Stand-up comedian Gabriel Iglesias is always down for a recommendation on where to eat in San Antonio, his “home away from home.”
“Leche de Tigre, I won’t forget that name,” the Long Beach, California-based comic told the Current during a Zoom interview roughly a week after he wrapped up work on his landmark 10th Netflix special at the Tobin Center. The special, which he taped on Thursday, Aug. 20, was a project five years in the making.
“[We] were supposed to do the special there five years ago in 2021, but it was delayed because of COVID. During COVID, you couldn’t really tour. We couldn’t perform anywhere. But Texas and Florida both didn’t care, and since they didn’t care, I didn’t care,” Iglesias said. “So we set up a whole residency there, and the goal was to do 30 shows in 30 days and record the last two for Netflix. And two days before the actual shoot, I got COVID and production got shut down.”
Iglesias said he was relieved that the Tobin Center’s air conditioning worked better than when he played the venue in 2021.
“[O]h my God, it was a swamp in there,” he recalled. “I remember they didn’t even have an AC unit, but it was like one of those industrial fans that the fire departments use, and they put that in my dressing room. It was really bad. But yeah, you know, trust me, the AC worked this time, and we were even selling blankets. That’s how good the AC was.”
The comedian has long held both San Antonio and El Paso dear, saying the cities have special meaning to him.
“El Paso was the first city I ever got to perform in, outside of California. It was the one place that would constantly bring me back, and so I have that personal attachment there,” he said. “And San Antonio, it’s just I’ve always felt comfortable here. You know, I’m in a different city every single night, and here I just feel comfortable. It’s the people, it’s the culture, it’s the food, everything about it just makes sense, and so you know I enjoy it.”
Indeed, Iglesias noted that he even owns property in the Alamo City now. And as his circle of friends here has grown, so has the number of restaurant recommendations he receives.
“Someone just made a recommendation about a restaurant called Maria Bonita, so I’m gonna go check that out pretty soon,” he said. “I got a rec about a place about a year ago called Henry’s Puffy Tacos by a friend of mine who’s like, ‘Oh dude, I got a spot.'”
Iglesias added that he’s an easy dining partner when he’s out with a group and usually willing to try whatever others suggest.
“Whether it’s a Lupe Tortilla type of situation or a Taco Palenque or local, real small hole-in-the-walls,” he said. “I was in New Braunfels the other day at this restaurant called Clear Springs, and it’s all seafood. So, it’s like OK, that was something very different. I rarely will wing it.”
Proving that he’s become a true Texan despite his California roots, Iglesias couldn’t resist getting in a zinger about the Lone Star State’s perpetually under-construction stretch of I-35.
“I think the people who make Buc-ee’s locations and Costcos should be in charge of finishing I-35, otherwise it’ll never get done!”
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