Don Jordan
2004-09-12 04:40:25 UTC
I guess we haven't had many free weekends this summer, so we took advantage
of this one and hit another semi-new highly-touted restaurant.
The original site for Scenic Loop Cafe was established about 20 years ago, I
believe, starting out as Stallion on the Roof, and characterized by the
large sculpture of a stallion on the roof. It is located adjacent to the
equestrian center at Boerne Stage Road and Scenic Loop Road in far NW Bexar
County.
With limestone walls, tile floors and timber ceilings, the place is very
noisy. What was probably a dropped stack of dishes in the kitchen had me
shoving C- under the table and reaching for the butter knife as a weapon.
The clientele was well above hoi polloi, at least in their own minds. There
were obviously a lot of "Dr. & Mrs. ____" families there, not to mention a
little Britney Spears wannabe wearing her white riding outfit and a
permanent sneer.
The food? Well, after sticker-shock subsided, C- got the Chicken Fried
Steak with a side of macaroni and cheese, and I felt adventurous and tried
the Chile Relleno de Espinaca. We also had a couple of house Margaritas.
The Chile Relleno had nothing "stuffed" about it; the dish appeared to be a
butterflied poblano chile with lightly sautéed spinach on top of it, covered
with a thin but piquant and flavorful white cheese sauce. There seemed to
be a lot of stem in the pepper, though, as there were several unchewable
bites.
The CFS fared slightly better. C-'s only complaint was that the gravy
tasted like old bacon grease. I tried it and, to me, it tasted like new
bacon grease, of which I am very fond. I get to eat the rest of it for
breakfast. The Margaritas had a good balance of sweet, sour, and tequila,
and were quite good, though no better than most local handmade ones.
The service is best described as adequate but unimpressive, distinguished
mostly by an obvious lack of enthusiasm.
My biggest disappointment: they are pretentiously expensive. Chips and
salsa for $3.95? CFS for $14.95? Cheese enchiladas for $10.95? Filet
Mignon (8 oz.) for $23.95? You can get almost anything on the menu for half
the price, and (I'm assuming in some cases) equal quality at Los Barrios,
County Line, Outback, and any number of other local places. And the
top-shelf Margaritas, with which they probably won the Express-News Critics
Choice Award, are $9.00!
I used to hear the expression "self-licking ice cream cone" a lot, and this
place brought it to mind again; IMHO, they've been completely taken in by
their own hype. For us, it goes into the ranks of "been there, done that."
-DrJ-
of this one and hit another semi-new highly-touted restaurant.
The original site for Scenic Loop Cafe was established about 20 years ago, I
believe, starting out as Stallion on the Roof, and characterized by the
large sculpture of a stallion on the roof. It is located adjacent to the
equestrian center at Boerne Stage Road and Scenic Loop Road in far NW Bexar
County.
With limestone walls, tile floors and timber ceilings, the place is very
noisy. What was probably a dropped stack of dishes in the kitchen had me
shoving C- under the table and reaching for the butter knife as a weapon.
The clientele was well above hoi polloi, at least in their own minds. There
were obviously a lot of "Dr. & Mrs. ____" families there, not to mention a
little Britney Spears wannabe wearing her white riding outfit and a
permanent sneer.
The food? Well, after sticker-shock subsided, C- got the Chicken Fried
Steak with a side of macaroni and cheese, and I felt adventurous and tried
the Chile Relleno de Espinaca. We also had a couple of house Margaritas.
The Chile Relleno had nothing "stuffed" about it; the dish appeared to be a
butterflied poblano chile with lightly sautéed spinach on top of it, covered
with a thin but piquant and flavorful white cheese sauce. There seemed to
be a lot of stem in the pepper, though, as there were several unchewable
bites.
The CFS fared slightly better. C-'s only complaint was that the gravy
tasted like old bacon grease. I tried it and, to me, it tasted like new
bacon grease, of which I am very fond. I get to eat the rest of it for
breakfast. The Margaritas had a good balance of sweet, sour, and tequila,
and were quite good, though no better than most local handmade ones.
The service is best described as adequate but unimpressive, distinguished
mostly by an obvious lack of enthusiasm.
My biggest disappointment: they are pretentiously expensive. Chips and
salsa for $3.95? CFS for $14.95? Cheese enchiladas for $10.95? Filet
Mignon (8 oz.) for $23.95? You can get almost anything on the menu for half
the price, and (I'm assuming in some cases) equal quality at Los Barrios,
County Line, Outback, and any number of other local places. And the
top-shelf Margaritas, with which they probably won the Express-News Critics
Choice Award, are $9.00!
I used to hear the expression "self-licking ice cream cone" a lot, and this
place brought it to mind again; IMHO, they've been completely taken in by
their own hype. For us, it goes into the ranks of "been there, done that."
-DrJ-