Maria's Cafe — Restaurant in San Antonio

The expression, "Mi Casa es Su Casa" is not wasted on the patrons as "guests" at Mama Maria's quaint little one room, old stone exterior cafe. The family treatment starts as soon as you enter this smallest of cafes with a sincere welcome from one or more of the family members. "Sit down!" "We're glad to see ya."

Feeling a little creative about the mexican food you would like to eat? Your imaginative wish is the kitchen' s command. Just take a look around you at some of the wall coverings. No that' s not some sort of art deco twist on hand scribed folklorica. Those are posters with the names and ingredients of notable, and definitely not usual, food combinations and or personages that frequent Maria's. How about a beef enchilada stuffed puffy taco? Maybe migas with chorizo potatoes topped with tender smoked brisket and asadero cheese is more to your liking. Sure they have a basic menu here, but don't let that constrain your culinary whims.

Ths brisket nachos came highly recommended from the shop's patriarch as the pit master himself. Smoking briskets for catering requests or turkeys for Thanksgiving, they gotcha covered here. Just a word of caution, however. Don't get too carried away with your wants and wiles without checking the tariff for your artistry. Too many a-la-carts could give your wallet a mild stomach ache.

One beef and one cheese enchilada raised the nostalgia flag to full mast with thoughts of public school mexican food Wednesday. By the second bite I swore I could hear the cafeteria bell ring signaling lunch and the forthcoming calf scramble of students as they jockeyed for position down the classroom hallway towards the open cafeteria doors and the quickly swelling lunch lines. Oh that beef gravy. I strafed the pooled enchilada sauce with hot corn tortillas until just an errant rivulet was left.

My wife and I were so at ease here that we wish we had come for breakfast and stayed through lunch. Had we had another drink or two of the tequila and fresh orange drink that Pop was insisting we try, they might not have gotten rid...

A coworker has been bringing me tacos from here the past couple of weeks. Those were amazing, so I decided to stop in. It's not far from my pad. First off, parking is small, so know that before you head out. There were about 7 small tables inside. It felt like I was a kid again, and sitting in my grandma's kitchen. Plates, salsa, tortillas and drinks were whizzing by my head, and I had to adjust my chair whenever someone walked by. I was born and raised in and around old downtown San Antonio. I've experienced the tiny, hole in the wall restaurants, so that didn't bother me at all. I ordered a chorizo/egg, bean/cheese and a brisket taco. Tortillas looked like they were actually cooked on a comal, with toast points (not all white), and had a powdery feel to em. Brisket was super juicy, smoky & flavorful. Chorizo & egg was perfect. Bean & cheese was delicious, and they used the good cheese. Their hot sauce was kickin! I already knew that from the tacos my coworker brought me. I overdid the salsa on my chorizo taco and my nose was a little runny from the pica. Just how I like it! The owners and staff were super friendly and it made me a bit nostalgic for the old San Antonio spots. 10/10 would do again! It's now in my rotation of breakfast spots. Pay attention to the "off menu" menu when ordering. UPDATE: Been back several times since my initial visit. I updated with pics of the tacos grande my brother and I...

After seeing this restaurant on elder eats we had really high hopes. The positives was that the brisket had such good flavor. They actually do know how to cook a brisket. The owners are really nice but that does not make up for all the negatives that I found in their food.

The negatives is that for a small taco you are looking at between four and five dollars depending on how many add-ons like guacamole you add on to the taco. The second downside is that the brisket and guisada we're both at room temp and not even warm. The bean and cheese with bacon had bacon that was so crispy it was practical inedible. The tortillas were okay yes they are homemade but they're nothing to ride home about I've had much better. The barbacoa I was told was all meat but I did have a massive piece of fat that was practically half my taco plus it was so greasy that it coated my my lips mouth and throat.

The wait was over an hour for four basic tacos with ingredients that should have already been prepared and could have been served within 10 minutes. I understand that they're very busy but this is not a restaurant to go if you have 30 minutes only because that will be the time it takes you just to even order.

This place has great potential for the food to be really good if it was served hot. If you really had a choice go to Tommy's...