Mexican food in the heart of the Art Deco area of San Antonio. Puro San Antonio is an understatement when talking about Rafa's. We are talking enchiladas, puffy tacos, and BEST caldo it town. It would make your Abuela smile. read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

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Food is excellent, service not so much. We encountered a new waitress. I understand English is not her first language, and yes I'm very grateful for a waitresses service, but when i get rolled eyes when i asked her to correct my order, really set me back. I didn't appreciate the face and the rolled eyes because of her small mistake. Leave the attitude at home. Would i recommend this restaurant? Definitely Yes. read more

Pros: The tortillas are so soft like clouds but not doughy. And the tacos are flavorful and plenty filled. The service is excellent and I appreciate that they open early and are able to keep up with the morning rush. Cons: if I had to name anything ...the salsa isn't my personal favorite but it's not bad. Trust me I still ate a ton of it lol read more

We absolutely love this place. Everything is great , really! You got family visiting bring them here for simply great and delicious food. Nothing fancy justba good down home great cooking and awesome service restaurant. This is the one one place you only bring your closet friends and family. When we bought our place in town I had to bring my young hip realtor here. He had no idea lol . read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Bacon and eggs,beans and rice and pancakes. Wife got huevos rancheros - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

When me and my husband first entered it was dirty and no one was helping us get a table, so we settled on one that was partially cleaned. I got the huevos rancheros plate and it was the worst huevos rancheros I have ate. I didn't feel comfortable eating here and service was not great. read more

Love me some rafas! Some of the best carne guisada in town. This place is usually packed & parking is small. I'm always greeted & seated right away. Service is always good fast & friendly. Get some cg! read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Carne guisada, one of the best cg in town! - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

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This is a neighborhood place that's been there forever. Great carne guisada plate! Pairs well with the delicious tortillas.

Most of the food is good. I do not recommend anything with bacon. The bacon they use is generic and rubbery. Other than that order anything else it's probably good. read more

Amazing tasty food Service is great! Ambiance is very authentic! They have the Mexican-American food in town! read more

We ended up at El Rafa's The selection of their menu is good. It's like your mama's kitchen and you are her favorite son... (don't be mad now- I didn't make the rules) But we all know I was there for ONE THING only. Let's start with what it is not- No enchilada sauce sazon or consistency No tomato based nothing Not super salty Not served with cilantro or oregano Is not bright red (which is weird to have menudo bright red... it is not normal color of red chili cooked down ) - overall a win What it is- It is served with lemons, onion, diced jalapeno, and homemade tortillas Off the stove top hot Has a touch of 'the stank' when it arrives to the table (which if you get your beef fresh from a place that doesn't scald the tripe this is normal) The soup sazon is caliente with enough kick to get your sweat going The tripe to hominy ratio is 3:1 Plus it is seasoned well, although I would like a more mas- it's like mom's kitchen and you know it is made with love so... Try El Rafa's in San Antonio Service is great They had 5-6 servers for fast service The cooks are on their A game as well... Honestly, the roof might leak but the food and flavor are real... which keeps the seats packed and will have me returning to them for my fix read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Menudo - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

Comfortable I guess it was slow service because for all the orders to come out at the same time and when I saw the waitress carrying 5 plates at the time you don't see that often read more

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Love this place. One of the best little restaurants in town. Freah flour tortillas are awesome.

I love their food. Their tortillas are so delicious. The service is always quick, the waitresses are usually friendly. Their specials are great too. My favorite is on Thursday : Their Sopa de fideo con carne. Affordable and always comes with a sweet tea! read more

Great food awesome service. Very friendly waitress The food was very delicious . We were served right away. The food was fresh

I love coming here for the chicken Gorditas and the tortillas. Service is okay always pretty full so you do have to wait a few minutes for food and refills. read more

Food was okay, not a fan of the picadillo or the chicken crispy tacos. The carne guisada was good though and a good size taco for $4.39. My kids puffy tacos were like cups with meat and lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. The chalupas also were okay but not our taste. Maybe missing some spices? Very clean restaurant though and our server could have been more attentive. My sisters liked their tacos. read more

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My husband had been given really good reviews about this place so instead of taking a left on Fredericksburg that day, which we would normally do to go to a different restaurant, we took a right and ended up here at Rafa's Cafe. Chips and salsa don't hit the table unless you order them, it's $2.50 for the portion which is decent, but the chips were very bland and they gave us warm ranchero sauce in place of actual salsa. That, for me is a no. I ended up getting the Rafas plate and my husband got 3 tacos which were very average because their tortillas on that particular day weren't very good. I think they make them homemade, but they weren't fluffy at all and actually got hard as we sat there. We had leftover tortillas which I will normally take home from a restaurant if they're homemade, but we left them behind. The Rafas plate was very salty. I couldn't enjoy anything but the tostada including the taco. The restaurant looks clean, but the bathrooms were pretty disgusting. I'm worried about what the back of the house looks like. Service was ok but our drinks were never refilled and that salt almost turned me into a raisin. read more

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Well first things first my food and coffee were cold. I understand it was a rainy day and there are so many people to take care of. That is no excuse however, I almost had to eat with no utensils and no straw for my drinks. If the food wasn't really tasty I would of left a one star review. Come on staff do better, this place used to blow my mind... read more

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This place use to be so good but over the past 6 months they have swapped to using cheap nasty ingredients. The cheese taste like artificial government cheese. The enchilada sauce no longer tastes homemade and instead tastes like it was in a metal can. The tortillas used for the enchiladas are thick and have a weird texture. The cook who once made the rice must have left because it is not the same. Any taco with egg will have eggshells. It's like they don't even care anymore. Service is always great but I can no longer eat here and do not recommend. Time to find a new local spot. read more

Best Gordita's i've had in a long time!! Will return again and try different dishes on the menu Great service and delicious food read more

lemme tell you something- I've lived in San Antonio my whole life, grew up in a Mexican/Puerto Rican household, and love food overall so I know good Mexican when I see it. The first time I went to Rafa's, I almost got emotional because I had just discovered the BEST SPOT FOR MEXICAN IN ALL OF SAN ANTONIO!!! The food here is so authentic. The tortillas are to die for. Literally. I would lay my life down for these tortillas. This food makes me genuinely happy and I wish I could've discovered it sooner but I'm happy it's in my life now. 10/10. ‍ read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Chicken 1 Meat Quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

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The food is always great. I mean I always buy the same thing which is the huevos rancheros plate! The chips and salsa is always perfect as well! The waitress was okay today. We ordered 3 plates the same and came out to $25. The place is usually busy but we went early today and it was perfectly fine.( not noisy) and plenty of space to sit! I would always come back I've been to this place over 10 years now and seen the changes. Overall a great breakfast spot. read more

I give rafas 5 stars for the food. Carne guisada has to be the best in Sa. I give them a 4 star rating on prices. Could be a little better but if you prefer better quality tacos it is worth spending a little bit more on because they never fail to make them delicious. Tacos are also pretty big. I always get bean and cheese and carne guisada and I'm full for hours read more

This is one of my favorites. It's quite, clean, and the service is great. My favorite is the carne guisada but I've never had anything there that I didn't like. If you're in the area and need some really good home style Mexican food I highly recommend this spot. read more

Great service and delicious food, highly recommend breakfast tacos, menudo, and barbacoa. Very spacious area and can seat a large party in a separate room. read more

always awesome food and service doesn't matter if it's breakfast, lunch or dinner they always deliver and consistent quality I always bring my clients and family here and never disappoint expectations read more

Honestly El Rafa's cafe has amazing food, even if it's a hole in the wall restaurant. The food is more Mexican American then just Mexican, but it's real home cooking. The service is great, our waitress was super helpful! We had three lunch plates, Chips & Queso, Drinks, and a Tip was $48.61. The plates and chips are a decent size. Altogether I would definitely recommend this restaurant! If it's busy, it may be hard to find parking. read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

We walked in and there was a lot to f empty tables, if I had to guess I'd say about 4 tables were being used, with that said just about all the empty tables we were going to sit at were dirty, I made a comment and the waitress just laughed. Wow! I chose this place because I wanted a good crispy taco, it was very disappointing, ordered one chicken, one beef, the chicken was cold, the beef didn't look like ground beef and smelled spoiled to me. Rafas used to be good many years ago but they have really let themselves go. The woman's restroom was very dirty and needs a good cleaning. I do not recommend this place, stay away and do yourself a favor. read more

Horrible service!!! The food is ok, nothing special. We had a waitress by the name of Laura who was soo RUDE, and kept forgetting everything. We will never go back, and warn friends and family. read more

I've been going to this restaurant for years. Maybe 10+yrs but not anymore...went today signed in and was told only one person (family) in front of us. There is no waiting area and that's okay we're used to waiting outside. Today was hit by noon it was already 100° and after waiting for 25min we asked for status? We noticed a large family walk-in without waiting for 1min and there was about 8 of them and they were seated ahead of us. Furious we asked why they were seated before my family of 4 and the waitress sarcastically mentioned "well they called in about 30min ago". My point was why were we not informed of this before? Spoke to manager it went no where. They didn't even care. I'll never go back to this place again. read more

Picked up breakfast tacos from El Rafas and my dad found a razor blade inside. If you choose to eat here, please be very careful!! read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

It was awful. I ordered the Gordita plate It arrived cold and greasy. I walked it back to have it warmed in the microwave. The hot sauce was like nothing I have ever tasted. Gross. My husband and I spent almost $40. Never again. No read more

Why were 3 tacos 17$? Geez. Not good enough food to warrant that price. The tacos also came to our table pretty cold.

Called to make a to go order. When I asked for lengua plate or tacos I was told they no longer sell it. Huge disappointment, this place made the best lengua. Now I will have to find somewhere else that sells lengua All the other tacos are amazing but since Lengua was my favorite I'm very sad read more

I like the choices they have on the menu and one other thing they don't list but I love their Tortas. One day I was there and I noticed a couple had ordered them to my surprise they were delicious and very filling. This has been one of my go to places for Mexican food. read more

Service was good, ordered the hue is ranchero plate w/ Barbacoa The plate normally comes with bean and, usually diced potatoes. We were served refried French fries, looked like from the day before. We we're actually surprised because when they're opened,it's pretty busy.Not a problem, never again. read more

This is my favorite spot to get chilaquiles....the sauce on top ....ughhh just go try it ....game changer.... read more

El Rafa's Cafe - Chilaquiles plate - Mexican Near Me - San Antonio, Texas

The service and food here is always excellent. The chalupas were amazing, fresh and filled with flavor. This place has been here for over 20 years for a reason. If your in the area, skip the commercial Mexican Restaurants, and come dine at an authentic Mexican restaurant like Rafa's cafe. You will not regret your experience here. The food is delicious. read more

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We embarked on a taco tour based off some article we read online. El Rafas Café was the first stop. In my mind I was expecting the tacos to be the size of street tacos. When we got there we realized each taco was roughly 9 inches instead of the usual 5 inches. Brian and I ordered four and were able to cut each into two and we were both pretty full by the end of it. We got: carne asada, barbacoa, lengua, and egg&chicarrones. My favorites were the carne Assad and the lengua. When we ordered I said that we wanted the chicarrones to be crispy but they weren't in the taco. It was kinda grossly soggy to be completely honest. Overall, it's a great place to try if you want to be full quickly. I didn't get to try the other dishes so maybe they're more delicious. read more

Best actual "home cooked" food out of a restaurant I ever been to. So many of they're food is food I remember as a child growing up. The food is tasty, affordable, and favorable. My favorite is the "tostadas", I love those tostadas here, the first time eating it. I was transported to my childhood going to my brothers little league baseball game. All the food is better then good, it taste like family cooked it. And not to for get their breakfast tacos too. I sometimes order them for dinner. read more