14 Best Restaurants in San Antonio, Texas

One of the city's best restaurants, Biga on the Banks's menu is big and eclectic, and the dining atmosphere manages to be both larger than life and romantic. To take advantage of the freshest ingredients available, award-winning chef Bruce Auden and his chefs update their New American fine-dining menus daily and post them on the website at 5 pm. Dishes can range from seared American red snapper to 11-spiced Axis venison and Lockhart quail. Don't skip dessert, which may be the best in town: the sticky toffee pudding is a must. Table 31 is just off the main dining room, a great spot for relaxed entertaining for 5 to 8 people.  This is a prime spot for a leisurely dinner on the River Walk, if you can get a reservation. Let's repeat that: reservations are essential.

Ever since owners Chef Mark Bliss and his wife Lisa opened this spot in a former filling station in 2012, it continues to exceed all expectations. The cuisine is contemporary American, and that can mean custom charcuterie as well as delectable entrées (perhaps seared sea scallops, Lockhart quail, pan-seared beef tenderloin) ending with house-made sorbet, butter cake, or lavender goat cheese cheesecake. With a changing menu, loyal followers dine regularly to see what's new, just one reason that reservations are highly recommended. The intimate space suits the menu perfectly—warmly elegant and inviting. The outdoor dining has the same uncluttered feel, surrounded by greenery.

An Alamo Heights casual but upscale staple since 1977, Cappy's features exceptional menus of innovative dishes against a warm, two-level modern backdrop of brick architecture, tall windows, and pleasant outdoor seating. Well-prepared and presented dinner entrées include Faroe Island salmon, rib eye with smoked tomato confit, and seafood paella with saffron risotto. They have an extensive wine list and craft cocktail menu, and abundant varieties of scotch and bourbon. Weekend brunch is a treat, with classic Benedict and lobster grilled cheese. A rotating gallery of art showcases local artists.

For almost 90 years now, Earl Abel's has managed to stay as hip as ever thanks to their classic homestyle menu and loyal fans that have followed them to a new location in the Pearl. The top-notch comfort food is made fresh daily and includes everything you would hope to see on your family table: classic breakfasts, soups and salads, hearty sandwiches, Abel's famous meat loaf, house-roasted turkey breast with cornbread stuffing, chicken-fried steak, garlic fried rice, and much more, with homemade pie and cake for dessert. But the real star of the show is Earl's Famous Original Fried Chicken, available as an entrée or dinner box, or in a family meal package with two sides and two slices of pie. Earl's also serves classic cocktails, coffee cocktails, draft and bottled beers, wines, and mocktails.

This popular restaurant, where breakfast is served from open to close (8 am–2 pm), is housed in a stately 1860 home built by the founder of Pioneer Flour Mills. Fluffy Pioneer Brand biscuits, pancakes, and Southern sweet cream waffles, fresh fruit, and delectable pastries are half the reason to eat here. The other half is the 1920s art nouveau decor of stained, beveled, and etched glass along with plant motifs that create the illusion of a fine home's conservatory. The lunch menu starts at 10:30 am.

Nationally acclaimed Hot Joy has an eclectic menu that occasionally calls for an adventuresome spirit. You can try a Mexican twist on Asian fare like migas fried rice or pozole verde ramen, or go for the consistent standouts like the twice-fried crab wings—chicken wings fried in crab fat. The authentic Spam fried rice is a surprise hit (although not to anyone from Hawaii). Wait times can be long, but you'll have the surroundings to entertain you. There's a wonderful cocktail menu and a good selection of beer. Ramen Monday is very popular, a good way to try various dishes at an affordable price. 

This sophisticated, yet casual follow up to Chef Andrew Weissman's popular Le Rêve is just the kind of regular neighborhood spot San Antonians were looking for. Excellent, well-executed Italian food matched by flawless service in a cozy, unpretentious bistro-style environment. Though reservations are now accepted, families and couples alike still line up for breakfast, lunch and dinner at this urban-chic space at The Pearl. Antipasti are a focus, with a corner area table brimming with plates and platters of options from white bean purée to marinated wild mushrooms and fennel with cream sauce. Pastas are house-made and excellent, as are wood-fired pizzas, but heartier mains like decadent sugo or fall-off-the-bone osso bucco are earth-stopping. There are also delicious desserts and top notch wine list.

Laying claim as San Antonio's oldest Mexican restaurant, La Fonda opened in 1932 and has had an ardent following ever since. The robust menu offers traditional Tex-Mex plus some dishes from the interior of Mexico. Tex-Mex fare includes appetizers, tacos, enchiladas, and oak-grilled fajitas. The family-friendly spot features a beautiful dining room that opens onto an inviting outdoor patio. Desserts include vanilla bean flan and house-made pralines. The vibrant, welcoming bar delivers tasty margaritas. This is a very popular and often busy place. Reservations are highly recommended for dinner and weekend brunch.

You can't get too far in San Antonio without stumbling into a Tex-Mex restaurant, but when you need something that relays the authenticity of true Mexican cuisine, La Gloria is the place. Inspired by the street foods of Mexico, chef/owner Johnny Hernandez has created a vibrant taqueria-style restaurant celebrating the bold flavors and classic offerings you'd typically find with Mexican street vendors. Tacos Alpastor (marinated pork) and Tacos Torre de Mariscos (fresh tuna, Gulf shrimp, white fish) are top picks, but you can't go wrong with any of the selections from the fresh ceviche menu or with an order of quesadillas, tostadas, or enchiladas. Non-GMO corn tortillas are made daily in-house. Tequilas, spirits, and beer round out the beverage menu. 

In a city filled with Mexican bakeries, brothers José and David Cáceres kicked the whole pan dulce (pastry) game up a notch with La Panadería. Their love for baking comes from selling their mama Doña Josefina's loaves of fresh-baked bread on the streets of Mexico City, and they've translated that passion into a winning combination of fresh, quality products available for only a limited amount of time each short day. Bestsellers include empanadas, tres leches (three-milk) croissants, and Nutella cruffins (a croissant-muffin hybrid). Brunch items include avocado toast with grilled chicken, ranchero eggs Benedictine, and tequila-butter steak and eggs. They also have salads, tortas, cakes and cookies, and a nice assortment of freshly baked breads. Their other locations are 8305 Broadway (Alamo Heights) and 17030 Fiesta Texas Drive (La Cantera Heights).

The heart of Market Square boasts one of San Antonio's most venerable culinary landmarks, part of the notable Cortez Family of restaurants. Opened in 1941 as a three-table café for early-rising farmers to get breakfast, Mi Tierra ("my land") is a traditional Mexican restaurant, bakery, and bar that serves its hallmark breakfasts all day; the chilaquiles famosas—eggs scrambled with corn tortilla strips and topped with ranchero (mild tomato-based) sauce and cheese—are alone worth coming back for again and again. Yes, the Christmas decorations stay up year-round.

This venerable and popular downtown institution has been serving up hearty German soul food for breakfast (served all day), lunch, and dinner since Mama and Papa Schilo established their first location in 1917. The delicatessen moved to its current spot on East Commerce Street in 1942; Schilo's even lays claim to being the oldest operating restaurant in San Antonio and nobody has challenged them for the title. Fuel up with their famous split-pea soup; Reuben, sausage, and deli sandwiches; or weekday lunch specials, such as chicken and dumplings or meat loaf. There are also plenty of German classics like schweineschnitzel (panfried pork loin) or wienerschnitzel (panfried veal). Wash it down with fantastic homemade root beer, and top off your meal with rich, creamy cheesecake. They also offer draft beer and spiked root beer specials. To add to the cool history, the building was originally a bank; the old bank vault is now the restaurant's walk-in cooler. They don't take reservations for groups smaller than 20, so be prepared to wait a bit during peak breakfast and lunch times.

South Texas meets the South of France doesn't sound like it should work, but it does, and beautifully—blending French and Texan cuisines in seasonally sublime ways. Everything here is fresh, fresh, fresh, right down to the on-site garden of herbs and vegetables. The menu changes regularly based on seasons and availability. Look for standouts on the Sunday brunch menu like wild mushroom and goat cheese omelet, and smoked salmon and avocado sandwich. Reservations highly recommended.

Galveston chef-owner Jeff Balfour offers Southern comfort cuisine for lunch, brunch, and dinner, accompanied by draft beers brewed on-site in a custom brewery by Portland Kettle Works, reviving the tradition of brewing at the Pearl. The menu usually includes Southerleigh's famous fried chicken, deviled eggs, and Galveston Bay shrimp boil. Their weekend brunch features appetizers and breakfast plates of malted Belgian waffle and crab mac 'n' cheese. Dinner reservations are recommended, especially on weekends. The restaurant is on the first floor of the same landmark building that housed the original Pearl brewhouse.