Institute of Chili

I went to Alamo Eat Street Bar for the first time last night. It was First Friday down in South Town so the area was more than bustling. Saying it was busy would be an understatement, it was overly crowded.
With that said, we decided to grab a bite to eat from the Institute of Chili. I have to admit, I was somewhat disappointed. It’s not that the the food was bad, but I think I went in with too high of expectations. I got their Roosevelt and it wasn’t really what their menu said it was. It was describe as tamales, a fried egg, topped with chili or something to that extent. I guess technically is was what it said it was, but the tamales weren’t exactly the main attraction. There almost seemed as though they came out of a can. They were tiny thin little things heated up on a standard kitchen grill. I’d say the chili was more the focus with chips on the side.

Oh man… how can you go wrong here! The food is amazing… truly filling. Love all the options and variety as well. This food trailer was also featured on the San Antonio episode of the Daytripper —

Based on what I had read on Unilocal,I was eagerly looking forward to visiting Institute of Chili at Meat Week (Jan. 26, 2014). What transpired today left me totally bewildered and shocked that such a well-​regarded food truck could operate in such a fashion…
The event kicked off at noon. The Institute of Chili must have not set their alarm clocks as they took their first order at around 12:45PM. I was the third to order and I went with The Bomb (as seen on TV sold me — Texas on a bun…). The Bomb is a brisket sandwich topped with their «famous» chili, a fried egg, and cheese. However, I was informed that they didn’t have any eggs. «But if you would like to wait, my partner is going to run to HEB and pick some up,» she stated. «No, thanks. I’ll take it without the egg.»
Thirty minutes later, the other lady returned with the eggs. Oh, did I mention that I still had not received my order? Nor had the first person, George, received his order. Can you say slow? Another 15 minutes went by and the George was finally getting bits and pieces of his order. So, all told, not only did they open 45 minutes late but they took about 45 – 50 minutes to get me my order! Well, at least I was eating at one of the best food trucks in the city and the truck with the best chili in the country, or so I had read, or heard, or something.
The Bomb turned out to be a bust. The one saving grace of this monstrosity was the very tender brisket. The chili, oh come on, it was mealy from the ton of chili powder they used. I ate at least 3 better varieties of chili two weeks prior at the very same site during the chili cook-​off. I managed to eat about ½ of this $ 9 (it’s 8 but I gave a dollar tip not knowing it would take nearly an hour to get my food) sandwich.
I will admit, others seem to love the food here so my opinion is the out of whack opinion. I get that. Like most things in life, what we find delicious is very subjective. This wasn’t. The chili, again, wasn’t. The fact that they opened 45 minutes late, were unprepared with one of their staple item, eggs, and then took over 45 minutes before they started getting food out the window, is not very professional.
Like all small businesses, I wish them the best of luck. My experience has left a rather bad taste in my mouth both figuratively and literally.

Tried the chili w/​cornbread and a side of their hot pepper mix. I was blown away! Thick, spicy, loaded with brisket, topped with caramelized onions, and spooned over a slab of griddled cornbread — this isn’t a style of chili most people are accustomed to, but that doesn’t make any less tasty. In fact, its downright delicious. Looking forward to trying some of their other offerings!

The only thing I will eat from this truck is the Chili! Super good and packed with heat!

@TheChiliQueens: One of the best food trucks at the Alamo St. Eat Bar, Ana is awesome and she makes my chicken n bacon tacos w/​onions sautéed in Sriracha to perfection; also try The Bomb… Ana, Please bring back the CBTs, or do your homie a solid on a special order, Thanks

San Antonio is a great city that is filled with taquerias, burger joints, pizzerias, Chinese restaurants, sushi places, seafood dives, steakhouses and various fast food and sit down chain restaurants. But somewhere in the midst of that enormous smörgåsbord of restaurants, something is missing. What do you mean by something you might ask? Something as in being remotely special to Texas that you never see here and really should be a crime. That my friends, is finding a place that serves chili, similar to Texas Chili Parlor in Austin, TX. And no I’m not referring to that rubbish served at Wendy’s that passes for chili. What is this, beans in the chili? What kind of chili is that, the kind that’s served in New York City or Cincinnati? Ugh get that crap the hell outta here! I’m talking about the real deal Texas style chili, the kind with nothing but meat, onions, spices and jalapenos for the really brave souls. Now a brick and mortar restaurant that specializes in chili does not exist here in San Antonio but the closest we have to it is right here in a mobile food cart version of it known as the Institute of Chili. In the past I would stop by here for a raspa and would come by to order either a brisket sandwich or brisket street tacos only to find out they were out of the brisket. And I’ve been wanting to try a mangonada only to be told that their machine is down. Bummer!
However one night after having a couple of drinks at a bar across town I decided to stop by here and ordered chili and cornbread and a Big Red. Two heaping, generous slices of sweet but not too sweet cornbread atop the wonderful and tasty Texas style chili packed with enough spice and flavor. Delish! And the service was friendly and quick too.

Delicious! I don’t know what else to say! Everything I’ve eaten here has been a delight, and the ladies are always super friendly! I want more! =)

I was excited to see the Institute of Chili at the Point. I tried the beef street tacos and they were delicious. The tortilla was crunchy and the meat tender and flavorful. The next time there, I tried the Roosevelt. I was going to leave out the egg, but was talked out of it. Not a good choice. The egg didn’t add anything for me. The tamales were good and the chili was good, but the egg on top was not for me. The handmade sodas were also delicious. I tried blueberry, watermelon and peach. Yum!

Chili Queens will keep me coming back to Alamo Street Eat Bar religiously.
The Roosevelt is perfection. I tried them for the first time at Luminaria last weekend. I don’t know if it was the fact that I tipped my queens, or if it is a normal thing, but my small carton could barely contain the mass of food I received. That was no small food truck meal.
I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew Unilocal loved them. You never disappoint, friends!

A+
Nice people. Great food.
Have the pork and waffles. Spectacular.

The Bomb (pulled pork, fried egg, chili, cheese) is solid.

The bomb is so hot. My mouth is on fire, perfect with a nice old beer!

The brisket tacos are something special.
This is the best brisket I’ve ever had. It ain’t smoked, and it yes, it’s served out of truck.
One of the best things I’ve put in my mouth. So good I went three times in four days and never tried their chili.

For being the supposed birthplace of chili con carne, it sure is hard to find a place to get a decent serving of chili, until now. Thanks Chili Queens, for doing it old school. Since I work downtown, I’m always finding my self at the Streets and Eats, and though every truck is fantastic and gets my support, it’s The Chili Queens that I most frequent. I’ve tried it all, on fritos, with cornbread, and even sans meat, and each time nothing else complements my Lone Star best. Keep it up ladies!

The original Chili Queens started WAY back in the 1800’s and ran up until the Great Depression. These wonderful ladies have decided to resurrect them and are serving up some serious Texas (read no beans) Chili.
Obviously they have Chili but it is what they are doing with the chili that has me begging for more. For example «The Roosevelt» is a tamale topped with an egg, cilantro, fritos and of course chili. It is my personal favorite thing on the menu. You can also get a chili cheese dog or a not so basic frito pie. Also for the vegetarians they offer a veggie chili, I can’t lie I will never try that but it is there for the non meat eaters.
Although the main emphasis is chili they also have a brisket taco that was very good.
I do recommend that you take some heartburn medicine before you go too heavy on the Chili menu. It was worth the pain but is so much better when you are prepared in advance for the burn.

It was a busy Friday night and I needed food to stay on task with hanging out with friends and drinking beer out in the King William district.
I had the chili cheese dog and HOT DAMN it was the perfect hot-​dog. It has the right amount of bun-​to-​meat-​to-​chili & cheese ratio so I ordered another with a shiner bock from the vendor within the trailer park eatery. I was good to go for the rest of the night with one minor badge of honor that I was given as a bonus to brag about my visit to The Chili Queens: heartburn!
I will have to come back the one day a week I take a break from eating pescaterian!
BONUS: the trailer park eatery where this parks has porta-​pots and a convenient hand washing station!

After reading the review submitted by Melissa M. I knew that I had to try this place. The food lived up the the hype.
I went more basic, the Chili Queens Original Chili (Texas red) over Frito’s (Frito Pie). I was very very delicious. The Chili is mild for yankee wimps but they have jalapenos you can add to kick it up heat and flavor wise.
Looking forward to trying other things on the menu too.
I hope the Chili Queens have a long prosperous run in Alamo City. This is some good Texas style comfort food.

Truth: I hugged the owner when she described her idea of brunch :) These ladies are cooking up some good, ol’ fashion, no bean havin’, greasy, spicey, make you wanna slap your momma its so good, chili.
I had the Roosevelt, and man oh man was it delicious! Tamales, fritos, chili, and an over easy egg on top with cilantro. Since I’m a perfect bite kind of girl i mashed it all up together and it was so yummy. The chili is just ground meat with no beans (cause this is texas, ya’ll) and the real spice was on the back end, so you may take your first bite and think «oh this ain’t so bad» and then it’ll hit you, and it’ll keep on hitting you with every bite you take.
I talked to the owner after dinner and she gave me the history of the name of the truck. Apparently, these ladies are not the first chili queens, back in the early part of the 1900’s there were chili queens out on the streets serving the local workers and then health codes were invented and they had to shut down, so now they’re back in their new food truck for the first time since the 40’s. so yay! for incorporating local history into your new local business.
These lovely ladies are setting up shop at alamo eat street bar (the old Acapulco drive-​in)

TapaTapa tweeted that he would be on S. Alamo, so I hopped in my car to get my nosh on a gorgeous Friday night. I pulled into the newly opened Alamo Street Eat Bar (owned by the Friendly Spot folks). When I pulled in, I didn’t see the TapaTapa truck. But there was the bold white Chilli Queens truck. Three young women were busy inside finishing prep for the night’s service.
With a name like Chili Queens, one would expect a heavy emphasis on chilies. I was thinking rellenos, and a couple variations of chili. What I found was an emphasis on one thing: chili (no beans, thank you). The menu board offered several chili-​centric dishes. There was a frito pie, a veg chili, a bowl of chili and something called The Rossevelt.
Take two competent south Texas style tamales, smother them with really good meaty chili, and then top the plate with two sunny side up eggs garnished with cilantro, a couple slices of fresh tomato and a fiery serrano pepper. Who does that? The Chili Queens, that’s who.
And they do it really well. The chili is virtually grease free, with a subtle smoky chili flavor. I was expecting a bold, heavily spiced chili. It is not a heavy-​handed chili powder approach that one expects from cheap eats. The meat is chunky and tender and well seasoned. And true to its roots, not a bean in sight. It is a very good chili.
Taken together, the tamales, the chili and the sunny side up eggs make for an eclectic dish that is easy to approach. It is unexpected and it is worth a visit. This dish would be just as tasty for breakfast, lunch, dinner or after the bars close. Find this truck the next time you’re downtown. You won’t be disappointed. Follow the link for a picture of The Roosevelt.