SATX1
We could call this my second "white-boy in a sea of Latinos" trip in less than a month. San Antonio's population is 80% hispanic. Spanish conversations dominate their English counterparts. Tourism, military (Air Force) and Groceries (HEB - Texas' largest) make up a large chunk of the economy. San Antonio proper has more people than Dallas proper. Its hot here, damn hot.
There many reasons why people visit San Antonio. Most tend to zombie along with the other touristas in the Riverwalk area, that mecca of sub-street dining and shopping clinging to the banks of the San Antonio river. Its actually very nice as far as those kind of centers are concerned but I had seen it once 15 years ago so I didnt feel the need for a return.
There are literally thousands of Mexican restaurants in San Antonio. Unfortunately most of them do not serve Mexican food, rather its Tex Mex. Nothing wrong with Tex Mex unless you would rather not have your food choked lifeless by pounds of Jack cheese then embalmed by sour cream, guacamole and over-salted refried beans.
Fortunately there is a large enough population from Mexico to merit a restaurant that serves real Mexican food - Guajillo's. Guajillo's is a small family run venue started 8 years ago by two brothers. I met one of the brothers after he parked his Harley outside the restaurant and did his meet and greet tour of what seemed to be very regular patrons. Humble, personable and sincerely surprised to hear that his restaraunt got hundreds of rave reviews on the internet.
What to order? It was hard to decide but I picked Sopa De Fideo; a wondermous soup made with a tomato-garlic both served over pan-fried vermicelli. Then I tried Albondigas, which are meatballs stuffed with egg and rice, served with a stunning tomato-chipotle sauce. If you ever find yourself in the area, these two things are memorable. This was the best Mexican meal I've had in or out of Mexico.
Guajillo's
1001 NW Loop 410 @ Blanco Rd.
San Antonio, TX. 78213
210.344.4119
(As you might guess there will be a SATX2 tomorrow :) )
Labels: San Antonio, Travel
posted by Jim at 5:40 PM
4 Comments:
OK new, be honest...
How many times have you gotten lost driving in S.A.
That is one of the things that drivens me crazy, I swear i did not make any turns and suddenly I am no longer on the same road I was one just seconds ago....
All those circular - criscrossing streets drives me crazy. I eventually get use to it after a few failure, but thens it's time to leave and by the time we get down there next time I have to relearn it all over again....
Go to the Majestic Theater - if only to admire/gawk at the interior, it is fabuloso!
...but don't ask me for directions - lol.
11:30 AM
oops, proofread before you post...bad boy
Ok now, ...be honest
and a few others, but i think you can get my drift...
11:34 AM
JC, Ah, the Majestic, that is one place I missed this trip. I'll save that for next time along with some other neighborhoods under the conservation crew.
I parked my car at the hotel then walked everywhere. I can definitely see how driving would be frustrating. None of the roads are squared up and they change names based on, well, nothing as far as I could tell. One of the natives there told me the roads follow the old cow trails.
8:14 PM
yep I have heard that before and I think the names were based on how the cows marked the trail... each pile caused a new fork in the road, thus a new name.
All in all, SA is a fun town to visit. Something I find "Funny", touring Broadway plays hit the Majestic a year before they hit Austin... never would have thought that SA would be more cultural in Fine Arts, but that's the way it goes...
10:10 AM
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