kylejack Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 I'm loving it so far. Regarding price, small queso (which was a decent size for 2) was $5, margaritas were $8, entrees were generally in the $10 neighborhood. Fajitas were $15 for half a pound or $28 (I think...) for a pound. Queso was great, margarita not so much, and entrees I tried were great. They're very much still polishing the edges, though. I've heard stories of some entrees not being right, so you may want to go after the 28th or so (which is when they start opening for lunch as well). They have a limited menu right now while they get up to speed.Try Borundi enchiladas (pork). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 For $8 the margaritas better be excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 My admin went last night and gave me the following report this morning on one of the combo plates: rice: awful and lumpy, refritos good, chile gravy good, tamale filling tasted of allspice (which she really harped on for a place calling itself tex mex) no onions in the cheese enchiladas (I'm with her there- if it's real there should be onions, dangit), and the plate was totally congealed right after it hit her table.Overall, she said it was some of the worst she's had in a while. I'm going to wait a bit, but still definitely go, if for no other reason than the puffy taco. Man, I miss me some real San Antonio puffy tacos. I wonder is they do a old-schooly chile relleno with cheese? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 ^Sounds...interesting. And oooh - puffy tacos! Last I had was at Amazon Grill...not too shabby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
20thStDad Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 For $8 the margaritas better be excellent.Or be quart-sized Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Bad: Margarita, rice, guacamoleGood: Burundi pork enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, quesoStill giving them a chance, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Bad: Margarita, rice, guacamoleGood: Burundi pork enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, quesoStill giving them a chance, though.5 hours and counting till Im there....Im already thirsty though!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrLan34 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Bad: Margarita, rice, guacamoleGood: Burundi pork enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, quesoStill giving them a chance, though.can anyone comment on the ambiance of this place? for me, this is usually as important as the food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidegate Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 I love that they have seating out front - gives a great buzz to the bend in the evening.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 can anyone comment on the ambiance of this place? for me, this is usually as important as the foodThere is one big dining room with very tall ceilings. Above some stairs by the door there is a smaller seating area, and also a Tex Mex museum of sorts with memorabilia from Felix's and other places. Underneath the balcony area is a bar area, but no actual bar you can sit at...at least yet. There are tables around the bar area, and from there it leads out to a patio on Westheimer, the patio facing former Chances that will be Anvil's new beer place Hay Merchant, and Chris Shepherd's Underbelly. Back in the main dining room, there's big historic photo panels on the wall. I'm not sure who the pictures are of. The walls are bright neon colors. On a big projection screen they're playing old Westerns, like High Plains Drifter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrLan34 Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 There is one big dining room with very tall ceilings. Above some stairs by the door there is a smaller seating area, and also a Tex Mex museum of sorts with memorabilia from Felix's and other places. Underneath the balcony area is a bar area, but no actual bar you can sit at...at least yet. There are tables around the bar area, and from there it leads out to a patio on Westheimer, the patio facing former Chances that will be Anvil's new beer place Hay Merchant, and Chris Shepherd's Underbelly. Back in the main dining room, there's big historic photo panels on the wall. I'm not sure who the pictures are of. The walls are bright neon colors. On a big projection screen they're playing old Westerns, like High Plains Drifter.Nice anxious to check out the patio, will add for some more street life with the other bars you mentioned.Hopefully only 10 days more than back to H Town... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidegate Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Great picture!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Back in the main dining room, there's big historic photo panels on the wall. I'm not sure who the pictures are of. From a recent piece in the Chronicle:In the dining room they plan to display totemic oversize photographs of Houston Tex-Mex legends Leo Reynosa Sr. (the founder of the now-closed Leo's Mexican Restaurant, who in his younger years rode with Pancho Villa), Felix Tijerina (a community leader whose restaurants featured a hybrid style of Tex-Mex that became popular with Texas Anglos), and Mama Ninfa Rodriguez Laurenzo (Houston's first lady of Mexican cooking, who is credited with introducing the world to the taco al carbon, or fajita). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 My admin went last night and gave me the following report this morning on one of the combo plates: rice: awful and lumpy, refritos good, chile gravy good, tamale filling tasted of allspice (which she really harped on for a place calling itself tex mex) no onions in the cheese enchiladas (I'm with her there- if it's real there should be onions, dangit), and the plate was totally congealed right after it hit her table.Overall, she said it was some of the worst she's had in a while. I'm going to wait a bit, but still definitely go, if for no other reason than the puffy taco. Man, I miss me some real San Antonio puffy tacos. I wonder is they do a old-schooly chile relleno with cheese?Hola! I will have to steer you away from this place. I also went last week. It was bad. To be honest, there wasn't anything that was good.The rice had no flavor. The salsa had zero kick. I ordered the puffy tacos and the cheese enchiladas. The puffy tacos were not cooked thoroughly. The taco ended up falling apart after a couple of bites. The meat tasted like canned chili, loaded with salt. The cheese enchiladas also contained the chili. I had a flashback to eating a tv dinner cheese enchilada.If anyone is looking for old time Tex Mex go to Larry's Mexican Restaurant in Richmond. Been there for decades. Look for the Felix inspired sign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Back in the main dining room, there's big historic photo panels on the wall. I'm not sure who the pictures are of. You're kidding right? Heard of Ninfa Laurenzo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 You're kidding right? Heard of Ninfa Laurenzo?I didn't see a picture of her, the ones I saw were men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonMidtown Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Went Sat night.....here's our take on stuff....ritas were ok -- not great -- one of the owners actually came out and specifically asked us about them, apparently the buzz is the ritas are bad and they are trying to figure out why -- to us they tasted like a mix, but he said they weren't....he said they will be tweaking them...Tamales were good...enchiladas were very good.....puffy taco, not so good - very greasy -- not lard greasy (that would be good) but greasy from the deep frying....Salsa was warm/hot (from cooking -- not from spices) which isn't my preference, but my friends thought it was good...Our service was great -- they replaced chips, water,etc...before they were empty...our waiter was very attentive and friendly...seems they have improved that from some of the earlier commentsThe place definitely has a buzz going right now, it opened at 5:00 and by 5:30 it was full....they open for lunch starting today..Hopefully they will get the rough edges taken care of as I think they are a great addition to that area...will definitely be going back.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HtownWxBoy Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 At there last evening for the first time... great food and great service. We got to eat outside overlooking Westheimer which was nice ... the weather was great. Only mishap was my friend found a pretty big bone in his chicken ... the owner or manger came right out to see and make sure we weren't upset which we weren't... he said they were still working out the opening kinks and want to know of any problems we had... everything else was great. I'll definitely be going back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 If anyone is looking for old time Tex Mex go to Larry's Mexican Restaurant in Richmond. Been there for decades. Look for the Felix inspired sign.LOL. You sound like one of my best friends that goes to Larry's every week. My wife and I have been there but have never understood the fascination with the place or of the popular Lopez near the Meadows. Neither have bad Tex-mex but nothing to write home about and their margaritas are terrible. Much better places exist but I know everybody's tastes are different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian0123 Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Review with some pictures just posted on InnerLooped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Review with some pictures just posted on InnerLoopedYour enchilada plate was $10, unless they've changed the prices. All but 1 of the enchilada plates are under $10. Nice review, looks similar to my experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 LOL. You sound like one of my best friends that goes to Larry's every week. My wife and I have been there but have never understood the fascination with the place or of the popular Lopez near the Meadows. Neither have bad Tex-mex but nothing to write home about and their margaritas are terrible. Much better places exist but I know everybody's tastes are different.larry's and Lopez's are completely different styles of food not sure of the facination you've mentioned. larry's doesn't put canned chili on their enchiladas. Clearly roasted meat is their norm. please go to El real and report back. You'll discover what bad tex mex is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 larry's and Lopez's are completely different styles of food not sure of the facination you've mentioned. larry's doesn't put canned chili on their enchiladas. Clearly roasted meat is their norm. please go to El real and report back. You'll discover what bad tex mex is.I'm scared to after your review although I guess it's worth a trip just to see the remodel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capnmcbarnacle Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 larry's and Lopez's are completely different styles of food not sure of the facination you've mentioned. larry's doesn't put canned chili on their enchiladas. Clearly roasted meat is their norm. please go to El real and report back. You'll discover what bad tex mex is.I'm not going to pass full judgment until this place gets a full menu up and running and has a chance to hit its stride. But I will give you my thoughts after my first visit. Take it with a grain of salt given that the restaurant is still a work in progress.I ordered cheese enchiladas and they tasted like a TV dinner I used to get, right down to the orange tortillas (I'm with Musicman on this one). And the beans were the same as they were in the TV dinner. I wish I could remeber the brand. El Patio maybe? That being said, I liked the beans. I tried puffy tacos and those things were excellent. The rice was bleh. The salsa was good. The queso was nothing like Felix's queso ( I don't see the much hyped connection), but it was good. The margs were nothing special. Take the mixologist crap out of the equation and just make a goddam margarita.I don't doubt it is authentic Tex-Mex. If Robb Walsh is using recipes from a 1917 cookbook, I believe him. But the funny thing about an authentic holdout like Felix was that it was a throwback to what Tex-Mex used to be and was quaint in that way. I used to say it's what people in the 1920s thought Mexican food should taste like. There is no doubt that the current palate is used to things being more spicy, less lardy, having onions in their cheese enchilada, etc. While these meals are good and interesting in an anthropological way, I wonder if people will think it is really better. Does Tex-Mex taste worse than it did 90 yeasrs ago? I appreciate what the restaruant is about, but suspect a lot of people will be disappointed at how bland some of this stuff is. Again, I don't think it's bland because they don't know what they are doing -- I think they are faithfully reproducing something that faded away for a reason. Felix was authentic as hell -- it was whatever people in 1940 thought Tex-Mex was. But it worked more as a nostalgia trip than a go-to place to eat. From an architectural standpoint, I'm just glad the building is being used and there is life on the sidewalk now. The interior left me uninspired, but I appreciated the nod to the tchochkes and curios for sale that were an old stalwart of classic tex-mex places. I think I got my first marionette and maracas from the curio cabinent in a tex-mex place. All the nitpicking aside, I'm sure I'll be back. I'd be shocked if the don't end up with one or two homeruns on the finished menu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Do they have pralines and chiclets for sale at the register? That would be el real deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Had the beef fajitas last night. Awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway6 Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Had the beef fajitas last night. Awesome.Since they still don't have a full menu online.. quanto costo ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylejack Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 $15 for half pound, and I think $29 for full pound. The half pound was way more than enough for me, and now I'm eating them for lunch leftovers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Great picture. You made me hungry. How do they compare to El Tiempo's? Theirs are about the best in town to me. So are their margaritas, which seem to be El Real's downside which is a big negative in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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