El Ceviche De Waldito — Restaurant in San Antonio

I was looking for a Peruvian restaurant in San Antonio and stumbled across this gem. When you see few average or poor reviews because folks are complaining about wait times, then you know it has to be a mom and pop. My family enjoys supporting mom and pop businesses, so we came here to check it out. I have two young children and came here twice. The first time was with a visiting relative and second time was with my husband.

Our first experience was great! We got there around 1pm on a Friday. They have a lunch special that we couldn't pass up. It's about 6.99 for a lunch buffet; half off for military and officers. It's partially self-serve, which is different from what we were expecting (the full on buffet). The soups, salad, condiments, and desserts are self-serve. The main course is served by Chef Waldo's wife and sometimes the chef himself. The buffet comes with a sweet peach tea, which is addicting. It's not too sweet, just perfect (not as sweet as Chick-fil-A sweet tea). The food has a Caribbean, Cuban, and Peruvian mix. The earlier you get there, the better the options. Once they run out of certain sides or dishes, then you get to choose from what's left (first come, first serve). The chef and his wife are very friendly and do their best to get to know their customers. My relative, kids, and I all enjoyed our first visit.

My second visit was due to the fact that my husband had to check out this awesomely priced lunch buffet. We went around 11:30am on a Friday this time. We were one of the first ones there for lunch rush but the last to leave. The restaurant was fully stocked and clean. The chef and his wife were out serving the buffet and servicing customers. This time they had kitchen help, so they each had more time to spend with customers. They made an effort to talk to everyone that visited. Whenever they serve the kids, they make sure the kids get non-spicy food and the best meats. We recommend getting the soups early on, that way the soup has time to cool down. My husband agrees that we have to return to this restaurant to try out the menu items.

We can't comment on the menu, dinner, or weekend as we have yet to try anything besides the weekday lunch buffet. As far as cleanliness, it reminds us of a restaurant in a village (a very homey feel). They use dishes that appear to be collected over time; most have wear and tear. The condiment bottles may not be as clean as some folks would like. The drinks are provided in clean glasses for adults and styrofoam cups with lids for the kids. It is a kid-friendly place even though a tad cramped; no diaper-changing station though. If you're in a rush to eat, don't come here...give them at least 30 minutes for them to fully service you. We've seen folks come and go in 20 minutes, but they're regulars, they know what they want, and they effectively communicate for their check (e.g. walk up to the register). Our two young kids eat slow at times. So, we observe our surroundings and try to take in the moment whenever they take...

Ok, so this is a tough one to describe! When we first walked in, the first impression wasn’t the greatest. It seemed a little.. dirty maybe? I don’t know if that’s the right word.. like a little worn, table was wobbly, needed a wipe, and other small things. It had the ol’ “hole in the wall” feel to it. The chef and owner seems to run the place, and he is extremely welcoming. He has a pretty strong personality, which is a little too much, but he does grow on you . He talks about his history in Miami and how his buffet reflects Miami food with Peruvian influence. Right after we sat down, he didn’t bring us the menus, he said he knew what to get for our 2 year old, went and got a plate with rice, a chicken drum, and a piece of bread. He did get menus, but kind of pushed for us to experience the buffet with this traditional Miami/Peruvian food.

We decided to give it a whirl. He also talked about this juice that he makes that’s a bunch of fruit mixed, it comes with the buffet and you serve yourself. It was actually delicious. You can serve yourself soup, he had spicy seafood, beef and chicken soup. It didn’t actually have much meat in any of them, it was more the flavorful broth that had rice or veggies in them. I didn’t think I’d like it but it was great.

When you walk up to the “buffet” area, he basically says you can pick what you want but really urges you to get it the Peruvian way, and yeah, why not. He proceeds to throw all the food on top of each other and throws this juice/sauce all over. Rice and super tender chicken. Pork and some root vegetables.. honestly it was so good 🤤

Overall, it’s the kind of feel this place has. The chef is very personal and you go back because you know his food and personality. It’s not a traditional restaurant experience, he does give that Miami culture vibe. If your really worried about COVID or germs, you probably won’t be the most comfortable. You get the ice form a little dish with a scoop everyone grabs. The salsa people use are just in bowls on the counter that he says to take to the table, etc

My biggest issue is that I went to pay after and he said the machine was down and asked if I could go get cash at the convenient store down the street. Looking at some other reviews, it looks like he just wants to take cash. Idk what would have happened if we just had credit cards. He needs to put a sign on the window or something as it really seems kind of deceitful. His bill or receipt was just writing out the costs on a paper.

Besides that, we had a fun experience and will...

I had this place on my list for a while now. The first time we tried to go it was closed for a "special event". I wish I had just left it at that and not gone back. Unfortunately, I returned on a Saturday and they were open. I am a fan of Peruvian food so I ignored the red flags. When we arrived there was only one other table occupied. Salsa music was playing. A lady greeted us and sat us in a table. The place is small and dark. Our presumed waitress returned and told us to go ahead and serve ourselves soup. I was confused since we never received a menu or got asked what drinks we wanted. We tentatively got up to where she pointed. I asked if this was a buffet. She said yes. However the sign outside states: Buffet Mon-Fri. I looked at the limited selection: Pork, Chicken, White rice, Yellow rice, 2 types of beans, and plantains. The waitress informed us that she would serve us from the "buffet", but we needed to get our own soup in a cup. I skipped the soup and returned to the table with a mixture of all the "buffet" had to offer. The food was all at room temperature. The plantains were hard and tasted like they had been cooked days ago. I picked at the chicken and yellow rice. That's when the waitress returned with a plate of Lomo Saltado for the other table. I asked if that was offered in the buffet. She laughed and said she should have given us a menu. A couple of minutes later, still no menu I went ahead and ordered the Lomo Saltado. The chef came out to greet us and strangely make space on our table for our next plate. He hung around looking at my barely touched plate of food from the buffet. The Lomo Saltado I received looked like the leftovers of what the other table got. It barely had any meat and had some cilantro thrown on top. The few pieces of meat I got tasted ok. Half of the tomatoes were uncooked. The waitress and the chef seemed like friendly people, but then they proceeded to lock the front door and pull down the dark curtains. They said they had a special event to prepare for. I felt uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of there. They cleared our table but wouldn't bring us the check. Had to ask 2 times for it. Overall the food was not good. The atmosphere was strange. And the food was overpriced for the quality. ($13.99 for the Lomo and $7 for a 2L...