I will be in San Antonio in mid October with about forty friends ( all vaccinated) . We are staying at the Menger and would like to find some good outdoor dining spots to which we can walk. Any recommendations, please? Thank you.

All 40 at the same time and place? And outdoors?

We’ll do smaller groups, but at least once or twice it will be all forty. We’d like outside options, please.

If you want to walk from the Menger you're pretty much looking at restaurants on the Riverwalk, several of which have outside dining. Zocca in the Westin Riverwalk gets decent reviews for its Italian food. Acenar is a local favorite for Tex Mex and Mexican dishes and has a good size patio. Boudro's is consistently good and has outdoor seating - the tableside guacamole is quite delicious. Dorrego's in the Hotel Valencia has some outside seating on the Riverwalk level, gets good press on its "Argentinian inspired" menu. Paesano's is a local institution that has a location on the Riverwalk with outdoor seating. The only place on the Riverwalk I recommend against is Casa Rio, which is a proverbial tourist trap serving lousy TexMex for years.

If you are willing to grab an uber or cab a short distance from downtown, excellent authentic Mex/TexMex can be had at La Fonda on Main which has a good size patio that could accommodate a group of your size (with advance reservation, of course) Also a cab ride away is terrific Mexican food at Paloma Blanca which has some outdoor seating.

If you hope to have a group of 40 you really need to reserve in advance. In fact, for a group of any size if you want to be sure to have outdoor seating reserve ahead. If it may be of interest, you can also arrange to have dinner served on a barge while cruising the Riverwalk. I arranged this for a visiting group who loved it (food was from Boudro's.) Make arrangements through the restaurant you want who can tell you what the barge rental cost will be and what menu they can offer.

Seamus, thank you so much for your comprehensive and helpful response. I have never forgotten the guacamole at Boudreaux so it’s definitely on the list.

I am sure your suggestions will help make our trip special.