San Antonio in Brief

If you're there only a few days, then of course the Alamo is a must, and dining is ever an adventure. But it is the people of San Antonio who made my trip memorable. The amalgamation of cultures there--Southern, Mexican, Native American, Texan, European--yields an exciting and colorful atmosphere.

Quick Tips:

If you are ever stuck for directions or suggestions, simply ask a San Antonian. I have lived in the South all of my life, a region famed for its hospitality, but I had yet to encounter a more friendly and helpful bunch of citizens than I found in this Texas city. Keep in mind that much of the downtown dining is closed for Saturday lunch and all day on Sunday. Call ahead to check.

Best Way To Get Around:

If you fly in, try to use the SATran shuttle running between the airport and the downtown hotels ( round trip), but BE AWARE that the trip BACK to the airport from your hotel may be a long one due to traffic and other pick-ups. Book a return shuttle time that is at least one and a half hours prior to your flight's departure.

Built in 1909, this was San Antonio’s first fully air-conditioned hotel, and has traditionally been the site of gala events and celebrity visits. The common areas and lobbies, including the stunning "Peacock Alley" (see photo below), are graciously appointed with antique and reproduction furniture and art. The hotel is central to downtown attractions and dining, three blocks from the Alamo and from the Riverwalk.

The guest rooms are delightful. The usual double rate (approx. $220) was reduced through our conference discount to $120 plus taxes—a BARGAIN. I stayed in two different double rooms, both identical with the exception of a desk, which I sorely needed for my work and which was the basis for the move. In the double, not only does each guest get her own queen bed, but she also gets her own closet AND her own bathroom. The unattractive exposed pipes in the rooms (and in some meeting rooms) service the sprinkler system, making them a necessary eyesore. The doors are charming—large, heavy dark wood, with spherical glass doorknobs. The bathrooms are pure nineteen-fifties, with porcelain tub-shower combinations, four prong hot and cold water handles, and black and white floor and wall tiling. The doorframe even has a bottle opener screwed to it. However, the other in-room amenities are up-to-date: hair dryers, coffee makers, cable television, ironing board and iron, and phones with data ports. One big snafu: upon checkout I saw on my bill that three in-room movies had been erroneously charged to us, but the matter was resolved politely. After checkout, they were happy to store my luggage until my shuttle to the airport left, and I would certainly return to this hotel on a future visit (with the discount, of course). I overheard other patrons complain of nighttime noisiness, either from neighboring rooms’ activities, or from garbage pick-up at the street level. We were troubled by neither in room 563.

I ordered the pricey room service Continental breakfast one morning, since I was up at 5:30 preparing my presentation for 8:30. It was a pot of coffee or tea, two breakfast breads, a fruit cup, and a lovely and proverbial yellow rose. The bran muffins were nothing special, but the fruit was fresh and flavorful for February! Business travelers: The hotel has a business center, two steps outside the hotel exit, but with minimal equipment. Their one Windows machine, running older versions of MS Windows and MS Word, might not serve your needs. An Internet connection there was $5.00 plus some small fee per minute. To print on their laser printer cost $1 per page, the price one pays, I suppose, for not being prepared before one leaves for a conference! With the phone cord I brought, I was able to plug my laptop into the data port on my room’s telephone and dial up the local Earthlink (my ISP) number, for the cost of a local phone call ($.50) rather than the $5-plus fee.

The Zuni Grill is part of a restaurant group including Paesanos and Rio Rio on San Antonio's Riverwalk. If you like corporate atmosphere (it sells and displays its own tee-shirts, salsa, baseball caps, etc.), you'll probably be satisfied with this place. Its Riverwalk location gives you a nice chance to people watch, and even within the multi-tiered interior, you can get a good view of everyone and everything going on.

Most of us got the $5.95 Caesar salad, which was mighty plain--not much dressing on giant Romaine leaves, topped with small, hard croutons. The vegetarian entree, "The Gardener and Gatherer," was some grilled and roasted veggies along with a ubiquitous San Antonio side, garlic mashed potatoes. The plate was uninspired looking, decent tasting, and the only choice for a non-meat-eater.

The desserts were inconsistent. I ordered the special dessert of the night, pecan turtle cheesecake, which turned out to be of the frozen/thawed variety, with a slick layer of chocolate and miniscule crumbled nuts on the top. It was nothing special, and a mighty small slice for $4.95. The triple chocolate terrine, however, was large in scale, with three layers of dark, medium, and white chocolate mouse. A filling end, said my companions. Another special, mango sorbet, was beautiful and flavorful.

This traditional breakfast and lunch house (no dinner) has the familiar Formica table/vinyl seat environment that marks a place as a locals’ hangout rather than a tourist trap. The best thing about Blanco Café is that it serves traditional, honest Tex-Mex food for CHEAP. Their menu offers breakfast burritos twenty different ways; some of the lunch specials on the days I went were chicken/beef fajitas and carne asada. It is filled with regulars on their lunch breaks, and you might need to wait for a table if you arrive right at noon. One day I got huevos rancheros accompanied by refried beans and pan-fried, cubed potatoes for a whopping $3.00. All meals come with flour tortillas for the whole table (which regulars top with whipped margarine spread!). The next day I had three cheese enchiladas, filled with unexpectedly orange cheese, wrapped in Blanco Café’s trademark red corn tortillas (made fresh at a local San Antonio bakery) for $4.00. As a near-vegetarian, I was interested to find that the enchilada sauce contained a healthy quantity of beef, which I ate around. The food is just right for the price and the atmosphere, and the staff is friendly and forthcoming about the area.

This Riverwalk restaurant is one of the original Tex-Mex spots, and the spot retains its honest, homey feel amidst the corporatized atmosphere of Riverwalk dining. The waitresses dress in Mexican peasant blouses and colorful skirts, and the occasional mariachi group strolls by on their Riverwalk circuit. You can dine indoors or out, but on any pleasant evening, the indoor tables will be open more quickly. The fare is simple and extremely inexpensive. My companion had soft chicken tacos, served under a lovely chili sauce, and I had chicken enchiladas, filled with shredded, spiced meat. Our meals were around $6.00 each. The salsa and chips they provide beforehand were a treat. The salsa, especially, is freshly made with a nice tangy bite; the red and yellow corn chips freshly fried.

Because it is almost impossible to find Saturday and Sunday lunch in San Antonio, you need to know about lunch buffet at the Menger Hotel's Colonial Room. It's also worth wandering around in the Menger while you're there; it's a lovely historic hotel just behind the Alamo and near a pedestrian shopping area. For $10.95, you get the salad and soup bar, dessert table, carving table, omelet and waffle bar, and tea or coffee. Although none of the food was "Tex-Mex" in nature, it was still worth the price. The cream seafood sauce over herbed penne pasta was especially good. I found the garlic mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, and rice pilaf typical buffet fare and the dessert table uninspired, but the Belgian waffles were very light and tasty (even with pre-packaged syrup choices). I didn't get an omelet with choose-your-own fresh fillings, but many were enjoying those. The wait service was swift and friendly and the dining room atmosphere was typical gracious hotel style. Of course, no locals were dining there, only tourists.

This chain of barbecue/grill restaurants is highly touted by cab drivers in San Antonio (that's who recommended it to us). We went to the Riverwalk incarnation of the spot, a bustling place with outdoor picnic tables under heat lamps (it got quite chilly this night). The grill/barbecue entrees come with ample salads--I chose a very good smoked pecan vinaigrette dressing. The appetizers are of the breaded/frozen variety (poppers, cheese sticks, etc.), but are decent enough. I ordered the grilled vegetable kabobs, which, oddly enough, come with a bowl of pink beans flavored with shredded meat. Vegetarian purists aren't going to be thrilled by the meat-heavy menus of San Antonio. The kabobs, and also the grilled chicken my friend ordered, were also accompanied by choice of potato. I chose the fries, which were GREAT. Long, thin and undecorated save some kosher salt, they were delightful. My veggie-kabobs, however, disappointed. They were still basically raw, except for some black charring around the edges! Another dining companion ordered a barbecue sampler platter, which was, simply put, a plate stacked high with different sorts of meat, bones, and sausage (!), covered with a thick, dark red sauce. This was different sort of barbecue from the type I'm used to in North Carolina (vinegar-based). The diner found the meat decent but nothing out of this world. For the price and bustle, I'm not sure this restaurant was worth it.

I was totally unprepared when the high-rises of downtown San Antonio suddenly parted to reveal a walled compound that was the Alamo. This historic site (admission is free), open seven days a week and maintained only through donations and proceeds from the Gift Shop, is smaller than I expected but still powerful. The permanent exhibits in the Long Barrack and the Church and Shrine are fascinating, exploring the history of the area and of the battle and showing artifacts and reproductions relating to these. I now understand the cry, "Remember the Alamo!" I was lucky enough to catch some of a period re-enactment of a particular skirmish on Saturday afternoon. The music, uniforms, cigar smoke, and cross-cultural panorama were a treat.

The Riverwalk is one part Disney theme park, one part mall food court. I was not very impressed except for the very beautiful La Mansion del Rio Hotel, a converted convent school with one of the city's fine restaurants, Las Canarias. By design, probably, the chain restaurants and bars were quite removed from this part of the riverfront. Otherwise, tourists flood the outdoor and indoor tables of such chain restaurants as Fat Tuesdays, Hard Rock Café, Planet Hollywood, Paesanos, and Joe’s Crab Shack. River "cruises" chug up and down the narrow river much like the flat-bottom boats of the Disneyworld Jungle Cruise. Charicaturists, strolling flower vendors, and mariachis enliven the promenade. Parts of the walk are smelly from rotting vegetation, fetid water, or worse. Other parts of the walk are under construction. I suppose if the purpose of the Riverwalk is to encourage tourism dollars, then it might be working. However, if it was created to give San Antonians a nice place to spend the day, then it has failed. If you are in San Antonio for a short time, you might want to visit to do the outdoor dining thing on a pleasant evening, especially if you are charmed by theme-park atmosphere--which even I can succumb to on some days.