The places in San Antonio the guidebooks miss.
The places in San Antonio the guidebooks miss. locals-only counters, after-hours rooms and the spots tourists walk past.
Pollos Asados Los Norteños is an east-side strip-mall mesquite-grilled chicken counter; order a whole bird with the charro beans and tortillas.
Why locals love it: A strip-mall pollo-asado spot on the east side that out-of-towners never find, where the mesquite smoke and the line tell you everything.
Tip: Order a whole mesquite-grilled chicken with the charro beans and tortillas. The line moves; the smoke is worth it.
Nicha's Comida Mexicana is a 1977 tex-mex family room that locals guard, with puffy tacos and enchiladas that rarely make the tourist lists.
Why locals love it: A 1977 Tex-Mex family room that locals guard, with puffy tacos and enchiladas that rarely make the tourist lists.
Tip: The puffy tacos and the enchiladas are the orders. A neighbourhood Tex-Mex spot that has fed regulars since 1977.
El Bucanero in San Antonio: A north-side Latin-seafood room hidden in a Blanco Road strip, where the ceviches and seafood towers beat downtown prices.
Why locals love it: A north-side Latin-seafood room hidden in a Blanco Road strip, where the ceviches and seafood towers beat downtown prices.
Tip: The ceviches and the seafood tostadas are the move. A far-north seafood find away from the River Walk markup.
Picnikins Patio Cafe is a blanco road cafe locals send each other to for fruit salads and sandwiches, easy to drive past and worth a proper stop.
Why locals love it: A Blanco Road cafe locals send each other to for fruit salads and sandwiches, easy to drive past and worth a proper stop.
Tip: The fruit salad and the sandwiches are the draw on the shaded patio. A quiet lunch find tucked off Blanco Road.
The Cove in San Antonio: A Tobin Hill spot that is also a car wash and laundromat, so visitors assume it cannot be good. The fish tacos prove otherwise.
Why locals love it: A Tobin Hill spot that is also a car wash and laundromat, so visitors assume it cannot be good. The fish tacos prove otherwise.
Tip: Do your laundry while you eat fish tacos and grass-fed burgers. The live-music nights are the locals' secret.
Tellez Tamales & Barbacoa is a west side weekend ritual that tourists never reach, where families queue for barbacoa by the pound before sunday breakfast.
Why locals love it: A West Side weekend ritual that tourists never reach, where families queue for barbacoa by the pound before Sunday breakfast.
Tip: Come Saturday or Sunday morning for the pit barbacoa and a dozen tamales. This is how San Antonio families eat the weekend.
Shotgun House Coffee Roasters is a roastery in a converted West Side sewing factory; follow signs to Warehouse 5 for single-origin filter and bagged roast.
Why locals love it: A roastery hidden inside a converted West Side sewing factory, with no street presence and some of the city's best single-origin coffee.
Tip: Follow the signs into Warehouse 5 to find it. Order the single-origin filter and buy a bag of the house roast.
Barrio Barista is a west side cafe doing horchata lattes and cafe de olla that the third-wave coffee crowd often overlooks for the pearl spots.
Why locals love it: A West Side cafe doing horchata lattes and cafe de olla that the third-wave coffee crowd often overlooks for the Pearl spots.
Tip: The horchata latte and cafe de olla give the coffee a local accent. A West Side cafe worth the detour.
Pastiche is a cocktail bar in an unmarked 1920s Dignowity Hill cottage; charcuterie and cocktails reward the search down a quiet east-side street.
Why locals love it: A cocktail bar in an unmarked 1920s cottage on a quiet Dignowity Hill street, easy to miss and worth finding.
Tip: Look for the cottage on a quiet east-side street; there is no flashy sign. The charcuterie and cocktails reward the search.
The Cherrity Bar is an east-side cocktail-and-comfort-food spot whose every tab funds a local charity, a giving-back model few visitors know about.
Why locals love it: An east-side cocktail-and-comfort-food spot whose every tab funds a local charity, a giving-back model few visitors know about.
Tip: Your visit funds a rotating local cause. The vegan plates and live music make it more than a gimmick.
Viet-Nam Restaurant is a plain broadway storefront that locals rate for the best pho in the city, with none of the signage to match the reputation.
Why locals love it: A plain Broadway storefront that locals rate for the best pho in the city, with none of the signage to match the reputation.
Tip: Do not judge it by the simple room; the pho is the reason locals send friends. Lunch is the quieter time.
El Milagrito Cafe is the oldest restaurant on the St Marys Strip, a 1969 family-run kitchen for chorizo-and-egg puffy tacos on fresh flour tortillas.
Why locals love it: The oldest restaurant on the St Mary's Strip, a 1969 family-run kitchen for breakfast tacos and chorizo-and-egg puffy tacos most visitors miss.
Tip: Order the chorizo-and-egg puffy taco on a fresh flour tortilla. A weekday-morning room that fills with Tobin Hill regulars.
Carnitas Don Raúl is a michoacán-style carnitas shop a few blocks north of downtown, sourced from a 1991 morelia family operation and rarely on tourist lists.
Why locals love it: A Michoacán-style carnitas shop a few blocks north of downtown, sourced from a 1991 Morelia family operation and rarely on tourist lists.
Tip: Order carnitas by the pound with fresh tortillas and salsa. The Netflix Taco Chronicles feature still has not pulled the lines you might expect.
Tong's Thai is a thai room in Alamo Heights. Ask for a table in the Nong Garden by the koi pond. The curries and pad see ew are the reliable orders.
Why locals love it: A long-running Austin Highway Thai spot with a hidden koi-pond garden that regulars treat as a secret oasis.
Tip: Ask for a table in the Nong Garden by the koi pond. The curries and pad see ew are the reliable orders.