Jacala Mexican Restaurant

Enchiladas were room temp. Cheese inside not melted. «Puffy» taco hadn’t been fried it was just a slightly grilled disc of masa Not puffy, not crispy. Oso margarita was good Flour tortillas tasted house made but by a novice. Dry and tough Chips were stale I think. Hard and heavy not good. Flavors were good on everything Just temp and texture problems. I’m a native San Antonian used to eat at Jacala’s a lot. No more

We have been coming to Jacala for 30+ years from celebrating children’s births, graduations, funerals & just plain olé family get togethers! Never once has this place ever disappointed me or anyone in my family! Food is fabulous ALWAYS! Fantastic prices also! Less expensive than the tourists traps downtown… & better food to boot!!!

I’m very picky when it comes to my enchiladas but these are BEYOND DELICIOUS!!! Even the puffy tacos are! Went on Valentine’s Day and it was crowded but still no wait! Was served great and super fast. Highly recommend this place! :)

Tradition! Love the food! Love the restaurant!

The lady who sat us was neither friendly nor rude. You could tell she did not want to be there. Hey I dont blame her, its Sunday evening.
Our waiter was good. His serving style was a little erratic in my opinion (there were things he could have done to make the job easier for himself) but he did well. They were not very busy but the entire staff seemed as though they were in the weeds. Maybe a shift change? End of the weekend? Who knows.
Food was average at best. I will admit I am not a huge fan of texmex, but this just lacked flavor. I got the #1. Tostada was tasty. Puffy taco was drenched in grease. Enchiladas were uneven. Rice was old. Beans I passed on. Guac was good. I also ordered a beer with dinner and the slice of lime that came with mine was soggy and browning. Definitely not serve worthy. Tortillas were good.
What really got me was the interior cleanliness. If the FOH looks like it did when I walked in, I cannot imagine what BOH looks like (shivers). Seriously though this place needs to be inspected and corrected stat. Crumbs were swept into corners. Floor looked like it was mopped in November. Soda machines looked sticky from a distance and I could visibly see gnats in that area. Overall there was just a grunginess about this place that I could not get past. I remember seeing this place on kitchen cops a while back. Unfortunately it looks like either nothing has changed or they resorted back to old habits.
Price was a bit high for the area and type of food, but an established restaurant usually gets away with this.
I would pass this place to be honest. Maybe I will try again in a year, but the sanitation factor really irked me.

Recognized as one of the top 50 Mexican restaurants in the US by
in February 2016!

We had the enchilada plate. Two cheese enchiladas with rice & beans. Fantastic. Great chips & salsa. Also had margaritas. Also ordered the queso. Highly recommend this authentic Mexican restaurant.

Very tasty and authentic Tex-​Mex fare! What I really love is the consistency of their delicious food and friendly service. Check it out, especially if you love enchiladas.

Chicken puffy taco plate was great. Everything was very tasty and perfectly seasoned. The warm salsa with hot chips filled me up. The homemade tortillas were great, sweet tea was perfect! I will be coming here again soon!

One of my all time favorite Mexican restaurant in San Antonio. The service is stellar.

I’ve lived in San Antonio my whole life & have never had extremely bad Mexican food until I went la jacala. Go anywhere else.
These posting reviews must be the staff writing them.
Seems like they use process cheese, Bulk sauce mixes, & canned meats.
Most food besides borracho beans are totally tasteless.

Jacala is my favorite tex-​mex restaurant ever. My parents have been coming here since the 70s, and I’ve been coming since I was born. The chile con queso is the best; I always start off with a small order of it. As soon as I weaned off the kids menu, I’ve ordered the Ladies Special, which comes with two cheese enchiladas and two puffy tacos. It’s just the right size, with no rice and beans on the side. The flan is a nice finish to your meal on a special occasion (I always remember getting it on my birthday.)

Good authentic food here. This place has been around a very long time. I had the special that was 2 cheese enchiladas and a puffy taco. Comes with rice and beans. They use a chili topping for there enchiladas and everything was very good. Service was better. He was on top of things

I have not been back since my previous review on 7÷14÷14. I still don’t know where the positive reviews are coming from. The only thing I can think of is that I’m just not ordering the right thing.
Today we started with bean and cheese nachos. They were ok, barely warm. The cheese on the nachos was tasty. I ordered the chile relleno. Not good. The batter on the chile was soggy and it had a stale taste to it. The picadillo that the chile was stuffed with tasted ok. The only thing I enjoyed was the salsa. I tasted the spicy chicken mole, and I don’t have anything good to say about it either.
Once again, the wait staff was friendly.

Really great food. Great service. Food came out very fast so did our drinks. I really recommend the strawberry daiquiri, best I’ve had! I also got the flautas. Everything was very good and the employees all had a smile on their faces :) also very reasonably priced as well. Our server was victor N. He was really great.

Delicious food. Great about substitutions. Love going down there.
The enchiladas and tamales are to die for! And the margaritas!

Dining at Jacala Mexican Restaurant is an experience. The atmosphere is a feast for the eyes. I ate lunch here with my older sister. I’d been before and knew she was in for a treat. First let’s get to the service. I don’t think there is another restaurant which could have served me any faster. We both decided on the lunch special (the 2 and 1 for $ 7.99). Inside of five minutes (possible 3 or 4), our plates arrived. I love tea and drink like a sailer in port for the weekend. My tea glass was never empty. That’s how attentive they are. Wonderful service! The 2 and 1 is made up of 2 cheese enchiladas and a beef puffy taco with rice, beans and tortillas. It was tasty. Trying to think of where to go? Jacala is a wonderful option!

I’m not a big fan of their enchiladas but their margaritas, micheladas, flour tortillas and fajita taco salad are what I recommend ordering. You also cannot go wrong with the salsa here at Jacala. There’s something in the salsa that just makes it addictive and I can’t put my finger on it but it’s not too bland nor is it too spicy to where you have to constantly take chugs of water to douse the heat. You can find jars of their trademark salsa at HEB. I do have to try the puffy tacos here one day though. The service has been good also.

This place is what I could consider touristy Tex-​Mex food. It’s substance, but there’s so many better places to go. I’ve gone twice and I wasn’t really super satisfied either time. The staff is great though, I’m talking more about the food and price. This place is pretty far from downtown, but you’ll definitely pay tourists/​downtown prices. The décor and structure of the building is really cool though. You can immediately see why this is a historical spot and has history.
I’ve had the enchiladas and they’re okay. I’ve had near identical enchiladas at Taco Cabana. Rice is pretty good and the chips and salsa are too. The chicken nachos are smothered in beans and not so much chicken. Also the cheese that is drenched on cools pretty quick and becomes hard. Drinks are delicious and I must admit that the micheladas are the best I’ve had in SA. The tortillas are easily the worst I’ve ever had, anywhere. They are very heavy, not fluffy and taste doughy. Plus there harden almost immediately after being taken off the grill.
Unless I’m invited here (like I have been before) I doubt I’ll ever go back. Unless it’s just for micheladas and chips and salsa.

I’ve never had other than a wonderful meal at Jacala. I went on Saturday morning, just after 11:00am. It was a great time to go, with very few other customers, which made me believe they might be closed. The horror! Parked right up front. I’ve been at least 10 times, and usually get a margarita. I get their melt-​down with Cointreau topper. Smooth! They don’t have sweet tea, which is a bit sad.
You’re served chips and salsa to start. They are good, thick restaurant style chips. I prefer the thick over thin. I usually get the cheese enchiladas, and the cheese is American. Very good and creamy. I’ll often get the special with enchiladas, mini puffy taco and a cheesy tostada. This is a chalupa shell covered with Velveeta. You have to remember to ask for guacamole and chopped onion… it’s not consistent.
I always get more tortillas than I can use. The flour are homemade, and I’m not sure about the corn. I got both with today’s lunch, and the corn seem to be vendor bought. Butter is the fake vegetable oil stuff, but I use all the stuff from my plate to make tacos anyway. The order of tamales is also very good, smothered in chili. Their chili is a brown meat gravy.
They have a few faults, such as the margarine and lack of sweet tea, but I still gladly give 5 stars.