SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Katie Pesznecker did a deep dive into San Antonio’s history, culinary scene, River Walk and more. This is her report.
PHOTO: Colorful umbrellas at Casa Rio, the oldest restaurant on San Antonio’s River Walk.
There’s a saying in San Antonio: “Remember the Alamo!” After a recent long weekend there, I’ll be remembering much more than that – like the vibrant River Walk, the incredible culinary scene, the medicinal sunshine, and the friendly and lively vibe that permeates one of our country’s largest cities.
PHOTO: Boats on the River Walk.
My friend Sarah was in San Antonio for a conference and had invited me to join her, as she had a spacious hotel room and evenings free for food and fun. It takes about eight hours of in-air flying time to reach San Antonio from Anchorage. To get there, I did the midnight red-eye to Phoenix, then a connecting direct flight. Nothing like sliding some serious miles into the Alaska Airlines loyalty wallet to kick off 2025!
PHOTO: Enjoying a drink in the sun at Little Khein Prost Haus on the River Walk.
Staying at the massive San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter on the River Walk, we were just steps from the River Walk, a block from the Alamo, and a short ride from San Antonio International Airport. For my three-night stay, it was a sound logistical location that meant we could walk nearly everywhere we wanted to go or easily score short, affordable ride shares to other locations.
PHOTO: An art installation outside our hotel.
Upon arrival, I headed out to explore the nucleus of San Antonio tourism: the San Antonio River Walk. The River Walk is a meandering network of scenic walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River, a slender channel of water that was an early 20th Century engineering solution to regular flooding, while at the same time boosting the attractiveness of a depressed downtown area.
PHOTO: Locks on the River Walk.
Work and planning began in the 1930s and blossomed over decades, wrangling the flood-prone waters via a series of locks and gates into a shallow and placid throughline threading together hotels, restaurants, historic buildings and more. Depending on when and where you are on the River Walk, you could be shoulder-to-shoulder with nightlife crowds, or amid a peaceful bucolic oasis of serenity, occasionally encountering another pedestrian.
PHOTO: A quiet stretch of the River Walk.
At its busiest core, the River Walk is a dense collection of cafes, bars, and restaurants, many in decades-old buildings with newer and more modern hotels built directly on top of them. As our tour boat guide repeatedly said, “Everything was and was, and everything is and is.” This was her way of emphasizing that San Antonio holds on to its roots while embracing the future, so illustrated by its layers of creative architecture.
PHOTO: Kicking off the day with a boat tour on the San Antonio River.
A boat tour is a great way to see the highlights of this area. We went one early morning at 10 a.m. which meant no line and lots of space. The electric river boats are operated by Go Rio Cruises, which has many boarding locations throughout the area. The colorful boats’ designs are inspired by Mexican folk art, just one of many visual ways the area embraces and showcases its Mexican roots.
PHOTO: The River Walk lit up at night.
A typical tour will take about 35 minutes; on-board beverages (alcoholic or non) are allowed, and in fact are also permitted while wandering the River Walk area, giving it a soft Las Vegas feel. Our tour guide was knowledge, hilarious, and rapid-fire, gamely dropping knowledge and historical tidbits while pointing out notable landmarks along the way. I’d recommend working this tour into your itinerary early on to help build your gameplan for your time in San Antonio.
PHOTO: Pastries galore at La Panaderia.
We also did a San Antonio Walking Food Tour With Secret Food Tours through Viator. Walking food tours are another great way to get to know a city – often a small group, led by locals, who will show you the main spots and also guide you off the beaten path. On a shorter vacation, it’s also a great way to try various items. Ours started with some hilarity as we had to navigate crossing a major downtown road that was closed for a cowboy parade and long-horned cattle drive. Our nonplussed guide, Nick, said this kind of Texan spectacle is par for the course in busy San Antonio.
PHOTO: Cowboys on parade in San Antonio.
Our tour began at La Panederia, a popular Mexican bakery known for croissants and pastries. We tried pan dulce, a traditional Mexican sweet bread with a shell-like, glazed outer coating and an airy, fluffy interior. We then headed to the Oasis Mexican Café. I would have missed this family-run and understated hole-in-the-wall had Nick not steered us inside to sample a true San Antonio staple, the puffy taco.
PHOTO: It may not photograph well, but puffy tacos are legit.
Puffy tacos are made by frying fresh masa that has been treated with lime, cooked and ground. When the raw masa is put in hot oil, it literally puffs up and results in a crunchy, crisp exterior, and soft chewy spots within. This simple dish was served with chicken, coarsely shredded cheese, lettuce, and a selection of homemade hot sauces. This was my friend Sarah’s favorite spot on our tour.
PHOTO: Burgers at Bunz are serious business.
Bunz, another local joint, was a short walk away. Bunz is known for its house-made buns and creative burgers and sources all menu ingredients from within a 50-mile radius, an homage to the rich availability of delicious food in this region. We sampled the Mercedes Bunz, a burger with house beef, chipotle mayo, lettuce, a thin layer of refried beans (trust me, it worked!), pepper jack cheese, peppery bacon, a roasted poblano pepper and fried egg.
PHOTO: Pizza at Fiume.
Next up: we sampled barbacoa tacos at a popular local café called Poblanos, then landed at an Italian/barbecue fusion restaurant called Fiume Pizzeria and Wine Bar. We enjoyed a shaded table on the patio just feet from the San Antonio River. The barbecue short rib pizza was topped with a homemade barbecue sauce, a blend of five cheese, a rich blue cheeses cream sauce, fried sage, and red onions. I loved this restaurant’s casual elegance, breezy ambiance, and riverside seating.
PHOTO: The tostada appetizer at Bliss.
At Bliss, we enjoyed patio seating as the sun set, with a refined three-course tasting menu that was featured as part of San Antonio’s annual restaurant week. I loved my starter tostadas with Hamachi crudo, jalapenos and pickled onions.
PHOTO: Sarah enjoys a prosecco at Bliss.
Azuca is a delightfully intimate restaurant with bright décor, cheap mojitos, and generously portioned plates. The menu had notable Caribbean, and Central and Latin American flavors and the service was exceptional. I chose the Brazilian feijoada, a stewed pork shank dish with black beans, sausages, and wilted greens over white rice.
PHOTO: The northern end of the River Walk.
While I spent nearly the entire San Antonio experience in the River Walk vicinity, on one sunny morning I kept walking north past the busy stretch of restaurants and hotels, up to what’s known as the historic and trendy Pearl District. This stretch of the River Walk is peaceful and quite, with lovely beds of wildflowers, old trees, and the occasional art installations and historic markers.
PHOTO: Morning sunny stroll along the River Walk to the Pearl.
The Pearl is known as a culinary and cultural destination, and revitalized and reborn brick buildings that once housed breweries and factories and warehouses. My destination: the Hotel Emma, a stunning five-star hotel in the original 1894 Pearl’s Brewhouse.
PHOTO: Inside the Hotel Emma.
A San Antonio landmark, the interior of Hotel Emma is absolutely stunning, and while I can’t exactly afford to stay there, I could absolutely afford to spend a couple hours in the gorgeous lobby reading a novel and people watching. While I was there, the Milwaukee Bucks NBA basketball team arrived for that night’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs.
PHOTO: Watching basketball at Waxy’s.
Sarah and I watched that game at an Irish bar on the River Walk called Waxy O’Connors. I love watching live sports with the locals, and crowd at Waxy’s didn’t disappoint, cheering on the ultimately victorious Spurs. Near the end of the game, a musician posted up nearby singing crowd-friendly songs and strumming a guitar. This was one of several occasions on our trip when we happened upon some surprisingly great and completely free live music.
PHOTO: Inside Hugman’s Oasis Tiki Bar.
Other favorite bars we discovered included Hugman’s Oasis Tiki Bar, which was all-in on its theme, from the clever cocktails to the incredible décor to the quirky jungle-beat music thrumming in the background. Nearby, we also enjoyed the downstairs bar at the Esquire Tavern, so atmospheric with its 1930s décor a callback to the bar’s impressively old roots.
And of course, no trip to San Antonio would be complete without a stop at the Alamo. While you can pay for a larger tour, it’s free to go inside the original Alamo Church. Stepping into this small, cool space does impress on visitors the intensity and claustrophobia that surely infused those 13 days during the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. The outpost remains a point of pride among San Antonio residents, many of whom believe this historic city should be the true capital of Texas.
PHOTO: Alamo selfie!
All told, my San Antonio trip was a success. In the highly walkable downtown area, I averaged about 20,000 steps a day, soaked up loads of sunshine, and enjoyed excellent food and drinks – all while surrounded by a distinctive atmosphere in a city that has its own special chapter in American history.
PHOTO: That’s a wrap! Toasting our time together in San Antonio at Vino Volo at the airport.
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