A few years ago we went to pick up some doughnuts and the girl said they get one single shipment a day in the morning. And that has to last all day until they run out. They don’t make them fresh in each store
I don’t know how they sell donuts. When I can go into a Shipleys and ask for a fresh donut and you can get one that feels like a cotton ball melt in your mouth amazingness.
Duck Donuts is way overpriced and not worth the money. It was alright at $1.25 a donut but at $2.50 a donut there are way better options. My go to has been K&K donuts off of UTSA and DeZavala.
I used to hold Dunkin’ Donuts as my gold standard of donuts growing up. Was so excited when they came to San Antonio and was so disappointed when I ate my first one here. I could be misremembering but they tasted great in the 1990/ and 2000s when I had them in New Jersey.
Funny you mention this. I’m opening up a coffee shop here in SA, and one of the food vendors I will be working with used to supply D&D around that time. I was given two sample dozens of their donuts; needless to say, they’re amazing.
You’re not misremembering. I grew up in Jersey, and there was a Dunkin not too far from my house back in the early 2000s. It was a staple and when I got my license I’d stop there every so often and the donuts were amazing. Every Dunkin the donuts were amazing and the coffee was oh so good.
I started to notice the Jersey Dunkin quality was slacking at some point, and so was King of Prussia actually because our daughter had to go to CHOP for treatment of clubbed feet and hip dysplasia, we took her to the KOB location. That was back through most of 2021. Moved out here October of 2022 and noticed the quality was poorer. We live a mile away from the new Dunkin that opened on Culebra by Harlan and let me say - I am SO GLAD instant donuts opened up because this Dunkin here is straight trash. I ordered a half dozen donuts to be picked up around 6am back in February and they didn’t have 3 of them. How?? And I could tell that purchase, and others in the past, the icing was old and the donut tasted bad.
Dunkin' is so bad now. I used to have no self control around any donuts but now when I see a Dunkin' box in the break room at work it's so easy to just walk on by.
I’m also from the valley and I think they’re good to ok but more importantly they’re free and there’s so many of them and I can serve as many as I want
Always a good idea to wash your hands after handling utensils at a public food bar like that. People are nasty, will have the stomach flu, goto the bathroom and not wash their hands afterwards. Then they touch stuff in public and spread it around.
Also hand sanitizer does not work against norovirus.
I went through the drive through the first time, looked at the prices and then drove off and ate somewhere else. IDK how this business stays in business.
Fred's has become a new sensation for me and coworkers who have given it the, not horrible, reasonably priced, possible money laundering upon investigation, bronze standard.
Taco cabana in the 1990s was really good food. They would totally fuck up your order in the drive-through, but whatever you ended up with was still good. Went corporate. It’s all downhill, now you can’t even eat this shit.
TC on San Pedro @ Hildebrand was the staple for years.
Then it all went to hell when the family got greedy, divorced, embittered, whatever.
After that, trash in about 5 yrs.
Taco Palenque is an option only after midnight and before 6am when I absolutely need to eat and there’s nothing at home. Because in spite of its precipitous fall it still is better than Taco Cabana.
Changes I’ve noticed in the last couple of years at Palenque:
- their breakfast tacos have become unpalatable. The worst offender is the potato with chorizo which used to be fantastic in terms of texture and flavor and is now mush.
- the salsas seem a bit more watered down.
- the aguas frescas taste like they’re powdered. I get it… economies of scale, but dang it, I remember they were better than that.
- portions have become smaller
- flour tortilla recipe used to be better. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it doesn’t keep well for very long and as it cools off it hardens in a way most flour tortillas don’t.
Overall they’re a solid 6.5/10. I feel at this point they’re in the same league as chachos albeit chachos is much more Tex Mex.
Flour tortillas are markedly worse than say, 5 years ago. They’re so thin, and they’re like elastic. They’re not soft anymore. This is true for all the TPs I’ve visited in SA, in Laredo, and the one in Cotulla. Salsas used to be on point all the time. No more. In particular, their avocado salsa. It’s watery, bland, and sometimes tends to be tart. I get it…avocados, ripeness…but still, it’s got issues.
Flour tortillas in the store seem to have gotten worse, too... somehow a burrito sized tortilla is 7 inches these days, which is a joke. I can't even find old school burrito size tortillas in my grocery store anymore.
I’ll stick to Benny’s. Barely speak English. The breakfast tacos are the best damned breakfast food you can have at the start of your day. Great place. And they close pretty early in the day.
With bags and bags of food to warm up in hot water. So now they have all that kitchen equipment to get rid of at each individual store so they’ll probably make more food lines to serve more units so all in all they can make more money.
A year ago we got the crispy taco plate through drive thru. Went home.
My husband bite into it and BAM!! Giant metal commercial staple cooked into the ground beef!
It took out his moler had to have a root canal and crown $1500 taco.
We filled a formal complaint we showed them pictures and had the receipt and everything. Nope. Basically called us liars.
Tacó Palenque at 281/Evans
Never again.
Edit: made a mistake. My husband just reminded me it was actually $2,000 in total bills. Not making it up. What did we have to gain? All we wanted was for them to pay the dental bill nothing more. Trust me it was very unpleasant. Blood everywhere. It was a whole thing. Sorry I got my numbers wrong but the incident is documented with receipts (food and dental) 🦷 and pictures.
Clearly someone on here calling us liars works for the company. What do you think ? That he broke his tooth on purpose? What is there to gain? Simplest answer is usually the correct one. They are cooking their food in a central location in large batches and a batch of ground beef had a commercial staple from the packaging. It got cooked inside the taco meet. We are not saying it was on purpose, just to take care of your customers who your food damaged.
Or just learn which chains make their food in house and which don’t.
You’d be surprised how many “steak houses” don’t cut their beef onsite either. They come in bags which they heat, sear and serve. Texas Roadhouse and Golden Corral are the only chains I know of that have a butcher who cuts everything onsite.
Hate to tell y’all this but D&D donuts are frozen when they get to the franchise store where they take them out to melt under those lights. NONE of the D&D San Antonio stores have “fresh” donuts. NONE. Did nobody stop to wonder how they could possibly have enough room to bake them if some of the stores share space with half of a Baskin Robbins!?!?! I’m mean seriously y’all.
Oh yeah I know the Shipley’s do bake them cuz I’ve had to wait for my favorite chocolate glazed donuts before. They are the ONLY place that has them. I meant none of the D&D shops make them fresh. There’s quite a few places out there that still do get up at the crack of dawn to have their products ready for sale. 😮💨🥰
Taco Palenque has been doing this since before they came into San Antonio. Have you bought a Tres leches and read the label on it? 9/10 it’s made by TP Cocina, which is their centralized kitchen. They have multiple in the RGV and Laredo. This is good news for expansion further north.
People that tend to criticize TP usually don't share their personal recommendations. Or if they do it's usually not a drive thru place and they'll recommend their neighborhood hole in the wall taqueria on the far west side that closes at 9pm
Ugh no. Taco palenque is my go to for a somewhat greasy bean and cheese taco x2 after a rough day with my kids and I’m too exhausted to cook and need comfort food. Or a 2am taco fix when hubs and I have had some drinkies and need to eat lol (delivered to home of course since we can’t ever find a sitter so we forever stay home drinking. Ain’t contributing to the horrible drunk driving ratio out here)
It's funny seeing the same people who come up with outrageous food combinations (carne guisada w/ cheese, egg and cheese tacos, etc) also claim that Taco Palenque is good.
Look what Dunkin' Donuts has become. They centralized their donut baking and they taste stale even if you get them at 6AM.
A few years ago we went to pick up some doughnuts and the girl said they get one single shipment a day in the morning. And that has to last all day until they run out. They don’t make them fresh in each store
Ah I did not know this. It’s a shame
I don’t know how they sell donuts. When I can go into a Shipleys and ask for a fresh donut and you can get one that feels like a cotton ball melt in your mouth amazingness.
Duck donuts is the shit! None better
Especially the Maple with lots of bacon.
That's my favorite too
Duck Donuts is way overpriced and not worth the money. It was alright at $1.25 a donut but at $2.50 a donut there are way better options. My go to has been K&K donuts off of UTSA and DeZavala.
Snowflake is great too, at least the Babcock location.
Snowflake doughnuts on Babcock smokes Shipleys. Fresh made everyday and is you get there early they sell croissant doughnuts that are awesome
Issue is I'm in Schertz. But, I'll have to figure a plan out.
I retract my comment. That's a hell of a drive.
I used to hold Dunkin’ Donuts as my gold standard of donuts growing up. Was so excited when they came to San Antonio and was so disappointed when I ate my first one here. I could be misremembering but they tasted great in the 1990/ and 2000s when I had them in New Jersey.
They used to be in San Antonio in the 90's. They were a much better product back then.
The big box of Munchkins was my childhood favorite. Even those suck these days.
Funny you mention this. I’m opening up a coffee shop here in SA, and one of the food vendors I will be working with used to supply D&D around that time. I was given two sample dozens of their donuts; needless to say, they’re amazing.
Side note, would love to drop in when you're up and running! I love a good matcha.
Of course! I’d be glad to have you!
Do you have a business name we should be looking for?
Let us know where and what it’s called so we can go support. Need a new place to work!
Drop the name! I love a good coffee shop!!
Tell us more, And how late will you be open?
You’re not misremembering. I grew up in Jersey, and there was a Dunkin not too far from my house back in the early 2000s. It was a staple and when I got my license I’d stop there every so often and the donuts were amazing. Every Dunkin the donuts were amazing and the coffee was oh so good. I started to notice the Jersey Dunkin quality was slacking at some point, and so was King of Prussia actually because our daughter had to go to CHOP for treatment of clubbed feet and hip dysplasia, we took her to the KOB location. That was back through most of 2021. Moved out here October of 2022 and noticed the quality was poorer. We live a mile away from the new Dunkin that opened on Culebra by Harlan and let me say - I am SO GLAD instant donuts opened up because this Dunkin here is straight trash. I ordered a half dozen donuts to be picked up around 6am back in February and they didn’t have 3 of them. How?? And I could tell that purchase, and others in the past, the icing was old and the donut tasted bad.
Now it makes sense ...why there dense and stale
Both the doughnuts and some of the staff…
🤣🤣🤣
Dunkin' is so bad now. I used to have no self control around any donuts but now when I see a Dunkin' box in the break room at work it's so easy to just walk on by.
That’s because they are old in the morning. I’ve gone multiple times at night and they are “out” yet the case is full for the morning.
That's horrible.
And they're ALWAYS out of chocolate cake donuts.
They better not take away the free salsa bar 😤
I doubt it. The salsa will be coming in 55 gallon cans from their warehouse. How fresh will that be?
😭😭😭
So nasty!
Their salsa sucks...
Their rice sucks
I got food poisoning from one last week, beware.
Tbh I probably won’t stop eating them until I personally get food poisoning….
Loser mentality. Food poisoning wouldn’t stop a champion
lol
Well yeah your from Austin yall stomachs can't acclimate to salsa
Lol nah just grimey ass hands all over the salsas ALL day. I used to love them but it’s honestly gross af
I’m from the valley and their salsas blow
I’m also from the valley and I think they’re good to ok but more importantly they’re free and there’s so many of them and I can serve as many as I want
Aye homie, that's your people. The originator, from what I hear from every RGV person I know.
Always a good idea to wash your hands after handling utensils at a public food bar like that. People are nasty, will have the stomach flu, goto the bathroom and not wash their hands afterwards. Then they touch stuff in public and spread it around. Also hand sanitizer does not work against norovirus.
This is good advice. Never thought of this.
they're too damned expensive to centralized cook
I went through the drive through the first time, looked at the prices and then drove off and ate somewhere else. IDK how this business stays in business.
You aren't getting decent tacos like Palenque at 1am. They cater to the late night people.
Fair, but I'll be damned if I stop at that place to eat and get ripped off during normal business hours.
They already do this FYI. Theyre just building something more centralized
Shhh dont get in the way of the circlejerk
Not the fajitas, though.
Boo, my local palenque is fantastic, rival’s restaurant if not better than lot around here
Yeah but it might not if they implement this
Guess I’ll head back to Fred’s. 😂😂😂
Fred's has become a new sensation for me and coworkers who have given it the, not horrible, reasonably priced, possible money laundering upon investigation, bronze standard.
Oh now this is tragic to hear! First Jim’s now this? It’s the Apocalypse, surely
This may not be the end of the world But you can see it from here
Taco cabana in the 1990s was really good food. They would totally fuck up your order in the drive-through, but whatever you ended up with was still good. Went corporate. It’s all downhill, now you can’t even eat this shit.
Taco Cabana should be a case study for all chefs/restaruant owners on what NOT to do.
TC on San Pedro @ Hildebrand was the staple for years. Then it all went to hell when the family got greedy, divorced, embittered, whatever. After that, trash in about 5 yrs.
Taco Palenque is an option only after midnight and before 6am when I absolutely need to eat and there’s nothing at home. Because in spite of its precipitous fall it still is better than Taco Cabana. Changes I’ve noticed in the last couple of years at Palenque: - their breakfast tacos have become unpalatable. The worst offender is the potato with chorizo which used to be fantastic in terms of texture and flavor and is now mush. - the salsas seem a bit more watered down. - the aguas frescas taste like they’re powdered. I get it… economies of scale, but dang it, I remember they were better than that. - portions have become smaller - flour tortilla recipe used to be better. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it doesn’t keep well for very long and as it cools off it hardens in a way most flour tortillas don’t. Overall they’re a solid 6.5/10. I feel at this point they’re in the same league as chachos albeit chachos is much more Tex Mex.
Flour tortillas are markedly worse than say, 5 years ago. They’re so thin, and they’re like elastic. They’re not soft anymore. This is true for all the TPs I’ve visited in SA, in Laredo, and the one in Cotulla. Salsas used to be on point all the time. No more. In particular, their avocado salsa. It’s watery, bland, and sometimes tends to be tart. I get it…avocados, ripeness…but still, it’s got issues.
Kinda undercooked, right? Feels like blasphemy to say out loud
Flour tortillas in the store seem to have gotten worse, too... somehow a burrito sized tortilla is 7 inches these days, which is a joke. I can't even find old school burrito size tortillas in my grocery store anymore.
Dang, its already begun then.
Bill millers cafeteria comes from a central kitchen. Not one location has an actual smoker.
And a pretty decent product at that.
That super quesadilla defeated me 🫨
Maybe their pico would have less hair this way
I like Bailtos better. TPs was a staple, but it's all overcooked and stale now. Damn shame.
Balitos is much better
I’ll stick to Benny’s. Barely speak English. The breakfast tacos are the best damned breakfast food you can have at the start of your day. Great place. And they close pretty early in the day.
Who would used Dunkin’ when there is Krispy Kreme or Shipley’s. Taco Palenque is fast food. Don’t eat there if you want good food.
Fred fish fry keeps good til this day.
I want to like them so much but the grease absolutely kills me every last time. Not good enough for a year's supply of "Chipotlaway."
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! /darthvadarscream
That’s great they’re gonna be the new Taco Bell
With bags and bags of food to warm up in hot water. So now they have all that kitchen equipment to get rid of at each individual store so they’ll probably make more food lines to serve more units so all in all they can make more money.
A year ago we got the crispy taco plate through drive thru. Went home. My husband bite into it and BAM!! Giant metal commercial staple cooked into the ground beef! It took out his moler had to have a root canal and crown $1500 taco. We filled a formal complaint we showed them pictures and had the receipt and everything. Nope. Basically called us liars. Tacó Palenque at 281/Evans Never again. Edit: made a mistake. My husband just reminded me it was actually $2,000 in total bills. Not making it up. What did we have to gain? All we wanted was for them to pay the dental bill nothing more. Trust me it was very unpleasant. Blood everywhere. It was a whole thing. Sorry I got my numbers wrong but the incident is documented with receipts (food and dental) 🦷 and pictures. Clearly someone on here calling us liars works for the company. What do you think ? That he broke his tooth on purpose? What is there to gain? Simplest answer is usually the correct one. They are cooking their food in a central location in large batches and a batch of ground beef had a commercial staple from the packaging. It got cooked inside the taco meet. We are not saying it was on purpose, just to take care of your customers who your food damaged.
Hmmm? Went from $1300 to $1500? Maybe Taco Palenque was right.
We went to them with the estimate first. Then after the actual bill. Sorry you don’t believe me. Good luck with your teeth.
Teeth are just fine
Thanks to our dental insurance so is my husband’s new tooth. Thank you for caring.
I miss taco cabana of the late 90-00. Their roast chicken and boracho beans were amazing, I especially miss the shredded chicken tacos.
Taquerias is where it’s at
Stop eating at chains.
Or just learn which chains make their food in house and which don’t. You’d be surprised how many “steak houses” don’t cut their beef onsite either. They come in bags which they heat, sear and serve. Texas Roadhouse and Golden Corral are the only chains I know of that have a butcher who cuts everything onsite.
Make me bro.
Hula Poke is great idk what you are talking about.
Lol
Their food is already overpriced. They're making decisions to try and lower their costs or else they will have to raise prices. And you complain?
I want to complain that the pirata taco is $5.50. But damn, ta bueno. Salsa is pretty good too.
Ngl I'd pay more as long as they keep the cooking in restaurant
Fuck any place that charges $3 for a bean and cheese taco
2.59
2.89 at mine, $3.13 with tax
Which location?
Cedar Park
Ah, makes sense. We’re still at 2.59 here. Or maybe 2.69.
It’s 2024
Hate to tell y’all this but D&D donuts are frozen when they get to the franchise store where they take them out to melt under those lights. NONE of the D&D San Antonio stores have “fresh” donuts. NONE. Did nobody stop to wonder how they could possibly have enough room to bake them if some of the stores share space with half of a Baskin Robbins!?!?! I’m mean seriously y’all.
My roommate used to work at Shipley’s donuts. She said the baker would go in hella early to prep for the day.
Shipley's is great- always has been but awesome to get this confirmed at least.
Oh yeah I know the Shipley’s do bake them cuz I’ve had to wait for my favorite chocolate glazed donuts before. They are the ONLY place that has them. I meant none of the D&D shops make them fresh. There’s quite a few places out there that still do get up at the crack of dawn to have their products ready for sale. 😮💨🥰
Taco Palenque only tastes decent when you’re drunk! 😂😂
Bummer!
They need to work on that floppy raw bacon in those bacon and egg tacos.
That really sucks.
Taco palenque has always been fucking trash lol
Well, it was good while it lasted.
Too many tortas and Edgar’s to serve
Place is disgusting. Crack heads working there with visible tracks. No thank you.
Who cares they're just like taco cabana and the others. It's never been delicious or authentic
lol they have always had a central kitchen. It’s in the valley. They are building a better one that’s closer.
Place sucks anyways.
Palenque def was a covid casualty. Hasn’t tasted the same since 2021
Taco Palenque has been doing this since before they came into San Antonio. Have you bought a Tres leches and read the label on it? 9/10 it’s made by TP Cocina, which is their centralized kitchen. They have multiple in the RGV and Laredo. This is good news for expansion further north.
Taco Palenque sucks anyway, that double tortilla shit is stupid. Get better tortillas.
Lol people think Taco Palenque is good? People are so easily impressed by average overpriced food.
What do you recommend?
People that tend to criticize TP usually don't share their personal recommendations. Or if they do it's usually not a drive thru place and they'll recommend their neighborhood hole in the wall taqueria on the far west side that closes at 9pm
Exactly!
They already do this; a prime example is their fidello.
As long as the fajitas keep being cooked in store, no problem. Those fuckers are now $5.89 a taco and I keep buying them!
We need a Rosa’s here instead
Ugh no. Taco palenque is my go to for a somewhat greasy bean and cheese taco x2 after a rough day with my kids and I’m too exhausted to cook and need comfort food. Or a 2am taco fix when hubs and I have had some drinkies and need to eat lol (delivered to home of course since we can’t ever find a sitter so we forever stay home drinking. Ain’t contributing to the horrible drunk driving ratio out here)
As a bean counter we want to save more than “a few pennies”. I approve of this business decision.
Shit food from the beginning
What would you recommend?
Ask Bill Miller? You mean the place with close to 50 locations in San Antonio?
It's funny seeing the same people who come up with outrageous food combinations (carne guisada w/ cheese, egg and cheese tacos, etc) also claim that Taco Palenque is good.