Three Amigos Grocery — Restaurant in San Antonio

This place got some coverage in local news outlets when it reopened after being closed for over a year, and I was really excited to get food from here as a new customer. I even drove here ... and left twice due to the long line. (Their line is almost always out the front door.)

...And then I finally arrived on a day with a shorter line, so I walked inside. I could immediately tell that they use the same fried finger-shaped chicken for all their chicken dishes, which isn't a problem if they are sauces right. But ... the main courses and sides had no flavor. I got the pepper steak, and it tasted like something with no flavor soaked in thick flavorless gravy. The General Tso chicken sauce did not have any flavor, and wasn't even the slightest bit spicy. The fried rice wasn't impressive, and their noodles side was composed of noodles that were too mushy.

However, the appetizers and soups had a decent amount of flavor. We had both the egg drop soup and the hot and sour soup, and both were pretty good. But it was weird that both the egg drop soup and the hot and sour soup included peas and carrots ... never seen that before. (And I've seen unexpected stuff in the soups before, such as a place that puts chicken in their hot and sour soup.) The egg rolls and the rangoons were okay, though the rangoons has almost no filling.

What keeps this from being a really bad review is the service there. The married couple (I'm assuming they're married) are super friendly and cordial. They make sure each of their customers they serve are treated with the utmost kindness and generosity. They make sure they give their customers ample portions of food, and constantly keep refilling their food items on their hot serving area. (At one point while I was in line, I thought they were going to run out of egg rolls before I got to order my food, and I swear the exact moment I had that thought, they brought a whole new tray of cooked egg rolls.) And when they could not give me a full portion of one of my food items, they gave me a discount. I was also really impressed about how they managed to keep the line moving at the pace they did with only the two of them and however many people were in the back cooking in the kitchen. (I assume it was only one person.)

So, the food was a 2-star, but the service there bumped it up to 3. I don't know if I'll ever go out of my way to go here again, but it was a joy to have the quality of service provided by who (I assume) are the owners of...

Back in 2013 A west side store owner was shot twice Monday afternoon by a suspect who was attempting to rob the business.

San Antonio Police Sgt. Javier Salazar said the suspect, who was dressed in a black mask, black jacket and faded jeans, entered the 3 Amigos Chinese Restaurant and Grocery store just before 1 p.m. and began making demands before pulling out a revolver.

"The main clerk -- one of the store owners -- exchanged words with the suspect, at which point he fired several shots and the store owner was struck at least two times in the upper body," Salazar said.

The victim, a man in his 60s, was rushed to University Hospital in unknown condition but Salazar said he was alert and talking to the paramedics in the ambulance.

The other owner of the store, a woman, was also inside the store at the time of the shooting. Salazar said she ran to the back and was able to hide until the suspect took off on foot. It's unknown if he got away with any money.

Residents in the area tell us the store usually opens up between noon and 1 p.m. so it's unlikely any customers would have been inside.

Anna Vasquez said she's known the couple most of her life and became very emotional when she talked about what happened to the owner.

"I can't believe this is happening," Vasquez said. "They know all my family. They know us all and we've been with them a long time. They are like...

This place being a little hole in the wall corner store has the best secret food spot I have ever been to.. despite the more obvious Spanish name it has a Chinese restaurant inside the very plain looking convenient store on the outside with only the picture of a dragon to hint to something oriental .. the food there is phenomenal.. the small couple there are a blessing to the community and have nourished many people for a long time and will always be...