San Antonio: Some of you may have heard of the incestuous relationship of the famous pizzeria’s in New York City; Lombardi’s, Grimaldi’s, and Patsy’s. Yes, they are all related family members. However, not many people have heard of San Antonio’s puffy taco’s let alone the taco joint rivalry between two brother’s Henry and Arturo.
Ray’s Drive Inn was established in 1956 by Ray Lopez and later sold to his younger brother, Arturo, which proved to be fortuitous because Arturo introduced a new item to the menu that would make the restaurant famous – the puffy taco.
Now, there’s an unspoken rivalry between the two puffy taco joints and while I was in San Antonio, I tried to declare one of them as winner of the puffy taco feud!
Henry’s:
I tried Henry’s puffy taco first. I’ve had many tacos in my lifetime to say the least, and having a puffy taco for the first time was a mind blowing experience. Seriously, anything fried tastes better! The problem with these puffy tacos is that if you don’t wolf them down within 2 minutes, the shell starts becoming soft and rather anti-climactic in the puffy taco game.
Filling: The fajita chicken and the bean, avocado and cheese fillings were amazing! Perfectly spiced, creamy avocado, and cheeeese!
Hot Sauce: Henry’s has an open bar full of your choice of taco accoutrements like Mexican crema, pico de gallo, pickled jalapeno, & different types of salsa! Hands down winner in this category!
Service: Bottomless tortilla chips, shabby décor of a wannabe old school Texas BBQ joint and it’s self-service. Nothing to get impressed by here.
Address: 6030 Bandera Road, San Antonio, TX 78238
Phone: 210-432-7341
Hours: M-Th: 8:45am-10pm, F-Sa: 8:45am – 11pm, Su: C
Ray’s Drive Inn:
This was my second taste in the puffy taco feud and I must say, I was quite impressed by the puffy taco at Ray’s! You do not to do a man vs. food scene to devour the tacos as soon as they arrive because they stay crisp and crunchy for quite a while! Big plus. The taste of the puffy taco at Ray’s was better than Henry’s because it was thinner, perhaps a littler saltier, and didn’t feel like you were eating something deep fried. The puffy taco shell at Ray’s was a clear winner here!
Filling: I got the spicy beef filling because every single person around me was ordering this. It wasn’t really as spicy as I was expecting given Texas Spicy can be comparable to Indian Spicy. Regardless of the spice, I didn’t think the beef was flavored enough and ended up adding a ton of the accompanying hot sauce to give this taco flavor.
Hot Sauce: There is a chipotle spiced hot sauce that arrives at your table as soon as you are seated and this is the only hot sauce choice available to patrons. While it does have a kick to it, it wasn’t spicy enough for me. I wished Ray’s would offer a variety of sauces so the consumer could choose accordingly. This was very disappointing to me during my visit to Ray’s.
Service: Ray’s also has bottomless tortilla chips, however, the tortilla chips at Henry’s tasted much better. The décor is is unique and funky with an old school jukebox that magically starts playing when service starts! The service is friendly, attentive, and quick – they bring the food to your table as well!
All in all, I think both taco places had winners in the respective categories and both are worth a try! If Ray’s would up their hot sauce game, I would declare them as the clear winner but, unfortunately, they fell short. Perhaps there should be a third taco joint that combines the best of both Ray’s and Henry’s to make for the ultimate puffy taco experience!
Address: 822 SW 19th St., San Antonio, TX, 78207
Phone: 210-432-7171
Hours: M: C, Tu-Th, Su: 11am-11pm, F-S: 11am – 12am
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