Three San Antonio Mexican restaurants have been recommended to me over and over again – Los Barrios (meh), Paloma Blanca (better), and La Fogata (major eww.) I have other restaurants in my review queue, but I am writing this one first because I feel compelled to let people know, if you are thinking about going, DON’T! My friend was in town and surprisingly, La Fogata had been recommended to her as well by friends in Houston. Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews confirmed that this was a good choice. My question is, are people crazy???
As we parked, we were pleasantly surprised by the lush greenery and the garden feel of the place. We went to the host stand and put out name on the list. After about 20 minutes or so, our name was called with a few others and we were led to a faraway patio that felt like the overflow room as it definitely wasn’t as nice or lively as the other sections we’d passed.
Our waiter seemed nice enough, and someone quickly brought some tortilla chips and salsa. The chips were extremely stale and most definitely came from a jumbo bag from a discount store. The salsa was okay, but not good enough to make up for the staleness of the chips. Extremely disappointing. Usually my friend and I fill up on chips, but we were left hungry and looking forward to ordering entrees. (for an example of good chips… and further, good Mexican food, try Escalante’s in Houston)
chile relleno
My friend ordered the Chile Relleno, one of her favorite dishes, and I ordered the Pechuga Poblano, described as a chicken breast cooked on the grill with the flame of the charcoal, topped with rajas de chile poblano (poblano chile strips). Sounds super yummy right? I knew it wasn’t going to be good when our dishes were delivered approximately 5 minutes later. Apparently, the Chile Relleno was edible, however, the Pechuga Poblano was not. The chicken was buried under a creamy sauce with poblano strips which had definitely been sitting around for a while. The chicken underneath was room temperature and chewy. It had not seen the “flame of the charcoal” or a grill in quite some time, if ever. The rice and refried beans it was served with were also room temperature and pretty tasteless. I took a couple bites of the chicken before I decided that it could give me food poisoning.
pechuga poblano
tres blech-es
Against my better judgment, but because I was super hungry due to the inedible chips and entree, I ordered dessert. I LOVE tres leeches cake and it was on the menu. Before I ordered it, I asked the waiter if the cake was good and he assured me that it was. He was wrong. The cake was absolutely DRENCHED in this overly sweet concoction. Boo hiss, it was terrible.
I felt terrible for taking my friend to this restaurant… what a yucky experience. I won’t be back. And, I am starting to get worried that I will have to go back to Houston for good Mexican food. San Antonio Mex Retaurants, take note: Hugo’s and Escalante’s are examples of yummy Mexican food – perhaps an educational field trip would be of benefit.
Our rating:
| Atmosphere | 6.0 |
| Service | 4.0 |
| Food | 3.0 |
| Total | 4.3 |
La Fogata
2427 Vance Jackson Rd
San Antonio, TX 78213-3924
Phone: (210) 340 – 1337
The San Antonio Palate 
Escalantes is not good Mexican food! 😦 It’s icky! You should have gone down to the Riverwalk to eat at Casa Rio or to the market. But next time I’m in SA I won’t eat at La Fogata.
Escalante’s is icky! 😦 You should have done it simply by going down to The Riverwalk to eat at Casa Rio. I could practically lick my plate with some of their dishes. Seriously…it’s ridiculous.
Okay, maybe it’s because my friend and I have fond memories of splitting lunch there. (And taking a looooong time bc we weren’t ready to go back to the grind 🙂 )
I can understand that. They have a nice patio in a nice location.
Oh, and El Patio is another great one. Not the yuppified one in Midtown, the original on Westheimer.
La fogata use to be the best in town when the first owners opened it. They sold it and it went down hill. I suggest their new places I think its called El luna sol. best mexican in town
Sorry its called El Mirasol not El luna sol.
Thanks for the recommendation! We will definitely try it out. After you posted, I asked a couple of other folks and they agreed El Mirasol is good. Thanks!
My wife and I moved to San Antonio two years ago and our realtor recommended La Fogata. It was horrible! Food was overpriced and barely edible. The service was not much better. We knocked the dust from our shoes (a thing we do meaning we will never return) as we left. We have sense enjoyed many fine eating establishments in this fine city…
Thanks for the comment Victor.. any recommendations on places we should try?
I concur and upset that enchiladas at La Fogata (alias le forget it) were dry, no de verdad, dry. For the price, one would see. The sauce on the corn tortilla, pero no. Le Forget It serves the enchiladas with gravy. Orale! I asked the waitress for two over easy eggs on top, she looked at me like” you’re from Mexico?” She stated, she’ll ask would not promise the universe. Whoa! Too much of a hassle to ask the cook how I want my enchiladas? The arrived with salt on top of my huevos. Bring the cooks to El Paso, they’ll see enchiladas, Rosa’s Cantina, and the Lunch Box.