There are some great San Antonio restaurants. Possibly the best thing about our city is the incredible food and it is all here, waiting for you to try. The photo above is of my son, Matthew, enjoying a plate of delicious Mexican food on the Riverwalk at Cafe Ole.

Top Restaurants in San Antonio

San Antonio offers a wide variety of restaurants with everything from Cajun and Seafood to Bar-B-Q and Italian. Staying true to its Spanish and Mexican heritage, you will find Southwest and Tex-Mex on every corner. Some favorites include: Hard Rock Café San Antonio sits on the famous Riverwalk and has three patios where diners can watch the boats below. Inside are tons of rock’n’roll memorabilia and tasty gourmet meals.

Restaurants on the San Antonio Riverwalk

River Walk Bars & Nightlife

El Mercado – San Antonio Market Square

Tex-Mex Restaurants

San Antonio is most famous for its Tex-Mex style food. This is a combination of Mexican-style food served Texas-style and has been around for hundreds of years. Have you ever eaten at Taco Cabana or Chico’s Tacos? If so, then you are familiar with Tex-Mex food.

Tex-Mex food uses a lot of spices, tortillas, cheese that has been melted on food, beef or pork, sometimes chicken, and beans.

Some common dishes are fajitas, chili con carne, and the wonderful chili con queso with corn tortilla chips or nachos. Another popular Tex-Mex dish is tortilla chips with salsa, one of my absolute favorites!

One of the best San Antonio restaurants is Mi Tierra, a wonderful Mexican eatery. This is a favorite among San Antonio natives and their panaderia or bakery is fabulous! Now, this is not an American bakery so don’t think you’ve been there, done that because you haven’t!

If you are afraid that your kids may not like Tex-Mex food, don’t worry. Most of the Tex-Mex restaurants serve children’s meals with tacos, grilled cheese, hamburgers, hot dogs, or chicken strips. Your kids will love their meal and you will not have to worry about them not eating spicy foods.

Other popular foods to eat in San Antonio are barbacoa, which is a type of barbecue meat, cabrito or goat meat, Menudo or tripe soup, tamales, bunuelos, which are fried cinnamon pastries, aguas frescas or fruit drinks, and raspas aka snow cones.

Interestingly, menudo and tamales are especially popular here in San Antonio during the Christmas season and many families make their own.

There are many types of restaurants on the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Texas Land & Cattle: “Once you know where you’re going, just climb in the saddle and stay on the trail ’til you get there.” This southwest steak house is where the virtues of the Old West and Texan hospitality live on.

The Alamo Café is full of traditional San Antonio flavor with Mexican food all the way to chicken fried steaks and their infamous tortilla soup.

Mexican Food on the River Walk

Fresh salsa with chips is an incredible snack or a meal. This is usually served as an appetizer here in San Antonio at Mexican restaurants. Many restaurants in San Antonio make their salsa fresh and put it out for guests to enjoy with freshly-made tortilla chips as a complimentary appetizer while waiting for their food to be cooked and served. Try the salsa–you will definitely love it!

Below is a list of the best Mexican restaurants on River Walk. It’s amazing to think Austin thought that they had better tacos than San Antonio. They must have lost their mind. We have the best Mexican food found in Texas. We invite you to enjoy delicious Mexican Cuisine prepared the way only San Antonio can prepare it. Viva San Antonio!

The Original Mexican Restaurant
Rio Rio Cantina
Iron Cactus Mexican Restaurant and Margarita Bar
Rita’s On the River
Casa Rio
Cafe Ole
Mi Tierra Cafe y Panaderia

BBQ on the River Walk

The following is a list of the BBQ joints on the River Walk and the downtown San Antonio area. Here in Texas, we take BBQ very seriously. So where ever you are from, you should just know that Texas has the best barbecue known to mankind!! Every establishment is different but they all offer the same thing…. damn good BBQ. Come and get it!!! Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

County Line Bar-B-Q
B&D Ice House
The Republic of Texas Restaurant
Augie’s BBQ
Q on the Riverwalk
Bill Miller’s BBQ

Italian Restaurants on the River Walk

One thing that the River Walk offers is the perfect ambiance. Enjoy these fine Italian restaurants and Italian the amazing dishes that they offer. Every single one of these Italian restaurants on the River Walk and the downtown San Antonio area captures the essence of Little Italy.

Michelino’s Ristorante Italiano
Paesanos Riverwalk
Pizzarita’s
Spaghetti Warehouse
Tre Trattoria
Zocca

Delicious Tamales

Tamales are my favorite–chicken, pork, or beef–homemade is best, but there are some places here in San Antonio where you can buy some delicious tamales.

One of my favorite places to go for tamales is Delicious Tamales. The name says it all. You cannot sit down and eat here. You go in, order the kind of tamales you want by the dozen, and take them out. Don’t think that a dozen is too many. It is not enough–they are that tasty! This place also has great sweet dessert tamales. During the Christmas season, be prepared to stand in a long line for these incredible treats. And don’t wait until Christmas Eve. They run out early and you will be out of luck!

I don’t care at all for menudo, but most of my friends love it. Some even swear by it as a cure-all for stomach ailments and hangovers.

Check back often. We will be adding to our collection of San Antonio restaurants often. A list of the restaurants we have reviewed so far is at the top right of this page, in the third column. Bon appetit!