — Restaurant in San Antonio

It’s been a while since I’ve looked forward to a restaurant opening in SA. Not since Mon Chou Chou and perhaps Signature. I’ll get right to it with the service. I give the service 5 stars. This was a surprise to me considering my expectation is always low when new spots open after/during a pandemic. The host, wait staff, and bartenders were attentive and knew their menu. Kudos to them. And now on to the food! I ordered the Cabrito, Nachos, and Pecan pie. I was a little wary with the Cabrito (goat) knowing that it would be shredded but the meat was perfectly smoked on a banana leaf with red onion and drizzled with Mole. Delicious and worth a try. Some spots will mix a ton of veggies with shredded Cabrito but I was glad they didn’t skimp on the meat. Cabrito: 5 stars. The nachos. Ok, so nachos are nachos; nothing to see here. But when you add some shredded Cabrito to your nacho chip, wow! Delicious. You won’t want chicken or beef on your nachos again! The ONLY negative on the nachos is they add pickled jalapeños. Doesn’t quite fit their menu. I recommend ordering a fresh jalapeño (I did), sliced, and add to your nachos. Nachos: 4.5 stars (jalapeño). Dessert: Housemade Pecan Pie with house made ice cream. Hands down one of the best pecan pies I’ve had (besides my own). Growing up in a bakery I tend to scrutinize baked goods. This pie was incredible, savory, and the ice cream was well, the ice cream on top. Pie: 5 stars Drinks: Pomegranate martini and Sage Brush rum drink. So, I’m typically not a fan of pom in my drinks unless I want to “cut” sweetness from it. I don’t know if the Gin and Pom really go together as they almost cancel each other out and not quite the same way olive juice does. The nice part is they stuff their olives with cheese in house so that makes for a tasty olive in your drink. Gin/pom Martini: 3.5 stars. Sage Brush Rum drink: This is not your rum drink from your college spring break days at South Padre. This is a unique cocktail the should be tried. Avocado, Coconut, and Rum don’t necessarily call to me but once the drink touched my lips I was reminded that rum drinks don’t just belong at spring break. Give it a shot, or two! Sage Brush Cocktail: 5 stars.

Update: I’ve visited Carriqui a handful of times since opening and without a doubt, the service and knowledgeable staff add so much value. And I enjoy the fact the chefs will come out and bring the food to your table. The achiote smoked chicken is unique and flavorful. It’s reminiscent of pachamanca style dishes I’ve had over the years. The ceviche was fresh and flavorful and as someone who does not like cilantro, it wasn’t too cilantroey. And simple items as their beans and rice are made with care and...

Disappointing. This new establishment that many have been waiting for is a Mexican/Texas BBQ hybrid restaurant? The menu consisted of Mexican plates and BBQ. Our party of 6 ordered so many appetizers and entries...yet a lot of mixed satisfaction and disappointments.

Fried Avocado was amazing, nachos tasted mediocre and the presentation of the food did not fit the ambiance of the restaurant. We ordered queso (3 friends questioned if it was Velveeta queso), salsas were good, but you have to pay for each salsa. We were even questioning the chips....Other appetizer orders were not brought out by end of meal after reminding the server multiple times. Most of the appetizers were Mexican cuisine....and as our party was guided to order the platters as a sharable food service designed by the chef(s)? 4 of us ordered the BBQ Pit Platter.

Silverware is in a vase as kind of like self setup. Our vases (2) did not have enough silverware for a party of 6 and after the appetizers came out and waitinf a brief period, I had to go ask a server for silverware so my friends could start eating. So the silverware setup is like The Branch or Willie's. At a high end restaurant by downtown?

The BBQ Platter consisted of brisket, smoked chicken, barbacoa quesadillas, peppers, delicious potatos, chips, guacamole and more questionable Queso. The BBQ was cooked well, but sauce on the brisket and guac sauce on smoked chicken was a 1st for our party. We had also ordered cilantro rice and we got regular rice and was told they're out of cilantro rice.

2 of our friends ordered single plates. The fish was fine. The enchilada plate had a mixture ratio of ingredients of 20% chicken, 80% cheese. The enchilada plate was not finished.

I try to dine and leave positive reviews but this was a tough one. I have posted the photos of the foods arriving to what was finished. I won't be returning to this restaurant for a 2nd try. Mexican and BBQ. The build out of the architecture for the presentation and flow of the food just does not make sense to me. If you dine here, order thhe nachos and you will understand what I am talking about. Oh and our party bill was over...

I've been 4 times. 1st time was the best overall. The pit platter originally included beef fajitas which were amazing, but they no longer have them. We loved everything the 1st time.

2nd visit we got the pit platter again, but the potatoes had less flavor, brisket was dry, and the chicken was good, but it's hard to share bone-in chicken as an appetizer. They didn't bring us individual plates to eat from. The service wasn't as good, but everyone was nice. They asked how everything tasted and I shared exactly what I typed here and they said they're trying different things with the menu.

3rd visit, the already expensive pit platter went up in price, so we got nachos, chips, queso, salsa, and barbacoa to share. The menu says the dinner items are shareable, but the portions are way too small to share. The nachos tasted fine, but they are just beans, cheese & jalapeno. The chips weren't as good and the queso didn't have as much flavor as before. Again, they didn't bring out any individual plates to eat from. They didn't check on us very often either.

The ambience is better in the main restaurant, the rock building felt more suitable for an event or large party.

4th visit, we were seated upstairs, but nobody ever came to serve us, so we left and ate across the street.

The barbacoa was the only thing consistently delicious each time. The other items weren't as good compared to our first visit. This is a beautiful restaurant, but for the price, I would like more menu selections, excellent service, and amazing food.

It would be great if the nachos came with chicken, beef, or brisket as an option. It would also be nice if the barbacoa quesadillas could be ordered as an appetizer by itself without having to order the pit platter. Expand the menu a bit and bring back the fajitas please. And bring napkins or coasters for the drinks so the table won't get full of condensation.

It might help if a manager visited each table to see how the "experience" is going. We'll try it again...