La Margarita Restaurant & Oyster Bar

Great margaritas, good food, subpar service, rowdy scene.
8:30 on a Saturday night, the place was packed, but less so compared to the super touristy Mi Tierra Café y Panaderia next door. Our server was either tired, overwhelmed, or simply didn’t care too much about our party of two (there were some bigger parties in our section along with a duo of cops on break). It was like pulling teeth to get the complimentary chips & salsa (it was good though) and to get our order in. My Spanish is very rusty thanks to living out in the Midwest for over a decade, and I actually was nervous that our server wouldn’t get our orders right (his English was kind of questionable), but thankfully it was right, although the bill was debatable regarding the items ordered (it wasn’t that much of a dollar difference so whatever)… The food hit the spot for the tex-​mex craving, but I have definitely had better in Houston (this was my first tex-​mex experience in SA), so it was kind of a let down.

We stopped here on our way through San Antonio because it’s always been a favorite. Food was good. Service was decent.

Stopped in to get a drink. Ordered the Jumbo Mango Margharitta and my wife ordered the Besito. Both were very good but the Margharitta was low in the Tequila. The Besito was good. Had a cherry flavor but don’t let the picture on the menu fool you. It is no bigger than a double shot glass. Disappointed in that. Will come back.

I read other reviews about this place being touristy, but I’m from Round Rock so Im officially a tourist! We had lunch at La Margarita, after visiting UTSA downtown campus for my daughter. This is one of two (MI Tierra) classic Mexican restaurants located in the historic marketplace in downtown San Antonio. I went with the steak fajita burrito with a side of beans and rice. We also ordered some queso for the delicious corn chips and salsa that was provided when you are seated. The queso was not good. It tasted like cheese out of a can. So next time we will skip it. Service was quick and my meal was just ok. We will have to try a different place to eat next time. The market area wasn’t that busy with it being a Wednesday. We’ve been in the area during the weekend and this place is normally crawling with out of towners. We will be back just because I enjoy walking around here.

Food was very good. Happy hour margaritas even better. Food and rice was great. Black beans didn’t have much flavor. Will be back for sure.

Good food with a casual atmosphere and a nice place to hang out and have a good time with family and friends. Beef and chicken fajitas are very good and chips and salsa are endless. My last visit was approximately 20 years ago. It is just as good now as it was then! The portions are generous, the servers are attentive and polite, and the prices are very reasonable…

Nice environment and has a patio area to sit outside :) Located in Market Square so it’s a nice area for the family to also tag along.

The setting is nice but the foods so so. The shrimp ceviche was plain and just sour through and through. The beef taco salad is a little better, at least it’s tender and has beef flavor. You know right away from the salsa and chip that it’s just another tourists eat trap.

We usually avoid tourist traps, this restaurant is located in the historic San Antonio market square. We came here for one reason oysters, coming from Michigan we figured this would be are best opportunity to have oysters, since we were not traveling to Houston or Galvastan, Tx.
Chips and salsa come to your table, I must admit the salsa was your average gringo salsa. The chips were very average. For entrée we ordered two dozen of the oysters la margarita. These are baked with picante salsa and Monterrey jack cheese, than served with guacamole and pick de gallo, these were pretty good, I would still give the edge to Gilholey’s near Galvastan, but we were happy with the oysters. We also decided to share the campenchana, which contained nice sized oysters and shrimp. It was a little sweet for our taste, but once we added lime and vinegar it was exactly the way we liked it.

Chips and salsa are good and fresh! queso was Tasty & Hot. Michi’s (your favorite beer, Clamato & tabasco) are yummy! Good olé SA style :-) Another fellow Unilocaler complains about the food being fatty Really?!? Helloooooo we are talking San Antonio Texas Mexican food. what did you expect?!? With that being said. I opted for the fajitas mixed with Spanish rice and charro beans. It was decent nothing like oooooahhhhhh. Your paying for downtown market square & that SA ambience that’s it… if you want a restaurant that’s is still Tex Mex and delicious try Lupe Tortilla off ²⁸¹⁄₁₆₀₄. The fajitas and corn tortillas are fabulous at that restaurant.

It’s a very tourist place, but it’s definitely a great suggestion for someone who wants to see the historical culture of San Antonio. It’s a fun place to bring out of state relatives.
On my most recent visits I tried the mole enchiladas and the chicken and beef fajitas. I LOVED the fajitas. Rice and beans were delicious as well.
Staff was fun and nice. Very helpful when I was looking for my party. It’s a good business and a consistent quality.

Absolutely love this place! I never come downtown San Antonio without making time for La Margaritas!
Great food! Great service!

I am not a fan of this tourist trap — here’s why:
If you’re a tourist, by all means, get your TexMex on at La Margarita. If you’re a local, you have better places to spend your time and money.
The menu options are too fattening. Forget about trying to get a healthy meal, and don’t even try to get a good vegetarian meal. Everything has cheese, rice, beans, heavy sauces, frying, or breading. You can’t escape it. There’s a reason San Antonio is one of the fattest cities in the country… lifestyles built on menus like this!
If you want a big portion of texmex unhealthiness and a decent margarita, this is your spot.

I’m not a big fan of eating downtown as most of the places are just touristy. But, my best friend was in town for business, and he wanted to eat somewhere downtown. On top of that, it had to be Mexican food (not a problem for me). I offered up several suggestions, and this is where he picked.
Along with another friend, the 3 of us headed downtown. I warned him of a long wait but was shocked when we arrived. Nobody was in line, and it was so quite that I thought they were closed. We walked in and were seated immediately.
Chips and salsa came quickly, along with menus. Our wonderful waiter took our drink orders and returned quickly. We placed our food orders and commenced to consume our chips and drinks.
Our food arrived quickly, and there was a ton of it. We probably ordered enough food to feed 5 – 6 folks. The food was really hot and fresh and was very tasty.
The entire experience was good, and my friend really enjoyed himself. I enjoyed it enough that I am going to add to my regular rotation.

Touristy place #4. We chose this place over the other place (Mi Tierra), which I believe is their sister restaurant, so no money loss. :)
Here, we were able to sit on the patio and enjoy the warm San Antonio air. My hair may not like it, but I do.
The only reason we chose this place over Mi Tierra was that they have fish tacos everyday. Mi Tierra only serves them as a Friday special. These are fish tacos the way they should be served. You only get two per order, and they are small, like street tacos. But, we each had one and we also had the Acapulco Enchiladas, which also came as two, but we’re more substantial. They were pleasantly filled with shrimp, crab, and fish.
My mom wanted to substitute the corn tortillas for flour one on the fish tacos. I had to convince that corn was the authentic way to go, and they were house made. I won. Although my mom probably would have liked them the way Baja Fresh serves them. They were good, but mere morsels. They came with rice and beans and all the side fixings. I think they were just under $ 8.00.
Had my Texas beer #3: Lone Star.