Ernesto's Mexican Specialties — Restaurant in San Antonio

Before I post this - I read a couple of bad reviews- BS! They are plants by competitors or just TACO BELL Idiots! - Contact me and I will tell you the truth so help me God! This "is" the best Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio!

Funny story on how we found "the Best Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio!

We were in the Medical district and my wife asked Siri on her iPhone "What is the best Mexican restaurant in San Antonio near me"! Siri says - "The Best Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio is only 2.3 miles from you on the left"!

WE laughed and she clicked on the name Ernesto's- Never heard of it but "Let's Go"!

We were greeted at the door by a happy young man and sat down immediately in - all I can say is a dinning room that was actually the coolest RETRO TEA ROOM with linen table cloths and folded cloth napkins already on the porcelain setting/plates.

But wait- Siri's listed it as $$ - So we ordered Water - and 106 degrees that July day!

The most Amazing waiter came with the menus - a porter with series of salsas with silver lids and spoons, Fresh-moments ago fried chips on a porcelain platter(not a basket). By the time we got the Ice Water in glass stemware - we had already seen the prices on the menu...

The most affordable, Whew.... $10, $12, and $14 complete meals - I didn't expect those low prices compared to the ambiance!

Then the Amazing Waiter came - who knew how every single dish was prepared and cooked.

He started by "ASKING" where we were from (Listening and commenting) and if we had eaten here before - No we said- and he started by telling us how a worldly traveled Mexican Chef name Ernesto opened this restaurant 35 years ago as a French/Mexican inspired restaurant - because of their similar approaches to Fresh Seafood and Sauces.

At Ernesto's -The Fusion of the Mexican dishes with techniques of French cuisine was brilliant and so flavorful! I know this because I am a former Restaurant owner and trained cook (in French Cuisine) who designed similar menus in Santa Barbara, CA where Appetizers started at more than Ernesto's Entree's!

Price per dollar spent - This is the best Restaurant in America!

The seafood was FRESH! (nothing frozen) and the Fried Oysters were the best I have ever had! And They received an Award for "Best Fried Oysters in Texas" by Bon Appetite Mag.

Fresh Oysters and clean oil made the seasoned breading crisp with the moist fresh oyster! And the fresh Cod and Large Shrimp were Amazing.

My son had traditional Mexican dishes and it was light fresh and filling - nothing heavy or greasy! We all eagerly tasted each others dishes!

The Chips and Salsa were homemade - And the Salsa had won MANY awards since 1981! We boosted so much - they sent us home with some!

As we were freaking out over the flavor, quality, and low cost of the food, and older gentleman walks up to our table and welcomed us and wanted to know "who" we were and where we were from, etc,

His name was Ernesto - The owner and designer of this French/Mexican cuisine 35 years ago! I also found out it has been a 5 star restaurant everyone of those years!

It was by far the best Mexican food I have ever eaten in my life! (and I live in Texas!) When I want spicy I will go to any TexMex place on every corner (and pay more!)-

When I want FLAVOR and FRESH SEAFOOD I will eat at ERNESTO'S!

There is one thing else - we were so parched when we got there - we needed some ice water- our excellent waiter dropped everything and brought it to us... FILTERED ice water! Crazy even the water was delicious!

An hour later...

When we left we slowly walked though the Tea Room/dining room/cool AC/classical music playing (not Mariachi)

... And just as we were getting into the car "Ernesto" himself walked out of the door and waved goodbye - and thanked us for dinning there... Come on man- when does that happen?!

I think all Restraunts could us this model - High Quality for a low price - With the freshest ingredients...

I'm in my late 40's so i got to experience New York City back in the days when you had Shysters, con-men trying to sell you a gold watch for $10 that would turn green in a week, or a diamond ring for $50, etc. Well to my delight Eduardo's reminded me of those good-old times. Story: We're in San Antonio by the Riverwalk - Where we can WALK to pretty decent Mexican, or TEX-MEX restaurants - like Rosario's, or Mi Tierra, But we were in town for the weekend, and figured we'd go somewhere special…... So, i google ‘Michelin star rated restaurants’ –-- first result, of course is- YELP, HA I should've taken that with a very big grain of salt…….. Raving reviews of Ernesto’s! –-- One review going as far as stating that Ernesto's should be a ‘Michelin rated’ …... It was a bit of a drive for us, but what the heck?, I thought….... I call Ernesto's to make a reservation and get their Voicemail. I leave a message, and quickly get a call-back from Ernesto Himself!, wow, i was impressed! The owner of a really popular restaurant calling me personally back? Pretty nice!. We make reservations for that night, and hire a Lyft ride –---- a 20/30 minute LYFT ride to be more specific- from The Riverwalk…….. When we finally get there –--there was one family eating and that's about it. Ernesto greets us with the smile of a con artist. I should have known something was up!…...Now to the details about the food. Start with salsa- Ernesto’s salsa is terrible, I don’t care how may times he brings up his self-proclaimed ‘award winning salsa’ it is terrible, so Ernesto, if you read this, just stop with the claims as you’re not convincing anyone…… The salsa is devoid of any actual flavor. I asked Ernesto if he had Tomatillo sauce and he got defensive bringing up the ‘fact’ that his salsa won many awards. That’s when I realized I was dealing with not only a con artitst, but a moron as well. Please don’t insult my intelligence, Ernesto…….Another sign he’s a con artist – Off menu items. I don’t care about that, I know, he does it to make you feel special as if he’s doing a menu change just for YOU, wrong, sorry…...When we're ordering Ernesto mentions his 'signature, award winning' butter sauces, so we go ahead and order a steak, and a chicken dish both with different sauces –---- both dishes/sauces were similar, The only thing you can taste in the whole mess is a LOT of butter (hence the French influence)- the food was terrible, The best part of it all (and i’m not even joking) was the tomato on the side of the dish…... I honestly cannot understand how a mexican restaurant with food of this low, low quality can survive. I’m not mexican, but i’ve eaten at taquerias – Heck, Tacos El Gordo in the Vegas strip is leaps and bounds better than this place. Mi Tierra is better, Rosario’s is better. The fact that Ernesto uses ‘French Influence’ mexican to dump really really bad food is testament to my initial statement about con-men. Don’t fall for gimmicks, demand something better. I have the suspicion a lot of people just review positively so as to not accept being conned, It is Ok to accept someone conning you, I was. Hopefully this will be an honest...

READ 1 & 2 STAR REVIEWS ABOUT "OFF MENU" ITEMS & SKIP THE SHRIMP ENCHILADS

We were unfortunate enough to be bamboozled by an overwhelming amount of 5-star reviews for this restaurant and paid the price (literally - a surprising $60+ dollars on top of our bill). Came with a party of 6. The restaurant was mostly empty - there were only about 5 other tables. We were immediately greeted by Ernesto - he comes off as exorbitantly welcoming and kind. He says he is the chef/owner and has this spiel about how he guarantees we will come back again, that they won best shrimp enchiladas in town and best fried oysters according to Bon Appetit magazine. He says he can make any modifications to the menu and wants to make sure we are comfortable. Drinks came out really fast - the alcoholic beverages were pretty weak but we didn't mind BECAUSE ERNESTO WAS SO NICE.

We decide to get the $17 famous fried oysters as an appetizer. When we convey this choice to Ernesto, he claps his hands together and declares, "My friends! If you love seafood, I would love to share something special with you." Again - we accredited this to him being super friendly and said yes. We each were served one fried oyster and an interesting seafood crepe (see photo 1) as an appetizer. I say interesting because he uses vanilla in the sauce so it was kind of sweet but doused in so much cheese you can't quite make out what you are actually eating. It was okay - the fried oyster was not that great but we were still excited about entrees. I'm pretty sure the Bon Appetit accreditation was either from the 90's or they are confusing themselves with another Ernesto's Restaurant.

Photo 2: Steak San Antonio with a shrimp enchilada $26 Photo 3: Crabmeat & Shrimp Veracruz $26 Photo 4: Breast of Chicken $16

Do you see that steak? It's so thin it curls and the texture was mushy. It was weird. The crabmeat dish was okay and I think it's because the capers managed to balance out the overwhelming creaminess. I like creamy - but it was so much that after 5 min of eating, everything was soggy. Chicken was dry but probably the most decent meal. Okay - so 3 people at our table got the shrimp enchiladas. They were DISGUSTING. The shrimp was obviously old. One could really get that old flavor in and out of bites. We were extremely disappointed in the food.

Then we got the check. Very kind Ernesto had turned our $17 oysters into a $75 appetizer! For 6 crepes & oysters! We were stunned! We mistakenly took his kindness as sincerity. It put a bad taste in our mouths (even more so than the food) that this man had the audacity to call my grandpa his "family" but secretly offered us an add on that would have fed another 3 people. Will never come back again and for those of you who experience the same thing only to fall back on 1 & 2 star reviews after the fact, I...