Noodle Tree — Restaurant in San Antonio

I initially planned on getting ramen from Noodle Tree tonight, but my nephew saw their Birria Bao and wanted to try it. The Buddha Bao and Silken Tofu looked good too so we ordered several small plates instead. Since we weren't getting soup, I decided to order for takeout instead of dining in.

The initial online order time was 30 minutes, but I received a call from the restaurant asking if I wanted my order to be ready earlier, in 10 minutes. I said sure, I'd leave right then. I got to the restaurant in 10 minutes as requested and the food wasn't ready. I waited another 10 minutes. When it came out, one of the servers handed me my bag, I thanked her and turned to leave and she stopped me, saying, "You have to pay for that." Ummm...it was a prepaid online order. Neither were biggies, but a little confusing.

More confusion when I went to my car and opened the bag to check the items. I thought at first they had forgotten the birria broth/consome. I went back to the restaurant and they told me the little soup container in the bag filled with two milimeters of a white broth with onions and cilantro WAS their homemade birria broth... That had absolutely no birria in it nor spices and was not the expected chile red from their menu photo. I love fusion foods, but they have to highlight the main components of the different regional foods they are trying to merge. What makes birria tacos/bao buns stand out is the consume full of warmth and flavor. If we had realized the consume was not actually birria broth, we would have gotten something else. The portion was also ridiclously stingy, enough for one or two birria but not the four ordered. It's like serving ramen with broth that doesn't even cover the noodles. Just as well because my nephew had a little taste and said it was salty and did not taste good with the birria baos.

The rest of the food was okay, but heavily drenched in sweet teriyaki sauce. I've realized that perhaps Noodle Tree's ramen is its stregnth and would go back again to try that and dine in. Tonight's experience was neither good nor bad, just not...

Today was my third visit to Noodle tree, and unfortunately every visit was less enjoyable than its predecessor.

During my first visit, i was infatuated. The food was delicious. The service was attentive and friendly, but not overzealous. The owner was the only sour note as he was berrating the chef in the open concept kitchen. Regardless, the rest of the experience made me have to come back ASAP! The second visit lost the customer service that really impressed me the first time. Although i ordered take-out, the few minutes i spent there interacting with my attendant left much to be desired. Plus, the udon i so desired was apparently only sold on Tuesday. However, my food reheated perfectly fine after my almost 30 minute drive home ( a challenge in itself). Today(a Tuesday) is the third time i visit. The server seemed frazzled and unfriendly. I was only allowed to sit in a certain area of the nearly empty restaurant. They were out of my favorite dish(the udon being the only reason i went), as well as edamame and the lower portion of the menu. As i attempted to order an appetizer. I was told i had to order all my food at once. I then tried to order karaage and kid's ramen for my toddlers and was told neither were available. At this point, i had enough. How could an establishment only open for 4 hours on a Tuesday be out of most of their menu? I decided to leave instead.

The food at this place is really good. However, the service and options are inconsistent. I dont mind paying and traveling for good food. But to go out of my way for a gamble isnt my idea of a great culinary experience.

P.S.This isn't the most kid-friendly restaurant. There are 4 high chairs, but they have to be double-stacked to reach the bar height tables. In other words, no more than two small children can eat at once, which is the exact...

My husband had heard about the Noodle Tree and have wanted to try it. We saw it featured on Texas Eats and was curious.

This past Friday, the weather was decent to still sit outside so we called to check for outdoor dining, making a reservation. We got seated quickly and it was genius how the tables and seats were set up outside. We ordered the Aloha Passion Orange and Lime Topo Chico to drink. Started off with edamame with no salt (generous portion), pork dumplings (5-star presentation and very fresh), karaage (5-star presentation and moist chicken), and birria bun. I had never had birria before so I didn't know what the sauce was supposed to taste like. I'm not really sure that it added flavor to the bun.

My husband got the menudo ramen in mild spice/taste and I got the Hakata ramen in mild spice/taste. We both enjoyed the flavor of our ramens. I had to ask the server after eating what the names of the spice levels. She had said it too quickly both times that I didn't get it. So taste is their mild, kickback is mid-level, and sweat is spicy. There is another level of spice that seems to include some foul word. I'm kind of wimpy anyway and would never get the atomic level spice.

We ended the meal by trying the Hello Kitty cookies with milk. One vanilla and one chocolate. The vanilla was ok, not anything out of the ordinary. The chocolate was more brownie-like. I would order 2 chocolate cookies next time if that's possible.

Glad to see that they had a vegetarian ramen option so I definitely told my friend about that.

I took off a star for a few reasons - the street is busy so sitting outside was noisy, they were out of the Aloha Strawberry Guava and pork belly, and on Texas Eats, I'm pretty sure they showed an ice cream sandwich with the Hello Kitty cookies but it's not...