J. Alexander’s San Antonio (La Cantera) — Restaurant in San Antonio

Having lived in San Antonio for 16 years and having dined at J. Alexander's in the Quarry too many times to count, we naturally had high expectations. The fact that they now accept reservations is huge to us! Perhaps it took a pandemic for this industry to realize that packing a lobby for an hour plus waiting for a table is probably a bad idea. Anyway, our table (booth) was ready upon arrival. I loved that there were coat hooks available. The atmosphere is very nice with piped in piano music. Having said that, it's not stiff. It's very comfortable. A male server came over quickly after our arrival and didn't introduce himself but tried to take the drink order. We weren't ready yet and he left. A few minutes later, a young lady appeared to follow up on our drink order and she didn't introduce herself either. But I asked. She got us started with a bottle of wine. We were not in a hurry and enjoyed our wine for 20 minutes or so and she came back and took our dinner order. By this time, there were still no utensils on our table. After about 20 minutes, our food all arrived correctly. However, none of the servers (that delivered our food) noticed we had no utensils until I pointed it out. A minute or so later our server reappeared and asked if the food was correct and how it looked. It looked terrific but we needed utensils! She quickly left and reappeared in a minute or so with a fork and steak knife only. No napkins! I pointed that out and she reappeared with a few paper cocktail napkins. That was really unacceptable in a restaurant of this caliber. I kindly said to her that we'd really like cloth napkins. She understood and left. We dug into our food and it was delicious! The prime rib was wonderful but we had to ask for horseradish. That's normally something that comes with prime rib. A few minutes later our server appeared with cloth napkins. I was having the ribs and I appreciated having more than a cocktail napkin to wipe my fingers on. I was brought a bowl for the bones but no handywipe for cleanup. When our wine glasses were empty, we weren't offered more wine. I asked for more and a few minutes later it appeared. Our plates were cleared away and our server asked about desert and I ordered their famous Key-Lime pie. It didn't disappoint!

We will certainly come back. The food was typical J. Alexander's (delicious) and the atmosphere very nice. However, hopefully management will see this review. At no time (in the two plus hours we were there) did I see a front of house manager walking around the dining room. If there had been one, I believe napkins and utensils would have been delivered either before or with the food. And hopefully they would have noticed the empty wine glasses. So, a little fine-tuning might be warranted. Other than that, very nice and we had a lovely...

This was our first visit to J. Alexander's. It is a great looking place with a large bar. we only live about 2 miles from the restaurant so it was something that we wanted to try. We came about 5:00 p.m., not too many people in the restaurant, and had a nice window booth. The young lady at the front had a little difficulty with with the device used to check people in and seat them., lol. Our waitress was a pleasant young lady named Jacqueli. My wife started with wonderful Lemon drop Martini, $17.00. Not on menu. Excellent. I drank Topo Chico, which I enjoy. As our appetizer, we had the Tuna Stack, $18.00, as our appetizer and that was wonderful. It is a round tower layered in ahi tuna, fresh crab salad, cucumbers and comes with warm tortilla crackers. This is an appetizer we will eat again. Excellent. I had the wedge salad, $8.00, which is basically a quarter of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing and bacon bits. Unfortunately, the lettuce was soggy and not crisp. The bleu cheese was a bit overwhelming. I have had better. For entrees, my wife had the 16 oz prime rib, medium, and I had the 14 oz ribeye, medium, $43.00 and $45.00, respectively. My wife had the Mac and Cheese as a side and was hoping for green beans also, but unfortunately they don't have green beans. She was given Tequila Beans, $7.00. Basically, a barbecue beans with a little liquor in it. My side was a loaded baked potato. Starting with her Prime Rib, she had to give it back because it came out at best cool though the au jus was warm. The manager brought it back and it seemed better. My steak was medium rare, not medium. I am uncertain how it was cooked, but the seasoning had a definitive smokiness to it and was tasty, but the steak itself was warm at best, no char, and chewy, even the cap on the ribeye, the tenderest part, was chewy. I did not send it back. As for the loaded baked potato, well, the potato wasn't hot enough to melt the cheese of butter that came with it. Oh, well. As for desserts, there is no dessert menu. They have only three; carrot cake, a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, and a key lime pie. My wife and I took home a rather large piece of carrot cake which my older children enjoyed. Service comments, my wife's water was not topped off at any time, nor did anybody ask me if I would like another Topo Chico. We had to ask for bread. We had to ask for plates to be removed from the table and for forks. Not counting the tip, the total cost for the meal with everything was about a $171.00. By the way we don't skimp on tips for any reason. Since this was our first time here, I think we will be back in the future; however, we will stick with the seafood on the menu. Hopefully, all will be more in line with the cost...

"Post Holiday Shenanigans"

This year my company decided to expand our reach in San Antonio and ventured a little further out for our Post Holiday Meal. After a few other site visits, I decided to request this venue because of the size of the upper area that could house around 60 plus guests. I conducted a site visit of the venue and was greeted by the hostess station and spoke with the manager Archie.

He gave me a walkthrough of the space and after a few phone calls back and forth, and a secured reservation, we arrived on Saturday evening for our event. The cold outside had us huddling around the bar, while more guests arrived, but the bartender had the spirits flowing to get our party started. I highly recommend the strawberry virgin mojito.

When about 15 guests were in the bar area, the hostess led us to our area, where the menus were laid out, candles were lit and the lights were dimmed to set the mood. The Jazz music in the background was lowered just enough for light conversations among friends.

The staff was SPECTACULAR and I'd like to highlight the teamwork and leadership of Marlysa, Alicia, Nya and Christopher. They were ready and willing to assist our larger party and had drinks out within minutes. Because of the interstate construction, many of our party goers were running behind, so we ordered chips for the tables. While I understand inflation, we all agreed that $15 for two handful of chips was a bit much, but enjoyed the fresh tomato salsa and queso.

The guests started arriving and the food orders were received in a quick and orderly fashion. Our wait staff stayed near and ensured all guests were taken care of and the night was running smoothly. My boyfriend and I ordered the New York Steak and Macaroni and Cheese, as well as, the Barbecue Baby Back Ribs with the orzo and wild rice and fries.

While orders came out correctly, my fries were cold, and I did get a few complaints about inaccurate temperatures on the steaks. ( menu stated they would try to cook as close to customer's request) We knew that a larger party would be a bit hard and I applaud the chefs in the kitchen for putting out the orders accurately and quickly.

I had to move the star power down one because of the comments about the food, but all in all, I surveyed laughter, an attentive staff and food disappearing off of plates. My ribs were delicious and I was pleased with my sides and my babe enjoyed his meal.

All in all, we had a terrific event. The restaurant was packed and still pumped out food to new arriving guests. Highly recommended, just know for a group of 40+ it's going to be a pretty penny and Archie your staff were wonderful! The Culture of teamwork was displayed all night :)

Ms....