Herbert's Taco Hut — Restaurant in San Marcos

Haven't been in San Marcos all that long and was looking for a Mexican restaurant that serves EXCELLENT Menudo. Based on the reviews of this particular place, I thought that I would give it a try. Here's my experience.

Went there today (Sunday) around 11:30 am. It was quite crowded and I was scared that this was going to be a long and arduous wait. I went inside and talked to the guy and he put me on the list and gave us a round disc that goes off when our table became available.

The wait was about 10 minutes.

When we were seated, our waitress was right there (Krys) and she took our drink orders and went over various things on the menu. I ended up ordering a small bowl of Menudo and we had Iced Tea.

The tea was okay, nothing outstanding. A large glass with plenty of ice.

Krys brought the Salsa and chips and the Salsa had some heat, nicely warm and the chips were a little hard.

Then the Menudo arrives.

It was an interesting variation on other Menudo's that I have had in the past. It was well portioned and well porportioned. They had the right amount of properly cooked Hominy and Tripe. It had good spice. The stock was spiced with Cumin as opposed to Guajardo peppers, which causes the color to be more brown than red and changes the flavor somewhat. It was a very interesting variation.

The tortillas arrived about halfway through the Menudo. The Tortillas were Corn and there were 3 of them wrapped in paper.

The restaurant itself is very crowded. The tables are very, very close to each other. A small place with as many tables as they can squeeze in. The noise level was high and between people talking and the music overhead, it was a bit tedious trying to have a conversation.

Because of the time that I arrived, Breakfast stops at 12:00 pm and the computer controls what you can get. I wanted some Carne Guisada Tacos and Krys told me that I had THREE MINUTES to get that order in. I sent her forth to place the order and they were waiting for me at the register when I paid my bill. I tried them after I got home and found that they were as good as I have ever had. The meat was tender, the tortillas were thin and light and appeared to be homemade, they did not have a factory feel or taste to them at all. They came with a small container of the same Salsa that they served with the Tortilla chips. I added some cheese and warmed them through in the Microwave and they were very good.

I would be willing to go there again and to the owners I say, whatever you are...

I walked into Herbert’s taco hut August 14 12:46PM. Carina was my waitress in this experience, she informed me that Herbert’s doesn’t sell beer in a bottle ONLY CANS and they also don’t serve quesadillas at the Tex-Mex restaurant.

At 12:53 I walked into the restrooms and the restrooms were okay for a restroom but their was almost no toilet paper. which is bad since it’s during lunch service and the toilet paper should be stocked up I didn’t need toilet paper cause I urinated.

At 12:49PM I drank sweet tea I like my tea sweet so it was just the right sweetness for me The tea is good

1:04PM I tried the queso the salsa is fresh and just the right amount of heat. The queso wasn’t very good is at tasted like cheap cheese that was melted it is equivalent to velveeta cheese that was melted it doesn’t taste like the cheese was made by hand in other words.

At 1:06PM I got served the food the menudo it was plated messy the taste was “it’s alright” “I tasted better”

At 1:21PM I stated eating cause I was busy typing this experience live The enchiladas were good and the taco is bland the chalupa also had to much beans as I had to use a napkin to wipe off the beans from my hands I would of served the chalupa and taco separate or just the chalupa their is way to much food on one plate.

At 1:48PM I have finally decided to leave tithe establishment.

The music was the best part of the experience as playing old classic rock they were playing music like bee-gees, tears for fears just like the white winged dove etc. DID I MENTION I CAN SHOOT A PARTRIDGE WITH A SINGLE CARTRIDGE.

They said send a real “Bryan” so I wanted to try this restaurant out My name is Hunter Bryan don’t know this family to well but I did go to school with David I was actually in his graduating class and the person with me is Elias Rodriguez no need to thank me and my family Anthony in San Marcos and Bobby in New...

Despite being a very, very excellent Mexican restaurant, there are a lot of minor issues that made me have to remove a star. 1) The first couple of times we visited, we got fresh chips, but in all the subsequent visits, the chips were stale. 2) The last 2-3 times we went, the soda carbonation thing wasn't working, so we were served flat soda. We switched to sweet tea instead, which tasted great. 3) Enchiladas are served with sliced cheddar cheese on it, and they said they don't have any other cheese to substitute it with. I recommend scraping it off or ordering without cheese because it overwhelms the food. 4) The beans and rice on the side aren't anything special, I usually don't eat it because it's so bland. Changed the refried beans to whole beans, and it has the same issue where they cooked it without any spices or extra ingredients to give it flavor. It's just plain cooked pinto beans and nothing more. 5) An older customer used the bathroom, and it stunk up the whole restaurant to high hell. The bathroom fan became the hardest working fan in the whole country for a few minutes. I'm surprised they didn't have us evacuate the restaurant so we wouldn't have to breathe in that toxic nuclear waste. 6) I had a server once who confused my order and gave me ranchero enchiladas instead of enchilada gravy.

Things that are great: atmosphere, salsa, sweet tea, frozen margaritas, chicken enchiladas (minus the cheese), Carne guisada, flour tortillas, friendly servers.

Tips: You can call ahead to reserve a table because it'll most likely be packed. You can order a jar of salsa to take home.

(It's a shame that they skimp out on the sides while the main dish tastes so great. If I owned a restaurant, I would definitely make flavorful charro beans rather than these "basic cooked beans, ingredients: pinto beans, water, nothing more." I would also use real cheese and not sliced cheddar...