Bienvenidos,
I see you’ve recently moved to San Antonio. Excellent choice. Or maybe you’re just visiting and wondering what it’s like to live here on the regular (you may have noticed a distinct lack of locals on the River Walk). In any case, we’re here to help.
This year we’ve reorganized our City Guide in an effort to cover things closer to where you actually live. In a city that encompasses 465 square miles, you can find plenty to do in your neck of the woods without driving clear across town (or taking the bus, God forbid). We want to encourage people to go outside their comfort zone as well. The food features alone should spark a desire to check out some of these special, neighborhood joints far off the beaten path.
However, this may create some confusion. We tried to follow meaningful geographical boundaries—which means highways here—and encompass some of the weirder outliers in a way that makes sense to longtime residents. For instance, Alamo Heights and Terrell Hills are included under “Central” instead of “East” because residents of those areas tend to gravitate toward the city center rather than further east. Yet Southtown wouldn’t be, well, Southtown, without the historic influence of the city’s South Side, and is thus included in “South,” despite being quite close to Downtown. In some cases, we literally just had to draw the line, which is why the La Cantera area could be considered “North” but University of Texas—San Antonio, not one mile away, is “West.” We’ve included a map to help you figure it out.
In scouring the city for the best, weirdest, most interesting things to do, we consulted many people who we’re calling “neighborhood ambassadors.” They’re the friendly neighbors you’d want showing you around when you move in—artists, musicians, filmmakers, sommeliers. You’ll see some of their quotes sprinkled throughout this publication, but I also encourage you to visit sacurrent.com to read their recommendations in their entirety. Big thanks to this year’s ambassadors: Andy and Yvette Benavides, Adriana Corral, Danielle Cunningham, Nina Hassele, Fabien and Michele Jacob, Jim Mendiola, Franco Mondini-Ruiz, Andi Rodriguez, Miriam Sitz, Jason Trevino and Vincent Valdez.
If, after flipping through the 34 articles included here, you’re thinking to yourself, “Hey, they missed something!” or “There’s no way one annual publication can tell me everything about San Antonio,” you know what? I agree with you. That’s why I’m the editor of the San Antonio Current; our weekly print publication and 24/7 web site should fill in the gaps for you.
I sincerely hope you enjoy your time in San Antonio and discover why locals remain so loyal to our city. This guide may be your first step toward falling in love with San Anto, but it certainly won’t be your last.
Have fun,
Callie Enlow
Editor in Chief
