13 Best Restaurants in San Antonio, Texas

One of the best restaurants in the city, the menu at Biga on the Banks is big and eclectic, and the dining atmosphere manages to be both larger than life and romantic. The choices change daily to take advantage of the freshest ingredients available, with dishes ranging from seared red-grouper grits to 11-spiced Axis venison chops. The three-course prix-fixe is perfect for pretheater or presymphony outings. Don't skip out on dessert, which may be the best in town: the sticky toffee pudding is a must. Table 31 is just off the main dining room, a great spot for relaxed entertaining for 5–8 people. Impress your guests with the tasting menus (five or eight courses) and suggestions for wine pairings. This is a prime spot for a leisurely dinner on the River Walk, if you can get a reservation. Let's repeat that: reservations are essential. 

For almost 90 years now, Earl Abel's has managed to stay as hip as ever thanks to their classic homestyle menu and loyal fans that have followed them to a new location in the Pearl. The top-notch comfort food is made fresh daily and includes everything you would hope to see on your family table: classic breakfasts, soups and salads, hearty sandwiches, Abel's famous meat loaf, house-roasted turkey breast with cornbread stuffing, chicken-fried steak, garlic fried rice, and much more, with homemade pie and cake for dessert. But the real star of the show is Earl's Famous Original Fried Chicken, available as an entrée or dinner box, or in a family meal package with two sides and two slices of pie. Earl's also serves classic cocktails, coffee cocktails, draft and bottled beers, wines, and mocktails.

This is the Pearl's reimagining of a food court, an eminently casual spot featuring chef-driven stands. Choose from six vendors: Chilaquil, serving Mexican street food and namesake chilaquiles; Fletcher's Hamburgers (which also sells hot dogs made with 100% organic Texas Akaushi beef); Kineapple, with healthy smoothies and snacks; Mi Roti, Caribbean street food built around roti, a Caribbean flatbread; Park Bar, a casual wine and beer bar with Texas beer and seasonal cocktails; and Tenko Ramen, a noodle-driven eatery with Japanese-style snacks. The Food Hall was rebuilt from the ruins of a 2003 fire that claimed the structure originally built in 1894 as the bottling house for the original Pearl Brewery. 

Nationally acclaimed Hot Joy has an eclectic menu that occasionally calls for an adventuresome spirit. You can try a Mexican twist on Asian fare like migas fried rice or pozole verde ramen, or go for the consistent standouts like the twice-fried crab wings—chicken wings fried in crab fat. The authentic Spam fried rice is a surprise hit (although not to anyone from Hawaii). Wait times can be long, but you'll have the surroundings to entertain you. There's a wonderful cocktail menu and a good selection of beer. Ramen Monday is very popular, a good way to try various dishes at an affordable price. 

This sophisticated, yet casual follow up to Chef Andrew Weissman's popular Le Rêve is just the kind of regular neighborhood spot San Antonians were looking for. Excellent, well-executed Italian food matched by flawless service in a cozy, unpretentious bistro-style environment. Though reservations are now accepted, families and couples alike still line up for breakfast, lunch and dinner at this urban-chic space at The Pearl. Antipasti are a focus, with a corner area table brimming with plates and platters of options from white bean purée to marinated wild mushrooms and fennel with cream sauce. Pastas are house-made and excellent, as are wood-fired pizzas, but heartier mains like decadent sugo or fall-off-the-bone osso bucco are earth-stopping. There are also delicious desserts and top notch wine list.

Laying claim as San Antonio's oldest Mexican restaurant, La Fonda opened in 1932 and has had an ardent following ever since. The robust menu offers traditional Tex-Mex plus some dishes from the interior of Mexico. Tex-Mex fare includes appetizers, tacos, enchiladas, and oak-grilled fajitas. The family-friendly spot is in a hacienda-like building that's fun and casual, but still upscale. The beautiful dining room opens onto an inviting outdoor patio. Desserts include flan and a luscious tres leches cake. The vibrant, welcoming bar delivers tasty margaritas. This is a very popular and often busy place. Reservations are highly recommended for dinner and weekend brunch.

You can't get too far in San Antonio without stumbling into a Tex-Mex restaurant, but when you need something that relays the authenticity of true Mexican cuisine, La Gloria is the place. Inspired by the street foods of Mexico, chef/owner Johnny Hernandez has created a vibrant taqueria-style restaurant celebrating the bold flavors and classic offerings you'd typically find with Mexican street vendors. Mini-tacos dorados verdes (crispy chicken in salsa) and torta loca de carnitas (a sandwich of braised pork) are top picks, but you can't go wrong with any of the selections from the fresh ceviche menu or with an order of quesadillas, tostadas, or enchiladas. Corn tortillas are made daily in-house from the restaurant's own non-GMO native crop in La Costa, Texas. Don't miss the daily selection of aguas frescas or their specialty cocktail, the Mangonada. They have at least six kinds of margaritas, or try the Sangria La Gloria: red wine, light rum, simple syrup, and lime and orange juices, with a fresh-fruit garnish. Tequilas, spirits, and beer round out the beverage menu. 

In a city filled with Mexican bakeries, brothers José and David Cáceres kicked the whole pan dulce (pastry) game up a notch with La Panadería. Their love for baking comes from selling their mama Doña Josefina's loaves of fresh-baked bread on the streets of Mexico City, and they've translated that passion into a winning combination of fresh, quality products available for only a limited amount of time each short day. Bestsellers include empanadas, tres leches (three-milk) croissants, and Nutella cruffins (a croissant-muffin hybrid). Brunch items include avocado toast with grilled chicken, ranchero eggs Benedictine, and tequila-butter steak and eggs. They also have salads, tortas, cakes and cookies, and a nice assortment of freshly baked breads. Ordering can be fast and furious at peak times—grab a tray, get in line, pay for your selections, and settle in to a nearby table. To avoid disappointment, check the website to see how many of what you want they have left. Aficionados have been known to drive from location to location in search of their favorites. Their other locations are 8305 Broadway (Alamo Heights) and 17030 Fiesta Texas Drive (La Cantera Heights).

The heart of Market Square boasts one of San Antonio's most venerable culinary landmarks, part of the notable Cortez Family of restaurants. Opened in 1941 as a three-table café for early-rising farmers to get breakfast, Mi Tierra ("my land") is a traditional Mexican restaurant, bakery, and bar that serves its hallmark breakfasts all day; the chilaquiles famosas—eggs scrambled with corn tortilla strips and topped with ranchero (mild tomato-based) sauce and cheese—are alone worth coming back for again and again. Truly memorable nachos, tacos, enchiladas, chalupas, fajitas, and house specialties, all made from fresh ingredients, are served at lunch and dinner. The giant, carved oak bar serves up aged tequilas, authentic margaritas, draught beer, and mixed drinks. The bakery has an enormous selection of pan dulces (Mexican pastries) and excellent coffee. Yes, the Christmas decorations stay up year-round.

This venerable and popular downtown institution has been serving up hearty German soul food for breakfast (served all day), lunch, and dinner since Mama and Papa Schilo established their first location in 1917. The delicatessen moved to its current spot on East Commerce Street in 1942; Schilo's even lays claim to being the oldest operating restaurant in San Antonio and nobody has challenged them for the title. Fuel up with their famous split-pea soup; Reuben, sausage, and deli sandwiches; or weekday lunch specials, such as chicken and dumplings or meat loaf. There are also plenty of German classics like schweineschnitzel (panfried pork loin) or wienerschnitzel (panfried veal). Wash it down with fantastic homemade root beer, and top off your meal with rich, creamy cheesecake or delectable apple strudel. They also offer draft beer and spiked root beer specials. To add to the cool history, the building was originally a bank; the old bank vault is now the restaurant's walk-in cooler. They don't take reservations for groups smaller than 20, so be prepared to wait a bit during peak breakfast and lunch times.

South Texas meets the South of France doesn't sound like it should work, but it does, and beautifully, at chef Andrew Weissman's concept of a fine dining restaurant that blends French and Texan cuisines in seasonally sublime ways. Everything here is fresh, fresh, fresh, right down to the on-site garden of herbs and vegetables. The elegant yet relaxed interior (the building is La Cantera Resort & Spa's former Golf Club) is perfect for the eclectic decor of French antiques and reclaimed wood. For locals, it's a special kick to learn that the hardwood floors came from the now-gone and much-loved Joske's department store.

Because the menu is determined by seasons and availability, it changes regularly, but reportedly the roasted pheasant hen-of-the-woods is such a hit that it has earned permanent status on the offerings. There's a Sunday brunch menu that also changes, but look for standouts like poached eggs and cured salmon, a wild mushroom and cheese omelet, and crispy spice-marinated Bandera quail. Reservations are highly recommended. 

Galveston chef-owner Jeff Balfour serves up a Southern comfort–style all-day menu paired with 15 different craft beers brewed on-site in a custom-manufactured brewery designed by Portland Kettle Works, bringing brewing back to the Pearl. The menu changes seasonally, and if you can't decide, choose selections from the chef's For the Table menu to share—options usually include Southerleigh's famous fried snapper throats, deviled eggs, South Texas antelope tartare, fried frog legs, and Galveston Bay shrimp boil. Besides the snapper throats, other popular dishes include pressure-fried chicken, cracker-crusted Gulf redfish, and crispy Gulf snapper Americaine. They also have a weekend brunch menu. Dinner reservations are recommended, especially on weekends. The restaurant is on the first floor of the same landmark 1894 building that housed the original Pearl brewhouse.

This popular restaurant is housed in a stately 1860 home built by the founder of Pioneer Flour Mills. Breakfast is served all day, and options like fluffy Pioneer Brand biscuits, breakfast tacos, Southern sweet cream waffles, and delectable pastries are half the reason to eat here. The other half is the 1920s art nouveau decor of stained, beveled, and etched glass along with plant motifs that create the illusion of a fine home's conservatory.