This was excellent…read more
I added this to my list after seeing its outstanding reviews on Google and Yelp in case we had spare time on our business trip, being in San Antonio from Tampa - we had that extra time and ended up here and it's great that we did.
I called ahead of time asking if they had availability for 6 guests at around 6 PM and they said that it shouldn't be a problem, but they can't guarantee that we'd be seated right away... sold!
We arrived and while the set up the table, Charlene welcomed us to hang out at the bar. We were then greeted by Ben, who we came to find out was one of the owners of the restaurant. He spoke with us briefly as our table was being set up, welcoming us in. Within 3 minutes of coming in, they set up a table for us in the corner of the restaurant and had us seated. The place is small (not tiny) and even on a Wednesday at 6 PM, it was clearly a popular spot... we would continue to find out why that was the case.
Forgive me, as I cannot remember our waitresses' name, but she was great. She handed us our menus and let us be as we needed a moment to make our decisions. The front of the menu tells the humble story of how the restaurant came to be - definitely worth a read while you are waiting. Our waitress came back and took our drink and food orders. At the same time, I asked if she could have Ben come over as we wanted to hear more about his story after reading the brief story on the front of the menu. He came over and talked to us for ~5 minutes telling us about how he ended up in the States after leaving his home and how the restaurant came to be - from that alone, my experience had already been elevated and I was even more excited for the remainder of the experience to come.
The drinks arrived, followed by the food, which we ordered (mostly) solely on Ben's recommendations. Everything looked delicious and as we were told by Ben, it was all fresh, purchased that day from the market and cooked to order. We started with the fried mozzarella, which was unique to me, in that it had no marinara but instead, spicy honey and sesame seeds and was fried in beef tallow - it was great. I ordered the Chicken Parm, which had fresh mozzarella poured into it at the table - the mozzarella smelled (and tasted) AMAZING. The dish has select bites throughout it that had some spice to it - I'd say that the spice level was about a 3/10, coming from someone who doesn't have the highest spice tolerance. The flavor/satisfaction level? 10/10.
Typically, I'm not a dessert guy, but because of how good the experience was up to this point, I had to indulge. I ordered the crème brûlée and was not disappointed. Good temperature, good, mild flavor and presentation.
This experience was excellent. From the unsuspecting setting, the greeting, the noise level in the restaurant, the attentiveness of the servers, the presentation and flavor of the food, to the staff asking how everything was and holding the door for us as we left, this is an exemplary example of how hospitality/service should be done. Ben, hopefully you are extremely proud of the team you have put together and the establishment you have made over the past two years. Very well done and thank you for your hospitality.
If we are ever in town again, this will DEFINITELY be a stop that we make. Cheers.