Chili con carne is a bowl of beef simmered in a deep, dried-chile gravy seasoned with cumin and garlic, traditionally without beans in the Texas style.

San Antonio's Chili Queens sold bowls of chili con carne from open-air stands in the downtown plazas from the 1880s, feeding workers and visitors by lamplight for decades. Their stands effectively introduced chili to the wider United States before the city closed them over sanitation rules in the 1930s and 1940s. The chili-gravy enchilada plate that defines San Antonio Tex-Mex descends directly from that tradition.

3 editor picks for Chili con carne in San Antonio, ranked by editorial score. All San Antonio signature dishes · Chili con carne across every city.

Also in: Austin.

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