Our First Visit to San Antonio -- Your Dining Recs.

[CindyJ]

My husband and I will be in San Antonio for a few days, including New Year's. It's our first visit and we're looking for an authentic taste of the town. Which restaurants should we NOT miss? And, is it too late to make reservations?

[snackboy]

Hi Guys,

I've just been reading this post as I used to live in SA years ago . . . The Blanco Cafe was one of my favorite spots and the enchiladas were fantastic . . . I'm glad it's still around as I was going ther in the 80's and early 90's . . . I also remember the prices being ridiculously cheap . . . Being from Toronto I can only dream of decent Mexican food now...

SB

[geegeeTX]

We' ve been to SA several times, and we like Blanco Cafe for cheese enchiladas and breakfast tacos. Its a casual place. Been to Las Canarias, and was not impressed. I also really like Pesca on the Riverwalk. Great seafood.

[CindyJ]

Funny - coming from Pennsylvania, the notion of "breakfast tacos" is strange to me. But then I think, "Of course, why not..." So, where is Blanco Cafe?

[wendileigh]

If you are looking for breakfast tacos go to Taco Taco Cafe on hildebrand at McCullough just north of downtown. It is great and a fun divey kinda of atmosphere. It's not the best best in town but it is the best and easiest for tourists I think. I take people there all the time and they rave about it.

[Casinogal]

I lived in San Antonio in the 80's and one of my favorite places was Schilo's on Commerce... great German food. I always make sure to revisit there when I return to SA and have never been disappointed. Have a great time while you are in town and Happy New Years!

[bronwen]

There aren't tons of great restaurants here. Mybest meals have been at Le Reve, Acenar, Azuca, Biga on the Banks, Budro's, Las Canarias, Pesca, Fig Tree, Bistro Vatel and La Frite.
Very popular are Mi Tierra, Rosario's, Casa Rio.
We've good steakhouses - Bohanan's (#2 in Texas), The Palm, Morton's, Ruth Chris.

[CindyJ]

The "chain" steakhouses, as good as they are, we'll definitely skip, because we've got them in our area, too. I recently saw a mention of Budro's in a magazine -- maybe Bon Appetit or Gourmet. I'll see if there are online menus we can check out to help us decide. Thanks for the other recommendations.

[CindyJ]

Just by way of a follow-up -- we had a very good meal at Boudro's, and the tableside guacamole prep was something we hadn't seen before. We had great margaritas all over, but especially at a place in Market Square whose name I can't recall. We were underwhelmed with Rosario's; maybe our expectations were too high going in, but there was nothing extraordinary, or even wonderful, on our plates that evening. The restaurant we enjoyed most was Casa Rio.

Also, we took an excursion to Lockhart because we'd heard that it's home of some of the best barbecue Texas has to offer. We had dinner at Chisholm Trail BarBQ, and we were hugely disappointed. The beef brisket was tasty, but far from tender; the pork ribs didn't look like any pork ribs I've ever seen, and there was virtually no meat on them; the sausage casing was so tough my plastic knife broke when I tried to cut it; and even the sides (baked beans, cucumber salad, carrot salad) were soggy and tasteless. About the best thing on our plates was the coleslaw. And, maybe it's a Texas thing, but I've never been offered slices of white bread straight out of a plastic bag at a restaurant before.

Don't hear me wrong -- we had a WONDERFUL time in San Antonio, but it clearly wasn't a trip that revolved around the food.