Tony’s

Tony’s Restaurant – Bar

Tony Andalon and his wife Hermila opened up Tony’s Restaurant in San Antonio on February 5^th, 1998. Initially they just sold tacos but people kept asking him to sell other dishes too.

• Monday Special is steak, rib eye for 105 pesos or T-bone for 109 pesos.
• (376) 766 4614 or 766 4069.
• E-mail address: tonysplus@live.com.
• Butcher shop number: 766 1614

One year after Tony opened, he expanded and started serving many different dishes. We asked him how he would describe his food. He said, “You could call it Mexican with a little bit of American or American with a little bit of Mexican“. I try to please everyone, Mexicans, Americans and Canadians. I‘m a meat eater so we have a lot of meat dishes. He added, “We do our best. We are your best choice.”

Owner Tony and Hermila Andalon

Tony was born in Etatlan. It is a small town two hours from San Antonio. He visits there often and collects archeological objects. He has many interesting items from his extensive collection on the walls of the restaurant.

Tony and Hermila live in a house directly behind the restaurant. He and Hermila have been married for thirty-six years.

Tony’s children work with them

All three of Tony and Hermila’s children have worked with them at the restaurant. They all started working the cash register and doing everything else from the time they turned twelve years old.

Tony has a large group of regulars. They come everyday and sometimes twice a day. That says a lot about his food.

He opened a butcher shop before he started the restaurant. That was in 1985. It is next door to the restaurant. It now belongs to his oldest son, Antonio Caesar. The address is: 147 Carretera. His hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed Sunday. All of Tony’s meats come from his son’s butcher shop. He will take special orders. Telephone number is: 766 1614.

Tony’s next son, Abraham owns a Chicken place down the street. Tony started him out in business too. He sells fried and grilled chicken to take out or eat there.

The youngest member of the family, Annabel is currently going to the famous Colegio Gastronomico Internacional in Guadalajara. She will graduate in May and then she will become one of the Chefs at the restaurant. Tony is going to let her decide what other items she wants to add to the already delicious dishes on the menu. The entire family is involved in food service in one way or another.

Tony’s has twenty tables and he can serve eighty to ninety customers at one time. At the moment they don’t do catering unless it is for a special function. Tony says he may do it in the future.

For the past eight years Tony has cooked all the ribs for the Shriner’s Rib Fest that occurs in the month of February. He cooks over five hundred plates of ribs.

We do what we can to help the community

For the past two years, once a year, he has been cooking ribs for the Tall Boys. They serve over two hundred and seventy plates of ribs that day. It is held at Villa Encantada event center in Chapala. He also donates money and coupons for free meals to the nonprofit organizations in the lakeside area. He gets many requests every week for help. He said, “ We do what we can to help the community.”

Sunday is their busiest day of the week. Their Sunday special is Lamb or Pork Shank. They can handle large groups but it is important to call ahead. The telephone number is: (376) 766 4614 or 766 4069. E-mail address: tonysplus@live.com. You can call for reservations or take-out.

• Saturday Special is Shrimp any style
• Monday Special is steak, rib eye  T-bone
• Tuesday Special changes from week to week but it is always some kind of chicken
• Wednesday, they are closed.
• Thursday Special is also Rib eye steak.
• Friday Special is Mahi-Mahi or Sea Bass

Besides the daily specials, there is an extensive menu of other items. They soups, guacamole and Frijoles Charros.

Salads, Shrimp and fine cuts of meat

There are five different salads; five different chicken dishes; six fish dishes; six shrimp dishes; two pork dishes; six different cuts of meat; plus various taco, quesadilla, cheese and burrito dishes.

To top it off, there are two desserts, flan and pie.

They have live music five nights a week. There is no music on Sundays. Tuesday evenings a group called Melodia Acustica. They sing and play the mandolin, guitar, violin and bongos.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, Tony plays and sings with Roberto and several other musicians.

Roberto Ortiz plays the keyboard every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The music usually starts around six and ends around nine in the evening.

The afternoon I ate there I had the ribs. They are better than any other ribs I have ever eaten. I couldn’t have asked for more: delicious food, good service, relaxed environment, enjoyable entertainment and lots of friends. See you there.

By, Evelyn Walker
AccessLakeChapala.com Team
Questions or Need Help?