Beyond Tacos and Tex-Mex: 3 San Antonio Spots Redefining City’s Food
San Antonio is typically considered the place that popularized Tex-Mex, a cuisine that’s a fusion of American and Mexican ingredients. Dishes like fajitas, nachos and chili con carne — an edible rite of passage when visiting this Texas city — are all easy to come by in neighborhoods from downtown to the Westside, but a trio of restaurants and food venues is changing the game when it comes to the city’s gastronomic footprint. They’re just a few of the places branching out from the city’s traditional go-to dishes, and three of the reasons San Antonio has befittingly earned its place as the state’s “Culinary Capital.”
Clementine
Located in an unassuming strip mall in the enclave city of Castle Hills, about 10 miles north of the city center, Clementine mixes up textures and flavors for a seasonal menu that’s innovative and delicious. “Our clientele is mostly folks used to fresh, finer style dining,” says co-owner and chef John Russ. “Mostly folks who have traveled abroad and look forward to a reminder of those experiences.”
Russ, a finalist for the 2023 James Beard Awards’ Best Chef: Texas category, opened the neighborhood with his wife, Elise Russ (Clementine’s pastry chef), in 2016, and it’s been a destination ever since. The inviting space features bold colors and citrus artwork, along with a bright, open kitchen so that you can watch the culinary magic as it occurs.
Clementine’s menu is split into sections like “petites,” which include hushpuppies and fried oysters, “sideboard” items, such as okra served with garlic butter and mole, and “platters” ranging from Maine scallops to Niman Ranch beef.
“Our ricotta cavatelli is a staple,” says John Russ, “with its pecans, broccoli top pesto, Sichuan pepper, Parmesan and lots of garlic.” Once guests started ordering it, “they fell in love with the recipe.”
Of course, there are also the menu’s “best parts,” a selection of desserts that typically includes the Clementine Crunch Bar, a delectable house favorite. Then there’s the restaurant’s “Feed Me” option, in which Chef Russ and his team will create a custom menu specially tailored to a table’s likes and preferences. It comes served family-style.
Clementine also serves wine, beer (including a couple of Texas brews), low ABV cocktails and sake, as well as a dedicated N/A selection.
Though the restaurant is typically open evenings only, Tuesday through Saturday, it also hosts the occasional Friday lunch — usually during the third week of the month.
“Elise and I work really hard to show that a single restaurant owned as a ‘mom and pop’ can still be successful in this generation,” says John Russ. So far, they’re nailing it.
Box St. All Day
Craving French toast for dinner? You’re in luck, because San Antonio’s lively and lanai-like Box St. All Day serves up brunch, morning, noon and night. Located in Hemisfair, a neighborhood occupying the 1968 World’s Fair site, Box St. just feels fun.
“When we saw the location for the first time,” says Caroline B. Garcia-Bowman, the restaurant’s creative partner and interior designer, “we knew it could be something refreshing, vibey, colorful and a bit different than what the current culinary landscape of the city offered.”
The concept for this bright and lively space grew from the owners’ own food truck and catering company.
“We had always done brunch really well for events, and we thought it was something we could offer to the community,” says Garcia-Bowman.
Box St.’s visual details and the overall feeling of the space — a stylish display of pastel colors, terrazzo table tops, and chairs that look as though they belong on a veranda — are intended to match the food being served: items like house-made glazed and churro donuts (pro-tip: try both), a cereal milk waffle topped with fried ice cream and the scramble bowl, brimming with truffle roasted mushrooms, chicken sausage and hollandaise sauce.
“It just made sense for the menu to reflect the way it feels to eat when you’re gathered around the table with friends,” says Garcia-Bowman.
The restaurant also features more traditional lunch dishes, such as fish tacos and Moroccan chicken naan — a must-try, according to chef/owner Edward Garcia III.
Beverages range from coffee to cocktails, with everything from cinnamon toast lattes to Brazilian Caipirinhas made with cachaça, lime and sugar, and Box St.’s al fresco patio seating offers some prime people watching ops. A second location opened in San Antonio’s La Cantera Heights neighborhood in January 2024.
Pullman Market
Pullman Market, ne of the latest additions to San Antonio’s buzzy Pearl District, brings all things food to the forefront, from a specialty grocery that feels more like a local farmers market to a bevy of eateries serving up bowls of campanelle and tagliatelle pasta mixed with pecan pesto or Wagyu beef ragu, Sonoran grilled meats and even a dessert-only tasting menu. Pullman Market is housed in a 40,000-square-foot space that was once a glass manufacturing warehouse. At its essence, it’s a place that connects regional producers with the local community, bringing people together over mouth-watering fare.
Along with sit-down eateries like Fife & Farro, a family-friendly space where wood-fired sourdough pizzas come topped with fresh ingredients like summer squash, sage, and rosemary, the market offers up quick eats such as burgers, el Cubano sandwiches, and ice cream. There’s a stand for your caffeine fix, an artisanal apothecary and flower stop, and a butcher slicing off the finest cuts of sustainably raised steaks. For those looking to imbibe, the market’s Mezcaleria highlights tequila and mezcal-based cocktails and offers a selection of wines and beers.
While you can easily take your food to go, Pullman Market is designed for people to stick around a bit. There’s plenty of seating outside the stand-alone restaurants for patrons to sit back, relax, and do a bit of people watching. The market’s newest restaurant, Isidore, which showcases the bounty of Texas, launched last summer.