Reliable. Reliably Good.

Garibaldi Mexican Restaurant
4515 Fredericksburg Road

across from Crossroads ... uh, Wonderland of the Americas Mall.

You really can't read too much into the fact that, after a week and a half abroad — during which the only Mexican food I had was a laughable German imitation, at a place that happened to be showing the soccer match I wanted to see on its big screen — the first place I'd go to for lunch is Garibaldi's. I mean, yeah, it's pretty good, but it's not, you know, great. 

It appears the City of San Antonio is
ignorant of the existence of this place.
No health inspection record found.

I discovered this converted all-you-can-devour steak place, oh, a few years ago, when I needed a taco fix. In my own neighbourhood, good taquerías litter the ground like those cigarette butts environmentalists are always warning against, the ones that persist for hundreds of years (which makes me wonder, where are they all? Shouldn't they be piling up in the streets and alleyways by now? But I digress). But in the area of town that starts, oh, a few blocks inside Loop 410 — the area fondly known as Loopland — they get to be a little on the sparse side. This location (there are a few around town) is, therefore, almost an outpost of good Tex-Mex.

One thing I particularly like about Garibaldi is their corn tortillas. Now, I'm not really that big a fan of corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are more to my gringo tastes; but corn tortillas are better, nutritionally. Unfortunately most corn tortillas taste to me like the box that pre-fab taco shells come in. At Garibaldi, though, they are just thick enough to do their duty, very soft, and with a slightly buttery taste. Garibaldi's is the first Tex-Mex place I ever found were I liked my tacos on corn as well as I did on flour. Call it a sentimental favourite.

The coffee is good here, too. Nothing fancy, none of that rot-your-spoon industrial-strength Seattle coffee shop stuff, just plain ol' caffeine in suspension. The staff makes sure you have it timely and in good quantity, as they do everything else. 

I've been to Garibaldi's maybe two dozen times, both for breakfast and lunch. I've always had excellent service, and always felt the prices were a little bit on the pleasing side. The food has, too, although nothing about it stands out enough to give it that extra half-chili-pepper rating. Whether it's chilaquiles or chili relleno, it's made fresh with good quality ingredients, and prepared by someone who knows their way around a cocina. It's reliable, and I mean that as strong praise.