We Ate at Frida’s Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio

We ate at Frida’s last Friday. When Frida’s Mexican Restaurant & Bar opened in Stone Oak around the beginning of the year, I never imagined Frida’s would be different than any other San Antonio Mexican-style restaurant — besides the “upscale” nature. 

The food ate was worth every penny. 

Inspired by Frida, Passion in the Food at Frida’s

The passion behind the platos is clearly derived from Frida Kahlo, for which Frida’s restaurant is aptly named. 

Frida offers upscale Mexican cuisine beyond the average taqueria around San Antonio. Please don’t misinterpret my words — I haven’t found an equal for the street tacos at Taco Boulevard, nor the sabor of Pollos Asados on the south side. Every Mexican restaurant that gets its dishes right is special in my heart.

Expect Unexpected Flavor Notes When Eating at Frida’s

Still, I did not expect to like the cheese-sauce blessed cauliflower nor the unique flavor notes of burned cheese — yes, we ate at Frida’s and got an introduction to their roasted cheese on a tortilla as a bedding for a cachete cut of ribeye.

The so-titled charred ribeye is the thin slice layered two thick per tortilla topped with fresh avocado and cilantro that awaited a perfectly roasted salsa to challenging any tongue that prefers a milder hit. 

Luigi Ong, the chef from the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio, devised the charred ribeye plate, so said, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We’ll return for his pollito negro rostizado, or charred tuna and piglet stuffed chile rellenos — or maybe just have more ribeye. 

We dined at Frida’s to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday. The Mariachi with a female singer, a class act, sang to us breathlessly for over an hour, which perfectly completed our evening — sadly we didn’t save room for desert.

I would have got the flan.