October, 2006

Rating : 5 out of 10

Tariff: Dinner for 2

• 2 entrees
• 2 cocktails
• tip
• $35

Atmosphere

This historic restaurant was established in 1946 and is quite an institution in San Antonio (i.e. people who grew up there remember it!). It is situated along the historic Riverwalk tourist shopping and dining area, accessible by foot or by canal barge. Upstairs you can enter at city street level and downstairs by the Riverwalk level. There are a lot of tables outside along the river's edge, some small and intimate, while others are longer and situated under a large cement bridge. (I thought that particular location was a bit depressing....) Inside, the large first floor dining room where we were seated was simply decorated with brightly painted walls, a few colorful artifacts, and wooden tables and chairs.

Service

This is a very busy restaurant with a huge number of customers and a fairly quick table turnaround. You wait in a big line to get a pager (you have to fork over your id to get one!). Then you wait to get called (long wait) after which you are sent to your table. The service is ok--pleasant and efficient enough, but not very personalized. Our waiter was a friendly young guy, but we barely saw him.

Food

The food is very average. In all fairness we only ordered the "regular" combination plates that are a real bargain as far as price. They had a modest portion including a cheese enchilada, a tamale, chili con carne, Mexican rice, and refried beans. Nothing special at all except for the reasonable price of $5.95. Our margaritas (the larger size were called casaritas) were each more expensive than dinner! I don't know if perhaps some specialties would be more impressive. I noticed that the Botanos platter (assorted appetizers) had a number of tasty looking treats....

Casa Rio
430 E. Commerce
San Antonio, Texas 78205
(210) 225-6718