Meson European Dining

Oh my god, this is a terrible restaurant. Went there on a weekend with the wife, and the establishment was virtually empty. When my food came out (a chicken dish) I realized why. Some of the worst food I’ve eaten; it seemed old, slathered in cream sauce to compensate for the taste. To make matters worse, I had a Groupon for the meal and honored all of the voucher terms, yet the restaurant manager wouldn’t uphold it! We wouldn’t pay for the meal without using the Groupon (prices are ridiculously high), so the manager calls the police on-​site. Thankfully, the matter got decided in our favor and we left without a problem. I’d rather have avoided this situation, and the manager not try to stick us. While the Groupon terms were printed in plain English, the manager struggled with the language and couldn’t interpret his Groupon as written. He was argumentative, and even insulting. For example, he actually said «I knew you two wanted free food when you arrived» which was highly offensive. In a nutshell, Meson has bad food, bad service, and management with no business sense. We will never go back.

If this place was half the price they’d get 4 or 5 stars but they’re not so they get 2.
Ambiance ⁴⁄₅ stars: In terms of ambiance, don’t judge this book by its cover. Yes, it’s at one end of a newer strip mall in Stone Oak and when we conjure up images of virtually everything in a strip mall, ambiance isn’t usually one of the images. However, once inside you are greeted by a lovely interior décor with fresh orchids, elegantly appointed tables with large cushioned armchairs surrounding the tables on the periphery.
Service ²⁄₅: While kind, the service is sketchy. The complaints run the gamut from spotty English to waiting an eternity for your check. One thing that can’t be said about Meson — they certainly do not have an intrusive staff…
Food ³⁄₅: And I rounded up… The food was good at half the price but at full price, well, I and my wife expected more in terms of quality and flavor. That being said, we did enjoy our meals but should have been wowed.
We started with the Caesar Salad for two which the prepare tableside by making homemade dressing. My wife complained to me that it was a tad spicy because they do use a few shakes of chili pepper flakes. The need to ask their customers before going to town with the heat… Other than that, the salad was quite nice — it had large leaves, a mustardy dressing, and was quite large in size.
My wife ate their Trout Aphrodisiac (I think they got the recipe wrong — LOL) which was served with small scallops, mussels, a side of pasts (or potatoes — your choice) and some vegetables. The fish was nicely cooked and presented but she did find the fish a bit tough but not enough to warrant complaint.
I had the linguini with meatballs. They were supposed to be stuffed with cheese but maybe the cheese leaked out of mine. The flavors were nice but I found the sauce a tad watery. Portion wise, fill up on the bread which is excellent.
We finished our meal with their Strawberries in Champagne which is as described — they dust strawberries in powdered sugar, put them in a martini glass, and top off with champagne. We both enjoyed it and the dry champagne went well with the sweetness of the strawberries and powdered sugar.
One final factor in knocking Meson down a star is for not going the extra mile. This was my wife’s birthday dinner and, not to sound cheap, I was expecting dessert «on the house» as every other restaurant that I have ever been to offers. Literally, every restaurant I have ever been to on a birthday offered something for the birthday boy or girl. I think, when you’re most of the way to a $ 100 bill, a piece of cake for the occasion would be nice.

We had Sunday lunch. They have a nice lunch menu even on Sunday. Our soups and salads were excellent. Entrée Chicken Marco Polo was great as was the salmon.
Everyone was friendly and attentive. Good service and good food equals five stars.

This was like the 7^th 8 time i have visited Meson, however it was the first in about 2 years. I always thought that it can be a but pricey at times, but the quality of service has never been in question. On Unilocal it is listed as closing at 2AM. However, it closes at 1030PM. We were going for a nightcap of a long night of restaurant hopping and arrived at 1045PM.
The owner saw us standing at the door, and invited us in without hesitation. We had the strawberry flambee and the signature Café Meson coffe liquor, both prepared table side.
It was the first time my company had flambee and they thought it was delicious. It wasn’t too sweet, light, and a bit tangy with a hint of cinnamon. The signature Café Meson was a great complement to the flmabee and a perfect way to end the night. Crème liquor with a flame set it, poured to the delight and amusement of the nearby spectators. It’s only a small show, but a delightful dining experience i hope others have the opportunity to enjoy.

My husband and I really like this place. It is an event so expect to be here over an hour. I love that your not rushed and that you can enjoy your meal and conversation. I absolutely love the lamb here it is the best I have found in the city. Martin the owner is very kind and is always there. The ambience is very nice and quiet you don’t have to shout at your partner or try and talk above a blaring radio. Occasionally, they have a musician which is rather nice and still you can hear yourself think and carry a nice conversation. The prices are extremely fair.

Absolutely the WORST SERVICE EVER! I constantly go to fine dining restaurants and this by far is the worst I’ve encountered.
I had a reservation for 4 on Valentine’s Day at 8:00 when we got there we had to wait 20 min for our table (wasn’t a huge issue). However, we sat down and it took 20 for someone to only great us! We had no water or anything! Finally someone brought us water and bread but didn’t even take our drink order. We finally had a server introduce themselves and she had no idea what she was doing. I asked her for a bottle of wine but she didn’t even know the bottle. My fiancé decided to order a scotch and she didn’t even know what that was! It took 45 min for me to receive my bottle of wine and another 10 for my fiancé to receive his scotch neat WHICH WASNT EVEN IN A SCOTCH GLASS! It was in a shit glass!! When she brought our soups/​salads we finished them and our plates sat there for another 30 min. We then asked for more bread several times but it never came. Finally after 2 ½ hours we received our food. We are so fast because we were hungry and when we inquired about dessert. They didn’t have anymore! I asked to speak with the manager who constantly gave excuse after excuse for the horrible service. He paid for half our bill thankfully but I will never go here again. Save yourself from disappointment DO NOT DINE HERE!!! WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!

This restaurant has the best coffee in town. I asked what kind of coffee they used. The owner said is was some blend, but told me they filter the water and that makes the difference. He brought me a glass of water and I must say it was alpine fresh. I like water and notice the marked differences in taste. I had trout. It was good not great – good. My friend ordered chicken and loved it. The food was fresh, the service good and management very accommodating. Portions are European styled.

In one word, atrocious! Probably the worst meal and experience we have had dining in San Antonio. We bought a Groupon, and decided to give this atrocious place a try. When we got there on a Sunday around 1pm, there was only another set of elderly people eating in the main dining room and another party in the other seating area. The décor is from the 1940’s. We sat ourselves per the sign, and the waitress came over. It became evident that she did not speak English from the get go. Big red flag. After about 15 minutes, our order was taken. She did not know the menu, could not understand what we wanted, could not answer our questions, and my husband had to literally point to items on the menu as he was was clueless. Given the few people present in the restaurant, we expected the food to be delivered promptly. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the French onion soup, which was bland and tasteless. Then another 10 – 15 minutes for the Tortelleti, which was disgusting — full of cheap, greasy, oily cream. Then another 30 – 45 minutes pass, and our entrees come. I got the beef tenderloin — it was pathetic, this tiny piece of cheap meat with 3 potatoes comes out! You would think that for $ 25 steak, you would get an actual decent steak! My husband’s chicken, the Marco Polo, was even more atrocious — it was this cheap, sliced piece of rubbery chicken with some broccoli — do they know what «stuffed» means? Clearly not. Over 2 hours had passed for an awful meal. We had to ask twice for our water to be refilled — the non English speaking waitress did not ask us at all if our food was ok, whether she could refill our water, nothing. She also got my husband’s order wrong — he specifically asked for angel hair and she brought him oily fetuccini. At the end of all of this, we just wanted to get our check and leave. It took a good 10 – 15 minutes to get the attention of the waitress and get our check — we had informed her of our Groupon, she nodded her head. Still no check after 10 minutes. We had called the other waiter over at that point as we wanted our check. We re informed him that we had a Groupon. At that point he goes on to tell us that he won’t accept our Groupon because he doesn’t accept them for lunch! We are thinking what? We tell him that’s not what the Groupon says. Then he starts getting aggressive, in his broken English, telling us how we did business with Groupon and take it up with them, not him. We tell him that’s not our problem, the whole lunch stipulation is not stated in the Groupon so that we expect our Groupon to be accepted. He goes on to bring another Groupon and start reading in his terrible broken English the «fine print» — as he’s reading, he makes up rules, we correct him numerous times from what he’s reading, and he can’t even understand the difference between «diner» and «dinner»!! I tell him it’s not our fault that he has a language barrier. Can you believe this guy? He tells us how it’s a «fake Groupon» and how «he did not sell it to us.» I told him, this is business, if you sell Groupons you are obligated to accept them. This is the US and it’s business. I tell him I’m sorry he does ot understand the linguistic differences between the two words but he is obligated to accept it. I tell him otherwise call the police and asked my husband to do the same. We bought called the police. Then he tells us to «leave and not come back again» and how «the first time he saw us he knew we wanted free food.» Completely racist comment! We told us I won’t charge you just leave. We waited until the police came because we did not want this atrocious human being to misrepresent things. Police came, talked to us and him, and the police officer even told him — Sir, it does not say what you are saying, and he sided with us. He even asked him, we are not going to have any problems then? And then we left after making sure this liar and deceitful person would not make up stuff. It is unbelievable that this man would not understand how to do business in the US, that you do not insult customers, and that you do not make racist, prejudiced statements. Not only will I be contacting Groupon, but I will be filing a complaint and probably a lawsuit as well for his racist comments. It is unacceptable that someone working in the US would not have a sufficient handle of the English language to do business here, and that his staff’s inability to speak English and not understand something as basic as we have a Groupon! would create such an unacceptable situation. I hope this restaurant is ready for the complaint that’s coming.

One of the rare times my husband and I have gotten to go on a solo lunch date and we finally made it to Meson, sans children! We have passed this cute restaurant many times and I always comment that I want to try it so I was excited we finally got the chance.
When we arrived to the quaint little café there was only one other couple dining. It was a little chilly and I had been hoping for a warm room on the rare cold day in San Antonio. My husband and I both had a soup and he got a salad as well, all delicious! Meson also features a special water, which really was good! Now, this is where the 5^th star drops off. My meal was delicious, I highly recommend it. I ordered the eggplant Parmesan and it was so good, I ate every drop of food off my plate. My husband, however, was not as thrilled with his meal, he got the baked chicken Marco Polo. The chicken was kind of tough and didn’t have very good flavor.
All in all we had a very good experience and would definitely go back again, and probably still with our children.

Very nice «find»! Had heard about it and the experience was very nice indeed!

Skip this place. Went there for lunch with coworkers. Not going again.
The water, the bread, the salad, the apps, the meal — it all arrived separately and it all took an excruciatingly long time to arrive. I was eager to get back to work eventually and I just didn’t have that kind of patience. Not sure what the deal was — we seemed to be the only people there. Even the bill had to be asked for and took some time to arrive.
The food was mediocre at best. I’ve tasted better $ 2 tacos from trucks. I had ordered salad, noodles and potatoes. I got the noodles. I didn’t even finish the meal because it just wasn’t that interesting.
The two people working didn’t seem to be on the same page: the person taking the order didn’t communicate the orders to the person delivering them — they were just guessing and asking.
There was an eyelash in my meal. Not a huge deal but it makes me wonder about cleanliness.
There was no silver on the table before the salad arrived — we had to ask for it. We had a reservation which, in my mind, means we called ahead and specified that we wanted a table set aside for us and ready at a specific time. Apparently that doesn’t mean silverware is set before our arrival.
Elevator jazz. Is that what Europeans listen to? It certainly isn’t what I want to hear for two hours.
The only decent thing about the place was the prices: it wasn’t cheap but it really wasn’t that bad either. Note: the experience wasn’t worth any price anyway.
As mentioned before, we seemed to be the only people there. Maybe this is a hint?

Wonderful Dining Experience, The Owner was Amazing and a Master Craft, Food is Outstanding, I Will Be Going Back! A Must! Martin is a Wonderful Host and The Food is OUTSTANDING!

Meson is truly a gem and Martin is one of a kind. He personally comes by to great new patrons and knows his regulars by name. The food is always amazing and my husband can never seem to get enough of the lamb chops and their seafood dishes are always fresh. Meson is one of our «date night» favorites.

«Exquisite service and dining! Wine was a smooth bold California cab. which made a great combination with that awesome piping hot bread! House salad like picked fresh from the garden. Meal was a mouth watering chicken marsala with small red potatoes and slightly steamed veggies. Ordinarily I don’t finish whole meal, but this was too good to be etiquette!»
Finish your review

I am a business traveler and seek out good quality food during my trips. I am happy I stumbled across Meson as it truly is an amazing restaurant. It was so good I ate there two nights in a row. The first night I enjoyed a house salad with their homemade Italian dressing. The dressing was the best I have ever had. I had the trout for dinner and it was prepared perfectly. Simply grilled with salt and pepper. I cannot comment on dessert as I do not like sweets.
The second night four of my co-​workers joined me. They were very impressed with my recommendation and thanked me for the wonderful experience. The service was exceptional and they treated us like VIP guests. The owner brought us an assortment of appetizers that were delicious; calamari, jumbo cocktail shrimp, escargot, and artichokes. For dinner I had the lamb and it was amazing. One of my co-​workers enjoyed the lamb as well, one had the trout, and the other two ordered steaks. Not one complaint as everything was perfect! I would also like to add that the wine selection is very nice. I prefer California reds and there is a wide variety to choose from.
I would like to thank the owner, Martin, for a wonderful dining experience. What a treat!

The bread here is so simple and so good! Nothing I like more than piping hot rolls that crunchy on the outside and pillowy soft on the inside. I liked the Cesar salad as well. My dinner choice tonight was chicken piccata. It was an ample serving served with yummy sauce and big slices of mushrooms. Atop perfectly al dente fettuccine and a side of veggies, this was enough to fill me up! No desert here… didn’t want to ruin the taste of my entrée.

Horrible service and rude personnel. The quality of the food is well below the price they set for it.

Go back to Europe if this is how you think you can treat customers.
If you own this place, I hope you take this seriously so you can improve your business practices because I’m all about supporting the small business. I just wont support a small business if the service is this terrible.
Strike 1: My friend and I walked in at 7pm and proceeded to seat ourselves (since the sign said ‘please seat yourself’) and the owner immediately ran up to us and turned us away stating that we needed a reservation and would have to come back in 45 minutes or another day.
Strike 2: I called the next day to make reservations, asking for 7pm. The owner stumbled over his words a bit and said we would have to come at 6:45pm or not at all… umm ok.
Strike 3: My boyfriend came with me this time and we walked in at 6:40pm. There was nobody to seat us but there was that sign again that said «please seat yourself» so we did. Not sure what all the reservation fuss was about because nobody came up to us and asked for our names or turned us away this time.
Strike 4: The owner noticed we sat down about 5 minutes after we had been there and hurriedly said «we will be right with you, water and bread are on the way.» 10 minutes later, two glasses of water and two tiny rolls in a giant basket were set on our table by a woman who never introduced herself… she gave us a look and walked off.
Strike 5: After we have been in the restaurant for 20 minutes, our waiter FINALLY comes up to us and greets us. Should I point out that by now, it’s 7pm… the time we originally wanted our reservation for?
1 Star Moment: I produced the Groupon that we had (worth $ 40) for an appetizer, two entrees & a dessert. He was very nice, explained how it worked and asked for our drink order and proceeded to take our appetizer and meal order.
Strike 6: It took about 20 minutes for the tiny plate of Calamari to come out which we devoured in no time because by this time we were starving since we had been there for almost an hour.
Strike 7: Our actual meal didn’t come out until at LEAST 30 minutes after our appetizer plate was picked up. There was no empathy or personality from the wait staff. The food wasn’t that great, we both got chicken plates that were normally around $ 23 each and I would never pay that much money to go back and eat food that bland again.
Strike 8: The waiter waited about 20 minutes until after we were finished with our food to come over and ask if we wanted a to-​go box so I figured with this trend of not coming around but every 20 minutes, we may as well ask for dessert and the check of whatever we owed that was extra so we could get out of there.
Strike 9: I could have baked a cake in the time it took for them to bring us out a slice of chocolate cake. Which I have to say is THE only reason I’m giving this restaurant 1 star because it was delicious.
All in all, we were there over 2 hours and were totally ignored. Now I know what you may think if you are reading this. «Well they had a Groupon so you can’t expect good service» Actually, it should be the exact opposite because if I would have gotten good service and hadn’t had to wait forever and ever, I would have gone back and paid full price for the overpriced meal if it meant that I had a good time with my loved ones.

Excellent food! My husband and I dined here on a Sunday for a late lunch.
There were only two other seated tables, but the food still came out fresh and delicious.
Service was superb and the atmosphere is elegant but simple. they also gave us a 20 percent off incentive for the next time we dined there.
Great for romantic dates or just a nice lunch. Great place!

The food here was excellent. Very cute place, a lot to like about it! The bread was great, the asparagus soup was delicious…
It had some delicious gourmet choices. As good as it gets to give it 5 stars? I can’t help but wonder if there are some better places out of there for this price