La Fiesta Patio Cafe
| Address: | 1421 Pat Booker Rd, Universal City, TX 78148, USA |
| Phone: | +1 210-658-5110 |
| Rating: | 4.4 |
| Working: | 11AM–8:30PM 11AM–8:30PM 11AM–8:30PM 11AM–8:30PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 6
BR
Brad Seehawer
Mexican food is not inherently unhealthy, but it does contain an outstanding amount of carbohydrates in the tortillas. Between the pre-meal salsa, the taco/burrito/enchilada of the main course, and sometimes even extra tortillas just for the hell of it, there is a lot of energy in Mexican meals. It makes sense when considering the Mexican people of the old world who had to go out and perform manual labor all day. For the contemporary office dweller, however, that extra energy is just converted into the fat that has made San Antonio one of the fattest cities in the nation. If there was ever a cuisine that had the potential for making excellent food without sacrificing flavor, its Mexican. Aside from the aforementioned tortillas and abundance of cheese, Mexican cooking uses a lot of fruits and vegetables, especially through the chile, which can provide an abundance of flavor. It is with these hopes that I visited La Fiesta in hopes of finding a restaurant that had managed to find that seemingly unobtainable medium of flavor without fat. The meal was a lunch special consisting of a puffy taco ("We are famous for our puffy tacos!" says the menu) and an enchilada verde, which was denoted a house specialty. The meal came with rice and beans, and was of a very moderate price. I was underwhelmed by what I received. The chicken enchilada was enjoyable but a fairly standard-tasting verde sauce, and it was drowning my enchilada. It was thin, too, leading me to believe that the toamatillos from which it was made could have benefited from some roasting beforehand. Aside from the standard beef and chicken options, I could have also had the enchilada filled with bean, tofu, or guacamole. I find the guacamole to be an odd option, given the high fat content inherent in avocados. They asked if I wanted sour cream on the side, to which I agreed, and while it tasted like a lower-fat version, sour cream is not something thats usually presented in dishes like this. Sure, I saved some calories by using a lower-fat option, but I would have saved even more by not having the option presented to me by default. I do realize that it was entirely my decision, though. The puffy taco is an extremely fickle dish - even if the masa is fried perfectly, the timer is ticking as soon as the meat is placed into the shell. Before long the juice from the meat makes the bottom of the taco soggy and prone to falling apart the moment you look at it funnily. Unfortunately, this taco was not above the fray, making it difficult to eat from the moment I picked it up. The meat was not very flavorful, either, which is the more egregious error. The rice was a brown rice and prepared "in the Spanish style," and was a new and tasty experience for me. It was one of the more obvious substitutions when I think of a healthy Tex-Mex restaurant, and Im glad La Fiesta was able to live up to it. The beans, however, were disappointing. Yes, the restaurant uses corn oil instead of the traditional lard, but then they cover them with a staggering amount of mozzarella cheese. It was probably a low-fat version of the cheese, but why not omit the cheese altogether? Many restaurants dont offer cheese on the beans at all. Its another instance of offering lower fat options to ingredients that didnt need to be there in the first place. The restaurant was very generous with the chips and salsa for a takeout order, and while the salsa looked to be freshly-roasted, there was an overwhelming bitterness to it that made it almost inedible. The restaurant also offers healthy sides like fruit, salads, vegetables, and sprouts, theyre not very well incorporated into the standard Tex-Mex fare. I still maintain that healthy cooking and Tex-Mex are able to live in harmony, but it takes a significant amount of culinary effort to integrate it into the food. La Fiesta provides some healthier options to standard Tex-Mex fare, but the restaurant could be so much more.
LA
Lainey Stylen
This has to be in our Top 5 best Mexican restaurants. This is a healthier choice of Mexican food, so you cant go wrong. We both had the lunch specials. I had 2 beef enchiladas and 2 puffy tacos with a side of Mexican brown rice and refried beans. The red sauce was delicious! This is the flavor Im trying to achieve as a homemade enchilada sauce. Everything was seasoned perfectly, not bland and not salty, it was just right. The rice was light and delicious. The beans were delicious. The puffy tacos were amazing. Hubby had one cheese enchilada with a burrito. A side of beans and tortilla soup. All were super delicious. The waitress was kind and polite. She made sure we were taken care of throughout the meal. She was super kind in letting us no about the different soups they have each night. Everything was so bright and cheery inside. The walls were painted different colors. The murals on the wall were beautiful. Loved the different colors of tables and chairs. The name says it all with Fiesta. Loved the Americana decorations. You could sit outside if there was a wait. You have plenty of shade with the beautiful shade trees. This was such a cute and quaint little Mexican restaurant. Will definitely go back when were in the area. Highly recommend coming here to try at least once. There are healthy options here if you want the lighter side of a meal. They seat tables for 2,4 and bigger tables as well. Will definitely be coming back. Highly recommend.
TA
Tabetha Moore
Fantastic! Vegetarian sauce on cheese enchiladas is outstanding. Puffy taco with beans and guacamole was cooked perfectly. Chalupa was layered perfect and not too crunchy or greasy. Sampler enchilada plate was perfect and couldnt decide which one was better. Swapped rice and beans for soup and salad. Salad was boring and ranch was vinegary/cheap. I would come back just for a bowl of Tortilla soup anyday. They dont have sweet tea, I could live without the torn plastic table cloths and they really need to salt the chips, but otherwise i love this place. Ordered snickers chimichanga to go. At this point i dont care if its good or not, the concept is great, love that they didnt go with the basic "cheesecake or sopappilla " type desserts to typically see in a mexican restaurant
SK
Ski Inc
The salsa is amazing!!! That alone made it worth the trip. I experienced the Taco plate, and the chicken salad was enough to feed more than one person. Not that I did just saying you could if you wanted to. I love the atmosphere and the staff is always very attentive. Kids liked the burgers here. If you are planning on eating here for lunch get here early because it tends to fill up fast. You can also call in your order and pick it up at the drive thru window.
ST
Stephen Roth
Good chips, good house salsa. Service time was a little slower than typical Mexican restaurant but we were in a group and all were served at the same time so I think it would have been faster for a more typical visit. The food was great. Menu selection was decent. I had the Fiesta Salad, which was pretty awesome and reasonably priced (with the poppy seed dressing, which was also pretty great.
PE
Pete Cano
One star is too many for this place! The only thing "Mexican" about this place is the decor. Theyre tortillas are store bought, they dont use the proper ingredients in their food (ex: guac & cheddar chz in tortilla soup), and their prices are ridicules! If youre looking for mexican food, this isnt it. Taco Cabana and Taco Bell are more Authentic than this place!
