Otto’s Ice House — Restaurant in San Antonio

I think they're worried more about the aesthetic than they care about the food or customer experience...

I was super excited to try this place on my lunch break. Staff was really friendly up front when we walked in. Our waitress was super nice the whole time. Fries were awful...tasted kinda fishy/like dirt even with all the seasoning dumped on top. Something must be off in the prep? The smash burger tasted like straight salt. The meat had no flavor even by itself because the saltiness was so intense. Incredibly unbalanced flavor there. For $12 - $14, that would be fine if the fries were good. But $17 for a subpar burger disappointing fries? Not a chance I'm coming back. Nashville hot chicken sandwich met standards. I almost brought my friends here last weekend, so I'm so glad we opted for a different place at the time considering how disappointing lunch was. When we left, no one said anything even though we walked by 3 - 5 people standing by the door and we were literally the only people there. I think the owner might've been there walking around chatting with his team. It was a weird dining experience since, again, we were the only ones there and our waitress was the only person who came by on occasion. I would've been happy to give some feedback on our particular experience in case we came in on an "off" day, but no one seemed to care whether the food/experience was good or not.

We partially chose Otto's since they had Shiner Rodeo listed on the menu and neither of us are drinking alcohol at the moment. Of course, we were told that's coming off the menu due to issues getting it. This restaurant just opened, so one would think they would've thought that through before they committed to serving such a crowd-pleaser and advertising it on their menu? The only other NA beer was Run Wild, so at least they had something else.

I opted for a virgin G&T after the waitress said it was great. It came in a can, which was not communicated in advance. Both our drinks were brought out in the can and glasses weren't offered until the waitress already started to turn away. I can't believe they're charging $9 for a canned NA cocktail? It's selling at ~$4.75 per can online, so that's almost a 2x mark-up for a can. For $9 I would think it's mixed by the...

We stopped by today (Saturday), and I hate to say it, but we left very disappointed.

When we arrived, we were greeted right away, and the staff seemed friendly. The atmosphere was nice,fans were blowing, and we had a great view of the yard area. It was hot, but we knew what we were getting into.

Unfortunately, things started to go downhill after we were seated. Our server approached us fairly quickly, but from the start, she already seemed annoyed. She took our drink and appetizer orders and gave us time to look over the menu.

Our chips and queso came out fast, brought by a different staff member, before our drinks. When our server brought the micheladas and waters, she didn’t acknowledge me at all, even after I said “thank you.” She walked off immediately without asking if we were ready to order entrees or if we needed anything else, like napkins or silverware.

Right after she walked away, I noticed my drink was served in a chipped and cracked glass. I waited for her to come back so I could say something—but she didn’t return to check on us for almost 10 minutes. When she finally did, I pointed it out and she replaced the drink right away, which I appreciated. Still, it was a long wait just to get her attention.

At that point, we decided we wouldn’t “waste” anymore of her time and decided that was all we were going to order. We finished our drinks and chips and asked for the check, which took another while because she did not come and check on us for another good minute. Now this was our opinion on the food and drinks: Michelada was okay, very peppery, and the chips and queso were decent, though the chips were way too salty.

I really wanted to love this place. Social media makes it look amazing, and I’ve never been disappointed by any spot in or around the Pearl. Sadly, this experience just didn’t live up...

Let's start at the time of closing, in this case this evening at 10:00 p.m. sharp. My experience reminded me of the last time I did business with Mister Car wash on Blanco Road. I arrived at 6:30 p.m. ( their business hours state that they close at 7:00 p.m.) and after washing my car, then in the middle of vacuuming I noticed that the vacuum stopped working. I inquired and was told that they close at 7:00 and that the vacuums are turned off. I asked if they could turn the switch back on until I was finished but was told "no". I asked to speak to a manager, and was told "I am the manager". I asked him to cancel my memberships (for my mom and I) and he, with out apologizing canceled the two subscriptions without any thought of hospitality. Ottos "Icehouse" closes at 10:00 p.m. At 10:01 the song that brought a feeling and memory had abruptly "turned off" because they "close" at 10:00. Never once did I see a manager on duty touch tables. I arrived at 9:00 p.m. At 10:05 the MOD makes an appearance to walk around and turn off the televisions. I had already been given notice of last call and ordered another drink, which was never delivered by the server until 10:05 p.m. only because he noticed it had not been delivered yet. (The drink was ordered at last call). Icehouses historically were places that served neighborhoods with blocked ice, bags of chips, sodas in bottles and whole dill pickles to-go. Nothing at Ottos shares the history or feel of and Ice house. In my opinion, it's the first "chain" restaurant masked as an independent that has been allowed to operate at Pearl. Although this was my first visit, and it was barely more than an equal trade of product and money, the concept needs...