El Gallito De Jalisco — Restaurant in San Antonio

From the menu and pictures of plated food to the service with a deference for Spanish, to the Spanish spoken as the dominant language by patrons, this restaurant reminds one of a run to the border (which one does not do anymore without a death wish).

Like a number of Mexican food places in the immediate area, you get the feel of immersion into a bit of a different culture if you are anglo, as soon as you seat yourself here. Handwritten signs touting daily specials of tacos, sopa de camaron, and tacos adorn the walls in a haphazard manner around the cashier area.

You immediately notice the prices posted for food items on the wall and on the menu are very inexpensive. You will also notice those little irritating charges for a plastic take out box and that there is a charge for additional chips after the first basket, a pet peeve of mine. Oh, and there are no refills on sodas as they are served in cans / bottles . . . another pet peeve of mine. For heaven's sake, just bump the price of the entrees a bit and don't bother the customer with these dining irritants! And take a few dollars out of the profits and buy a soda fountain!!!

We placed our order for the enchilada plate with beef tips for $8.95, but wanted to have one beef and one cheese enchilada and to substitute borracho for frijoles refritos. I didn't know I could speak Greek, but my request surely dumbfounded the waitress as if had spoken in that or another equally unrecognizable language. So I tried again in Spanish and achieved the desired head shake and "Bueno" response.

We began with bean and cheese nachos which were served hot but in a pile. Another pet peeve of mine. I would much rather have them prepared individually as there were numerous chips that had nothing on them. . . . not bad though for $4.95.

I was pleased to hear the courteous "Buen Provecho" response from our waitress after she served our entrees. Very polite, very Spanish en cortes. Our entrees came to us as requested except that they had also included frijoles refritos on the plate for which the waitress explained that she knew it was an error and that there would be no charge. The rice had a little unusual flavor, but I have found it to be a more common flavor to the more hispanic oriented restaurants. The guacamole salad was an unusual color of sherbet green - a bit of a "watered down" version. Enchiladas were pretty standard, but the beef tips were super tender in their gravy colorado.

Overall, not bad. But, I think I would like to come back, eschewing the usual enchilada fare, and try the tacos, tortas, and some of the masa based entrees such as the gorditas. These all looked good and were more commonly requested by diners while...

El Gallito de Jalisco — 9226 (San Antonio, TX)

Very disappointed with the service and food here. The waitress had a poor attitude and clearly didn’t care. We ordered three tacos my daughter added beans to her potato and egg, and they literally gave her a tiny smear of beans. When she politely asked for a little more, they charged almost a dollar extra. That’s ridiculous considering there’s already an extra charge just to add beans in the first place.

My other daughter ordered a bacon and egg taco with potatoes the eggs were overcooked and tasted gross. I got a simple potato and egg taco, which was fine at first, but the tortilla was hard and clearly not fresh. When I asked for it to be remade, the waitress just brought me a plain tortilla and told me to switch the filling myself. Totally unacceptable.

To top it off, my water cup was leaking. For nearly $12 for three tacos, the food and service were both awful. This place has is not worth it at all, especially if you’re expecting decent service or quality food. I won’t be coming back. I told the waitress that and she shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t care! I should have taken pictures of the tacos....

It was early in the morning about 7 am. We walked in and it was dead. The decor was really outdated and the chairs were really hard and uncomfortable. We sat down at our table. We waited and waited and no one came out to great us and let us know they would be right with us. Then another gentleman comes in and sits near our table. Right away that came and brought him his coffee. Then they came and asked us what we would like. Finally we get our coffees. We put in our order. Right away after that gentleman's order comes out. And gets a refill. We get our order. We both ordered a potato and egg and a bean and cheese taco. They were ok. Hardly any egg and barely any cheese. Then we needed a refill and waited and waited again. Finally I caught the server before she went to the back and asked her for a refill. Then had to wait for cream. Ugh. They barely had any customers. There were only three other tables and two with only one person. I am a server so I know they should have been able to deliver great customer service. There was three of them out there in the dining room. They have no excuse. Very disappointed and will...