1720 Blanco Rd.
San Antonio, TX 78212
(210) 732-6480
(Review based on visit that took place in June of 2018. Copious notes were taken at the time.)
The Highlights
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Menudo with Instagram Filter Meat: mostly good, no honeycomb cuts, some tough pieces.
- Hominy: a good amount, but didn’t quite meet the 1:1 ratio.
- Broth: not too salty, seasoned just right.
- Toppings: small portions of cilantro, limes, onion, and jalapeño.
- Tortillas: choice of corn or flour, deliciously handmade on site.
- Availability: any day of the week.
- Price: $6.29 for a bowl ($5.29 for the small)
If you’re a San Antonio native, you know that The Original Blanco Cafe is the place to go Sunday mornings. But get there early if you want to beat the church crowd. Fortunately, I’m a recovering Catholic, and my husband only went to Baptist church in the small Texas town he grew up in to meet cute girls. And I’m pretty sure everyone in San Antonio goes to a Catholic church. So we got a great table with no wait.
The menudo was pretty gosh-darn close to what I consider the immaculate menudo. A good menudo, in my holy book, has meat cooked to perfect tenderness (not too gummy slimy or too rubbery tough) and is ALL honeycomb cuts…and this bowl didn’t have any. But since we’re on the topic of religion, I’m able to forgive that because most of the meat was cooked to just the right texture. However there were several of the tougher, rubbery pieces I had to fish out. A perfect menudo bowl leaves no meat wasted.
There was more hominy than you’d get at most places, but it didn’t quite the meet the 1:1 ratio. I mean, not all menudo is perfect. I’m sure Jesus Christ would be okay with that. Handmade corn tortillas can always make up for a shortage of hominy, though (corn is corn!), and even though there were only two tortillas, they were filling and tasty. The broth was so good, I drank every last drop.
I almost didn’t give it a 4, only because of the meat situation. But hey, making menudo is hard work. And it’s a classic place to have this heavenly soup. (Also I’m partial to honeycomb, but perhaps that’s not a deal breaker for you.)
