Downtown-area diner Pig Stand sits on land recently acquired by San Antonio developer GrayStreet Partners. Credit: Nina Rangel
Time soon may be up for an iconic San Antonio diner that also happens to be the last remaining outpost of a business many consider America’s first drive-in restaurant chain.

The Pearl-area property that houses venerable greasy spoon the Pig Stand changed hands earlier this month, the Express-News reports. The land is now owned by San Antonio developer GrayStreet Partners, which once planned to turn 20 acres just north of the diner into a mixed-use community.

The sales price is unclear, according to the daily, which based its reporting on deed records.

Founded in Dallas in 1921, the Pig Stand went on an expansion kick that led to dozens of like-named diners — including copycats versions — sprouting up across the country, according to a history compiled by Texas Monthly.

Although the restaurants offered a variety of stick-to-your-ribs fare, the chain’s Pig Sandwich — slices of roasted pork slathered with sweet barbecue sauce and relish and served on a hamburger bun — was its signature item.

A slow business decline left just one remaining Pig Stand, the standalone eatery along San Antonio’s increasingly valuable Broadway corridor, according toTexas Monthly.

Despite the recent property sale, Pig Stand owner Mary Ann Hill told the Express-News that loyal guests shouldn’t count the restaurant out just yet. GrayStreet gave her the option of continuing to lease, but she plans to consult an attorney before making that call.

Hill, 76, also told the newspaper that her health and the condition of the aging building will play into the decision. She said her doctor has warned that she should step back from her six-day workweek.

“Eventually we’re going to be gone, because they’re going to build something else here,” Hill told the daily. “We knew it was coming. Look around us. We’re being swallowed up.”

The Broadway Pig Stand closed briefly in 2006 when then-owner Richard Hailey filed for corporate and personal bankruptcy, according to the Express-News . Hill eventually took over the location with the help of an anonymous backer.

“We have a great history,” she told the daily. “We have wonderful customers.”

So far, future plans for the property are unclear. GrayStreet managing partners were unavailable for comment at press time.

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This article appears in Feb 8-21, 2023.

Nina Rangel uses nearly 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry to tell the stories of movers and shakers in the food scene in San Antonio. As the Food + Nightlife Editor for the San Antonio...