MALL FOOD

Multimillion-dollar development brings 6 new San Antonio restaurants

Box St. All Day is one of 6 restaurants moving into the Portico at Shaenfield Ranch.

A massive upcoming San Antonio shopping center at 7807 W Loop 1604 N will transform the Far West Side’s dining scene with six new restaurants. The multi-million-dollar Portico at Shaenfield Ranch from Texas developer Dominion Advisory Group is expected to debut in September. No hard dates have been set for the individual eateries.

The soon-to-open restaurants include some huge San Antonio names, according to a Dominion newsletter. As previously reported, French-style cafe Crepeccino anticipates its third location will be ready for guests in November. Wildly popular brunch spot Box St. All Day will also be moving in with its third outpost.

The other four restaurants — D’ Fish House, El Mercado, Makirrito, and Bitelo Brazilian Steakhouse — will be new to Alamo City. The latter two are based in Central Texas; the former are international expansions.

Portico at Shaenfield Ranch San Antonio The Portico at Shaenfield Ranch will bring a modern new shopping center to San Antonio.theporticosa.com

Bitelo Brazilian Steakhouse adds to San Antonio’s recent boom in churrascarias. Similar to other restaurants of its ilk, the Cedar Park-based concept serves all-you-can-eat meats paired with a huge salad bar and South American side dishes like fried yucca, pão de queijo, and black beans.

D’ Fish House is making a leap from food truck to brick-and-mortar. The Mexico-based concept, located in Centro De Apodaca, has drawn a large social media following for mariscos like aguachile verde, ceviche de atún served in a Tostitos bag, and its famous ballena de mariscos — a whale-sized stack of shellfish.

According to Dominion broker Rashid Khalife, El Mercado comes from a Mexican restaurant group that owns several restaurant concepts. Though it shares its name with an Ontario, Canada-based business, Khalife says Makirrito is a new eatery from a local group. The menu presumably reflects its namesake — a trendy fusion of poke bowls and sushi burritos.

Although the 54,100 square-foot shopping center will mostly be occupied by retail concepts, only two have signed on so far. Black Swan Yoga will take a second-floor perch, joined by Dominion Suites, a local business that rents salon space to cosmetologists.

brunch coffee mexican cuisine sushi steakhouse restaurants development openings

TACO TALK

Popular San Antonio birria chain dips into Southtown for new location

Birria Barrio/ Facebook

Birria Barrio fourth location is now serving Southtown.

Cult San Antonio taqueria Birria Barrio is shaking up Southtown's dining scene. The Alamo City restaurant's fourth location is now open at 1203 S Alamo St., serving tacos, ramen, and quesadillas dipped in savory consommé.

Though it is difficult to imagine now, Birria Barrio was one of San Antonio's best-kept secrets when it started as a food truck in the summer of 2020. Though its namesake dish — a tender meat stew served in a flavorful broth — has become a social sensation through hybrids like quesabirria tacos — the initial buzz about the restaurant was spread through word of mouth.

Owners Sabrina Perez and husband Martin Bargas made the leap to brick-and-mortar in fall 2020, later following up with a South Side location in 2023. The latter — dubbed Birria Barrio y Mas, expanded the original menu. In addition to serving birria de res tacos, using beef instead of the traditional goat, the spot introduced other proteins like chorizo and lengua.

The Alamo Street location has been in the works since fall 2024, when signage first appeared on HUB MRKT's previous storefront. The bike shop had relocated to 1407 S St Mary's St. earlier that same year. The opening comes hot on the heels of the May debut of an outpost at 2403 Pinn Rd. near Lackland Air Force Base.

The restaurant has not released the menu online yet, although its popular quesabirria tacos will undoubtedly have a prominent spot. The Birria Barrio y Mas location introduced affordable margaritas and fusion dishes like fried Hot Cheetos balls and egg rolls.

It's unclear if the Southtown storefront will have any booze. A quick pan of the storefront announcing the grand opening showed vitroleros for aguas frescas but no bottles behind the counter. A TikTok video taken during the opening showed a frozen drink rimmed with Tajín but no beer in the cooler.

Whether promised cocktails or not, huge crowds gathered for the official debut. The spot offered free tacos for the first 50 guests, but guests lingered throughout the day.

tacos birria southtown openings