Tellez Tamales & Barbacoa is a west side weekend ritual that tourists never reach, where families queue for barbacoa by the pound before sunday breakfast.
Editorially verified May 28, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
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.
Address: 1737 S General McMullen Dr, San Antonio, TX 78237
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.
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.
