Restaurant Review-Casa Rio San Antonio Texas

Originally Reviewed February 2006

Casa Rio-San Antonio, Texas On the Riverwalk I had read quit a bit about Casa Rio in my Tex-Mex cookbook. It was one of the first restaurants to be on the river and also one of the pioneers of the riverboat business on the river. They used to guide gondolas along the river back in the old days. Casa Rio has plenty of seating indoors as well as right next to the river where all the ducks and people pass by. We arrived early and the restaurant had not opened yet. We waited at their outside tables and then when it opened we were ushered inside. The building is old obviously. A lot of the inside was built from stone and was painted white with other festive colors here and there in the room. There were paintings on the walls of "Mexican" heritage scenes. When we were seated we were greeted promptly by a waiter who must have been at least in his late 40s or early 50s. He was very attentive but spoke very little english. Not a problem for us though. We're Hispanic! WOO HOO! He was dressed in a white Guayabera with black pants. The ladies here dress in festive Mexian dresses. A nice touch if you ask me. He took our drink order and brought out some very good homemade tortilla chips and salsa. From what I had read about Casa Rio I knew I was in for an experience that I wouldn't forget. I wasn't disappointed. For $7.95 I ordered the Deluxe meal. Taco, beans, rice, chile corn carne, enchilada, queso, guacamole and a tamal. It was a lot of food! The taco was thick and meaty in a homemade shell. Chile con Carne was made from pork and was very tender and tasty. Rice was moist and was very delicately flavored. Nothing overbearing here. Beans were great. Chile con Queso was perfect. Guacamole was very very good. Tamal had great flavor but fell apart. The Enchilda was also very tasty. Our server was very very good. Kept my tea filled and was very good with the kids as well. My son was having a cow because there was no yellow cheese on his taco. The server calmly walked into the kitchen and came back with a small bowl of it. He smiled at the children as he served them and made us all feel very comfortable. They do have an odd setup however that I have never seen before. A kitchen worker brings the food out and sets it on the fold away service tray then the waiter removes the stainless steel covers and serves your meal. It seems very classy. If I had to give this restaurant a grade I would have to say 99 out of a possible 100. The only downside was that the Tamal fell apart. Otherwise this meal was perfect! If you are in downtown San Antonio be sure to stop by. You won't be sorry.