The Original Mexican Restaurant is a Mexican restaurant located at 528 River Walk St, San Antonio, TX 78205. It has received 3147 reviews with an average rating of 3.4 stars.
Monday | 10AM-11PM |
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Tuesday | 10AM-12AM |
Wednesday | 10AM-12AM |
Thursday | 10AM-11PM |
Friday | 10AM-11PM |
Saturday | 10AM-11PM |
Sunday | 10AM-11PM |
The address of The Original Mexican Restaurant: 528 River Walk St, San Antonio, TX 78205
The Original Mexican Restaurant has 3.4 stars from 3147 reviews
Mexican restaurant
"Before I say what was wrong let me say this first"
"My waitress tried to steal an additional $20"
"When I first got there, the hostess seemed really sweet and engaged with us"
"I came from California so maybe my palate was used to authentic Mexican food, but this was some of the worst tasting Mexican food I’ve had in my life"
"Nice location on the horse shoe of the San Antonio River walk way"
Before I say what was wrong let me say this first. Their tortillas were awesome. Ok. We went there at 10 am for breakfast, we sat outside so we could take in the view of the Riverwalk. We both ordered our drinks and they brought them right away. We also ordered our food at the same time. We waited and waited might I also add we were the only customers outside after another couple had left shortly after we arrived. After 30 minutes I asked our waitress what was taking so long. She said the cook didn't show up and the manager had to do the cooking. She was apologetic and said she would bring us some chips and salsa for our wait. I explained to her that we had an appointment at 11:15 a.m. And we will be forced to leave soon. She said please don't leave. We said ok we will try and wait. Another 10-15 minutes later the food arives finally. My husband asked for a fresh apple juice because the ice had melted and watered the juice down. A man brought him a glass of ice with a new apple juice and took the other juice away that he didn't even have one sip. We start eating and after a couple of bites I noticed that My eggs were RAW !! I'm grossed out and stop eating. The waitress comes back and I show her the eggs and she sees them and immediately says sorry. She offers to make my order over. By this time Im done I ask her to take my plate please and can we get the check. She says she will not charge me for my plate I say ok thank you. We get the check and they charge my husband for a refill on his apple juice he never even drank. We paid and left. Just our experience may not be the same for you. But I thought RAW EGGS !!!deserved a review.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 4
My waitress tried to steal an additional $20.00 from us. Her name is LIANA S. My husband and I sat at table 151 December 24, 2023 at 6:20 PM. Our waitress added herself a additional $20.00 tip to our tab. She waited to do this when I was about to give her my credit card to insert into the little white hand held machine. She did not think I was going to ask to take Another look at the machine before paying. The additional $20.00 was not there when I first asked to see the machine to see my charges, But when I pulled out my credit card to insert into the little white hand held machine, that she had in her hand is when I saw her adding something to my bill, It was the additional $20.00. I'm sure she has done this many of times to unsuspecting customers, but I caught her. I told her she better remove that additional $20.00. I wanted to verify everything she was charging us for. Thank God I rechecked. LIANA S. added that extra $20.00 real fast. You don't steal from people, you let people rate and add their own tip. People, please beware. Our waitress LIANA S. Added an extra $20.00 to our bill. I made her remove it because it was sneaky and dishonest. I know being a waitress is hard busy work, but you Do Not steal from people. I am a good tipper, And I always tip. But since she chose to be dishonest, deceitful, and a thief, I did Not leave a tip, LIANA S. Did it so quick, I'm sure she has done this to many customers before. If you do right God will bless you and make sure your needs are met. You cannot get blessed from stealing from people.
Food: 2
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 2
When I first got there, the hostess seemed really sweet and engaged with us. Waitress was quick to our table when we arrived, but was obviously high. I had to correct our order with her a couple of times. She was nice and quick to fix the problem. Not a huge deal, but something worth mentioning. To me shows that the restaurant is not running a tight ship. Still ordered, food came out pretty quick, but had to correct our order once more when the waitress brought it to us. She was really nice to correct it again. We ate and the beef quesadillas I had, were ok. Felt like they charged more than what it's worth. The person I was with had asada which they seemed to like, until the next day. The food from this restaurant was the last thing they ate that night and woke up severely sick all day the next day with stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea, which is the big reason for me leaving this review. After seeing a review of the bathroom, I can only imagine how the kitchen looks. Seemed like an ok place, but I don't think I'll ever go back. This place needs a visit from a Health Inspector.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 2
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Chips and Salsa
I came from California so maybe my palate was used to authentic Mexican food, but this was some of the worst tasting Mexican food I’ve had in my life. The salsa tasted like Pace Picante, I’ve had better tacos at Taco Bell, and the enchilada I had was slathered in grease and melted cheddar and tasted bland. The service was excellent, however, but the food felt phoned in. I couldn’t wait to get back to where I was staying so I could eat some actual Mexican food. If this is representative of Mexican food in San Antonio then you all have my condolences. Edit: shortly after this post, multiple members of my group came down with food poisoning. I would avoid this place like the plague. The chicken in my sister-in-laws taco salad was off and I have strong reason to believe my food was microwaved. Again, our server was great and the service was great, but the food was horrible. I feel bad leaving this severe of a review and don’t want to appear like I’m kicking the business when it’s down, but it needs to revamp its menu and fire it’s chef. As we left, we saw several other Mexican places near by. Try any of those.
Food: 1
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 1
Nice location on the horse shoe of the San Antonio River walk way. Was EXTREMELY busy when I visited the restaurant but they got me seated quite quickly considering. It helps to almost always be a party of 1 as I am a truck driver and frequent lots of different restaurants in many different places. The portions of food were very good. I got the taco/enchilada meal. The enchilada’s were middle of the road. The ground beef taco was good and as one of my pictures shows, they don’t skimp on the beef. The salsa is average but I ordered a side of their cheese dipping sauce and guacamole. They are about $3/each extra but in my opinion were well worth it as both sauces were very good and each came in a portion that was plenty for one person. The guacamole in particular was top notch! I’ve eaten in Mexican food places all across the country, including in my native state of Arizona where I was born and raised and where the Mexican food is very good! This place has the best guacamole I’ve ever tried to date. I would’ve eaten it plain with a spoon it was so good. I will patronize this place again if I’m ever in the area. My waiter was also very attentive and fast.
The place was FILTHY. In the times of Covid, they were not even wiping tables after clearing dirty dishes from the previous families. I thought it was just my table when I got there but then we witnessed them seating another table without cleaning it. When I asked someone to clean my table and sweep underneath, the busser told me “they didn’t have time to sweep.” I almost left then and there but he came back with the broom and also cleaned the tables. I went to the restroom to wash my hands and there was no soap. I told the people behind the bar and they said okay but no one came back to put soap until an hour later. At this point we still hadn’t gotten our food and wasn’t told that the food would even take that long. We canceled most of our order and took what was ready Togo. The waiter had the box upside down in the bag and everything spilled. I’m almost certain it was done intentionally because we did not tip. The drinks we had were sour and not good as well. Definitely would not recommend. The food on other peoples table looked really good though.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Everyone knows that the San Antonio Riverwalk Mexican food go hand in hand; many choices. The Orginal Mexican Restaurant does stand out and ranks slightly higher on my list. I spent the last five days here for a conference. I had a chance to visit three Mexican restaurants on the river walk. Please understand the restaurants on the river walk cater to the tourism and convention center attendees. They know most patrons will be one and done. With that said almost all have decent food slightly above par. The Orginal Mexican Restaurant has nice seating next to the river. The menu is simple, and I felt that the hostess and waiter genuinely wanted to make sure we were taken care of. The only negative is it is dated inside. They need to update and redo the bathrooms. I'll go back to the The Orginal Mexican Restaurant.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Tacos Al Carbon, Chips and Salsa
Poor service. The food was disgusting. Normally I complain unfortunately I just didn't have the heart. My plate was the fajita plate. Which was around $22.00 plus tax. The waiter came to table once or twice the entire time. I believe in tipping. Although, the tip depends on the server. I start my tips at $50.00. If it remains at the $50.00 that depends on the server as I stated earlier. Server was tipped $9.00 which I believe was still a good amount. He took off two of the meals. My daughter complained about her food. My granddaughter's meal she didn't even touch it. I'll never go back. Just can't find good tex-Mex food. Along with the fact that the fajita plate didn't taste like fajita. My drink was pretty good. The food looked good. However, just because it looks good doesn't mean it is good food
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$50–100
Features
Dine in: Yes
Outdoor seating: Yes
Takeout: Not sure
Delivery: Not sure
Curbside pickup: Not sure
I do not recommend this place. The food was nasty and was poorly presented, it didn’t taste nice and looked and tasted like it was made in a microwave. The service was appalling. We asked for the bill three times and had to wait 30 minutes until we were acknowledged by one of the waiters. Even though it was quiet and they didn’t have that many customers. The waiters were more engaged with having personal conversation with one another. When we asked for the paper receipt, the waitress said “I’m with my customer ask someone else.” How disgusting and considering I’m not from the US it definitely put a bad taste in my mouth. I expect better service. I’ve had Mexican food a number of time and it is by far the worst. They don’t have the right to call themselves ‘The Original Mexican restaurant and Bar’. Please save your money, time and belly.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Came here by accident thinking it was rio’s. THIS PLACE IS TERRIBLE! Avoid it at ALL costs! Literally the worst place on the river I’ve ever been. The servers are absolutely terrible. We were ignored for a good 10 min after watching servers argue over picking us or a bigger party first (tho we arrived first) and settled for us when they didn’t show up. The server (unknown name… no name tag, didn’t introduce himself) took our order like it was an inconvenience. Drinks, apps and meal all taken at the same time. Insisted on upon the server tho we wanted to space our meal out. This place is possibly the worst spot I’ve ever sat to eat at. There’s nothing anyone could ever say to change my mind. Really wish I would’ve gotten up and went next door. I brought my family from Mexico here! It will be a Christmas joke for years to come. Idk how this place is still open and operating. It’s literally the worst
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
New to the area and checking out local restaurants, we found one we won't go back to. Restaurant has been around since 1988, and probably hasn't changed a thing. Felt dirty like it hasn't had a deep clean in years. Ceiling tiles were mismatched and some seemed to have black mold and falling down crumbling. My wife asked if they had Pinot Grigio and the waitress responded "no, we only have white or red wine". What? I got two margaritas and for the first time ever in my life, the waitress didn't ask if I wanted it frozen or on the rocks and with or without salt. Food menu wasn't complicated and served relatively quick. BUT the sides of beans had a "cast" or a skin on them like they had been sitting out for a while. I got the two taco meal which the meat was both dry and greasy while leaving a lake of oil on my plate. Much better places on the Riverwalk and surrounding areas.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
The worst Tex Mex food for a so called ‘The Original Mexican restaurant’. No difference whatsoever between Chicken Enchiladas and Rolled Chicken Tacos. Ranchero sauce was a joke, just gave me sauted onions and tomatoes in the name of rancheros. The chicken inside the enchiladas was bland and not seasoned at all. Rolled chicken tacos were bland and they had beef pieces in it as seen in the picture. The cheese enchiladas had american cheese singles melted over them, i mean who does that in a mexican place? Atleast they took off the Rolled Chicken Taco dish off the check when we bought the beef to their attention. Please dont be fooled by the name and just come here to be by the river side.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Features
Dine in: Yes
Outdoor seating: Yes
Takeout: Not sure
Delivery: Not sure
Curbside pickup: Not sure
Apparently “tacos al carbon” translates to “trash tacos”. It was like chopped/torn Spam thrown on a soggy tortillia. No flavor at all and the consistency was, well, Spammish. I took one bite and nearly gagged. I choked down some of the “meat” but couldn’t stomach the tortilla and just left the other one. $16.99? What a shame. The “chef” should have never let that garbage leave the kitchen. We used to live in SATX, but never stopped by here until tonight. What an absolute disappontment. *I added the guac and pico to the tacos before I took the picture…They came out with the Spam on those nasty tortillas and that was it. The picture is how my meal ended. I’m starving.* I’m only giving this place a star because the beer wasn’t warm and the guacamole was green. KEEP WALKING.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Ordered Chalupas, waiter messed up order and gave me a Mexican pizza (flat, thin, hard shell tacos, beans as the sauce, taco toppings). He then tried to tell me Chalupas are a different thing here in Texas? No, bro, nice try. Wife's taco salad was in a chalupa, I just know that wasn't mine because it was filled with too much salad. Also, beef was seasoned with too much salt, I couldn't taste the meatiness or fat. Suggest you sit inside; outside the pigeons and ducks have taken over like a scene from Chernobyl. It's not the restaurants fault, they can't do much about it, but it will run your date (or be a funny story to tell you kids about your first date). Chalupa: noun a fried tortilla in the shape of a boat, with a spicy filling. (in Spain and Latin America) a small light boat or canoe. Boats are not flat, pal.
We were visiting from out of state, so I can’t tell you if they had authentic San Antonio flavors but nonetheless, it was very good! The salsa was very spicy, I could feel it burning but it was so good that I couldn’t stop eating it! It paired perfectly with the cheese dip. I got the chicken fajitas and the chicken pieces were MASSIVE. They were some of the juiciest pieces of chicken I’ve ever had. So good and I loved the flavor. However, the rest of the plate was okay. The beans weren’t good. I was expecting refried but they were whole and the flavor was weird. The fajitas only came with beans, rice, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and pico. No lettuce. Overall, food tasted good but it was definitely a bit pricey. I wanted to their famous cheesecake but I didn’t have room.
I was in town for work and decided to stop by before my shift to eat lunch. I got the grilled chicken taco salad. The food seemed ok enough and didn’t give me any signs it was bad, it just didn’t taste amazing. I’m a pilot so I went to work right after this and threw up all over in the plane and they had to take me off the flight. Full blown food poisoning. I’ve never experienced that before in my life but it’s horrible. The only good part of this was the friendly waitress. That’s it. I won’t ever eat here again but I just wanted to let everyone know that I got super sick and bad food poisoning from this experience. There are so many other places to choose from.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
The food and drinks were average. I got the 32oz prickly pear margarita and it was definitely 99% sugar drink (however tasty). Our server was very friendly and competent. We were a large party and she was patient and upbeat. The atmosphere was pleasant due to the River Walk, music and good people-watching. However, going inside, passing through the main dining room to use the restroom, made me instantly concerned about the cleanliness of the whole place. Yikes. Thankfully, no one had an adverse effect.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 3
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Vegetarian options
I got the enchiladas de calabacitas and they were decent, but not life-changing.
The service was great, our server was amazingly sweet, and the atmosphere outdoors was incredible. The food was average (not authentic mexican food), but the kids didn't mind it and enjoyed the beans/rice the most. The chips and salsa was good and the salsa was spicy. When walking inside the restaurant to go to the restroom, it was very unorganized and unsanitary. But most of all, the restroom were horrible. The smell was unbearable, smelled like I was actually inside a sewer. Other than that, music was upbeat and made you want to dance while eating.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 3
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Chips and Salsa
DON'T GO. Horrible food, awful service and dirty and old establishment. Went with a group of 12 people and everyone's food was horrendous. O ordered the simplest thing in the menu just to be on the safe side and it was still a bad choice. My beef was burned, lettuce on the plate was floating in a pool of something unknown and the refried beans had the texture of cement. I have eaten in many Mexican and Tex Mex restaurants and this is the worst. When the check came the wireless credit card terminal had an issue and my card was processed over 7 times and had to call the bank. Simply AWFUL
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Recently they changed their policy, they started charging for chips which were free. Server will just give it to you and charge the price without asking. If you don’t want to pay it, you have to say that you don’t want chips when you are seated. The weird thing is that depending on server, you will be charged for chips or not. I ordered fajita plate, it only comes with 2 tortillas and when you want some more tortillas it also depends on server whether charged price or not. I’ve visited this restaurant multiple times, I don’t think I will visit here again anymore.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 3
Do not waste your time here. It was a good 15 minutes after we were seated before we even had anyone come to the table. The excuse of I had to find a pen didn't fly because she never even wrote the order down. Service was TERRIBLE which is in line with the experience I had yesterday outside. I ordered a margarita to go, and the server wasn't going to give me my change! Her response when I asked for it was "you really want your change?" Both of these experiences reflect directly on the management. It all starts from the top. The food wasn't even that good. I didn't even finish my burrito. Not enough meat, had more of the fillers than anything else. Definitely on the do not come back to list!
This place is the Mecca for burrito lovers, I've been to 10 states, thousands of Mexican restaurants, huts, vans, trucks...but this place, it defeated me. The monster, it was too big. It weighed in somewhere between 20-25 lbs, depending on the scale I used when I got home. I came for meal, but was greeted by a battle. Seriously though, it was fantastic, located along the Riverwalk in San antonio. The outdoor seating was great and entertaining, with the small canal with boats passing, tourists chattering the smell of steaks, beer and other things that came with the Fiesta. It's been years since I came and went and I remember this place as my favorite in all my travels.
Visited in mid August 2021. Supposedly this food is supposed to be very authentic Mexican food and the Original. Don't let the name fool you all. This was nowhere near authentic Mexican food, and as a result was a huge disappointment. I'm still wondering how? Are people giving this high ratings. The food was extremely bland and without seasoning. The only good part was that the taco shells were made in house and they tasted amazing. Watch out for the birds they will eat your food without fear. Also they will try to trick you into buying pictures claiming it for promotional use but it's not.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
It's a decent enough place to grab lunch on the Riverwalk. I think that's attraction moreso than the food. The food isn't bad, but neither is it amazing. It's adequate. I had the rolled chicken tacos and thought they were ok. The salsa has a nice kick. Keep in mind that they automatically bring you chips and salsa, yet also charge you 99 cents for it. The horchata is really good. There's a mariachi band that charges $20.per request. If you come with a date, you'll absolutely get targeted.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 3
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Chips and Salsa
Had a late night meal on the 4th of July. Hostess seemed bothered by everyone wanting to eat so late but we are at the mercy of the very few restaurants that were still serving food after 930 pm. Our server Rebecca I believe was her name was amazing and friendly. Food came quickly and was very flavorful. I regret that I was too full from drinking all of my tea prior to my entree coming because the salsa was FIRE! I wish I had some to take home with me!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 3
Recommended dishes
Chips and Salsa
This was a good place , the prices where a little high. It does sit right in the river walk. Great views. Fun to sit and watch the people and boat tours while you have some good food and cold drink. Full bar and great margaritas! The wait times are a little crazy. Lots of tables waiting to be cleaned as people stood in line. I saw several leave the line. Patio takes longer to be seated. Inside is very authentic, I liked it. If your looking for new shiny updates , continue looking. Food was good and authentic Mexican food but was a little disappointed in the lack of spice in the food. The hot sauce had a kick , loved it.
I could not recommend this place. We ate there on 11/4/2022 around 7pm. We got the Taco El Carbon. I have never in my life seen tacos el carbon like this. Its usually steak fajita meat. Theirs was brisket meat… it was not good. Not worth the $17 per plate of it. The rice was cold, beans cold and no flavor. There was some squash deal with it that was awful. I got a frozen beer rita for $22, the margarita tasted watered down and also not worth the $22. There is some great food on the river walk so keep passing this place by and try something else.
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Best restaurant on the River walk! Food: amazing I had enchiladas and they had the perfect amount of flavor and spice. Drinks: I was surprised that they had mock tails advertised!!! I ordered a virgin piña colada and it was so yummy!!! I loved being able to order a cool drink without alcohol but no one knew lol Staff: friendly and awesome Other: they offer to take a photo of you and your party … even though we live here it was still a nice little memory printed to take home with us . I would definitely be back
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
A Riverwalk experience with great service and authentic San Antonio taste! I tried the Calabacita and it was so flavorful! A great vegetarian option or just an amazing dish! For dessert I tried the flan and it also met the high flavor standard that had been set with this meal! Naomi was the sweetest and most attentive waitress. If you have the chance, ask for her! 5 stars for sure!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Vegetarian options
Plenty of choices and very flavorful!
Not sure why they would get 2-3 stars. This place was wonderful. The staff very friendly, the food very tasty. I didn't like the beans (made with beacon) He loved them, We both liked the chip but the Salsa was a little too hot for me, again he LOVED it! I would visit this place again. I'm sure why anyone would want to visit a place whose logo reads drinks so good you'll forget the Alamo. Kind of tacky. Looking for good Mexican look no further when on the Riverwalk! I don't think you'll be disappointed, We were not! If you found this review helpful please give it a thumbs up!
This is a lovely indoor and patio restaurant on the Riverwalk. In spite of the temperature, they have heaters outside for comfortability. The food was good. Our waiter Richard was only a week in, but he was very informative and attentive. Don't underestimate this restaurant, it stays full.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Taco Salad, Chips and Salsa
Recommendation for vegetarians
Somewhat recommend
Vegetarian options
Cheese and potatoes
Food was ok, certainly expected better quality and flavors. Waiter repeatedly discouraged any modifications to their menu items, even something as simple as “no beans”. I don’t doubt the restaurant was busy but a restaurant should be able to handle these types of things even when busy. The food itself was mediocre at best. For a place on the Riverwalk and named as Original, it was disappointing they made us feel like we were an inconvenience by being there giving them business.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Great lunch at this restaurant on a quiet Monday afternoon. Chips and salsa to start, then the 2 meals we ordered: Tacos Al Carbon - very good - and the Steak Quesadilla, absolutely amazing! Highly recommend. We ordered the large watermelon margarita as well. Delicious and they definitely did not skimp on the alcohol. Stop here if you are in the area!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Tacos Al Carbon, Chips and Salsa
This place was good was good and people said in the reviews were bad I don’t think it’s bad it’s really good and I have to say this is this is a real Mexican restaurant in the atmosphere and everything is good
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Chicken Quesadilla, Chicken Enchiladas
Recommendation for vegetarians
Highly recommend
Vegetarian offerings
Not sure
Vegetarian options
Good options
First time here. The wait to seat was forever. Once seated the waiter took literally 45 mins to take our order. The mexican rice was preheated many times that it had hard pieces. My family ordered fajitas which were hard and dry. They never brought tortillas. We had to ask for them. The burritos are HUGE. The chips and salsa was THE BEST. Guacamole was mixed with sour cream(which was good). I also forgot to mention, their bathrooms are horrible.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$100+
Great food, friendly staff, great presentation. Well walking down the Riverwalk I decided on a whim to stop in here for some lunch. The wait staff were very friendly and courteous, food was very well presented full of flavor.! Environment was nice, comfortable and clean. Food was very tasty, flavorful, nicely presented with a healthy portion. If you're in the mood for some Hispanic food and a nice place to sit well enjoying the Riverwalk I recommend stopping by the original Mexican restaurant for some good food..!
The food was superb! Great quality and quantity! The flavor was out of this world. However, the service could use some work. Our waiter, Richard, fed us nothing but excuses for why he couldn't pay us any attention. He wrote nothing down and couldn't even get a drink order correct. After asking the hostess to call for him so that we could pay to leave, it was another 10 minutes before he tried to walk by us again. Never again will I go back to a restaurant of excuses, no amount of flavor is worth the hassle.
AMAZING WAITER! Thaire was amazing! However, food tasted like it was made in microwave. I ordered beef nachos and I was shocked when it came out like a homemade great value cheese and ritz cracker nachos you make in the microwave. My whole table also complained with entire whole carrots being served in the enchilada. DO NOT RECOMMEND if you want good food. However, server was amazing amazing AMAZING! Another thing was one of the hostesses was seen flossing her teeth with her fingernail then serving food.
It was ok needed more seasoning. I had the tacos al carbon that should’ve had fajitas but it seemed like it was carne picada not fajitas. The chips and salsa were good. Had a great waitress she was attentive. My wife had a chicken taco salad she enjoyed and my daughter had the cheese enchiladas which she said were also good.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 3
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Chips and Salsa
The food was utterly disgusting. They charged me $14+ a plate for dry extremely greasy disgusting food. Taco Bell is better if that tells you anything. They took away our food away twice while we went to the bathroom and the food took an extremely long time to come out. Do not walk, run away from this place! The food made me sick and nothing makes me sick.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Good food quality and good taste. I'm not to familiar with texmex so it's always a little bit confusing with the names. This place is always busy and they have had live mariachi music everything I have been there (2times). Both times were on the weekend. The top shelf margarita was great.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Beef Fajitas, Chips and Salsa
I’ve never sent a food dish back in my entire life until I ate in this restaurant. It seemed like they threw my enchilada in a microwave and used canned beans that had been sitting out all day. The waiter was extremely nice, but the food was absolutely disgusting. They comped my plate after taking a few bites. Highly suggest not going to this place and was very disappointed.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Food: 1
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 1
This place is so great! It's open 24/7, the food is delicious and the staff is so helpful. I believe it is a must visit! It's a landmark destination along with the restaurant "Mi Tierra" where people have to stop here is they are going to San Antonio. There is this enormous burrito for 33 dollars that is part of a challenge, if you can eat it in 30 minutes or less it's free, but let me tell you it's not for everyone....that thing is massive! Definitely stopping her again!
Locals and people from RGV will probably say this place is just ok. Maybe even good. But most others will be impressed. The servings are large, and food is flavorful. I had a large chicken burrito. Also ordered enchiladas and chicken tenders. Service was excellent and quick.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Burrito Gigante, Chips and Salsa
Quesadillas were good. Guacamole was old nasty prepackaged. I had chicken rolled taco. Absolutely inedible. Flavor was icky. Other person in my group ordered enchilada wayyyy too much cumin and cold in the middle. Cheese wasn't even melted. Beans were old. Or canned. Nice staff. It was dark and dingy inside.
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 1
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 1
Recommended dishes
Chips and Salsa
Was the only restaurant on the riverwalk with less than an hour wait, they could seat immediately. That’s because everyone else knew you do not want to eat here. We were seated in foam chairs with huge tears to the point we had to steal chairs from other tables. Massive quantities of bad food, where the highlights are the things you think came out of a can. The wait staff made constant excuses and gave us orders instead of taking ours.
Poor service. Our waiter was struggling. Ordered fajita plate, asked if it could feed 2. Waiter said yes. Fajita plate is for 1. My pic shows the plate. Slow service Cold food at when brought out Incomplete order Waiter was not up to task. Would not recommend
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$1–10
Features
Dine in: Yes
Outdoor seating: Yes
Takeout: Yes
Delivery: No
Curbside pickup: No
The location is great and there was a mariachi band out front which was so cool. The food however, was the worst Mexican food I’ve ever had in my life. We got the chicken quesadilla and it was just hunks of boiled, unseasoned chicken on a burnt tortilla. Everything seemed either pre packaged or microwaved and just want not worth the price. I would not recommend this place.
Food: 1
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 3
Absolutely disgusting food. Took two bites and asked for the check. Server had us pay $30 and we were obviously upset. Waste of money. Update, it’s been hours later and I am so sick to my stomach stuck in my hotel room. I’m pretty sure I have food poisoning after eating quite literally two bites of food that I PAID for.
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
One of the few places that is open late. Affordably priced and the best thing, they have vegetarian options and not your typical just lettuce and tomato, but actual cooked zucchini, corn and tomato stew, they'll make you veggie tacos if you ask nicely. Would definitely come back next time I'm in town!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Recommended dishes
Chips and Salsa
We enjoyed our meal and drinks at this nice Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk. Enrique was very friendly and service was quick and on point. Nice, relaxed atmosphere and we also had some friendly geese around. Great experience, great food, great service. Would definitely recommend.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
I went here with my kids we had enchiladas and a queso. I am going to be completely honest the service was great, but the food really brings a place down. the queso was chalky which was very disappointing. The food taste like it’s made with cheap ingredients. It has a lot of potential just needs to change the ingredients in their food and use better quality.
Food: 2
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Bad service, it took a long time, the guy was like drugged, the truth is, it's so expensive to be served that way and the food was cold, we ordered our drinks 4 times, I definitely wouldn't go back.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Recommended dishes
El Alamo, Enchiladas Rancheras, Guacamole Y Tostadas
Queso and chips tasted ok. My wife's meal had to be sent back the Relleno Verdura was very watery once she cut into it. It filled up the entire plate. She chose not to order any thing else so it was taken off the bill. Disappointing since it looked good at first sight. The burrito del Rio was ok but had allot of raw meat inside of it. Lucky the hotel room was close by. We will not be going back here.
Nice place to have Mexican cuisine . . . The staff is so friendly but the restaurant seems a little old and the dining table is not clean . . . Service is very good
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Crispy Taco Plate, Chips and Salsa
Kid-friendliness
Kids menu available
We came in on a Friday night and were seated outside immediately. They had fans going so it was comfortable even with the heat. Our meals were about $12 apiece and tasted pretty good. The chips and salsa were GREAT! Our waiter, Roddy, was friendly and attentive even though he had a lot of tables to cover. We enjoy coming to this place each time we're in San Antonio, and this time was no different!
Absolutely delicious Ordered a blue Hawaiian, Dos XX's, and an apple juice in the photo. Chips and salsa are great Didn't take photos of the entree but the crispy taco plate is very filling, well worth it, as well as the taco rolls. Quick service, and nice staff. Enjoyed dining in here very much.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Just what you would expect in a Mexican food dive bar on the Riverwalk. Loved it! It was just what the doctor ordered afyer going through the new Alamo exhibit. Way too much good food bit the drinks were awesome, too.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Taco Salad
We came for dinner, it was fairly busy but not packed. My 2 year old had a blast with the mariachi quartet that was playing for the tables (for a fee). The food was decent, but not my favorite in the area.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Chicken Enchiladas
Seated us immediately on a Saturday night. This should have been a sign that this was not the place to eat. Service was terrible. Messed up every order ( manager never came to table) and food made everyone . Beautiful views of the river but would never eat here again!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Food: 2
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 5
Server disappeared for 90% of the stay. No refills at all. Couldn’t get them to give us our check, the other server refused to hand it to us. The food was terrible, no flavor, and undercooked. The skirt and eggs was my order. Skirt steak was the only cooked item and it was close to burnt. Go elsewhere, not worth it.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
I'm not sure about the lower floor bathroom, but the upper one was nasty. If we had not been meeting someone there, I would have gone somewhere else. They need new tables and chairs. Seriously warped tables outside. The food was just ok. My jalapeño margarita was decent. Service was just ok, too. Seems we sat for long periods of time without being checked on, though.
Other reviewers are right. The restaurant is decrepit. I only went because a new co-worker chose the restaurant and I wanted to be sociable and welcoming. In the videos, liquid is leaking and dripping from the floor above into the bathroom below. I can’t imagine what the kitchen looks like.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
The food and atmosphere were fantastic. Although the first server unfortunately made a mistake with my order. My second server informed me that the kitchen was closed down after asking a second time for a side of queso.
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Refried Beans
Taco salad was delicious, queso was good. Tacos al carbon was delicious.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 3
Recommended dishes
Tacos Al Carbon, Taco Salad, Chips and Salsa
Dietary restrictions
I'm allergic to meat and was pleased to find something to eat.
Atmosphere cool if you wait for a prized riverwalk tabletop. Food - average txmx though missed order details. Service poor from seating to waitress arrival (felt invisible 1st 15min after seating) though directly in front of hostess.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 3
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 4
We had a great time at The Original Mexican Restaurant. The food was very good and the portions were overly generous. We were fortunate to get seated at a table on the river walk. The host let us know that they were short staffed, so be patient, which was good to know up front. That said, food came quickly and the staff did a wonderful job.
Loved our dinner. The food was great, the mariachi bad was fabulous, and our waitress did an amazing job! 10 outta 10 will return
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Crispy Taco Plate, Chips and Salsa, Refried Beans
Nice place to eat on the River Walk. We ordered the Chimichangas. They were very good along with the rice and beans. I loved it and would recommend getting a bite here. Friendly staff. We ate next to the river which was neat. The ducks line up for your scraps. Lunch and a couple of beers was nice. Thanks!
Poor quality of food. Tacos (beef and shell without lettuce and tomatoes. They charge you 1.50 for it. Might as well go to taco Bell). Chile relleno - undercook poblano pepper. Plate had so much water. They did not drain beans. Tostadas- barely put any beans. It was basically a thin spread. Not worth it!!
A prime location on the river walk for a quick grub and drinks. Tex Mex food that is okay but lacking flavor/wow factor. Service is fast and attentive at all times of day. Their pricing is decent compared to other river walk restaurants. Love the hot sauce that comes with the chips though, it’s hot! More
It’s the river walk so the atmosphere of course is perfect. The service was good and no complaints about the food.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Burrito Gigante, Chips and Salsa
Holy s**t, absolutely disgusting. I won’t talk about the food because Taco Bell is a 1000x better. I can’t believe this place passed health code visits. The bathroom was worse then a Puerto Vallarta bus station. Absolute hell Hole. Side note, my sisters thought it was ok, but they also like Taco Bell.
So yummy and flavorful! Margaritas as big as your head! I got a jalenpeno margarita on the rocks, hubs got frozen peach. We lost our waitress a couple times but they were busy. Vibes on the Riverwalk are always high. They had a Mariachi band walking around. Lots of fun and good food/drinks! More
The food here is gross and the service is even worse. They make it look like it’s. busy by seating everyone outside. If you go inside it’s complete empty and FILTHY! So so FILTHY. Go to Casa Rita or Any other place there but not this one.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1
Good portion sizes and right on the river with music from live mariachi band. Prices are what you would expect being right on the river at about $14 a plate. Cheesecake was great! Fast service.
Price per person
$10–20
Recommended dishes
Burrito Gigante, Chips and Salsa
Walking around the river walk and the shortest wait time we found was 1.5hrs until we walked upon this place and the guy outside told us 20 minutes and we ended up only waiting 10. The food was great, the service was great! Going back for more of this cheesecake before I leave town.
service was great. had a great server named David. He kept our group entertained. food was quick and tasted amazing. I got the combination fajitas and strawberry margaritas. I will definately go back again
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
It was nice to be able to eat food by the river, but since the pigeons were together, it was good enough for other people to mistake it for a party.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 2
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 5
If i could give a star followed by an infiniti symbol I would. Great wait staff, phenomenal food, delicious margaritas, and a wonderful atmosphere complete with mariachi. They truly deserve a better than 5 star rating! Bobby was our waiter in the big party room! Excellent job!
Just got hustled by a lady photographer. At first she said it’s a free promotional photo for the restaurant. After that she brought some photos with her and told us it’s $18 per picture. That’s negligence from managing team coz she had like an office setup in the restaurant.
I was impressed by the service including the staff singing our daughter Happy Birthday. The the food portions are a good size. The style is definitely more of a Tex-Mex menu. It was tasty.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Nothing “original” about it. Store bought tortillas, salsa and guacamole tastes like pure garlic powder. Do not recommend at all. Less than one star if it was an option.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Bad experience, the staff was struggling and confused and the restaurant was not full. They spilled the food in the table, it was also difficult to get attention to make the order.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Definitely not a top pick for Mexican food, with the exception of the borracho bean. Those were phenomenal. The service was slow, but it was super busy & our waitress was a gem.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
The food was very bad. The chichen had so much salt and was inedible. Never had such a bad experience in restaurants
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 1
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 3
We had a great time! Great food and music. Our server Jon was awesome and recommended a drink we loved I think it was called Ninja turtle. We went on a busy Sat night and the hosts did such a great job managing the line and available tables. More
EXCELLENT service! The guacamole, enchiladas, rice and beans...were SOOO good! Love this place! Very consistent!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Guys, please do not go here. This place is disgusting and horrendous. The food is horrible it taste like cafeteria food it is sloppy and nasty. It tastes very out of the Can commercial like does not taste Mexican or tex mex it is horrible.
I ordered enchiladas verdes and they were not spicy at all, I asked for spicy salsa and they say they don’t have, so how you call your restaurant the Original Mexican when you’re food is not authentic and not spicy??? Very disappointed.
Decent foods and drinks but fast and intuitive services. Wish bloody Mary good taste like Boudro's next door but pretty good complementary chip and salsa. We got seats on the Riverwalk on Sunday noon that was beyond my expectations.
The food was very good. My family and I tried 4 different menu meals and all of them were excellent. The food was hot and fresh. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. Next time we are visiting the Riverwalk we will come back.
Not bad. Expensive but decent portion sizes. Queso was very bland, but enchiladas were good. Did not appreciate the gentleman pressuring us to buy pictures taken of us.. 1 picture for $15. No thanks. Good service though. More
Horrible service. The host lady was very rude! Guy leaning at the host counter looked high and just didn't want to talk to anyone. Good thing Rio Rio was next door sat down quickly and food was great along with the service!
Excellent Mexican fare, Margaritas!! We met up with friends and family and had an awesome time there along the Riverwalk. We'll look for the Original Mexican again
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
I liked that all the employees appeared to be happy, you don’t see that too often. Though my quesadilla was not what I’m used to. It was just OK I didn’t eat much of it. My son had the Chalupa’s and he loved them.
Service was great. Chips and Quac love it. Gotta have a NINJA TURTLE when you arrive for all my old school soldiers. Eat in good health and have fun doing it!
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
I enjoyed the dining experience - food, mariachi playing live, great service and well made drinks. My only complain is the portion size. They are way too big. They keep to the saying "everything is big in Texas"
Girls up front are rude AF, when you walk in. Giving attitudes for no reason. We left before ordering although waitress was nice. The girls up front where still giving an attitude ♂️even after we sat …
6502 reviews
200 River Walk Suite 100, San Antonio, TX 78205