Cullum's Attagirl — Restaurant in San Antonio

As a self proclaimed wing fanatic, I was super excited to bookmark Attagirl and give "the best wings in San Antonio", as many reviews rave, a try. Unfortunately, I was left wanting after visiting Attagirl.

Attagirl is a quaint - read: tiny - place off St. Mary's. If you aren't paying attention, you'll miss it as there is only a sign with two neon pink asterisks to identify the restaurant. We arrived around 730pm so we were fortunate to find parking on the street across from the restaurant. Upon entering the restaurant, the two bus boys looked up at us and continued with their task. No greeting, no information about where to order, nothing. Once I realized we'd entered through the back entrance, we made our way up to the front counter to place our order. Like the other two men, the gentleman at the front was in his own world steady completing the task at hand. After a few minutes we got "I'll be right with y'all". "All's well, we'll take our time to decide what we want to order" I thought to myself. After looking around the only thing I saw resembling a menu was a piece of paper with the special written taped to the counter. Finally, I found the menu. It's short and sweet with just a few items which makes life easier on an indecisive person like myself. We settled on wings, "cheese" fries, and the original chicken sandwich.

We made our way outside as the inside is a little to intimate for my liking. Also, the AC only seems to be full blast at the front of the restaurant, not the back where the seating is. I use the term seating loosely. If you're looking for a place with tables and chairs, Attagirl isn't for you. It's a hodgepodge of bar stools and bar tops on both the inside and patio which makes the intimate setting all the more... intimate.

We sat for about 10-15 minutes and then our food arrived. Not sure if the food is always this prompt but I'm a fan of that. Everything looked delicious! I wish I could say that same about the taste. The "cheese" fries contain zero dairy. It's mostly blended veggies (carrots?) and spices that make a cheese consistency. I ordered them on a whim and to "try something new" and I'm probably never going to order them again. The chicken sandwich has a fried egg, a fried chicken thigh, and slaw drizzled with mustard. The chicken was very juicy, the sandwich is just messy to eat. The wings are nothing to write home about. I've had better at so many other places. In my opinion, they lacked flavor and were a little dry. Plus, what good are wings when you can't have ranch. I guess you could have ranch if you want to spend another $5 on the $40 you're already spending.

I wish my first experience at Attagirl was better. Perhaps I ordered the wrong thing. It would have helped if the menu had descriptions of what each item consisted of. If the guy at the front counter took the time to ask us questions ("hey..you look confused, is it your first time...") or had a more friendly demeanor, I'd have felt more open to asking about the menu.

Unfortunately this trip was more of a miss than a hit for me. Maybe next...

Overall it was a decent experience. Not sure if I will come back anytime soon though, unless in passing. Pros: Nashville hot wings were actually flawless save the fact that they were lacking heat. I tasted no heat but the flavors were on point. The waffle was crispy and perfectly cooked The food comes out hot and fresh. The guy that takes your order was pretty chill and friendly. He provided great service.

Cons: Bro, I am not paying 3 dollars for a can of sprite…Sprite!!!. That is some small change over the cost of a whole 6 pack. While I would gladly pay for the wings again, the boneless chicken for my waffles said white meat but was a mixture of thigh meat and white meat. My boneless chicken was also overcooked and not juicy. It happens though. It is an easy mistake to make. If you think you are gonna just order chicken and waffles and be full, think again. It’s like a half a waffle cut and stacked with only a little syrup (though he offered more, thanks!) Smallest side of ranch I have ever seen but I made it work. And who charges for hot sauce? So you mean the 7 dollar 3 piece wings are now 9 dollars because I have to pay for ranch AND hot sauce? Like who…literally WHO and WHERE does that. They usually give you at least one free sauce or something. Or at least free hot sauce. Maybe the fancy ranch… okay. But Hot sauce? Price and portions are just unacceptable. Maybe think of charging a little more but giving bigger portions. People complain about price when they feel underfed. Not if they pay a lot but leave full. The lady at the table next to me said she was still hungry(I eves dropped). Do you think they ordered more? No…they left unsatiated and probably went home and into...

The food is delicious. No contest. But I'm rating 3 stars rather than 5 because they ARE PRICEY, and I'm still not sure if the price is truly reasonable (which is my MO) . We DO crave this food but only go rarely because of the price. Recently the prices went down again - during pandemic prices went up considerably - but then they charged an automatic gratuity. I am a great tipper and usually have no problem leaving a more than healthy tip but I don't appreciate that they didn't have it posted anywhere. Also, this place doesn't actually have waiters... I don't really understand charging a gratuity for a place that doesn't offer table service. In my opinion the owner is asking me to pay for their staff which should come out of their own expenses as a business owner, not us as patrons. UPDATE (2): I've updated my review from 4 stars (originally 3 stars) to 5 stars. We visited for the first time in over 6 months for a lunch date and it was unusually busy. Usually it's just us and maybe a couple of other patrons at the time we go since we usually visit during the week. As I mentioned before, despite the AMAZING food, we rarely visited due to pricing, and later transparency regarding automatic gratuity. This last time we visited we were surprised to see prices went down to a more reasonable rate and gratuity is now optional. We were so ecstatic we added on an extra order of wings. We are so excited about visiting more often now that prices are more affordable for us!! I still tipped my 20%+ gratuity. We can't wait to visit more often as well as happily recommend to our family and friends who enjoy a good food at a...