Dolores del Rio Ristorante

I had the opportunity to stay in downtown SA last weekend and happened upon a new ""Rachael Ray Vacations"" episode on the Food Network, she did a segment on this restaurant. WOW, she said it was ""her pick"" and she was correct! I went the following night for dinner and it was fabulous. I had the chicken picatta and my friend had the cioppino which was what they highlighted on her show and it was delicious! My chicken picatta was the best I've ever had and the cioppino was full of the freshest seafood and a hugh portion.... too bad we didn't have a fridge for the leftovers. They had live music and a belly dancer . The staff was attentive and very fun to watch manuever skillfully around this tiny gem on the Riverwalk. We'll be back for sure. Pros: Best Chicken Picatta and Great Staff Cons: Small but cozy, cozy.... more

I usta go in this place all the time spending any where from $300 to $500 an trip always tipped well and everyone in the place knows me by name but the last time I was in there the owner tripped out cussing me and the guests with me i am currently still friends with all the staff but she needs to learn to run a business catering to the public anyhow ur loss ill take my money where it is appreciated COWBOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pros: Was my favorite spot on the river Cons: Owner is not appriciative more

We saw the bad reviews, but decided to take a risk. We booked a table for 10, three weeks in advance, and they confirmed the booking...so far so good. Then they called two hours before the reservation to ask us if we would move it an hour later. We said we would like to eat at 7.30 as reserved...and they said OK, they would jockey the situation around. When we arrived, they had no table for us. They said the dishwasher must have made the reservation in error (even though it was confirmed the day before). Then they said they had a table for five people, because we must have said five people, not 5 couples (remember that they confirmed a table for 10). The door staff were rude, we never got to sample the food, or the belly dancer, and we never shall. Cross this one off your list. Aztec, just down the street had a table, and the food was just fine. Go there instead. Pros: It's close to other restaurants when your reserved table isn't available Cons: service, reservations, door staff are all awful ... don't even think about this place more

This place is perfect! Fantastic food, attentive service, great atmosphere! Jazz, belly dancer, what more do you need?!?\r \r Dolores del Rio is definitely in the ""hole in the wall"" category, so if you like lots of space around your table, this is not for you. Think ""cozy"". But that's part of the charm; all of the fellow diners are friendly and everyone is having a good time interacting with the band and the staff. The food was unexpectedly fantastic. I had the Veal Picatta and it was out of this world. My wife had the linguine with pesto and loved it. Try the spinach salad (it's big enough to share). The garlic bread was authentic and very garlicky. Pretty good wine list. The tiramisu was the best I've ever had. Super creamy and smooth. Coffee was nice and very strong. I left feeling like I had had a night straight out of a Bogart movie. Get there early (7pm ish) on Friday or Saturday nights. Better yet get a reservation. When the band took a break, the belly dancer took over. I'm not an expert, but she was attractive, not really skilled. The band was the opposite!\r \r No place is perfect. The temperature was a little hot, and the piano needed to be tuned or replaced.\r \r Overall, if you're looking for that personal touch, jazz, great Italian food, Dolores del Rio is a fantastic choice. You wouldn't think of it in this location, since almost everything else is so touristy on the Riverwalk. But this is the real deal! 5 stars! Pros: Great food, service, music, atmosphere, and price Cons: A little too hot; piano needed to be tuned. more

Definitely you are better off going to macaroni grill or olive garden if you are craving for Italian in the SA area and don't know where to go. The food had no taste, the dish with meat was overcook (almost burned), appetizer which was calamari was in soup vegetable oil and the sauce was probably straight form a can. The red wine was not good and not worth $7 per glass. I suggest seeing the kitchen and in the way to the bathrooms and take a look at the lack of cleanliness--unfortunately we saw this at the end of our visit. Lastly, I never heard of an Italian restaurant with a belly dance show. Nothing against overweight people but my previous experience with this type of shows the dancer is usually physically fit to perform the strenuous and intricate movements required to agitate the bells in her dress that goes at the rhythm of the playing music. In this case the so-call ?belly dancer? needs to loose at least 35 pounds to regain her shape, utilize the customary bells and lots of practice before attempting if she expects a tip for her efforts. In summary, I wasted $78 in the worst dinning experience I had in a while. Pros: location Cons: bad food, filty kitchen and bathrooms, lousy ""belly dance"" show more

This place was recommend by two San Antonio locals who said if you want something on the Riverwalk that wasn't a chain this was the place to try. However, we read the reviews on this site and were discouraged about going, but I am really glad we went. Make a reservation, it is a must. The place was packed and the space is very limited, but I found it romantic and charming. The waittress was very friendly - I was expecting the worst and they were friendly and gracious. The food was great. We ordered the Polenta with sausage and peppers and the veal picatta. The woman next to me ordered the Pesto Gnocci -even full I almost asked her for a bite - It looked that good. Both of our dishes were flavorful and superb - another thing we were worried about from previous reviewers. Overall, our experience with Dolores Del Rio was worth the Five Stars especially for Texans in San Antonio for the weekend who have done the Riverwalk experience - this is place to go. I am recommending to friends. Pros: Close to hotels, on the river, not a boring chain, cozy and romantic, live Jazz Cons: a little cramped - but the food, music and ambiance made up for it. more

What a fabulous place. One of the only non-chain restaurants remaining on the Riverwalk ! You gotta see it to believe it. The food was excellent, fettuccini alfredo was rich and loaded with flavor, garlic bread was terrific. My husband had the fish of the day, with asparagus and shrimp, too much food but delicious. No packaged stuff here. Limited wine list but that was ok too. The owners daughter told us that the chef was trained by her grandmother over 23 years ago and he's still preparing her recipes. They have a gorgeous belly dancer and great jazz ! A customer next to us even got up and sang a song with the band, they make everyone feel welcome and like a star. Too much fun! We are locals but had never been there but we will go back often. more

Very poor service, rude waiter, bad food, place is soooooo small, unbelievably ugly and very ungraceful entertainer belly dancing in front of you....i just wonder how you can eat .......ugh........disgusting!!!! Because of the poor service, we left a tip of 18 cents and guess what....the waiter came back for us and threw the $1 on my friend's face. Don't ever make a mistake in dining at this place.......you'll be sorry! Cons: Very rude waiter and very poor service. more

Great food scent - and that's all you'll ever get! Our seats were lousy - had to wipe our own chairs. The maitre d' placed the menu on top of the candle and almost burned the place (come to think of it, he should have). The waiter was rude, discriminate, sarcastic, and obnoxious, and the assisting waitress was totally incompetent -- ask for straws, arrived after following up a couple of times; asks for 2 sodas, only 1 came. The lasagna was dry, and the spaghetti dinner came with only ONE tiny meatball! And the entertainment? Nauseating!! If you want to have fond memories of San Antonio, AVOID THIS RESTAURANT!! Or, you'll regret setting your foot in it! more

We had heard great things about this restaurant so on our last night on the Riverwalk my husband and I decided to check it out. We were seated right away and at first we were impressed. It was a tiny and crowded little restaurant but this made it very cozy. Also, the dim lighting and beautiful music made it very romantic. The ambiance was great, but that was it. We already knew that prices on the riverwalk were high but this restaurant was outrageous! We decided to share a plate because neither of us was starving and we figured that the plates would be huge because they were so expensive. We ordered a plate of fettuccini alfredo and asked the waitress if the dish came with chicken, thinking surely it would since the price was $18.95! The answer was no. Just a bowl of noodles and sauce was going to cost us twenty dollars! We decided to add the chicken and after ordering we were thinking ?this better be good?. But it wasn?t at all. The food wasn?t ice cold but getting there, the noodles were still kind of tough, and the tiny, thin piece of chicken breast which ended up costing us an additional $7.50 was stringy, tough, and tasteless. And no the plate was not huge. We were very disappointed in our meal. Now the service hadn?t been bad but the waitress wasn?t very friendly either so when we got our bill we were just ready to get out of there. We left the woman a four dollar tip which was fifteen percent of the bill, handed it to her and got up to leave. We were making our way to the door when she turned around and rudely said to us in front of the entire restaurant ?you guys only left me like four dollars! Was there something wrong with the service?? We could not believe she did that! I waited table for three years and that is something you just do not do. We simply replied ?yes we know we left you four dollars and no there wasn?t a problem with the service? and walked out. We were completely infuriated and will never go there again. Pros: Great atmosphere Cons: Everything else! more

We are locals and had never been there so in passing while strolling the Riverwalk after dinner, at a fine 4 diamond hotel just downstream, we asked if we could come in to check it out and have a beer. We ordered 2 Coronas and had to ask for the lime. It was not very busy so we ordered a 2nd one and had to request lime again. We never received our lime and when we inquired we were told that they were out. Yet, we noticed water with lime being served to other customers that had just arrived. Before we finished our beer the maitre 'd came up to us and inquired if we were almost done and indicated that the table was reserved. There were at least 4 other tables vacant at the time and it was 915 PM. We were dressed business casual so it wasn't our clothes and we did tip for our first beer. Hmmmm? Pros: Sometimes they have live music Cons: Walk thru kitchen to rundown bathrooms more

This was by far the best Italian resturant experience I have ever had. Their chef ""Tony"" has been preparing Italian dishes for over 20 years, and the food was so good I vowed to name my first born after him. The wait staff was extremely friendly, made great suggestions, and was extremely personable. We were in San Antonio for our Honeymoon and this dinner was by far the best food experience of the trip. Make sure you make reservations and the later the better, Pros: Great food and Great service. Wonderful entertainment. Cons: Very small and crowded. You must have reservations. more

It was the worst restaurant experience I have ever had in my entire life. The food was cold, stodgy and completely tasteless. They refused to show us a wine list and when we finally settled on a bottle of wine they tried to charge $54 for it. It was like paint stripper! We managed to talk them down to $42, and I offered to pay $20 which was fair and the manager told me that it was Riverwalk prices so tough. They added a tip to our bill even though I didn't leave one and it was at higher than 15%!!!!!! They are evil people! It was our wedding anniversery dinner too. This experience ruined the entire weekend for me, and I don't think I will ever go to San Antonio again. Pros: No pros huge thumbs down Cons: The only Cons are the people running the place more

I'll preface by saying that I, unfortunately, am a professional traveler, traveling at least 75% of the time. I've been everywhere domestically, including many great and renowned restaurants. This place is a gem - one of those places that had me smiling and giggling to myslef the whole time. Live jazz, a belly dancer (who= I missed), a great waitstaff who worked in unison like family, and super rich and delicious food put this on my must-eat list everytime I visit downtown San Antonio. Cozy, friendly and very 'anti-conventioner/tourister', this place was fantastic and, even better, at an extreme end of the Riverwalk, away from the mass crowds. I am very conscious and attempt to eat healthy always- the food here was so rich that I surely could have done better, bu the atmosphere more than made it worth while.\r more

Arrived 15 minutes early for our reservation we had scheduled the day before. After waiting an HOUR we gave up. Poor customer service and communication. Our concierge had warned us that the place was going south; unfortunately we had to report bac k that he was right. Pros: Good location Cons: Poor service more

I first discovered Dolores in the late 1990's - went in 1999 to celebrate the adoption of our son, and again this holiday season 2005. I was afraid that after all the years the place would have lost what made it special, but our family gathering there was awesome, the food excellent, and the environment festive for Christmas (tables in drag). If you want the full effect - make reservations and show up later than earlier. Pros: Food, Music, Not Wine Snobs Cons: Small Round Tables more

The atmosphere is good but that's as far as it goes. I've had better food from TV dinners. The house wine was awful!!! Save your time and your money. Pros: Atmosphere, Belly Dancer Cons: Food Awful, Wine Awful, Tables to small more

This Ristorante is the next best thing to my Grandma's kitchen and she was born in Italy. Then you have a belly dancerwho never stops smileing. She'll get you up if your not carefull.Miss June on the piano who knows all the old beautiful songs. Even the owner came and visited with us. The waitress Cynthia couldn't have been better. We will return on our next trip! Pros: beautiful, best Italian more

Great Atmosphere. Candlelit tables, live Italian jazz, even a belly dancer. We had a small wait to get an inside table, but they seated us outside and offered drinks while we waited. Eat inside, it is not so humid (air conditioning) plus you can see the belly dancer. Tables are closely spaced, the building is very small. Feels intimate and romantic. I come from an Italian family and the food here was awesome. Very authentic. Very tasty. Try anything on the menu and you will go home satisfied and happy. Don't forget dessert, the cheesecake is amazing, and I am told the other desserts are amazing too (i couldn't try because I can't have coffee or Chocolate. oh well) Portions are large and the wine is superior. I accidentally left my bag and the owner stayed a few minutes after close just in case I came back. Awesome Service. Pros: Location/Ambience, Inexpensive, Food Cons: Small space not ideal, for families or large, groups more

I'm from an Italian family, been around many different Italian kitchens, this one is good, but not the best I've had. That goes to a place in Glenwood Springs, CO. I went there the night before my elopement with my fiance because of the warm, unique, inviting and quiet atmoshpere. The shrimp was excellent, but the dishes were too expensive and not as flavorful as one would expect for those prices! We will go back, but not often. Pros: Unique, Good shrimp, Good cheesecake Cons: Expensive more