El Canelo #6 Mexican Grill

Short review here as I only hit up the drive thru. Tacos are ridiculously overpriced for what you get. Looks like a different experience on the inside, and they may make up for the let down inside, but if you're on Culebra, you can get a better drive thru taco at a better price for sure.

I stopped at this place because they were open and they had a drive thru. I wanted to get some bean and cheese tacos for some teenagers late night hunger. The parking situation was atrocious! I could barely even get to the drive thru. Once I got to the menu, I was asked to wait a minute - no big deal - obviously they are busy. A couple minutes later I ordered 10 bean and cheese tacos. The menu outside clearly has all breakfast tacos as $2.15 each, including the bean and cheese. I was told to pull forward to complete the order without being told the total. When I got to the window the cashier apologized that she rang up the wrong item but that they were all the same price. She had rang up 10 lengua tacos at $3.50 each. I told her it was not the same price as the sign and she responded that food costs were raised and the sign hasn't been updated. I said that was a big raise for just bean and cheese tacos. She responded rudely "do you want your tacos or not?" I said yes, I want the tacos. Then I sent my son inside to check the price of bean and cheese tacos on the menu inside. They were listed as $2.15. This was the picture he took. The cashier saw my son go inside and take the picture and then came back to the window and said that she had spoken with the manger and they were going to honor the price on the menu. I had paid with a credit card, but she gave me back $15 in cash. The tacos were ok. You get lots of "bonus" items that fall into your taco accidentally- like a piece of lettuce, a chunk of beef, raw onions, etc... Obviously they are not very neat or clean on their food line. This is definitely not an allergy friendly place. I feel like she was intentionally trying to steal from me and when she realized she was caught, then back pedaled and tried to fix it. Tip: Check your bill before they ring it up and don't believe them if they tell you different.Update to add: when they wanted to make it right, she asked my my receipt back (which had it detailed for the beef lengua at $3.50 each). I didn't think quick enough to take a picture of it and when she gave me the new receipt, with the $2.15 charge times 10. I was still upset. Just checked my back account and they charged me $39.40, not the $37.89 she claimed they charged me. So they still stole money from me. I know that prices are unpredictable in our current economy. I don't mind paying more because the bottom line has gone up. I only questioned the price raise from $2.15 to $3.50, and accompanied by an explanation that seemed like she could have fixed it easily by voiding the transaction and making a new one. Their tacos are not large - all 10 fit inside a small brown paper lunch bag with napkins - yes, the kind that fits a sandwich, chips and can of soda - held all ten tacos and the top easily folded over.

Cinnamon! Tacos pronto! This place is fast- need an inexpensive meal on the go? Need a place to knock back cold ones? This is a good place for it. I wasn't too wowed with much other than the speed of the kitchen. The service was surly- they acted snippy with me for getting 'scrambled eggs' wrong in Spanish. Nobody I spoke to in the restaurant spoke any English. The portions were meager. I was supposed to get potatoes with my breakfast- the portion I got looked like a mistake they were so small, like someone spilled one or two potatoes on my dish. I was never offered a coffee refill. I got short changed at the register.My favorite thing about this restaurant are the murals on the walls, showing picturesque scenes of where this Canelo place must be, or perhaps they're paintings of El Canelo #1. There's a bar in the back that seems to serve up some cold ones come quittin' time. I think El Canelo translates to The Cinnamon. They did seem to offer the cinammon-ish sweet rice milk, Horchata. Sorry, El Canelo- I'm not going back.

I read some of the other reviews and one stood out because I had the same experience. My friend suggested this place so, not living here at the time, I was game. The place was packed (in June 2021) and they had live music. I'm pretty sure this was in the middle of the week at lunchtime....idk, it could've been a Saturday. Anyway, I was literally the only female customer for the entire time we were there. But that's totally disregarded because the food and service was amazing. I remember fondly the frijoles, queso, mini tacos, and loaded Michelada. Soooooo good. Second dine in experience was the same. Great flautas and great service. With covid surging again, we opted for the drive thru this last time. The woman in the drive thru was nice and patient and answered all our questions. We got a botana plate, shrimp cocktails, and mangonadas to go. We waited about 15 minutes for our order which is comparable to dining in.When we got home we went into the botana plate and mangonadas. Okay, maybe I started on my mangonada in the car since I wasn't driving! Anyway, it was yummy, sweet, and spicy. I did spike it a little more at home to make it last longer.The botana had quesadillas, nachos, flautas, guacamole, and sour cream. The flautas and nachos seemed a little on the overcooked side, but nothing that can't be solved with guacamole and sour cream and salsa!So after all that, the shrimp cocktail stayed in the fridge. Truth be told, I had it for breakfast in the morning. Yes, I had shrimp for breakfast! And it was fantastic! Really, this was two meals, it was so huge (I not so secretly wished my mangonada was as big). The shrimp were plentiful, I lost track of how many, and they were huge. The cocktail was deliciously flavored and spicy with the help of a little Cholula hot sauce. It was full of large pieces of fresh avocado. Ugh, it was epic. Looking forward to my next one! I wish I had pictures to commemorate these experiences.

Good food with good prices. This place has authentic Mexican food. Instead of chips and salsa, they serve you a chicken flauta and Fideo. I ordered a shrimp plate. I wish I could remember the name because it was good. It was sautéed shrimp with cheese and side of rice and beans. It came with two homemade corn tortillas. The portion was huge. I shared it and still had left overs. The service was excellent. The food came out fast. At the end, you pay at the register.

Really wanted to like this place because it's close to my house. But service was bad. Basically the waitresses attend all the men before asking what I want to drink. Also gave me attitude when asking for a highchair for my son. Then found a hair in my food only to be talked bad about in Spanish like if I didn't understand. Don't recommend rather drive out of my way to be served good food and good service.

Absolutely excellent authentic Mexican cuisine and atmosphere. Top to bottom, this is some of the best food I have had in San Antonio. The service is wonderful, energetic, and bilingual.

I will go out on a limb here and say it is probably the best Mexican food in SA. Great service. Consistently great.

Great beef fajita quesadillas to take for lunch at work! I had the view from inside is great as well!

They need people who speak proper English and understand it .. they also need to be retrained on there food menu.. i literally pay close to 80$ worth of food and they still didn't give me what I ask for .. even tho I said it 5 f** times I ask for the crisp tacos plates and didn't get it I ask for only cheese enchiladas just 2 as a side order and they gave me well idk what that shit was .. I ask for a tea as well and it tastes odd and they still charge it to me even tho I told them it tastes bad like spoiled I ask if we can exchange it for a big red but the charge it to and I also ask for my receipt and they said they would put it in the bag wish it wasn't