Primero Cantina — Restaurant in San Antonio

Inside touring 'round bends and turns, past foyers, meeting rooms and grand ballrooms, through exterior courtyards and water features, up stairs and down elevators we finally found our poolside destination, the Primero Cantina. We quickly relaxed in the air conditioned indoor bar and were soothed by the sight of the rippling azure water of the beautiful infinity pool just outside. Nothing but a limited menu of Mexican Cantina food to be had here, but we already had our sights on the fried gulf snapper fish tacos from having previewed the small menu online.

What was first not available for some unknown reason and much to our expressed displeasure, suddenly became available from some clandestine downstairs kitchen location and the fish taco order was accepted. We also ordered nachos which were the "piled" kind (versus made individually). Beans, sour cream drizzle, guacamole, a tablespoon of some finely grated cheese. H-m-m-m-m, this was not the level of culinary panache we had been expecting here. Rice and beans came in plastic mortar bowls and the fish tacos unceremoniously wrapped in foil (possibly and mistakenly for poolside consumption) rather than the multiple "w" style taco holders that most upscale bars are using now. Cabbage - fresh, guacamole cream - not bad, small corn tortillas - acceptable, fried fish - cataclysmic! The "fish sticks" appeared to be composed of conjoined pieces held together only by means of the batter into one piece and fried until the snap had long ago vanished from the snapper. What remained were these dessicated, tobacco colored, batter shells with the smallest bit of white meat inside. We were decimated by our imploding expectations and the reality of what had been served to us.

Further, I won't usually comment about a couple of buzzing pests when the environs are casual and some of the glass doors left open to "bring the outdoors in". But what began as two bothersome flies ended up with the feeling that one was dining in a horse stall by the end of the meal. No telling what cryptic semaphore messages I was sending by all the napkin waving and swatting I was doing to drive off the Alfred Hitchcock's adapted movie version of the avian kamikazes as it could be applied here as, "The Flies". The waiter told us rather nonchalantly that the flies had been bad this year so if you go, a fogger can of Off might be apropos for a lunch or dinner here. I was just glad this land of OZ had no flying monkeys.

Discount and entree charge removal notwithstanding for customer satisfaction and appeasement, I think one would be better advised to consider visiting one of the other La Cantera restaurants to ogle the resorts magnificence and engage in more likely casual or formal aristocratic dining experiences that one might...

The wife and I visited Primero Cantina Mexican restaurant for the first time today. First of all let me say that our waitress was excellent in everyway, we would be lucky to have such service at every place we ate at. She was the best part of our experience. Now the not so good. This is a Mexican restaurant correct, so why are the chips an additional $6? We were really hesitant about paying $6 for chips when this practice is definitely not the norm for Mexican restaurants. But, our waitress was kind enough to bring us a sample of chips before we made the purchase. The chips are not anywhere near worth $6 dollars in my humble opinion, they were so greasy and a lot of them were tiny bits of chips. The salsa was just ok. You receive 3 different kinds with the order of chips. Also, if you run out of salsa, you need to pay an additional $6 for more. Now for the main dishes, the wife and I both ordered chicken burritos. At first we thought they were pretty good, but soon realized our burritos were missing something important, the chicken. All we were getting in each bit was refried beans and rice. I decided to open up my burrito and have a look.inside, I found next to nothing when it came to the chicken, my burrito was full of beans and rice. So disappointed in this place, I mean for a $12 burrito. This place can't hold a candle to Chipotle, and that's the honest truth. Our waitress was kind enough to remove my burrito from the bill, but honestly I'm surprised they didn't comp our entire meal. My wife's burrito was the exact same. I didn't want to press the issue because I felt bad. I also wanted to see how they would handle the overall situation, and in my opinion they failed. They didn't even ask how my wife's burrito turned out. In any event we won't be back. I just wanted to share...

I came here with friends on a Thursday night. This was my first time even visiting the resort where this restaurant is located. It has a nice casual atmosphere. It was a little odd to me that there wasn't a hostess at the entrance of the restaurant. We chose a table and a server came to our table very quickly. We ordered an appetizer: guacamole and chips. The guacamole was yummy! (You really can't go wrong with guac!) The chips, however, are a different story. I like they serve thicker chips. Nothing disappoints me more than when you are excitedly dipping your chip in the bowl and it breaks. The chips were extremely greasy though. The chips looked like they went swimming...in grease. An adult drink was much needed so I ordered the Pepinorita. (FYI: Adult drinks average between $12-$14.) This was absolutely delicious! Very refreshing. The flavors were light and blended well together. My favorite finishing touch: a chile powder rim. I had the Grilled Chicken tacos for dinner. The entree consisted of three chicken tacos topped with salsa (not spicy) and guacamole & a side of rice and beans. If you're looking for the rice and beans your Latina grandma used to make, this isn't it. However, it was good. I would eat this again. Our server was very attentive and courteous. Great service! FYI: The outside seating area is very close to one of the pools. If you don't like that type of noise,...