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Photo by Velton Hayworth

Sure, Church's has some devotees. Popeyes has at least one legendary stan. But no fried chicken chain has captured a fanbase quite like Bojangles.

Now the North Carolina-based franchise is looking to enlist Texans in its cult. The company will open its first San Antonio location at 8730 Potranco Rd. on July 24, according to a social media announcement. The outpost will be the first of three promised storefronts in the city.

The move is part of Bojangles' ambitious plans in the Lone Star State. In early 2022, the chain divulged plans to open 50 locations in the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio areas. The local spots will be operated by Copacetic Group.

The San Antonio Bojangles will naturally serve the chains buttermilk biscuits — accompanied by bacon, egg, and cheese; country ham; sausage; or "bo-berries" The chain often makes theater out of its signature non-chicken dish, showcasing the biscuit-making process behind a glass partition.

One thing it won't offer is bone-in chicken. As part of an effort to operationally streamline new stores, the Texas menus focus on boneless options like chicken sandwiches and tenders accompanied by sauces like creamy Buffalo and the especially coveted honey mustard.

An array of Southern sides will also be available, like pinto beans, macaroni and cheese, cole slaw, and Bo-Tatos, Bojangles' disc-like answer to tater tots. And, of course, each meal can be washed down with gallons of the eatery's signature sweet tea.

There's no word yet on when San Antonians can expect the other two locations, but the initial release said the franchising group was zeroing in on the Northeast Side.

Photo courtesy of Whataburger

Whataburger weighs in as healthiest cheeseburger in the nation

THEMS EATIN' WORDS

With its love of greasy enchiladas, gluttonous fried steaks, and fat-speckled brisket, San Antonio isn’t exactly known as a healthy eating mecca. But it turns out that one locally beloved dish isn’t as unhealthy as one might think.

Inspired by February’s American Heart Month (albeit belatedly), Gambling.com decided to dig deep into which fast-food burger was best for the ticker and the body overall. What that has to do with online slots is anyone’s guess, but perhaps open-heart surgeries are not conducive to risk-taking.

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Local favorite/ food cult Whataburger took the top slot, earning honors with its standby cheeseburger. Assumably, the gambling site considered the mustard-slathered original, eschewing calorie bombs like bacon slices and creamy pepper sauce. Where’s the fun of Whataburger if you can’t get it just like you like it?

To arrive at the rankings, Gambling.com analyzed each burger for sugar, fat, salt, and calorie content per ounce. Each metric was given a one to ten score that factored into the final report card shared with content-hungry food journalists everywhere.

Coming in a close second was In-N-Out’s cheeseburger, a comforting fact for Texans who enjoy complaining about Californians. Rounding out the top five were Checker’s Checkerburger with Cheese, Culver’s ButterBurger Cheese, and Del Taco’s del Cheese Burger.

For those trying to make better eating choices, that list should give some pause. Yes, Whataburger beats out other fast-food faves, but it was competing against a chain that literally toasts all their buns in churned cream. Health is a relative concept.

Elsewhere on the list was another Texas darling, the No. 6 ranked Dairy Queen. Apparently, all that “hungr” is being busted by a hefty dose of sodium. Yes, we will take fries with that.

Photo by Brad on Unsplash

Chick-Fil-A tops the Texas fast-food pecking order as the state's most-searched chain

OUR PLEASURE

Though Texas is home to some classic local fast food chains like P. Terry’s, Whataburger, and Torchy's Tacos, none of them hold a candle to this chicken sandwich-specializing chain that originated out of Hapeville, Georgia.

That’s right, Chick-Fil-A is the most popular fast food chain in Texas, according to a new national study by price-tracking experts PriceListo. The site tracked monthly average search volumes by region over the past year to discover the trends.

Overall, the restaurant that popularized the slogan “Eat Mor Chikin” ranked as the third most searched-for fast food chain in the United States with 11.2 million monthly searches. It’s the top fast food eatery in its home state of Georgia as well as Texas (and it's ruled the roost for quite a while now), and in five additional states, most of which are located in the South: Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Following Chick-Fil-A as the second most popular fast food joint in the Lone Star State is McDonald’s. 22 states searched for the golden arches more than any other chain, making it the No. 1 most popular fast food restaurant in the nation. The report found that McDonald's received nearly 14.9 million monthly searches over the past year.

PriceListo stated that the fast food industry is estimated to be worth $367 billion in 2023.

“This research sheds light on America's favorite fast-food restaurants, displaying a wide variety of tastes across the country, from burgers to pizza or fried chicken to iced coffee,” a spokesperson said in a release.

The top five most popular fast food restaurants in the United States are:

  • No. 1 – McDonald’s
  • No. 2 – Domino’s
  • No. 3 – Chick-Fil-A
  • No. 4 – Starbucks
  • No. 5 – Pizza Hut and Papa John’s (tied)
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6 San Antonio spots celebrating the Jewish High Holidays

SHANA TOVA

Like most celebrations, the Jewish High Holidays sneak up on the calendar before anyone can notice the (slight) temperature drop. Rosh Hashanah starts September 15, with Yom Kippur following closely on September 24.

Each has its own food traditions, from the apples and honey meant to bring sweetness into the New Year, to the kreplach breaking the fast after the Day of Atonement. Unfortunately, some beloved dishes are easier to find than others. And not every celebrant has the luxury of living near family.

Fortunately, San Antonio offers a range of spots offering Jewish favorites — from a fine dining sensation innovating Sephardic cuisine to a stylish diner serving Ashkenazi comfort food. Not every place keeps Kosher, but all provide the comforting taste of home.

Chicago Bagel & Deli
Though not a true Jewish restaurant, this North Side shop still makes mean bagels and lox. Other deli standards include a stuffed tuna salad sandwich and an exemplary pastrami on rye. All the breads are made in-house. Visit on Fridays for the freshest challah.

The Hayden
The two locations of this diner riff on traditional Jewish fare throughout the year, serving waffle iron latkes topped with beet-cured lox and herby matzo ball soup. Rosh Hashanah, however, calls for more festivities. The Broadway location is pulling out all the stops on September 17 with a jubilant prix fixe. Guests will enjoy caramelized onion and potato pierogis and honey cakes topped with cinnamon crème anglaise. An optional wine package gives diners unlimited pours of house red or white.

Ladino
Though billed as a “modern Mediterranean grill house,” this pearl stunner is specifically rooted in the Jewish-Balkan cuisine of chef Berty Richter’s youth. Don’t miss the impossibly creamy hummus made with purple hulled peas or the featherlight karpuz y feta showcasing watermelon and sumac. Or, for a full feast, let the kitchen staff make all the decisions. The mezas de alegría, a shared dining experience for the table, showcases the greatest hits from the menu.

Max & Louie’s New York Diner
As close as San Antonio gets to a Brooklyn diner, this long-running favorite still echoes with the vision of its founders — one a Kosher butcher, and one, well, not so much. While an Asian chopped salad may not scream tradition, the outliers are mixed with Ashkenazi standards like Coney Island knishes, kugel, and crispy latkes served with apple sauce and sour cream.

Nibblits & Nosh
This 100-percent Kosher food truck travels about town, most frequently stopping at the Congregation Rodfei Sholom. The menu is an assortment of all-American classics like hot dogs, fried chicken sandwiches, and burgers. Try the loaded brisket fries with a pickle on the side.

Yummy Kosher Grill
A newish Kosher eatery inside the Israeli Chabad Center, Yummy specializes in Mediterranean specialties like shakshuka and falafel, with a few menu items like chicken nuggets thrown in for the kids. Closed weekly for Shabbat, it will dish out plenty of pita on September 1.

Popular Hill Country winery to open tasting room in biggest city yet

Bishop Arts News

A winery from Central Texas' wine country is opening an outlet in Dallas. Baron's Creek Vineyards, dubbed one of the most Instagrammable wineries in Fredericksburg, will open a new tasting room and wine lounge in the Bishop Arts District.

The winery, which posted a help-wanted note on the door to the space at 418 N. Bishop Ave., was founded in Fredericksburg, and has three other locations in Georgetown, Granbury, and McKinney. This will be the fifth.

According to Meghan Delgado, who manages the Fredericksburg location, the vineyard aims to open Bishop Arts in mid-October.

A family-owned venture from a trio of businessmen brothers, Baron's Creek opened its first location in Fredericksburg in 2015.

Baron's Creek Vineyards make wines from Texas grapes — the unofficial litmus test for authenticity — but also use grapes from other districts in the U.S. and Spain, from vineyards owned by their winemaker Russell Smith, formerly of Becker Vineyards.

Baron's Creek is a big tourist attraction not only for their wine-tasting options, but also for their on-site villas where visitors can stay overnight. Two Italian-styled villas with six rooms each accommodate up to 24 guests. The vineyard rents out the property, which has a cool outdoor courtyard defined by an almost Alice-in-Wonderland checkerboard pattern of stone platforms, for weddings, corporate retreats, and other special events.

Its satellite locations, including Georgetown Square, Granbury, and McKinney, which opened in 2022, serve as lounge/tasting rooms with flights, tastings, and tapas.

Delgado says that Bishop Arts will be most similar to the McKinney location. "It'll have two separate bar areas, and will definitely be serving food including charcuterie," she says.

Other menu items include a trio of pizzas that include pepperoni and artichoke & goat cheese. The tasting rooms offer mixed flights of five white and red wines or a flight of five red wines for $21/person, as well as wine by the glass.

Texas Book Festival releases full lineup of 300 authors, including Roxane Gay and Ali Hazelwood

meet your favorite authors

After the initial release of the first 16 featured authors at the 2023 Texas Book Festival, the full lineup of guest authors and speakers is here.

More than 300 authors will be at the 28th annual festival, taking place at the state Capitol and along Congress Avenue in Austin on November 11-12. The weekend will be full of panel discussions, author readings, book signings, and much more.

"Our full lineup includes a diverse array of writers from across the globe, as well as a wide range of voices and talents from across Texas, which comprises about a third of our full program," said Texas Book Festival Literary Director Hannah Gabel in a release. "As an organization that supports the freedom to read without restriction or censorship, we’re proud to present a festival program that includes something for everyone."

A late addition, just an hour before the news breaks, is Roxanne Gay, one of the leading voices in contemporary intersectional feminism. Known for her tweets as much as her books like Bad Feminist, Gay represents a rarity in academic writing: relatability. She will be presenting her new book, Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People's Business.

No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood – who wrote romance novels Love, Theoretically and The Love Hypothesis – will be in attendance to present her upcoming young adult romance novel Check & Mate.

2013 Pritzker Literature Award winner Tim O'Brien will debut his first book in nearly 20 years: America Fantastica. The satirical fiction novel follows a disgraced journalist's bank robbery and subsequent chase across the country.

Dork Diaries author Rachel Renée Russell will showcase her 15th book in her internationally bestselling series, Tales from a Not-So-Posh Paris Adventure.

In alphabetical order, the first 20 authors and speakers are as follows:

  1. Wendi Aarons
  2. Stacey Abrams
  3. Agatha Achindu
  4. Nana Kwame Adejei-Brenyah
  5. Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny
  6. Nicole Albano
  7. Charles Alcorn
  8. Asale Angel-Ajani
  9. Andrea Arango
  10. John Manuel Arias
  11. Isa Arsén
  12. Roxanna Asgarian
  13. Alex Aster
  14. Ben Austen
  15. Aaron Bagley
  16. Jessixa Bagley
  17. Chandler Baker
  18. Rebecca Balcárcel
  19. Maya Baran
  20. Derrick Barnes

The Texas Book Festival will be preceded by the 28th annual First Edition Literary Gala on November 9. The event will take place at the Fairmont Austin Hotel, and will be hosted by NPR Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep.

More information about the 2023 festival and the full lineup of authors can be found on texasbookfestival.org.