Ray's Drive Inn

Reviews

• ★★★★½ Cheese Enchiladas Beef Puffy Taco Visited Jan 22, 2019

  Inventor Of The Puffy Tacos? How Are They Compared To Others?

  Over the years I've had people mention Rays to me. Apparently a long time argument has been going on about who the original creator of the Puffy Taco is. Ray's is one of the places that claims the title. The original owner even owns the patent on them. They've been featured on Travel Channel, San Antonio Express News paper, Texas Monthly magazine, and others.
  
  So having grown up in San Antonio, and eaten puffy tacos at about a dozen places, I decided to give this place a try.
  
  First off, the outward appearance lets you know this place has been here a while. It has the classic drive up car hop look. An aluminum roof wraps around the building providing covered parking and on a hot day keeps your car cool while eating inside.
  
  The menu contained a variety of your regular Mexican plates, and shortly after ordering, my plate of puffy tacos along with a little basket of chips and salsa arrived.
  
  The actual puffy taco here were a little different from other places I'd had them. Many places the taco is doughy, thicker with a flaky outside and moist corn center. Rays tacos were thinner shells, inflated up while frying with little to no center, however a bit chewier than other places. Other than the minor difference in the shell, the picadillo meat, and toppings of (cheese, lettuce, & chopped tomato) were much on par with the puffy tacos I've had at many a place.
  
  I returned a 2nd time with a friend, and that time tried the enchilada plate with a puffy taco. The enchiladas were so-so, not even coming close to the puffy taco's flavor. So if I were to return again, Id either try another item, or just get the puffy tacos again.
  
  Overall, the tacos were good, but maybe not as good as others Ive had. The service decent, and the prices fair, but the location is buried a bit on the west side. Its an out of the way location if your not in the neighborhood, but seeing how Ray's is a long local establishment, its worth a trip to check out the place that Puffy Tacos started.
  
  (The Bexar County Courthouse Jury Room even has a painting of Ray's Drive Inn on the wall)

  — Paul