El Manantial Mexican Restaurant

Accidentally came across this place and I'm so glad I did. Tortillas are homemade, it feels home-y, and tacos were great. I've been to a lot of breakfast taco places in San Antonio and this is up there with the best of them. Good little gem here.

It's my opinion that Mexican restaurants (One of hundreds in neighborhoods, not on the main thorough fare) should all have one thing in common. Affordability.This is the first time I've been in this place. No breakfast specials. Most of the lunch plates as you can see are just under $10. Drink NOT included! We're not on the Riverwalk here! There's my first gripe. Not affordable for every day patronage.The Carne Guisada tasted really good, but that was expected. American cheese, not cheddar. One of my other gripes. Tea was not the freshest. Place was a little cold. Wait staff was friendly enough, but no extra points. If you're looking for the same feel and warmth of one of San Antonio's so many other Mexican dives (I use "dive" in a very loving way), this ain't one of those places. Sorry. Just my opinion. I had higher hopes.

I found this place on West Hildebrand, next to Tabooze, a shady bar. I stopped in for the soft tacos, which was the lunch special. Didn't care for the tacos at all. I had chicken tacos, and the chicken was filled with cartilage, which made it almost inedible. It was like chomping on plastic with every bite of chicken, and I had to spit out most of the chicken. Everything else was alright. The tortillas were homemade, which was delicious. The salsa was average. The place was clean, and well lit. The service was friendly and prompt. It just isn't very good when the main entrée is inedible. I think they have some work to do before they could be considered average. I won't return.

We had a late breakfast with friends and family here. The place was not very busy, so we were able to sit with our party of about 15. After we sat down it look at least 10 minutes to be greeted and put in our drink order. I asked for I sweet tea and sipped an ultra sweet tea, which was not pleasant. Then it took another 15-20 minutes to see the waitress again to put in our food order. The business was not busy enough for his lengthy wait. The food came out in waves and out of the party my husbands and my food order was last to come out. Everyone else was pretty much done with their plate. I had huevos rancheros which was served cold. Potatoes were soggy and eggs were cold with a watery sauce. Beans were bland. My husband had chicken chalupa which looked like just a salad chalupa, little chicken.

What a hoot! We came here because Rolandos #1, a few blocks down, was jammed and people were fighting over parking spaces. El Manantial is absolutely authentic. Nobody's speaking English in there. We had huevos rancheros and migas for breakfast, and both were solid. The huevos rancheros came with barbacoa and bacon. The salsa, served in a squirt bottle, was good.An old guy was setting up equipment for Saturday morning Mexican karaoke. Honest. And people stepped up to the mike to sing. One was a painter, in his white pants and t-shirt. He parked his painter's van, with ladders strapped on top, out front. Another was an old vaquero, with a black hat and bolo tie and silver engraving on his black shirt. Old guys crooning corridos on Saturday morning. Wonderful.Six guys were sitting around a table by the cashier. There was a birthday cake on the table. It was decorated with a gigantic brown penis that was doing what penises do when they're happy.The guys grinned at me, half-embarrassed.Pay at the cashier, who remembers what you had. $15 for two. Good deal.

Come here a few times a week for breakfast. Tortillas are fresh and great! Coffee is good. Servers are friendly. Nothing to fancy about the inside. Waitresses are always friendly. TV's in the morning have Spanish speaking news. Only complaints are sometimes, it can be slow to get your food, and the parking is not great.Great food, great deals! Check this place out.

First time. Good food. The extremely loud morning DJ/Karaoke not so much especially before coffee. Nice background music would have been better at that time of the morning. Hard to hold a conversation.

Pretty delicious mini tacos, chips, and great service!!

The Best Authentic Mexican Restaurant in Town. The enchiladas mexicanas, chilaquiles zacatenos, menudo, pozole, and cafe de olla are all to die for. Saturdays there is karaoke mexicana....love love love the staff. Awesome place to get a real mexican food.