meh.
Someone please tell me: Is there a good burger in this city? The two burger places that are frequently recommended to us are Longhorn Cafe (previously reviewed) and Chris Madrid’s. I am not the biggest fan of either, but Chris Madrid’s is definitely my less favorite of the two. However, judging by the crowd at this place, I am definitely in the minority. Chris Madrid’s is, I am told, a San Antonio institution. I can’t figure out why. To be fair, J does really like this place, but I have a feeling it’s because it reminds him of his old college days.
We went in on a Saturday afternoon around 3 pm, and it was a zoo with pretty much every table packed with people young to old. I thought this was a good sign.. any place this packed must be good right? We made our way back to the line which had about 10 people in it, plus a cluster of people waiting around to pick up their orders. The menu is pretty short with a few different kinds of burgers, fries, chalupas and nachos. I went with the regular cheeseburger with American cheese and J ordered the Porky’s Delight which had bacon and cheddar cheese. J had a mango margarita as well, but I stuck with lemonade (it’s not homemade, just the Minute Maid stuff from the soda fountain)
We were given a buzzer and we found the one table in the whole establishment that seemed to be open. It only took a few minutes before our buzzer went off and J went to pickup burgers.
looks better than it is.
J ate all of his, but I could only eat about half. It was mostly bread and cheese. The burger patty was so thin I could barely taste it, and like Longhorn, the bun had a greasy sheen to it. As far as burgers go, it was very “meh.” The fries were just okay as well.
J has a fondness for this place because when he was in undergrad here in San Antonio, this was a place that he and his friends frequented, so he is loves this place. I say, these burgers aren’t worth the drive for us (about 15 min). I miss Barnaby’s in Houston… BEST burgers ever. Thick, juicy and all natural, hormone free beef! I’ll keep looking for a good burger here in San Antonio.
Full disclosure, this is my rating because J thinks this place is awesome.
My rating:
| Atmosphere | 4.0 |
| Service | 4.0 |
| Food | 4.0 |
| Total | 4.0 |
Dingy restaurant, so-so burgers, disappointment all around.
Chris Madrid’s
1900 Blanco Road San Antonio, TX 78212-2617
(210) 735-3552
The San Antonio Palate 
Have you tried Gourmet Burger Grill? This is by far my favorite burger place.
You nailed it! I never have understood all the hype about CM but I have members of my own family that swear by it!
Glad you are with me! So what’s your favorite burger place, Wanna-be-Food Critic?
I think there are lots of good burger places in town- Sam’s, Big’z, Momak’s, Fatty’s, Biff Buzby’s, Beefy’s, and Chester’s to name a few. A pretty good list is here: http://www.sanantonioburger.com/2009/09/burger-rankings.html
The only place I’ve been here where I thought the burger was just abysmal was Cheesy Jane’s. That place I just do not get. Otherwise, I’ve enjoyed hamburgers in at least two dozen states and 3 foreign countries and SA’s burgers stack up against the competition just fine.
Sounds like you are a real burger aficionado! Thanks for the suggestions. Of your list, I’ve only tried Chester’s and I did really enjoy it. I’ll add the others to my list of places to try!
Fattys Burger around downtown on E commerce has several fantastic burgers for
Decent prices. I’m a mail carrier down there and it’s one my favorite places to eat!
Thanks Tanya! Another reader, BobBigBoy, suggested Fatty’s as well. We’ll definitely try it!
BobBigBoy’s right, there are lots of good burger places around. There’s one, in fact, just down the street from Chris Madrid’s, about 2 blocks south on the other side of Blanco, called Daddy Macky’s. It doesn’t get much publicity & doesn’t have the social cachet of CM…but it also doesn’t offer grease and grit with cheese. (I suppose if you ask specially, they will throw your meat patty on the floor and stomp on it, before or after cooking it, but I don’t think many people really want that.)
Thanks Curmudgeon! By the way, your recent blog posts have been fabulous (and funny!)
Always glad to hear somebody reads them!