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5 unexpected San Antonio-area restaurants with great huevos rancheros: Birotes Restaurant, Comal County Tacos, Comfort Cafe, Mendez Cafe, Tia s Taco Hut
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At Tia s Taco Hut on Chase Hill Boulevard, huevos rancheros can be ordered with papas and chorizo.Mike Sutter /StaffShow MoreShow Less
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Birotes Restaurant & Bakery is a new Mexican restaurant in Universal City.Mike Sutter /StaffShow MoreShow Less
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Along with Mexican breakfast and lunch favorites, Birotes Restaurant & Bakery in Universal City also makes an array of pan dulce.Mike Sutter /StaffShow MoreShow Less
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Comal County Tacos is a popular stop for breakfast tacos and more in Spring Branch.Mike Sutter /StaffShow MoreShow Less
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Critic s picks: The best 25 San Antonio restaurant dishes of 2020, from an enchilada-puffy taco hybrid to roasted octopus
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For more than 40 days starting in March, San Antonio restaurant dining rooms sat empty as COVID-19 forced lockdowns in the pandemic’s early days. So when Aldo’s Ristorante Italiano and hundreds of other restaurants opened their dining rooms at 25 percent capacity May 1, it wasn’t just dinner; it was deliverance albeit on a razor’s edge of uncertainty.
Through carryout, curbside, delivery and the slow restoration of in-person dining, restaurants have kept the faith. And through them, we’ve found comfort, and comfort food.
The torta ahogada at Birotes Tortas Ahogadas in San Antonio.
Photograph by José R. Ralat
Despite the struggles of a global pandemic and the subsequent recession, 2020 has been an extraordinary year for tacos and Mexican cuisine. The creativity and resilience with which taquerias and restaurants have responded to unprecedented adversity is uplifting. I’ve eaten better this year, in and out of dining rooms, than ever before. Before COVID-19 swept through Texas, I was able to squeeze in a quick trip into Matamoros, Brownsville’s sister city across the border. Had I been able to get back to Mexico at least one more time, I’m sure this list would’ve been longer. It is nevertheless a roundup of excellent eats (in no particular order) from across the state and just across the Rio Grande. I’d eagerly scarf all of these again, pronto.