Earl Abel's, San Antonio
Sep 21, 2005, 11:34 am
#1
Company Representative - Starwood
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Earl Abel's, San Antonio
During our recent foray to The Westin Riverwalk I stopped by the concierge desk and asked for a restaurant recommendation. We were looking for something besides Mexican for a change. After some discussion of what we were looking for, I took him up on his "comfort food" recommendation and that is how we ended up at Earl Abel's.
It was an easy drive down Broadway from the hotel and the building is well-marked so you really can't miss it. The outside was decidedly art deco which clashes a bit with the Tudor-style interior, IMHO. Once inside the front door, you can tell this place packs them in at times. There was ample wait-room seating for about 60 people. The concierge had said not to let the lines discourage us as they were very efficient. But, no such wait for us on a Sunday evening and we were seated promptly with only five other patrons in line. The waitress brought menus and water. Nothing out of the ordinary was noticeable except for the exceptionally large wrist brace she was wearing.
The menu items are what you would normally expect in a place like this. They have daily specials and the soup and vegetable choices also change depending upon what day of the week it is. Fried chicken is king here. Everywhere they can, they tell you that this is their specialty...on signs outside, inside, and on the menu. But, we weren't in the mood for fried chicken, so we perused what else they offered and settled on the grilled hamburger steak with onions and mashed potatoes. It also came with a salad. I noticed that they had cream of broccoli soup on Sunday nights, so I also ordered a cup of soup. The ordering process is where it got to be rather strange. Almost Twin Peaks strange, if you know what I mean.
She had no problem understanding that grilled hamburger steak and mashed potatoes was what we both wanted, but the dressing for the salad was a bit of an issue. I ordered Thousand Island. The wife asked for vinagrette. All they had was olive oil and red wine vinegar. After a short exchange, I said, "Why don't you just bring us the red wine vinegar and olive oil and we'll make our own vinagrette."
Then she had to ask me what I want on my salad again. I reminded her about the cup of soup. "Do you want that instead of the salad?" "No, I'd like that in addition to..." 
The entire exchange was very pleasant, but still rather bizarre.
As we waited, we took a closer look around. All of the wait-staff seemed to be a little past their prime. It was like the dead elephant graveyard of wait-staff - where wait-staff once they have past their prime go to hang out before dying. But, again, everyone was very nice and accommodating.
The salads came first. I was surprised that there was a generous spring mix instead of straight iceberg with one or two tomatoes and croutons. The Thousand Island dressing seemed to be home-made even, so :-: :-: :-: for the salad course. Next came the soup. It was a bowl instead of a cup.
However, it was very tasty, so I finished it up regardless. 
After the dishes were cleared, she brought out the grilled hamburger steaks which had a generous topping of grilled onions on top. I was disappointed that there was no brown gravy on them, but she had brought out a side bowl of what they called "cracklin' gravy" which appeared to be a very thick chicken cream gravy. The color was a bit disgusting, but the flavor of it was fine. This went on the mashed potatoes, which were whipped beyond recognition and absolutely free of any signs of potato skin. Personally, I like my mashed potatoes a little chunkier and with the skins on, but this version was okay nonetheless. Also served was a basket of yeast rolls, which were okay, but if they had been served shortly after baking would have been dynamite.
They have a wide range of pies and a short selection of cakes available for dessert. The wife selected apple pie to go. It was very good and did not disappoint. Total cost was approximately $25 for two, including tip, so very reasonable, IMHO.
Altogether we got our comfort food fix and got entertained at the same time, so we will go back. Only this time, I think I'll have to make it a point to order the fried chicken so I can see what all the raving is about.
If you were expecting them to have a web site, eat somewhere else. But, I did find some mention of them at Yahoo:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguid..._san_antonio-i
Sincerely,
William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services
[email protected]
It was an easy drive down Broadway from the hotel and the building is well-marked so you really can't miss it. The outside was decidedly art deco which clashes a bit with the Tudor-style interior, IMHO. Once inside the front door, you can tell this place packs them in at times. There was ample wait-room seating for about 60 people. The concierge had said not to let the lines discourage us as they were very efficient. But, no such wait for us on a Sunday evening and we were seated promptly with only five other patrons in line. The waitress brought menus and water. Nothing out of the ordinary was noticeable except for the exceptionally large wrist brace she was wearing.
The menu items are what you would normally expect in a place like this. They have daily specials and the soup and vegetable choices also change depending upon what day of the week it is. Fried chicken is king here. Everywhere they can, they tell you that this is their specialty...on signs outside, inside, and on the menu. But, we weren't in the mood for fried chicken, so we perused what else they offered and settled on the grilled hamburger steak with onions and mashed potatoes. It also came with a salad. I noticed that they had cream of broccoli soup on Sunday nights, so I also ordered a cup of soup. The ordering process is where it got to be rather strange. Almost Twin Peaks strange, if you know what I mean.
She had no problem understanding that grilled hamburger steak and mashed potatoes was what we both wanted, but the dressing for the salad was a bit of an issue. I ordered Thousand Island. The wife asked for vinagrette. All they had was olive oil and red wine vinegar. After a short exchange, I said, "Why don't you just bring us the red wine vinegar and olive oil and we'll make our own vinagrette."
Then she had to ask me what I want on my salad again. I reminded her about the cup of soup. "Do you want that instead of the salad?" "No, I'd like that in addition to..." The entire exchange was very pleasant, but still rather bizarre.As we waited, we took a closer look around. All of the wait-staff seemed to be a little past their prime. It was like the dead elephant graveyard of wait-staff - where wait-staff once they have past their prime go to hang out before dying. But, again, everyone was very nice and accommodating.
The salads came first. I was surprised that there was a generous spring mix instead of straight iceberg with one or two tomatoes and croutons. The Thousand Island dressing seemed to be home-made even, so :-: :-: :-: for the salad course. Next came the soup. It was a bowl instead of a cup.
However, it was very tasty, so I finished it up regardless. After the dishes were cleared, she brought out the grilled hamburger steaks which had a generous topping of grilled onions on top. I was disappointed that there was no brown gravy on them, but she had brought out a side bowl of what they called "cracklin' gravy" which appeared to be a very thick chicken cream gravy. The color was a bit disgusting, but the flavor of it was fine. This went on the mashed potatoes, which were whipped beyond recognition and absolutely free of any signs of potato skin. Personally, I like my mashed potatoes a little chunkier and with the skins on, but this version was okay nonetheless. Also served was a basket of yeast rolls, which were okay, but if they had been served shortly after baking would have been dynamite.
They have a wide range of pies and a short selection of cakes available for dessert. The wife selected apple pie to go. It was very good and did not disappoint. Total cost was approximately $25 for two, including tip, so very reasonable, IMHO.
Altogether we got our comfort food fix and got entertained at the same time, so we will go back. Only this time, I think I'll have to make it a point to order the fried chicken so I can see what all the raving is about.
If you were expecting them to have a web site, eat somewhere else.
But, I did find some mention of them at Yahoo:http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguid..._san_antonio-i
Sincerely,
William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services
[email protected]
Last edited by Starwood Lurker; Sep 21, 2005 at 11:45 am
Sep 21, 2005, 11:47 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: BWI,IAD,DCA
Programs: UA gold, Hyatt Plat Marriott silver,Hilton Gold, PC Plat., SPG Gold.,Hertz Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 650
Ahhh Earl Abel's you sir, take me back to my youth. That restaurant has been around for many many years. It has to be over sixty years old. It has always been in that location. After being born there and attending school there it is a wonderful place for comfort food. Back in the late 50 and early 60's it was the first place to sell KFC. I am glad that you like it you have brought me many a good memory of this historic place. It has been many years since I have been home. Thanks again for a fond memory.
Sep 21, 2005, 12:02 pm
#3
Company Representative - Starwood
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Originally Posted by powerlifter
Ahhh Earl Abel's you sir, take me back to my youth. That restaurant has been around for many many years. It has to be over sixty years old. It has always been in that location. After being born there and attending school there it is a wonderful place for comfort food. Back in the late 50 and early 60's it was the first place to sell KFC. I am glad that you like it you have brought me many a good memory of this historic place. It has been many years since I have been home. Thanks again for a fond memory.
The parking valet at the hotel told us that Henry B. Gonzales got into a fist-fight with another politician at this restaurant when he was U.S. Senator. There are probably hundreds, if not thousands, of other historical footnotes to be discovered.
Sincerely,
William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services
[email protected]
Last edited by Starwood Lurker; Sep 21, 2005 at 12:14 pm