Eat your heart out
7 essential restaurants to try during San Antonio Restaurant Weeks 2018
Postpone your vacation, clear your schedule, and maybe take a couple of days off from work. San Antonio Restaurant Weeks is back and your going to want to take advantage of every minute.
Running August 11-25, some of South Texas' best eateries will be offering special prix fixe lunch and dinner menus at discounted rates, giving diners the opportunity to try out the best the city has to offer. By taking advantage of the deals, participants also help nonprofit Culinaria in its mission to promote San Antonio as a food destination and provide scholarships for students pursuing a hospitality career.
Meals begin at $25 for breakfast/brunch, $15 for lunch, and dinners range from $35-$45. And Restaurant Weeks isn't just relegated to San Antonio. Eateries in both Boerne and New Braunfels are also taking part, so take a short road trip and make a day out of it.
Now comes the hard part — deciding which of the more than 100 eateries to visit. Fret not. From leisurely lunches to date night dinners, these are our seven delectable picks.
Bliss
This Presa Street favorite has one of the most eclectic menus for Restaurant Week, featuring a variety of dishes in its $35 prix fixe to appeal to every appetite. For starters, try the hamachi tostadas or go traditional with a wedge salad covered in creamy blue cheese dressing. Vegans will appreciate the plant-based options filled with nibbles like a beet salad, spinach quinoa, and roasted cauliflower steak. For $30 more, carnivores can beats out with a pan seared Texas prime beef tenderloin. Wine pairings are available for both for only $25 per person.
The Frutería
Chef Johnny Hernandez’s lunch menu for Restaurant Week has just the cure for the South Texas heat — a starter of a refreshing watermelon salad with cool cucumbers, queso freso, spinach, and mint and a dessert of chocolate gelato with a Mexican cookie crumble and walnut creme Anglaise. In between, diners get the choice of pork shoulder in a fragrant mole verde or a cheese chili relleno slathered in tangy salsa roja.
Grayze
This casual Grayson Street eatery is offering two budget-conscious experiences this year. For the $15 lunch, opt for lighter dishes like grilled watermelon and charred corn salad or heartier fare like a Dr. Pepper-braised barbecue pork slider with jalapeño pecan slaw. The $35 dinner includes an extra course. The chicharrón-crusted redfish, served with creamed corn and hominy and a green tomato salsa, looks particularly alluring.
Little Italy
Rediscover an Alamo City classic this Restaurant Week. The long-running restaurant has all of its greatest hits on the prix fixe menus, from a light Fettuccine Pomodoro for lunch to a meaty baked lasagna for the $35 dinner. Don’t forget to end either meal with a rich cannoli or a scoop of several tempting flavors of gelato.
Ocho
Toast the good life at the Hotel Havana’s cozy restaurant with a Big Bend Brewing Co. beer, complimentary with each $45 dinner. Courses include a fresh tina cevice with chipotle aioli and plantain chips, and a choice of pan-seared cod or braised Korean short ribs, and fried pecan-crusted bread pudding with a praline ice cream for dessert.
Outlaw Kitchens
Chef Paul Sartory outdid himself this year with three distinctive menus that will have everyone coming back for more. All offered at the $35 price point, Outlaw Kitchens starts things off on August 11 with burrata and a Tunisian fish tagine, then switches gears on August 15-16 with steak chimichurri. Finishing off the “week” is a roast rack of pork on August 17-18. All are available with optional drink pairing for around $25.
Periphery
This nominee for the 2018 CultureMap Tastemaker Award for Best New Restaurant charms guests with its mixture of approachable cuisine and a stylish contemporary atmosphere. For Restaurant Week, they are taking a hearty approach for a $35 dinner featuring a choice of starters like polenta-crusted pimento cheese with bacon jam and entrees like a ratatouille celebrating late summer’s bounty. For bigger appetites, the Monte Vista eatery will oblige with adders like a $19 half smoked chicken and $5 sweet potato mashers with brown butter.
