Congratulations, you made it! After 11 days of celebrations, Fiesta San Antonio is in the rearview mirror. We bet you’re feeling a little rough. It’s OK to rush order some blackout curtains, but hiding from a four-day hangover won’t make the symptoms go away any faster.
What will help is a little self-care. Save the cheese enchiladas for later in the month and eat mindfully at one of these local spots. We can’t promise that you won’t still reach for the Advil, but at least you’ll have enough energy to pack that flower crown up.
Las Nieves
Feeling as dried out as a corn husk flower? Get some bloom again at one of the three locations of this local snack shop. True, it will be hard to resist snack shop faves like corn in a cup and Hot Cheetos, but stick to a more hydrating cucumber or jicama fruit cup. Wash it down with the mineral water rusa topped with salt, lime, and Lucas. Gatorade wishes it has so much power.
Pharm Table
Few local restaurants take San Antonio’s health as seriously as this Southtown hot spot. Chef Elizabeth Johnson composed the menu through an Ayurvedic lens, suggesting each meal start with a pickled ginger amuse-bouche. From there, the globally inspired fare centers veggies in dishes like a zucchini noodle bowl topped with a toasted cashew and coconut crumble.
Plantaquería
The breakfast taco was practically made for hangover recovery, but hangover recovery isn’t just about the immediate boost. This downtown eatery lightens up the morning staple with entirely plant-based ingredients. Order the La Tejana — a vegan scramble with pico de gallo, salsa ranchera, and tender potatoes — for a solid foundation.
Rise Up
Instead of buying out the corner store’s stock of corn syrup-filled treats, opt for one of Rise Up’s açai bowls to sate the hangover sweet tooth. The Acai Breakfast feels as decadent as a tub of Blue Bell but is loaded with nutrient-rush fruits like blueberries and bananas. Plus, a generous scoop of almond butter gives a protein boost to help keep cravings at bay.
SAD HRS
If ever a coffee shop understood post-festival malaise, it’s this tiny spot inside Vibras nightclub. Power through late afternoons with a pink horchata latte, a delightful rice milk brew with a double shot of espresso. Not only will it give you the oomph to last this tough week, but its Neapolitan color scheme also looks absolutely adorable on a Zoom call.
Sojourn
Though it may be tempting to hop off the wagon after Fiesta’s social whirl, it’s easy to hold your horses thanks to the city’s many mocktails. This downtown retreat offers some of the city’s most imaginative zero-proof sippers, including the quenching Blood Moon with hibiscus tea and the fortifying Criolla Shake — a protein blast with peanut butter, cold brew, egg white, and orgeat.
Southwest Elixirs
This East Side shop bills itself as a wellness café, but that doesn’t mean it wants you to choke down wheatgrass. Its concoctions may offer potential health benefits, but taste is at the fore. Try the For the Sol shot to soothe a still gurgling afterparty stomach. Or detox with the Cosmic Limeade, a zingy mix of activated coconut charcoal, lime, maple syrup, and alkaline water.
6 essential San Antonio shops for scoring last-minute Fiesta gear
We hate to break it to you, but there's not much time left to prepare for Fiesta. Those bare walls with nary a swag of papel picado just won't cut it. The good news is that there's one shopping weekend left before the entire city explodes like a giant cascarón. Whether you're new to town or need a retail refresher, these shops will bring the party just in the nick of time.
Amols' Fiesta
Since 1949, Amols' has been San Antonio's go-to Fiesta spot, offering essential decorations like piñatas, door wreaths, and paper flowers. Those needing a wardrobe refresh will also find guayaberas, embroidered dresses, and serape sashes for piling on the medals. The purple Fredericksburg Road shop will be packed all week, but the staff is friendly and startingly efficient. Plus, the store hours have been extended to 10 am-6 pm, Monday through Friday; 10 am-4 pm, Saturday; and 11 am-3 pm, Sunday.
The Cascaron Store
There's no way to do Fiesta without getting flecks of tissue paper in your hair. This 927 Austin Hwy embraces the mess with colorful eggs and mini piñata shaped like maracas, margaritas, and cactuses. Local party planners should put the Cascaron Store in their Rolodex now. Designers are on staff to create some truly jaw-dropping custom props.
Dos Carolinas
This Pearl boutique is a must for breathable, elegant guayaberas. Owner Caroline Matthews stocks them in a variety of fabrics ranging from classic cotton broadcloth to seersucker and gingham. Shoppers can even nurse a post-Flambeau Parade hangover wearing a fabulously soft "guayarobe." Though it's too late for this year's celebration, the shop also offers custom shirts. But, hey, guayaberas are San Antonio appropriate year-round.
Divide & Conquer
For a one-of-a-kind Fiesta lewk, it's hard to top this downtown menswear store. The guayaberas are wild, sporting prints that run the gamut from psychedelic to preppy. If things get nippy (it is Texas, after all), there is also a selection of chic leather goods. The guayabera jacket offers the best of both worlds.
Fiesta at North Star
Conveniently located across from North Star, this mega-store is one-stop shopping for official San Antonio Fiesta merch. Outfit your front lawn with yard stakes, flags, and garlands, then outfit yourself with hand-painted hats, light-up bracelets, and tiny sombrero fascinators. It even offers tissue paper by the case for a tequila-fueled crafting party.
Nativa
This Broadway shop focuses on gorgeous goods sourced from fair trade artisans from remote villages in Mexico. Top picks include gorgeous long dresses embroidered with brightly embroidered yokes, slouchy sweatshirts with dazzling handwork, and Otomi cummerbunds and suspenders. The straw totes are also a must — especially the handwoven pig.
CultureMap Emails are Awesome
San Antonio museum saddles up for new photo exhibit honoring the West's modern cowboys
A major San Antonio is saddling up for an intimate look at the modern American cowboy lifestyle through the lens of acclaimed photographer Anouk Masson Krantz.
Her new exhibition, "American Cowboys," opens September 29 at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, showcasing stunning black-and-white images that reveal the enduring culture of the ranching families and rodeo communities.
The exhibition promises a behind-the-scenes look at the less-urban world surrounding San Antonio and other Texas locales. Featuring over 100 stunning photographs, Krantz's lens provides a contemporary homage to cowboy culture across the frontier.
Raised in France but now based in New York City, Krantz has traveled across America to photograph the daily lives and enduring culture of today's cowboys and cowgirls. Her subjects are ranchers, tight-knit rodeo crowds, and the virtues of the Western lifestyle that remain remarkably unchanged for more than 150 years.
Her being raised outside of America is important for connecting mythology — what she learned in France as tropes — to reality. Many San Antonians have become used to knowing ranchers and equestrians, but the French photographer's images provide an inspiring and fresh outside view into the enduring pioneering spirit of the West..
"Krantz's intimate portraits and stunning panoramas showcase the life of today's cowboys and ranchers — and vividly prove that what she'd heard of, and we all think of as the Western life, is alive and thriving," says Briscoe president and CEO Liz Jackson.
Selected images on Krantz’s website feature a cowboy on horseback tipping his hat in a timeless, polite gesture, framed surprisingly through a car window as if glimpsed across eras. Another photo depicts women seated around a vintage car, chatting with one another. Juxtaposing classic cowboy iconography with candid moments of connection, the photos reveal the photographer's fascination with both pervasive myths and ephemeral glimpses of Western American life.
"Although long admired for their strength, relentless work ethic and humble values, the American Cowboy is more than a myth.” Jackson remarks.
Guests can anticipate hearing unique insights directly from the acclaimed French photographer herself during an exclusive tour, as she shares details about capturing the authentic daily lives of humble, yet virtuous cowboys and their families. Visitors can also keep exploring the Briscoe's Western offerings, which have long been a defining part of the museum's curatorial style.
"The exhibition pairs well with our permanent collection where visitors can see both historical and contemporary art, tools of the cowboy trade, and artifacts of the West," says Jackson.
Krantz's critically acclaimed photography offers an inspiring and fresh view into the enduring pioneering spirit of the West. Fans will also have the opportunity to take home a signed copy of Krantz's latest art book Ranchland: Wagonhound, which won the 2023 Western Heritage Award.
"American Cowboys" will be on display at the Briscoe Western Art Museum from September 29, 2023, to January 22, 2024. Tickets ($14, plus discounts for children, seniors, military, and students) to the Briscoe are available at briscoemuseum.org.
Photo courtesy of the Briscoe Western Art Museum
Anouk Masson Krantz lends her images from touring the American West at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, starting September 29.
