Eating our way through San Antonio

My husband and I recently took a weekend trip to San Antonio, Texas.  I actually won this vacation through an online contest put on by CheapOair and sponsored by the San Antonio Visitors Bureau.  Yes – people actually win these things!  I am now entering every trip contest I come across, which has translated into an insane amount of travel brochures being sent to our house…not another vacation.  The picture above is of The Alamo, which is celebrating the 175th anniversary of the famous battle this year.  It was across the street from where we stayed, at The Emily Morgan Hotel.  Which, in case you’re interested, is the official hotel of The Alamo.

We were only there for two nights, and the Visitors’ Bureau gave us more than we had time to do, but we still managed to visit quite a few restaurants!  Here’s a breakdown of the places we visited below.

Lulu’s Bakery and Cafe, 918 North Main Street

The only thing you have to order here is the 3 pound cinnamon roll.  Unless you’re into chicken fried steak.  We’re not.  We came here after seeing it on an episode of Man vs. Food, but the recommendation of a former Culinary Institute student we met the previous day sealed the deal.  We didn’t want to waste the time or calories if it wasn’t going to be worth it!  These famous cinnamon rolls were actually really good, besides being enormous.

We did some damage….

All I can say is good thing we didn’t rent a car and were forced to walk around the city for the rest of our trip!  Severe sugar overload after this meal.  We didn’t even eat lunch that day.  Although what we did do for lunch was not any healthier.  (See below)

La Gloria, 100 East Grayson

We stopped here before our tour of the Culinary Institute of America’s San Antonio outpost.  Mexican streetfood = delicious.  We had some ceviche, fish tacos, and spiced pork tacos.  And since we were on vacation, we enjoyed a couple of margaritas at lunch.  This picture is of their prickly pear margarita which was delicious!  They had a really nice, diverse menu.  Wish we would have had room to try more!

Blue Star Brewing Company, 1414 South Alamo Street

Okay, we didn’t eat here.  But I had to give a shout out to the local craft brewery!  The husband and I each had a flight of beer after dinner one night.  The pale ale was my personal fave.  Nice and hoppy!

Liberty Bar, 1111 South Alamo Street

The Liberty Bar used to actually be a convent way back when, but now houses a restaurant and bar.  Do the sisters approve?  According to the restaurant’s website, they do. 🙂  The Liberty Bar was about a mile south of our hotel, but as I mentioned earlier, with all of the eating the walking was welcome.  The menu here was definitely interesting – like Mediterranean meets Mexican.  I couldn’t quite figure it out, but everything we ate was good!  Bonus:  practically everything on the menu had goat cheese in it! 

Rosario’s Cafe y Cantina, 910 South Alamo Street

Both Rosario’s and the Liberty Bar are kind of where the historic King William District meets the Blue Star Arts District.  Gorgoeous old homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.  Rosario’s is considered an upscale Mexican restaurant.  The food was good, but the service left something to be desired, which unfortunately tainted my overall experience.  The menu was pretty comprehensive though, and the place was packed!  Always a good sign.  If you’re not seated in the basement and aren’t waited on by our server, I’m sure you’ll have a much better experience there!  I would give it another try if we’re ever back there though

We did make a couple of stops at restaurants on the Riverwalk’s main drag downtown.  Rita’s on the River and The County Line BBQ.  The food was fine, but the people watching was excellent.  If you do stop by either of these places, make sure you get a table outside!  Just watch out for the birds.  I think there are more birds in San  Antonio and there are people. 

The Culinary Institute of America, 312 Pearl Parkway

One of of the main reasons I entered this trip giveaway was because part of the weekend winnings was a class at the CIA.  Unfortunately the class that was offered the weekend we were in town did not have any availability.  However, the Sales & Marketing Coordinator, Edna was nice enough to take some time out of her day to give us a tour of the facility since we weren’t able to get into any of the classes that weekend. 

This CIA outpost is the newest of the four locations.  It’s located inside the old Pearl Brewery and is surrounded by restaurants and shops.  The CIA San Antonio offers both professional programs and classes for the everyday food enthusiast.  Cooking demonstrations, a bakery cafe on site, and even a kitchen designed around Latin cooking.  They’re selection of classes is really diverse, and I would have been happy to take any of them!

The Pearl is definitely an area worth checking out if you’re in San Antonio.  It’s just north of the city’s famed Riverwalk area, but it’s worth the walk or a river taxi up there, even though it’s not as developed yet.  The whole Riverwalk area is really well maintained, and every part of it we walked on was enjoyable!

All in all it was a really nice weekend trip.  It was nice to see a city we may not have otherwise visited.  Good food.  Friendly people.  Nice weather.  We even had a little pool time at our hotel.  What else could you ask for in a weekend getaway?