February brought out the best (and worst) that S.A. has to offer

Chicken-fried steak at Mr. Juicy is a clear winner

It’s OK to call chef Andrew Weissman legendary in San Antonio. He’s earned it with restaurants as diverse as Le Rêve, Il Sogno, Moshe’s Golden Falafel, The Sandbar and Minnie’s Tavern. It’s also OK to say he makes the best burger in San Antonio at Mr. Juicy, an unapologetic fast-food operation carved out of a former

Jack in the Box in Monte Vista.

But the restless chef couldn’t leave it alone. It wasn’t enough to sell the city’s best burgers starting at $4. He kicked off 2023 with chicken-fried steak. Not a sandwich, a full entrée using 8 ounces of Certified Angus Beef sirloin, fried crunchy with gravy and a side of hand-cut fries. Not just any gravy, but au poivre sauce made with shallots, peppercorn, cream and bacon. For $11. An Andrew Weissman entrée. For $11.

That CFS in a chef ’s coat tops the list of the 10 best (and worst) things I ate in February.

The best

Chicken-fried steak from Mr. Juicy:

There’s no blanket of industrial-grade cream gravy, because there’s nothing to hide. It’s the real thing, this golden cascade of batter and steak tender enough to handle with plastic cutlery, with au poivre that unfolds in layers of pepper, cream and tangy earthiness. The downside of an Andrew Weissman chickenfried steak at fast-food prices? The demand pushed his staff to the breaking point, and Weissman had to shut down the restaurant for a few days to regroup before ramping back up. How long will this CFS phenomenon last? Cagey as ever, Weissman left it at, “For as long as it makes sense.” 3315 San Pedro Ave., 210-994-9838, Instagram: @mrjuicyburger

Pancakes with fresh berries at Comfort Cafe:

The Zen garden entryway at Comfort Cafe’s Los Patios retreat looks nothing like a country diner. But the pancakes, rising to full fluff with a tawny brown topcoat, do everything but call you “Hon.” 2015 NE Loop 410 at Los Patios, 512-3602100, serenitystar.org/ san-antonio

Rib-eye tacos with bone marrow at Los Azulejos Restaurante Bar:The

story of Northwest Military Highway is bigger than any one dish. But if I had to express the street’s high-low character with food, I’d do it with these tacos, full of grilled rib-eye steak in tender pieces, dressed with caramelized onions on a plate with a split bone full of roasted marrow. Street tacos with a side of beef butter luxury.

2267 NW Military Highway, Suite 101, 210-281-4500, losazulejosrestaurant.com

State Street Biscuit from Meadow Neighborhood Eatery + Bar:

If the Southern cooking diaspora had a mascot, it’d be the friedchicken biscuit. It’s a mascot costume that’s been beat to fast-food hell. Meadow gave it a "Project Runway" refresh, with a stout jalapeño-cheddar biscuit, a sunnyside egg, real sausage gravy, even real-er American cheese and boneless fried chicken with a true Southern accent. 555 W. Bitters Road, Suite 110 at The Alley on Bitters, 210-481-4214, meadowsanantonio.com

Stuffed shrimp at Elders Family Restaurant:

My quest for the city’s best New Orleans restaurants brought me to Verlecsia and Orlando Sutton in Converse, where they make stuffed shrimp with “blue crab and family love.” It’s as nuanced as a French Quarter main course, as joyful as a state fair corn dog. 8022 Kitty Hawk Road, Converse, 210-8583010, eldersfr.com

Truffle pasta at Nonna

Osteria 1604: The first time I tried Nonna’s Tartufo pasta at the Fairmount Hotel location

downtown, it set me back $70. Worth it for the tableside spectacle of watching the waiter

twirl handmade ribbons of tagliatelle pasta with cream sauce and crab in a whole wheel of grana padano cheese, then finish it with freshly grated truffle. Minus the crab, it’s a more approachable luxury at $49, but still just as earthy and rich, and the newest Nonna off Loop 1604 carries the downtown charm to a thoroughly modern space up north. 434 N. Loop 1604 W., Building 1, Suite 1106, 210-483-8989, nonnasa.com

The worst

Midnight Masterpiece po’boy at BB’s Tex-Orleans:

The same New Orleans quest that crowned a stuffed shrimp champion reminded me that to find your prince, sometimes you gotta kiss a lot of frogs. Pucker up for the roast beef po’boy at this chain out of Houston. A mouthful of mush and salt, it gave a bad name to the noble tradition of the beef “debris” sandwich. 5423 W. Loop 1604 N., Alamo Ranch, 726-600-2022, bbstexorleans.com

Rabbit and waffles from Fig Tree Restaurant:

Rabbit’s a beautiful roasted meat, with a lean bite and just enough wild to make it interesting. But chicken-fried? It reduced the meat to splinters with a death grip on the bone at this resurrected River Walk bistro. And don’t look to the waffles for a little sweet-talking comfort, these round mounds of brown were fried to match the rabbit’s jacket, greasy on the outside and raw in the middle. 515 Villita St. in La Villita, 210-5951313, figtreerestaurant.com

Three Amigos Breakfast bagel at Orderup:

Look at the photo real quick. I’m guessing you’d bet I’m about to trash that sweaty glob of fries on the right. Nope. They’re called Chocolate Pig Fries, and they’re a surprisingly satisfying answer to a question nobody asked. Like, “What if I put Nutella and bacon on french fries?” Look to the left, and you’ll see the Three Amigos breakfast bagel, and that’s where things went sideways at this local hangout for tacos, bagels, burgers and pizza. The eggs were fine, and the trio of peppers carried a righteous scorch. But the bagel was steamed and mushy like a day at the sauna, and the whole thing was slimed with the kind of chorizo that casts a greasy orange glow over everything it touches. 999 E. Basse Road, Suite 193, 210-824-9600, orderup-sa.com

Voodoo Bubble doughnut at Voodoo Doughnut:I

tried every doughnut at the new Voodoo Doughnut downtown. All 40 and counting. And this was the worst. Stale and sticky and sweeter than undissolved sugar at the bottom of a KoolAid glass. They call the pink stuff “bubble gum dust.” Maybe the home office in Portland has a soft spot for bubble gum the same way San Antonio loves Big Red. I’ll never understand either one. 400 E. Houston St., 210-964-7666, voodoodoughnut.com

Photos by Mike Sutter/Staff Comfort Cafe served up a healthy stack of extra-fluffy pancakes topped with fresh berries. Mr. Juicy’s chicken-fried steak was tender enough to eat with plastic utensils and featured an au poivre sauce made with shallots, peppercorn, cream and bacon.

Blue crab is the secret ingredient in the stuffed shrimp at Elders Family Restaurant.

The Voodoo Bubble doughnut from Voodoo Doughnut came covered with bubble gum dust.

The tagliatelle pasta was tossed tableside by waiter Lindsey Barcroft at Nonna Osteria 1604.

Meadow Neighborhood Eatery + Bar found its Southern accent with the State Street Biscuit.

The Midnight Masterpiece beef debris po’boy from BB’s Tex-Orleans failed to deliver.

A brunch dish of rabbit and waffles from Fig Tree Restaurant went horribly wrong.

The rib-eye tacos at Los Azulejos Restaurant and Bar came with a side of bone marrow.

The Three Amigos breakfast bagel, at left, from Orderup was steamed and mushy.