Tasty Asian Modern Kitchen seems to have found its footing more than a year after opening in San Antonio. With generous portions, excellent service and a lineup of affordable lunch specials, the Chinese eatery is worth the occasional visit.
When I first checked out the restaurant in March 2025, it was obvious that things were still coming together, but when I learned that former staffers from the long-lost La Chinita’s had moved over to Tasty Asian Modern Kitchen, I knew I had to give it another shot. The interior of the restaurant was as I remembered it, with neon lights and lanterns beaming throughout a dining room lined with a mix of wood paneling and presumably faux marble walls.
The biggest difference between my first Tasty visit and this one was being greeted at the door by Wai Kong, who I know by the name of “Sunshine.”
Kong was one of the familiar smiling faces serving customers at La Chinita’s on San Antonio’s Southeast Side before the business shuttered in 2025. She and several of her former coworkers have moved over to Tasty, where they work in different areas of the restaurant.
After getting situated at a table, I glanced over the lunch specials, the impetus behind this trip to Tasty. Prices range from $9.99 to $11.99 and include items like orange chicken, shrimp with lobster sauce and kung pao chicken. Lunch specials are available from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, and entrees come with a choice of steamed or fried rice, an egg roll and soup.
I ended up going with the black pepper mixed mushroom beef cubes ($10.99), a dish more commonly known as pepper steak, with fried rice, a hot and sour soup and an egg roll. The hot and sour soup came out first, steaming hot in a bowl with a proper soup spoon and a portion of fried wonton strips on the side. The soup had a decent amount of spiced heat to it with all the mushrooms, egg and bamboo shoots mixed into the dark broth.
The real star of the show was the pepper steak, which came velveted and cubed, making for thick, tender bites. The spicy, savory sauce was slathered over the beef and a mix of peppers, carrots and onions, and the excess sauce added extra flavor to the mound of fried rice on the plate. A small ramekin of tangy dipping sauce meant for the egg roll also found its way into the serving of rice, because why not?
In the end, I had to ask for a box or risk eating everything in one sitting and falling asleep the minute I got home. Tasty Asian Modern Kitchen is still in its infancy, but attentive staff and affordable options prove that this restaurant has every intention of sticking around for awhile. I will say, I’m still curious about Tasty’s dim sum offerings, but that’s an adventure for another day.
Find it: 9502 I-10, San Antonio, TX 78230