1909 Bar & Bistro

Bad appetizer. Great everything else.
1909 Bar & Bistro occupies the lobby of the Hotel Indigo, but feels a little disconnected. We stopped in for a late dinner during our stay at the hotel and here’s what we found.
We began with an appetizer of cheese fries, but these were not your traditional cheese fries. The waffle fries were topped by blue cheese, green onions and maybe bacon. I guess that may have been a decent combination had the fries been soft, but they were mostly rock hard and burnt. It was a real disaster on a plate.
What came next redeemed the place. My Cuban sandwich was darn near perfect. The fries accompanying it weren’t, but that sandwich. Yum. We also had a Cesar salad which was huge, well dressed and fresh. Everything except the fries was just great.
I hope they fix their fry issue because I’d love to be back for that Cuban sandwich.

We ended up here after a ghost tour.
The guy at the bar was the kinda rude.
The food is a bit pricy. However, the Caesar salad was phenomenal and huge.
Our drinks were only refilled if we went to the bar. There was no service for our party, except when they served the food otherwise everything else was up to us.
Getting to the bathrooms in his place was painful as they are in the basement with no signage for directing you there.
The 10 or 20% off (I honestly can’t remember what it was) of drinks for showing the ghost tour wrist bad wasn’t worth it in my opinion.
They have valet parking, which was convenient.
There’s many options downtown, so next time I’ll skip that place and go somewhere that actually has decent service.

My wife and I visited the bar/​bistro in an impulse for drinks and dinner while downtown. We always enjoy sitting at the bar rather than at a table, so we were happy to find ample bar seating. The ambiance was unremarkable, but the bartender on duty last night (Katherine?) was charming and friendly, always with a smile. She made us feel welcome. And she made the best-​ever Dirty Mary and Margarita! We decided to have her take our meal orders and she was very helpful and knowledgeable. Her recommendations were excellent as our dishes were wonderful and reasonably priced. I had the Cuban sandwich and my wife had the South Texas fish taco. I wish I could say our entire dining experience was as enjoyable as the bartender, but although the dishes were excellent, the kitchen was abysmally slow. The bartender kept us aware of the status of our order, and apologized for the slow delivery of our meal, even though she was not to blame. When Katherine finally delivered it from the kitchen she seemed a bit crestfallen that it was not as prompt as we would have hoped, but her sparkling personality more than made the difference, resulting in an overall positive experience. So, all in all, we rate the kitchen promptness 2/​5, the meal itself when it finally arrived ⁴⁄₅ and Katherine the bartender ⁵⁄₅.

Very comfortable atmosphere. Food was well prepared. Service was soooo sloooow Friendly but very slow.

Checked this place out, courtesy of Groupon. Was a Friday night and only two people at the bar. NO diners. And such a great location. Was surprised that this space is being used as a restaurant. Looks more like a bar. Servers we dealt with were friendly but not overly knowledgeable about the food on the menu. Could only recommend based on previous orders taken. It was clear that they don’t do tastings there, either that or the servers know better than to eat the food! ;-)
Started with an appetizer of chips with guacamole and queso… tiny servings of the dips. The guac was quite good. Food was OK. My brother loved his spinach salad. My niece enjoyed her chicken alfredo. The fish tacos were just OK. The spicy sauce on them was good, but the fish was over-​fried first and not much of it on the tortilla. Just can’t find any place to beat Beto’s fish tacos!
Two of us ordered their margarita. It was just awful and not worth the $ 10 they charge. They would be better off using Cuervo mixer! But, we got lucky, in a manner of speaking! One of the margaritas had a baby roach swimming in it. AUGH! So both drinks were taken off the bill. No offer of replacement drink was made, which surprised me.
Not a very impressive experience overall. The only memorable part was the baby roach. Doesn’t say much. Glad we had the Groupon and didn’t pay full price!

Was really a bad experience. A friend and I ordered burgers… was the worst burgers we ever had. The meat was 2 patties pressed together and was like rubber from being heated up in a microwave… it wasn’t even hot enough to melt the cheese. The buns were not ever grilled or toasted, they were cold right out of the bag and were very dry and stale. Also ordered the chips and Queso not enough cheese to go with the chips very small bowl of cheese, tasted ok but could tell it was heated in the microwave becasue it had a skin over the top from not being stired.

First off, they’re menu online is no longer up to date and everything I originally wanted they longer serve. So I ordered the Houston poblano tacos. Gross. It was literally a fish filet with some cilantro and sauce on a flour tortilla. My hubbs had the maverick burger which was rather small and he said it was nothing extraordinary about it. I’m giving this place 2 stars because at least the hamburger looked okay and the staff was friendly.

I am staying at the hotel Indigo. I was weary of going to a place in a hotel, by too many bad experiences. I was surprised. The service is very friendly and casual. The food is very good. I love the view of the Alamo from my seat. Try the chorizo and egg tacos for breakfast, it’s great. I will be back tonight. I hear their margaritas are awesome.

So I probably had the worst restaurant experience in my life tonight. It was Groupon who’s to blame. I took their advice on a «Contemporary Bistro» (deserted sh*t hole) where «Chefs» (a nasty looking man who went outside to smoke a cigarette in front of the front window the «Bistro» after passing my table and slapping me on the shoulder saying he sure wanted the steak I was just served) «craft» (burn) «grilled ribeye steaks» ($ 3 half inch ribeye slivers) with «garlic» (crap) mashed potatoes that were so dry they crumbled and the «fresh veggies» were from a frozen medley from Wal-​Mart that they just warmed up in the microwave. That being said don’t EVER go to 1909 Bar and Bistro in San Antonio. You’ve been warned. And YES Groupon will give me my money back. I never give bad reviews unless it’s so bad that I feel the need to warn other not to go there. This is one of those places.

While planning recent a trip to San Antonio I stumbled upon a Groupon for this Restaurant inside the Indigo Hotel. The directions we were given from our Hotel staff weren’t very accurate, and the occasional few people we met on the street were giving us conflicting information as well. My husband finally called the Hotel and spoke with the Manager Cruz Rodriguez. We we rounded the corner to the Hotel and Mr Rodriguez was waiting outside for us, and kindly directed us to the Restaurant. In addition he checked on us several times throughout our meal to make certain everything was satisfactory.
Our dining experience was superb in every way. Our waitress Darline was very friendly and attentive (without being overbearing). When I inquired about the wine she was serving she brought the bottle out to show me the label so I could purchase more at a later date.
Now on to the food. We had the sampler plate with chips as an appetizer, and the guacamole was some of the best I’ve ever eaten. My Mom and I ordered the fish tacos, with beans and rice, and they were fabulous. My husband ordered a steak that was perfectly seasoned, as well as the vegetables. The cook Jose Jimenez even helped bring out the meal, I was so impressed! All in all it was a A+ in my book and I would highly recommend eating here. Enjoy!

Can’t tell you about the food or service. Never even got to sit down. All open tables were dirty. We came in the street side door because we weren’t staying at the hotel. We didn’t know there was a hotel entrance with a hostess sign until we overheard the servers talking rudely about us and our luggage. We were never greeted and just left to stand in the restaurant until we gave up and left. A server walked right past us as we exited and never said a word. They had a sticker on the door that said « Unilocalers love us». Not this one!

I was surprised when going to the Alamo early in order to grab breakfast beforehand that there weren’t many restaurant options much less many that were open in the walking area after we walked around the area a bit. Luckily, we stumbled upon this place and saw from the windows they had a breakfast buffet. The waitstaff was friendly, and we were promptly seated. They had a nice option of choices from fruit, pastries, egg quiche, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc They also were willing to make any type of coffee drink you wanted to. The only bad thing was that the scrambled eggs were a bit dry, but everything else was very tasty. It was a bit expensive at about $ 28 with tip for two, but we were still happy at the end of our meal.

I was very glad to see this place open on Christmas morning after seeing the Alamo. The service was intimate as there were a few people mulling around too. The sandwiches weren’t particularly filling but we were savaging for eats on a holiday so it was satisfying.

The first time I stumbled upon this place, my friend and I had their Margarita (on the rocks). Exceptionally good! We decided to go back three days later for the hotel chain’s signature drink which was invented by the bartender at this hotel! Although I’m not really a vodka person, the ginger-​pear martini was quite tasty, I must say! Unfortunately, this martini isn’t discounted for happy hour. However, it’s certainly worth a try!
We ordered their fish tacos which came with coleslaw, black beans, and veggie rice (i.e. tomato rice with green peas and carrots), and the hotel’s own dipping sauce which had a kick to it. The tilapia was breaded with crushed corn tortilla chips. If the wrappers had been corn tortillas instead of flour, my taste buds would have been in heaven. Even with the flour tortillas, my tacos were fabulous and I recommend them to anyone who gets hungry while visiting the Alamo or any of those touristy places lining the block across the street from it (Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Guinness Book of World Records, etc).
1909 Bar & Bistro’s creatively talented bartender told us there were three chefs in the hotel when we complimented the chef. I don’t know which one (s) came up with the fish tacos, but they certainly did themselves proud.
On my way to the powder room (which is in the outrageously colorful basement), I encountered the manager in the hallway between the bistro and the elevator. What a nice guy! Evidently his family has been working in that building since the early 1900s when there was a drugstore in the space the bistro now occupies.
The bistro closes after breakfast and doesn’t reopen until happy hour at 5:00p.

This is the restaurant and bar inside the Hotel Indigo Alamo. Banish any preconceptions you may have about the phrase «hotel restaurant»: there is nary a print of ducks on the walls or piece of forest-​green vinyl upholstery to be seen. This is a thoroughly modern outpost and we ended up here twice during our stay in the hotel.
Inside it’s bright and colorful, thanks to the modern décor and tall windows in this corner space. The marble-​topped tables have all been reclaimed from marble lining the walls of this historic landmark building (yes, this is one swanky hotel). It’s a perfect blend of old and new.
When we checked in, we were given free drink tickets since we were Priority Club guests (more on that in my review). We had made better time to San Antonio than we thought we would and dinner reservations weren’t until 9pm. Famished, we decided a snack would be in order and BF was fixated on fries. We found the 1909 menu in our hotel room and checked the appetizers section – yep, they had fries, and they were described as being sprinkled with chives and bleu cheese. Sold! When we actually ordered up, there were no chives to be found (sadface) but we made hasty work of the waffle fries, served with a bleu cheese dressing /​mayo hybrid.
The second visit was for breakfast, and for the both of us our bill was well under $ 20. I got a cranberry juice and a yogurt parfait, which was really yummy. The granola was pretty fabulous – it had a cinnamon-​y flavor to it that really perked up the plain yogurt. BF got a crossaint sandwich and coffee which kept him full until a very late lunch. The only hiccup came when it was time to get our bill for breakfast – the server seemed to have forgotten about us and we were antsy to start our day of art /​art /​food /​art /​food.
I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here, since there’s nothing terribly special going on food-​wise. But as far as a convenient stop when staying in the hotel? I was honestly impressed.