Restaurant Adventures in SATX

I apologize for the recent post hiatus. Life's been busy!  But I do have stories to tell!  I have made it out to several new-to-me restaurants the last couple of weeks.

First was Blue Star Brewery.  This place has been on my list of places to go for a while.  My Basic Prep class met for dinner as an end of semester celebration.  After only seeing my classmates in our required uniform, it was interesting to see everyone in street clothes.  While there, I got a tasting flight of all their beers made in house. The Pale Bock and English IPA were okay, but I'm not really a fan of the hoppiness of pale ales.  The one I didn't like at all was the King William Barley Wine that was reminiscent of my stinky running shoes.  But then, another friend loved it, so to each their own.  The had a cask-conditioned stout that was okay, but again not my cup of tea.  There were three I really liked: a stout that smelled like chocolate and was very drinkable; a pale bock that was like a light Mexican beer; and an excellent amber that was my favorite of the lot.  The brewery also had pretty good munchies, a step up from normal bar food.

Cappycino's and Cappy's are locally owned restaurants in Alamo Heights right around the corner from Central Market.  I have a friend that works there, so I got great treatment while I was there. 
Cappycino's is more of a burgers-pizza-coffee shop kind of place.  I got a seat at the bar that overlooked the kichen so I could chat with my friend.  I got the Mediterranean Grilled Cheese Sandwich - fontina cheese, tomatoes, basil, and olive oil. Absolutely fantastic.  And the honey vinaigrette on my side salad was quite excellent too.  Top it off with a lovely decaf latte and biscotti, and I'm hooked.  Absolutely going back there again.

I got personal delivery of Cappy's. Mind you, this is not a standard service, I've just got the hook up.  I got a crusted halibut on some vegetable fettucine with a butter sauce.  It was incredible.  I also had some bites of the Catch of the Day, but I didn't remember what the fish was.  It was a grilled steak like tuna, but sweeter and not as heavy.  the chef's special vegetables that day were a mixed vegetable medley that included yellow beets.  I also had some wilted spinach.  It's so easy to have bad wilted spinach, but this was some of the best I've had.  I am really impressed with the menu and creativity in the dishes I've tried.  I can't speak for the dining experience there, but after a quick walk in, I am intrigued and want to eat there for real.

For Mother's Day, Mom requested to go to Los Barrios, recommended to her by some of her coworkers. It was also the subject of an episode of Bobby Flay's Throwdown about puffy tacos.  I didn't actually have the puffy tacos, since they're not my favorite Mexican fare.  I had Pollo a la Salsa with a poblano sauce, which was really pretty good, but fairly heavy.  Mom had enchiladas.  The salsa had the heavy flavor of tomato sauce and had a good kick to it.  Pretty good, but not my favorite.  On the table they also had a kind of chimichurri that was really mild but had great flavor, mostly of cilantro lime and garlic. 

I loved finding these new San Antonio only places after going to a lot of chains in the past couple of years.