Maria Mia Mexican Bistro

Reviews

• ★★★★☆ Guacamole Appetizer Rio Carbon (Fajita) Enchiladas Visited Jul 5, 2021

  Not The Kind Of Mexican Food Tourists Should Be Introduced To

  This was my first time eating here, and unfortunately, I left pretty disappointed. I had seen this restaurant many a time when visiting the Riverwalk, but as a local never tried it. I was interested in trying it out to see if it really was good Mexican food.
  
  We started with the guacamole dip appetizer, which was the best thing we had during the meal. It had good flavor, was seasoned well and was the standout item of the evening, but it was also $10 for a largish portion of guacamole, and some diced tomato.
  
  For my entree, I ordered the fajita enchiladas or "Rio Carbon". Unfortunately, they were very bland. The enchiladas didn't have much flavor, and the sauce was unimpressive and labeled as "meat sauce", and the fajita meat didn't add any flavor. The meat sauce was very chili powder heavy, which set the flavor for the whole dish. The rice was really lacking in flavor, and overall, there really wasn't much of anything on the plate that stood out.
  
  Service was another issue, our waiter was attentive and came by our table frequently, but there seemed to be a communication problem. If we didn't use the exact name of something as it appeared on the menu. For example saying "I'd like the fajita enchilada plate" he seemed confused about what I was ordering, but "I'd like the Rio Carbon plate with beef" was understood.
  
  I also found the prices to be on the high side, especially considering the quality of the food. What bothered me more was that the food didn't really taste like San Antonio Tex-Mex. The restaurant's website talked about the family having been in the restaurant business for decades, so I expected the local style of Mexican food found all over the city to be the type here. Especially in a restaurant located in such a heavily visited tourist area.

  — Paul