Hidden Gem
Head to this San Antonio neighborhood gem for sangria and sliders
The brainchild of Ceasar Zepeda, who honed his culinary skills for years at Acenar downtown and La Fonda on Main, Sangria on the Burg opened quietly on Fredericksburg Road this summer. The eclectic little neighborhood bar and grill calls itself a craft house, specializing in the paring of craft sangria, margaritas, and beer with tacos, sliders, and salads.
And that sangria? There’s plenty of it. Happy hour lasts 3 to 7 pm, and glasses cost $4, flights are $7, and carafes are $8. Outside of happy hour, those sangria items, respectively, cost $6, $8, and $10. But Sangria on the Burg has more than the traditional drink.
The bar has concocted sangria cocktails infused with the likes of Jameson and Deep Eddy. The Big Red, for instance, features sparkling wine, the titular soda, pineapple, cranberry, grenadine, and Jack Daniel’s Honey. There’s also a handful of margaritas available, as well as wine and more than 30 beers.
The kitchen, led by chef Julio Sanchez, embraces Texas-style barbecue with a Mexican flare. There’s the South Texas chili, with tender steak, tomato, ranch beans, and poblano-cheddar cornbread, and a barbecue chicken Cobb comes with mango pico de gallo, peppered bacon, hard egg, and jalapeño-cilantro ranch. To be sure, this is San Antonio, so there’s a fideo of the day, too, including a bacon and beef edition.
The menu boasts several slider meals — two sliders accompanied by choice of house salad or grilled vegetables. The Dirty Sanchez includes fresh ground beef, poblano, guacamole, chorizo salsa, Fritos, jack cheese, and bacon-bean puree. The Miss Piggy features spicy pulled pork, apple-cabbage slaw, and honey-lime vinaigrette. Taco orders come with two tacos on handmade corn tortillas or in lettuce cups.
Sangria on the Burg also gives weekend brunch a fun spin, with offerings such as carnita hash, barbacoa sliders, and strawberry banana pancakes.
The space features a good deal of inside and outside seating, and the crowd feels like a mix of neighborhood residents, plus workers and visitors from nearby hospitals and other healthcare businesses.
Sangria on the Burg looks to be a new gem in the Medical Center area, especially for foodies seeking to get their sangria fix.
