San Antonio

(From December 2009) Lest you suspect the name comes from its cozy Alamo Heights location (zip 78209), check the mural: 29 is Napa Valley’s main road, and this wine bar/bistro makes the most of the theme. Our salad was studded with fresh cherries, pepitas, cubes of Swiss, and tender chicken dressed in a tasty sherry vinaigrette. Even better was the duck breast confit, with a fall-off-the-bone leg and thigh, perfectly paired with smoky bacon-flavored green lentils. Lots of gourmet pizzas too (black fig and goat cheese, for one). Beer & wine.

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(From May 2009) For almost a quarter of a century, Aldo’s has been quietly serving up meals in a setting that feels like an upscale home, with comfortable chairs, wood-paneled walls, and picture windows. Italy inspires the menu, but the execution is American. Among the appetizers, the lean carpaccio with shaved Parmesan on arugula impressed us, as did the rich scampi Valentino, huge shrimp with a basil-laced cream sauce. Our main courses included a similarly rich capellini with crabmeat and Alfredo sauce and a marinated broiled trout (a bit dry when we had it) imaginatively served with asparagus, grilled red pepper, and sautéed eggplant. Don’t look here for Italian authenticity, but do expect to be pampered in style. Bar.

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(From December 2009) The venue is somewhat sombrero viejo—faux hacienda, brick walls and arches—but the food is anything but. Amorcito’s is a Houston immigrant to 1604, with a big, bold menu and a kitchen whose Mexican and Tex-Mex beat the clichés. Start with the fresh and bright ceviche, with incendiary, vinegary Valentina sauce (like a thickish Tabasco) on the side. Follow with any number of big plates; the adobo fish tacos were exceptionally good, with a butter-lemon sauce and shredded cabbage. Plump mole enchiladas had tender chicken and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

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(From August 2009) Exuberant—that’s the right word for this lively spot. Latin America generally, and the Caribbean especially, have inspired the kitchen, so expect the likes of feisty seafood curry, peppery gazpacho, and paella with jalapeño sausage. Less in-your-face but equally interesting is the Salmon Jibaro, with plantain strips and a garlicky olive sauce. Bar.

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(From August 2009) Mexican and South American street-fare dishes take center stage here, though of late, a few more Tex-Mex standards (like really tasty cheese enchiladas) have sneaked onto the menu. Empanadas were the original draw at Beto’s and remain its signature dish. The plump, overflowing, eat-with-a-fork bean-and-cheese version will make you rethink the genre and wonder if vegetarians don’t have it best after all. Sit in the booths or out back on the patio and make an afternoon of it. Beer & wine.

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(From December 2009) Bruce Auden, in his comfortably classy dining room overlooking the river, orchestrates dinners that sustain high notes from A to Z. We started with smoked salmon nachos (such fusion typifies the menu), only to have them bested by exquisitely flavorful habanero jerk scallops. Rack of lamb, substantial yet delicate, with fennel, “Expensive Mushrooms,” asparagus, and goat cheese, proved exemplary, while complex eleven-spice axis venison brought the meal to its high point. Bar.

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(From August 2009) Customizing your burger is the shtick at Big’z, so go ahead and pay a buck to “make it dirty” with a fried egg on top—the warm, golden yolk trickles into the crevices of the steaming Certified Angus beef patty. Other extras—fresh avocado or a sweet jalapeño-cheddar bun—are worth the modest tariff too. Even if you didn’t know that this barny place is owned by Andrew “Le Rêve” Weissman, you could guess by looking at the squeeze bottles of fancy-schmancy sauces and ketchups.

February 13th, 2009 at 3:54pm
Robert says:
Great burgers! Fantastic onion rings. Family friendly deck is a great place to hang out, drink one of their MANY beers and let the kids run wild.

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(From October 2009) Make a meal of pick-and-pass selections from all over the menu: soups, salads, starters, tapas. Order, oh, four per person and share. Pure bliss were the tomato soup with a toasted slice of baguette topped with pesto; a crab dip with rich creamy cheese; and linguiça with peppers and onions. But there is much more—pizzas, meats, charcuterie, pommes frites . . . Comfortably informal, Bin 555 goes its own welcoming way. Bar.

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(From December 2009) As if his two restaurants across Olmos Street were not enough, along comes Damien Watel with a très authentique French bakery and bistro run by his mother, Lucile. Hearty French roast coffee and flaky croissants make a breakfast visit de rigueur, while soups, pâtés, quiches, and salads fill the lunchtime menu. We enjoyed a quiche lorraine and a satisfyingly French broccoli soup. There were still workmen in evidence finishing the dining area, and a lot of business is takeout, but already locals have made this a favorite.

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(From March 2009) What began as a renamed redo of Fredericksburg Road’s Bistro Time has morphed into something different, with a trendy bar, a sleek dining room, and lots of friendly front-of-house staff. New chef Jose Benitez trained with former chef/owner Sander Edmondson, but nothing from the former menu remains. Bold flavors piqued our interest—calamari with lemon pepper, ahi tuna with Dijon honey vinaigrette—but execution was lacking. The ahi was lovely but overpowered by the vinaigrette, and the calamari was almost undetectable beneath its breading, which tasted way too much like a commercial mix. That said, the room was full of seemingly happy diners, so perhaps we ordered the wrong thing. Bar.

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