Fredericksburg ★ 4.4
Famous for: German food, Wine Road 290 tasting rooms, and summer peaches
Fredericksburg is the heart of Texas Hill Country wine country, with over fifty wineries on Wine Road 290, German restaurants and summer peach stands.
Food destinations within easy reach of San Antonio. worth the train, the rental car or the early start.
Worth the trip
Gruene and New Braunfels ★ 4.2
Famous for: Riverside dining at the Gristmill and Texas's oldest dance hall
The historic Gruene district pairs Texas's oldest dance hall, Gruene Hall, with the Gristmill Restaurant in a converted cotton gin by the Guadalupe River.
Lockhart ★ 4.5
Famous for: The Barbecue Capital of Texas: Black's, Kreuz, and Smitty's
Lockhart is the official Barbecue Capital of Texas, where Black's has smoked brisket since 1932 alongside Kreuz Market and Smitty's meat-market pits.
Seguin ★ 4.4
Famous for: Burnt Bean Co., named Texas Monthly's number-one barbecue
Seguin is home to Burnt Bean Co., named the number-one barbecue joint in Texas by Texas Monthly, a downtown pit a short drive east of San Antonio.
Boerne ★ 4.0
Famous for: German-Texan fare and the Herff Farm farmers market
Boerne is a Hill Country town with German-Texan restaurants along its Hill Country Mile and the Saturday Herff Farm farmers market, a short drive northwest.
Adkins (Texas Pride Barbecue) ★ 4.0
Famous for: Texas Pride Barbecue, a hole-in-the-wall pit
Texas Pride Barbecue in Adkins, about twenty miles east of San Antonio, is a hole-in-the-wall pit whose smoked brisket is its number-one seller.
Comfort ★ 3.8
Famous for: Hill Country German-Texan cooking and small-town cafes
Comfort is a tiny Hill Country town with a well-preserved 19th-century German district, where cafes and a winery serve schnitzel, sausage and wine.
Castroville ★ 3.8
Famous for: Alsatian heritage baking and the Little Alsace of Texas
Castroville, the Little Alsace of Texas, was settled by Alsatians in 1844, with Haby's Alsatian Bakery turning out strudel, stollen and coffee cake.