The Magpie

First things first. I have no photos because every time food came to my table my family devoured it like the heathens they are.

This place is not over hyped. All the good things you read in the other reviews are true. It's perfect. Everything is good. The service is excellent. The wine list is intentional. The food is so good. It's dark and moody. Perfect for a date night.

We had the milk bread, the tofu, the carbonara, the shrimp toast, the dak galbi and the butter cake.

The milk bread was great though I don't know that it's necessary for us to have. The carbonara is something I ordered for my 9yo as a "safe food" because she is still trying new foods. She loved it and so did we. The shrimp toast was my favorite and it was my daughters as well. The dak galbi wasn't too spicy and we devoured it. Very juicy and flavorful. The butter cake I didn't eat because I was too full but my daughter won't shut up about how good it was. Same for my husband. I can't wait to go again.

I'm disappointed. We had high hopes based on the reviews. We made a reservation and we sat by the front door. Bad start to a bad meal. We asked if we could switch but were told that was the only table left at the time we made the reservation. Hmmmm. The other four tops didn't even start to fill until we were leaving. Reviews mentioned the ambiance as being a nice date night place but we had a hard time hearing each other in this loud restaurant.

I was excited to try the tempura mushrooms. The salty soggy tasteless mushrooms did nothing to impress. The salty carbonara was inedible. We asked our waiter to tell the kitchen to go lighter on the salt.

The menu states that the kitchen would be grateful if all the dishes are ordered at once. I was thinking that was a good thing for them otherwise we would have left after sampling the first two dishes. As customers, we would appreciate if all the dishes came out at once. Instead, a full glass of water later and the snapper and ribeye made it to the table. The snapper was tasty but still nothing to rave about. We ordered medium rare and rare steak made my husband loose his appetite. The kitchen cooked the steak again and it came out medium rare. The steak was ok.

I can't say that much stood out at the Magpie. Our table of four spent $200 and left wondering if we were at the same restaurant as the 4.8 reviews.

How the heck have I never heard of this place before?! It was incredible! Easily top 3 favorite restaurants in SA along with Bliss and Clementine. The service was super friendly, the wine was great, and the food was OUTSTANDING. We were seated at the bar facing into the kitchen, which was fun, too.

Our favorites of the night were the smoked duck (by far), the tempura mushroom (best mushrooms I've ever had), and the pesto pasta. We also loved the ribeye, the kale salad, and the carbonara. The shrimp toast was good, but if I had to cut an item from our order, it would be that one. And the milk bread was, of course, very tasty. The butter cake dessert was also delicious. It reminded me of Bambino Huey - 90s San Antonio kids, you know what I'm talking about.

The cherry on top was that they took the steak off the bill for being undercooked. We didn't even say anything - they noticed when they went to box it up and Tom it upon themselves to take it off. I didn't even mind that it was a little under - I ate the outer pieces first and since we were full, knew I could heat up the more rare leftovers at home without overcooking it. That's incredible service! And pride in your craft.

Another reviewer mentioned the parking lot diagonally across the intersection, and thank you for that! Because the lot in front of the restaurant is small.

The Magpie has been on my list of restaurants to try for the longest time so I was so thrilled my girl friends and I finally tried this spot!! You'll likely need to make a reservation, and heads up they take a deposit for reservation. This place is a gem! Great family style restaurant. The food had amazing Korean flavor and all of the ingredients were high quality. We tried their signature milk bread, tofu, pesto pasta, and crispy pork belly ssam. All delicious! I was to try more things on the menu including their smoked duck and shrimp toast next time, it looked amazing! Service is very attentive. Go support Sue Kim's incredible restaurant! It truly is a unique menu unlike anywhere else I've been in San Antonio.

One of my favorite places in San Antonio, it's a must-try! Everything was presented wonderfully, and tasted unique, with elements curated for a well-rounded dish. Some of our favorites were the pork belly and carbonara but truly, I don't think you can go wrong with whatever you try. Service was excellent. We chose to sit at the bar which was fun to watch the chefs until the smoke was overwhelming-- our mistake haha.

A lovely date night experience. Everything was high quality. Standouts were the tempura mushrooms and butter cake. Loved the butter cake!!! Everything is made to share with surprisingly bigger portions than expected.

Alright. I don't normally review anything if it's just "good" or "ok", but it only felt right to leave a review here because the team really went above and beyond. Some extra tips will be included, outside of my review of the food.

1. Reservations: if you're planning to go on a Friday or Saturday night, would be a good idea to reserve, especially if you want to dine after 7. There is a refundable fee for reservations which is refunded the day you dine. This was new for me, but I know the place is small so I didn't mind. They have indoor and outdoor options.

2. Parking: The Magpie is in a very popular little strip center, with beer and pizza places right next door (side note, those places are cool too). There's a lot catty cornered that doesn't have a "don't park" sign, so this is where I ended up parking. Even in heels it's still very close. Two handicapped parking spaces about 6 feet from the restaurant are there in case you need.

3. Ambiance: balanced, cute, quaint. Soft jazzy music gives an upscale vibe. Open kitchen, wait staff is very kind and gracious. Lighting slightly dim but not so much that you can't see the menu. My girlfriends and I chose to dress up, but you could get away with jeans and a nice blouse, no one would think twice on it. The place is small, but it gets packed. We ended up staying past the end of our reservation (1.5 hrs) and they kindly located another table for us to move to so we could enjoy finishing the wine and desserts (OH THAT BUTTER CAKE!)

4. Food:

Started with smoke duck. It's not huge portion but it's definitely a flavor bomb. Glad we got it. AT $18, Would rate 9 out of 10.

Between three ladies we decided to share the steak the chicken and linguine. This was plenty of food as the steak was a literal pound of meat.

The chicken was definitely the star of the show for me and the sauce that came with it I put on EVERYTHING on the table. Chicken was perfect. Also, quite a large portion and deboned so it can be cut with knife and fork. The balance of flavors was, in my opinion, perfect. 12/10

The steak was the most expensive, but is HUGE. The simple flavor of salt and pepper and butter in the sear is classic. Typical cook for them is medium rare. It comes with some sort of oil and chili sauce on the plate. It was not over complicated and the chef let the flavor of the meat stay shining through, which I very much appreciate. I would pick the chicken over the steak in the future, but it's still very good. 8.5/10

We then moved on to dessert;

The butter cake reminds me of a cross between crème brûlée and bread pudding, I would come here LITERALLY just for this. It's a petite portion but so wonderful as a sweet finisher to an overall great meal. 100/10

The chocolate- very rich. Another great item if you're a chocolate junkee. It comes in a cream sauce reminiscent of almond and pistachio condensed cream. For me this is more of a craving item. Again, petite, sensible portion. All three of us got about 3 spoonfuls of each dessert. 7/10

5. Drinks: They offer beer and wine, a wonderful, highly curated selection. There are options for any price range (beer starts at $4, wine at $10; but you can certainly indulge in some beautiful wines on the higher end) 10/10

6. Overall, I would 100% recommend this establishment. The experience, kindness, atmosphere, quality of food, quality of flavors for me make it a 9.5 out of 10. I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu, but I'll just have to go back a couple more times to try everything.

One of my favs in the city service & food are always great and feels like home while still maintaining an upscale experience. Love watching the synergy in the kitchen!

This food is phenomenal as is the service. I loved the pickled chilies in the pork belly. The snapper skin was crispy and the roasted radishes were savory with a hint of sweetness. The butter cake is gooey and the berry reduction with the fresh berries and chantilly crème is the perfect dessert for people who don't want chocolate. The outside of the butter cake was crisp and the inside was soft.

The inside of the restaurant is cute and vibrant. There was a weird feeling of deja vu when the same couple kept walking by us and exiting the restaurant through the doors behind my seat. Happened 3 times in the first 15 minutes we were there.

You can't go wrong with anything on the menu. Staff is always nice, patient, and open to giving good recommendations. Perfect for date night or family style dining with a group of your friends. Will definitely keep coming back.