Prix Fixe Paradise

New spring restaurant week serves up dining deals in Fredericksburg

The initiative is a companion to the Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival.

Photo by B Side Productions

The "restaurant weeks" trend is spreading across Central Texas. Fredericksburg Restaurant Week will celebrate the best of Hill Country dining on its inaugural run, May 4-10.

No matter what city it's in, the restaurant weeks format sets up inexpensive prix fixe dinners as an incentive for diners to try new restaurants and new dishes. Austin and San Antonio each have their own initiatives, but the dates don't necessarily overlap, making this a fun excuse to go to a new city; the Fredericksburg initiative sounds like it'll especially drive visitors looking for a less-pricey Hill Country adventure.

Stout’s Signature at Grape Creek Vineyards and K Bistro at K Estate, a pair of eateries that are usually only reserved for members, will be open to the public during the weeklong feast. Mesquite at the Warehouse will feature a decadent three-course dinner of signature dishes like crab cakes, Texas Wagyu beef, and brown butter cookie ice cream sandwiches. More participating restaurants will be listed at fbgfoodandwine.com.

In addition to the prix fixe menus, Fredericksburg Restaurant Week will offer exclusive dining events and collaborations, a press release says. It starts May 5 with Tacos y Margs at Hill & Vine, pairing food and drinks at tasting stations. Then on May 6 there's the Austin Street Block Party with more bites and live music, followed by East Side Flights & Bites at Elk & Main on May 7 and Smoke & Fire with El Quincho and Eaker Barbecue on May 8.

Fredericksburg Restaurant Weeks also doubles as a preview of the brand-new Tex-Mex BBQ Fest, with a kickoff May 9 at Leroy’s TexMex BBQ. Guests can expect smoked meats, live music, and traditionally distilled desert spirits.

The Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival is the organizer of Fredericksburg Restaurant Week. The organization says the new event is meant to complement the festival and July Preview Week. The initiative is separate from Culinaria's San Antonio Restaurant Weeks, which expanded to Fredericksburg in 2025.

“Fredericksburg has become a true culinary destination...,” said Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Jim Mikula in the release. “[Restaurant Week is] a chance for guests to experience the diversity of Fredericksburg’s dining scene while building excitement for the Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival later this year.”

restaurant weeks tasting wine margaritas events fredericksburg hill country

SUDDEN SHUTTERS

Green Vegetarian Cuisine to close after 19 years in San Antonio

Green Vegetarian Cuisine/ Facebook

Green Vegetarian Cuisine made a name serving plant-based comfort fare.

One of San Antonio’s few restaurants dedicated to plant-based cuisine is going dark. Green Vegetarian Cuisine says it will close its last remaining location at the Alamo Quarry Market on April 17.

Chef and co-owner Mike Behrend announced the closure in a frank social media statement, saying that the last few years have been brutal to the restaurant. Rising costs and shifting customer habits forced his hand, despite every attempt to keep the business running.

“It’s been a great run,” Behrend wrote. “We’ve introduced a lot of people to great-tasting plant-based food. My business partners and I have raised our children in and around Green, supporting the community with food and help over the years. Our hope is [that] we made a positive impact on San Antonio.”

Behrend, the former owner of Lulu’s Bakery & Cafe, first got the idea for the restaurant after losing more than 70 pounds on a vegetarian diet. Two years later, in 2007, he debuted the first Green in Five Points, then an anomaly in San Antonio’s dining scene.

Since then, the restaurant has made a few moves. In 2013, it moved to Pearl, later relocating to its current Quarry home in 2021. It opened a second location in Alon Town Centre in 2011, running it for a decade before its 2023 shutter.

At every location, the food remained largely the same. Billing itself as a diner, Green serves comfort food favorites like fried pickles, nachos, cauliflower wings, and veggie burgers alongside salads and grain bowls. The fare often vaulted it to the top of local best-of lists.

Until April 17, Green will operate at its regular daily hours of 10 am-9 pm. Earth Burger, the vegetarian fast food joint owned by the same group, will remain open.

vegetarian quarry plant-based closings