Customer Reviews

Los Barrios Family Cookbook: Tex-Mex Recipes from the Heart of San Antonio

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Los Barrios is our family's favorite place to eat here in San Antonio. The food is great, the place is huge and the owners are nearly always there to ask us how we're doing and if we're enjoying our meal.

That said...well, I'm a bit biased about Blanco Road's best eatery.

The cookbook, though, is a letdown. We bought it while paying for a meal and had it autographed (Diana was our cashier) immediately. The book has some great stories, but the recipes are watered down versions of what's on the menu. We attempted to replicate our fave foods at home (y somos talentosos en la cocina). We couldn't with the book.

It's a fun read, but it's not going to enable you to make tasty, Los Barrios-like mole at home.

One of the people who reviewed this book below hasn't even read the book or been to the restuarant. Giving something one star under these circumstances makes no sense, and isn't useful to anyone.

Anyway, I'm a San Antonio native (now in D.C.), and I like this book. It gives really easy, very basic recipes for simple, slightly north of the border cuisine. No, you won't get mango burritos or anything wildly trendy, but you will get easy
recipes for green enchiladas and fajitas-worth the price of the book alone. I've got a large collection of Mexican and Tex Mex cookbooks, and this one gets used often.

I was looking for a cookbook that dealt in the basics (I had never prepared a poblano pepper for roasting before), but that also had some interesting dishes. I have never been to the restaurant so I didn't have anything to compare my results to ( not that I should anyway) and I wanted something that had a good feel to it.

Overall, I am impressed with the book for someone like myself, new to cooking actual meals, and have already created homemade corn tortillas, pico de gallo, eggs mexicana and the chicken breasts in creamy poblano sauce. My family seems pleased with the results (my tortillas were a bit thick), and I'm going to continue to use the book until I outgrow it (it may be a while).

If you are a more experienced cook, especially in Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes, then this may be a little simple for you, but if you are fairly new to the cuisine then please consider it.

Have you made nachos as a family meal but not your own pico de gallo? Then this is your book.

My husband purchased this cookbook for me, because he was so impressed with how easy the recipes were. He knew of the restaurant, but we had never gone there. Now I want him to take us there! (We live in San Antonio, fortunately!) The recipes are amazing, because they require simple ingredients and do not require anything complicated. I already tried out the "Chicken Chiptotle" recipe, and my husband said it was one of the best things I have made, and I agree! It was so mouth-watering delicious! There are many other recipes in there that I want to try out. In all, the cookbook is a must-have in your kitchen! Some of the recipes may be a bit complicated, but MOST of them are very easy to do. There are appetizers, soups/salads, main entrees, side dishes, desserts, and beverage recipes. The personal comments that come with each recipes are heart-touching and makes you feel close to the author of the book. Again, a must-have cookbook!

There's a reason why this is a Tex-mex cookbook from San Antonio, and not "authentic mexican cuisine" from Guadalajara. Tex-mex combines some of the great meals you can get south of the border with American ingredients (such as American & velveeta). Let's face it, these products melt better. So I'd stay away from this cookbook if you're looking for Mexican food instead of Tex-mex.

Also, one should keep in mind that it's not the authors back in the kitchen, and that the food has to be prepared back there to feed the hundreds of people that go through the restaurants everyday. So this will be a factor when you go to fix this in your kitchen. If you want food from Los Barrios, I'd say to go to one of the restaurants. But if you want help creating your own, the cookbook is a great place to start!

Oh, and if you like the Chimichurri, ask anyone at either of the restaurants and they'll tell you it's a secret family recipe. (But if you really want a recipe for Chimichurri, search online. That's how my aunt got her recipe.)

If you have visited San Antonio, Texas then you already know that the finest Mexican food served in the world is in this multi-faceted city and without a doubt the finest Mexican food served in San Antonio is at Los Barrios. When word got out that Los Barrios was giving away some of their secrets, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. The very best enchiladas, chiles rellenos and carne guisada are all here. This cookbook offers much more than recipes. It explains the 'how' and 'why' to some of the tastiest dishes around. If you love Mexican food, you have found the cookbook for your kitchen.

I was really looking forward to this book, but, reading through the recipes, nothing jumped out at me as a "must try this evening" recipe. I haven't eaten at the restaurant but the recipes don't seem to have much magic to them. Maybe I'm just trying to make Tex Mex more complex than it is. One change that the book brought about though. Their recipe for guacamole is just avocado, garlic powder, and salt. I tried it and I actually like the simplicity of this recipe.

We dined in the restaurant and enjoyed the food; I found it to be comparable with restaurants in Mexico. I ordered the book and was totally disappointed. The dishes I enjoyed in the restaurant are not in the book! It is a generic cookbook about tex-mex food obviously written to capitalize on their fame. They don't even have the recipe for the chimichurri sauce that is on every table.

Amazon provided a good price and fast shipping! I have been to this restaurant many times in S.A. The food is delicious and the book has many more dishes than I thought. I only wish they had pictures.

I love this restuarant and it's always packed Monday thru Friday, I was living in Alexandria Virginia when the book came out being a San Antonian I had to get it little did I know it would change the traditional family way of making Texican (Texas Style Mexican Food). I now and will always cherish this book substitutes cabbage for tradition lettuce that is a very healthy twist and thats just one of many examples of the healthy twists in this book. If you are a vegan this book could really help you put some pazzaz in your food with some simple substitutions. One of my favorite dishes in the restuarant is Green Enchiladas made with tomatillos and that great recipe is in here just wish my cooking skills were up to the task. I would definetly give this as a gift. San Antonio is not all about the RiverWalk take some time out of the downtown area when visiting and do what the natives do eat at Los Barrios.