Maria's Cafe is a tex-mex restaurant in South Side, San Antonio.
Maria's Cafe on Nogalitos is a South Side institution for breakfast tacos and weekend menudo, a plain room that has fed the neighbourhood for decades.
Must order: Breakfast tacos and menudo on weekends.
Tip: Weekend menudo is the local hangover cure. Breakfast tacos all week; cash keeps the line moving.
Address: 1105 Nogalitos St, San Antonio, TX 78204
Margarita's Tortilla Factory is a South Side Tex-Mex counter whose draw is tortillas pressed and toasted to order; buy a stack to take home with the tacos.
Order: Made-to-order tacos on freshly toasted tortillas.
Tip: The tortillas are made on site and toasted to order, which is the draw. Buy a stack to take home.
Bakery Lorraine grew from a Pearl farmers-market stall into a full cafe and patisserie, with macarons, quiche, and croque monsieur from a bright counter.
Order: Macarons, quiche and a croque monsieur.
Tip: The macarons are the calling card, but the savoury quiche and croque make it a proper lunch stop.
Margarita's Tortilla Factory is a South Side Tex-Mex counter whose draw is tortillas pressed and toasted to order; buy a stack to take home with the tacos.
Order: Made-to-order tacos on freshly toasted tortillas.
Tip: The tortillas are made on site and toasted to order, which is the draw. Buy a stack to take home.
Los Tacos Gueros on Huebner Road is a north-side counter for breakfast tacos and tacos de guisado, where the guisados rotate daily away from the tourist core.
Order: Breakfast tacos and tacos de guisado.
Tip: The guisados rotate daily; ask what is on. A handy north-side stop away from the tourist core.
Acenar sits on the River Walk downtown serving a modern take on Tex-Mex, from duck tacos to ceviches, with a riverside patio that makes it a reliable stop.
Order: Modern Tex-Mex plates and a prickly-pear margarita.
Tip: The riverside patio is the seat to request. The modern Tex-Mex plates beat most of the River Walk competition.
Chris Madrid's in Tobin Hill is a since-1977 burger joint where the huge Macho size is built for splitting and the bean-topped Tostada Burger is the order.
Order: The Tostada Burger and the Macho-sized cheese fries.
Tip: The Macho size is genuinely huge; split one. The Tostada Burger, topped with refried beans and corn chips, is the order.
Schilo's is a German-Texan deli downtown where the house-brewed root beer is the thing to order alongside the split-pea soup and the Reuben; cash or card.
Order: Split-pea soup, the Reuben and the house root beer.
Tip: The root beer is brewed in house and is the thing to order alongside the split-pea soup. Cash and card both work.
