• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

San Antonio

mako1331

mako1331

Son of Mako's Mom
Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
24,652
Reaction score
17,025
Headed to a conference in San An for 4 days starting Sunday. My hotel is right in the middle of the river walk area. Any advice on restaurants, must see attractions, etc? I’ll have a significant amount of downtime.
 
Rosario's. My fav Mexican restaurant in the world. Soooooo good. No too far from the river walk.
 
You and I may overlap briefly in SA.

See The Alamo, obviously, if you haven’t before. River walk is best in the morning before things open and it gets too hot. If you like to jog, it’s great for that. Maybe go for a jog and then fill up on an old school cheap Mexican breakfast at Taco Haven to give you fuel for the day. It’s a bit off the Riverwalk on the convention center side.

Best Mexican food won’t be on the river walk. Mediocre Tex Mex there, but still probably better than what you’ll find in most parts of the US.

If your downtime is truly significant, make a day trip up to the hill country. SA, like most Texas cities, is enormously spread out. After a couple trips, downtown can get pretty tapped out. I hit the zoo last time, but only because I had my kid with me.
 
Riverwalk is the Texas equivalent of fisherman’s wharf. The Pearl district has more interesting bars and restaurants.
 
Two bars I'd recommend downtown that are unique are Esquire and the Menger. The Menger is where Teddy Roosevelt recruited the rough riders and where he hung out before heading out to Cuba for the Spanish-American War. Esquire is just a really cool bar that's been open since the 30's. Great cocktails and food. They also have a speakeasy like bar downstairs that's a little more upscale.

Gourdough's is more of an Austin thing but they just opened a spot on the Riverwalk. If you like donuts that's definitely a place to stop.

Definitely check out the Pearl Brewery complex one night for food and drinks. It's a short uber ride away.

Acenar is probably the best Mexican food on the Riverwalk. The owner is also the owner of Rosario's as mentioned in previous posts.

Wouldn't say it's a "must see" attraction but the Briscoe Western Art Museum is a fairly new art museum right on the river with some cool Texas history artifacts like Santa Anna's sword.
 
Last edited:
Milhouse said:
prepare to be disappointed with the alamo
Click to expand...

It’s mass delusion. The video explaining the significance of the Alamo seemed like such a blatant lie. And even if it was true, it wasn’t clear why it was important and treated with such reverence by Texans. When I went there were schoolkids there and old ladies weeping.

If I hadn’t heard “Remember the Alamo” my whole life it would have been a very forgettable experience.

Definitely recommend the Pearl district.
 
It’s a badass town so far though. Also, tire salesman conference is a solid tag. Out yourself for posrep.
 
Did you see the basement of the Alamo? I've heard that is the good part and where they keep the bikes.
 
Ate at a badass little Italian place called Dough Pizza Napoletana to take a break from the Tex-Mex. I'm impressed by the quality of the local beer from around the area. Gonna hit up the Pearl area tomorrow night on our last evening here. Thanks for all the recs.
 
mako1331 said:
Ate at a badass little Italian place called Dough Pizza Napoletana to take a break from the Tex-Mex. I'm impressed by the quality of the local beer from around the area. Gonna hit up the Pearl area tomorrow night on our last evening here. Thanks for all the recs.
Click to expand...

Definitely check out Southerleigh Brewing in the Pearl to get some more local brews.
 
texasdeac said:
Definitely check out Southerleigh Brewing in the Pearl to get some more local brews.
Click to expand...

There were a significant number of Germans among the early European settlers around San Antonio. This is reflected in some of the town names in the area - Von Ormy, New Braunfels, Boerne etc. They knew how to make beer. And not just Lone Star.
 
I’ve been mostly off the riverwalk this go round. Helps that I’m not staying at rivercenter. I must say that just walking around downtown has been much more rewarding. There is a lot of cool architecture in SA. And while it is also a tourist trap, El Mercado at least has some character (and good eats).

They held out for 2 weeks in that Alamo complex, hopelessly outmanned and outgunned, and fought to the last man. I guess it’s just hip to blow it off as a lie or something because Ph was unimpressed.
 
mako1331 said:
You weren’t kidding. The wife is a history teacher, and her response was “well this is a bit underwhelming”
Click to expand...

local patriot history enthusiasts are a riot; don't expect anything accurate, much less significant, save for an occasional random fact that they (perhaps accidentally) got right; just go for the entertainment value in their goofy but earnest misunderstandings
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top