The fastest, cheapest, frequently best food on San Antonio's streets.
Vendors, food trucks and stalls: the cheapest, fastest, frequently best food in San Antonio.
Tacos El Regio is a post-bar institution on the St Mary's strip; order the al pastor off the trompo and load up at the salsa bar for late-night street tacos.
Try: Late-night street tacos al pastor
Tip: It is a post-bar institution on St Mary's. Order the al pastor off the trompo and load up at the salsa bar.
Chamoy City Limits turns the traditional raspa into a maximalist treat, piling shaved ice with chamoy, fresh fruit, and gummies, a San Antonio shaved-ice cult.
Try: Loaded chamoy raspas
Tip: Order a fully loaded raspa with chamoy and gummies; it is built to over-deliver. Best on a brutal Texas afternoon.
Las Nieves is a beloved fruit-cup and raspa stand on West Hildebrand, serving cold fruit cups loaded with lime, tajin, and chamoy plus elotes and raspas.
Try: Fruit cups, raspas and elotes
Tip: Get a fruit cup with extra chamoy and tajin, or an elote in a cup. A cheap, cooling stop on a hot day.
Fruteria Los Trejo on Eckhert Road serves mangonadas, fruit cups, and shaved ice in the Mexican fruteria tradition, a refreshing snack stop that has grown.
Try: Mangonadas and fruit cups
Tip: The mangonada, a mango-and-chamoy frozen treat, is the order. A reliable refresher on the northwest side.
Pollos Asados Los Norteños on the east side grills whole chickens over mesquite; order one with grilled onions and tortillas, and go early as the queue grows.
Try: Mesquite-grilled pollo asado
Tip: Order a whole chicken with the grilled onions and tortillas. The queue can be long; go early on weekends.
Tellez Tamales & Barbacoa is a West Side weekend ritual, where you buy barbacoa by the pound and tamales by the dozen to take home, paired with a Big Red.
Try: Weekend barbacoa and tamales
Tip: Go on a weekend morning for the barbacoa by the pound; buy tamales by the dozen to take home. Pair with Big Red.
Ray's Drive Inn on the West Side has claimed the original puffy taco since 1956, the deep-fried puffed-masa shell that San Antonio gave the world.
Try: The original puffy taco
Tip: The puffy taco is the only order; eat it fast while the shell is crisp. A West Side institution, not a tourist stop.
Henry's Puffy Tacos on the West Side is the Lopez family counter for the namesake puffy taco, served hot and crisp with rice and beans; eat it before it sits.
Try: Puffy tacos
Tip: Order a plate of puffy tacos with rice and beans. The shells come hot and crisp; do not let them sit.
El Milagrito Cafe on East Woodlawn is the oldest restaurant on the St Mary's Strip, with a chorizo-and-egg puffy taco that has built a quiet cult following.
Try: Chorizo-and-egg puffy tacos
Tip: The chorizo-and-egg puffy taco is the cult order. A small family-run room; come on a weekday morning to skip the wait.
Carnitas Don Raúl on West Jones is a husband-and-wife counter for Michoacán-style carnitas, rooted in a 1991 Morelia family operation and featured on Netflix.
Try: Michoacán-style carnitas tacos
Tip: Order the carnitas by the pound with fresh tortillas and the house salsa. A quick weekend lunch on the way out of downtown.
Rolando's Super Tacos on West Hildebrand built its name on El Gigante, an enormous breakfast taco with your pick of five fillings, a stomach-test of a taco.
Try: El Gigante breakfast taco
Tip: El Gigante is the gimmick and a full meal in one taco. Order at the counter and add a cup of beans.
Chef Nicola Blaque's Jerk Shack began as a walk-up window with picnic tables, serving Jamaican jerk chicken and curry goat that earned a Bib Gourmand nod.
Try: Jerk chicken from a walk-up window
Tip: The jerk chicken is the signature; the curry goat sells out. Order at the window and grab a picnic table.
Garcia's Mexican Food on the West Side is a small, cash-friendly counter where the carne guisada taco on a fresh flour tortilla is the early-breakfast order.
Try: Bean-and-cheese and carne guisada tacos
Tip: The carne guisada taco on a fresh flour tortilla is the order. Small and cash-friendly; come for an early breakfast.
Chef Johnny Hernandez's La Gloria at the Pearl plates the street antojitos of interior Mexico, from tacos and sopes to ceviche and elotes, on a River Walk patio.
Try: Mexican street antojitos and tacos
Tip: Order a spread of antojitos rather than entrees and share. The patio over the Museum Reach is the seat to want.
Mi Tierra at Market Square runs around the clock, so a 3am plate of enchiladas is a local rite; grab conchas from the front panaderia on the way out.
Try: 24-hour Tex-Mex and pan dulce
Tip: Open around the clock, so a 3am plate of enchiladas is a local rite. Grab conchas from the front bakery to go.
Fruteria La Mission across from the Mission Drive-In is a South Side fruteria for mangonadas, aguas frescas and large fruit cups loaded with chamoy and tajin.
Try: Mangonadas, aguas frescas and big fruit cups
Tip: Order the large fruit cup with extra chamoy and tajin. A drive-through and walk-up window make it an easy summer stop.
Tommy's Restaurant on the north side is the spot for the local ritual of barbacoa with a Big Red; weekend mornings draw the longest lines for it.
Try: Barbacoa and Big Red
Tip: Order barbacoa with a Big Red for the full local ritual. Weekend mornings draw the longest lines.
La Panaderia's downtown bakery is a walkable River Walk stop for breakfast tacos and conchas; pair one with a cafe con leche to start the morning.
Try: Breakfast tacos and conchas
Tip: Pair a breakfast taco with a concha and a cafe con leche. A walkable downtown stop near the River Walk.
The Original Donut Shop on Fredericksburg Road pairs fresh donuts with breakfast tacos, a quintessentially San Antonio combination best understood by eating.
Try: Taco-and-donut combo
Tip: Order both a taco and a donut; that pairing is the whole point. The drive-through line moves fast in the morning.