Year after year, Current staffers and freelancers churn out City Guide — a glossy publication we strive to make useful and entertaining for locals and tourists alike. While we typically try to balance City Guide with stories highlighting what’s new and exciting around town and practical listings (from coffee shops and cocktail bars to museums and…
In 1968, San Antonio began a transformation from being a dusty little South Texas town to the growing metropolis we know it as today. Some might argue that year was the most pivotal for the Alamo city — Tom Frost (of Frost Bank), once told the San Antonio Express-News, “The most important date in San Antonio’s…
Barbaro // Now helmed by chef Matthew Garcia, Barbaro is staying consistent with playful pies, technique-driven sides, and plain delicious desserts. Did we mention the extensive list of cocktails and quaint Monte Vista setting make this the perfect spot for late night ‘za? 2720 McCullough Ave., (210) 320-2261, barbarosanantonio.com. Biga on the Banks // Bruce…
Imagine you invite a friend to town for Fiesta. Imagine further that this friend has no knowledge of the event and has somehow grown to adulthood without learning the meaning of the word “fiesta.” As they’re preparing to come spend a few April weeks with you, your friend looks up the unfamiliar word. They laugh,…
San Antonio often gets overlooked as a hub for groundbreaking musical activity, at least partially owing to our proximity to Austin, a city that never ceases drawing accolades for its musical import. Nevertheless, SA has, from rock and roll to country, from tejano to pop, from soul to alternative rock stylings, and so much in between,…
This year, San Antonio celebrates its 300th birthday, based on the date when Spanish explorers and missionaries established the Mission San Antonio de Valero — now called the Alamo. But let’s not pretend that was the beginning of civilization in South Texas. When Spaniards first stumbled upon Bexar County’s lush ecosystem in the late 1600s, it was…
The most prominent and important of San Antonio’s many architectural, cultural, and historical treasures are surely the San Antonio Missions. The series of five Spanish missions — San Antonio de Valero, Concepción, San Jose, San Juan, and Espada — arrayed along the banks of the San Antonio River in central and southern San Antonio, were…
Bakery Lorraine The must-visit stop on every pastry lover’s bucket list, Bakery Lorraine (with locations inside The DoSeum, in the Pearl, the Medical Center, and most recently The Rim) offers custom orders along with their famous macarons, delicious tarts and drool-worthy cinnamon rolls. Stop in for a savory breakfast or lunch, and be sure to…
Guidebooks usually direct San Antonio visitors to tourist standbys like the Alamo or the River Walk or the Mission Reach — maybe even newly developed areas like the Pearl. But San Antonio is nothing without its neighborhoods and the diverse history each tells. Here’s a peek at some of the city’s oldest and most significant…
In our research of the best songs of the past 300 years, we quickly ran into the now obvious issue of actually finding recordings that date back farther than the 1930s. The earliest recording we could find, however, is a 1934 track titled “Mal Hombre,” by Lydia Mendoza, a tejano music legend who began her music…
There’s no way Betty Ford breaks the 5-foot mark. But that wee ma’am from West Texas has commanded the corner of Grayson and New Braunfels Avenue in front of Fort Sam for the past 31 years inside what Texas Monthly called one of eight great dives in the state as recently as December 2016. For the uninitiated, Betty’s Battalion…
Alamo Café // The addition of Patio 81 to the San Pedro location means you can enjoy vats of queso and wash it down in a cool bar setting. Both locations are perfect for big parties and even bigger fajita dinners. Multiple locations, alamocafe.com. Aldo’s Italian Ristorante // Serving salads and pasta, complemented by grilled…
If all the historical facts you know about the city of San Antonio center on the Spanish missions, and the anecdote that Pee-wee Herman came to look for his missing bicycle in the basement of the Alamo in 1985, it’s probably time to brush up on some of the lesser-known details about the Alamo City.…
Bar America Once the city’s best jukebox, Bar America’s newest owners have taken the cantina concept and added modern fixtures — credit cards, liquor, brunch — and it works. Southtown’s Bar America is now in a new phase and we’re digging it. 723 S. Alamo St., (210) 223-1285, baramericasatx.com. Frankly Diablos What better way to…
One of the most iconic features of San Antonio, especially from the outside looking in, is the River Walk. As a hub of restaurants, hotels, public spaces and storefronts, as well as a unique combo of park and thoroughfare through which to traverse and experience the core of the city, it has long been a focus…
Special Thanks to Scott G. Williams (Artpace) & Inessa Kosub (Blue Star Contemporary) Easily among the more far-flung creative components of San Antonio’s Tricentennial celebration, “Common Currents” is an innovative exhibition series uniting 300 artists — each of whom was tasked with creating work inspired by a single year in our city’s complex history. Employing an unpredictable,…
Although it’s particularly evident on First Fridays around the Blue Star Arts Complex and Second Saturdays in Southtown The Arts District (STAD), San Antonio boasts a robust and ravenous art community that remains active through thick and thin, rain or shine. While those two monthly traditions present ideal opportunities to get familiar with the Southtown scene…
Welcome to San Antonio, friend! Like any big city you’ve lived in or traveled to, the live music scene here continues to grow and change offering a kaleidoscope of different genres of music from venues all across the Alamo City. From the Aztec Theatre morphing into a high-caliber venue that’s now booked by Live Nation’s House…
Finding a local jazz club featuring a cookin’ combo playing to a diverse crowd of enthusiastic jazz fans is not a hard find these days in San Antonio. Between Luna uptown, Carmens de la Calle downtown, and the Pearl’s Jazz, TX, jazz is hot and plentiful. You might think this is a new trend in the…
