San Antonio’s Pat O’Brien’s to close after more than two decades serving downtown visitors

Pour out a Hurricane drink for San Antonio’s Pat O’Brien’s.

The Alamo Plaza location of the famed New Orleans bar will close Aug. 31, KSAT reports, citing a statement from company owner Cory Neal.

Neal said the bar, a downtown fixture for 22 years, succumbed to a potent cocktail of post-COVID challenges, including rising business costs, construction around the Alamo and declines in tourism and convention travel.

Six employees worked at the bar for more than two decades, while a dozen clocked in at the establishment for 10 or more years, according to KSAT’s report. 

“I encourage all our past and present guests to stop by and say their farewells to this incredibly devoted staff in the weeks ahead,” Neal said in the statement quoted by KSAT. 

Pat O’Brien’s original New Orleans location is widely credited for creating the Hurricane, a tropical tipple containing passion fruit and rum. The chain’s bars also feature twin “dueling” pianos at which entertainers compete for tips and take audience song requests.

The company’s original Big Easy bar, which opened in 1933, is said to have been a speakeasy called Mr. O’Brien’s Club Tipperary before it began serving alcohol legally.

After the San Antonio closure, Pat O’Brien’s will still operate two locations in New Orleans and a third in Orlando.

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This article appears in Aug 7-20, 2025.