7 sweet San Antonio restaurants, bars, and coffee shops to escape from holiday stress

Stressed Out By Santa

Rendering courtesy of courtesy of Giles Design Bureau / Clayton & Little Architects

It's the most ~~wonderful~~ stressful time of the year! We get it — the holidays can be heavenly and challenging at the same time. If you're in dire need of a cozy escape from it all, give these local restaurants/coffee shops/bars a try. At the very least, you'll find plenty of Instagrammable Christmas opportunities and chances to escape from the stress of the holidays. Don't be a grinch, just get away!

Poetic Republic Coffee & Wine Co
Poetic Republic Coffee feels like San Antonio's own slice of Stars Hollow (here's looking at you Gilmore Girls fans) nestled on South Presa Street. Order yourself one of their handcrafted specialty lattes (they've got a seasonal menu out now with options like a Marshmallow latte), sit down with a nice book and take a breather. Don't forget to grab a bag of Writers Fuel coffee beans on the way out! (Did we mention they also serve wine?) 2330 S. Presa St.

La Frite Belgian Bistro
If you've been dying to take a European vacation but have no desire to step foot in the airport during the holiday season, head over to La Frite Belgian Bistro instead. The city's only authentic Belgian bistro feels like a mini European getaway tucked in Southtown. An order of La Frite mussels with a side of their signature frites is mandatory if you visit. 728 S. Alamo St.

Bar Du Mon Ami
After you've checked out the Light the Way display at UIW, drive a bit further down Broadway for a handcrafted cocktail at the Bar Du Mon Ami. If you caught a chill in this unusually cold winter weather, warm up with a $8 Bar Du Mon Ami hot toddy. This cozy bar is open every day of the week. 4901 Broadway

Miracle Pop-Up at the Esquire
The Miracle on Commerce Street Christmas pop-up at the Esquire Tavern is tucked away in the Esquire speakeasy (marked by a stocking on the doorway to the entrance). Warm yourself up with a naughty or nice shot and enjoy this quintessentially Christmas downtown escape with plenty of photo opportunities and fun, seasonal cocktails. For any aspiring Carrie Bradshaws out there, make sure to order yourself a Christmapolitan! (You'll thank us later). 155 E. Commerce St.

Coffee Crush
If you're looking for a cute caffeinated getaway on the North East side of the city, check out Coffee Crush. The locally owned and operated coffee spot recently celebrated its first anniversary, with many locals loving the shop's prime seating area, cute decor/vibes, and fresh pastries (and they usually have vegan options too). Coffee Crush's signature espresso shakeratos always get the job done if you need a caffeine fix after Christmas shopping! 18010 Bulverde Rd., #109

Brasserie Mon Chou Chou
If you've already explored Belgium thanks to La Frite, check out San Antonio's own little slice of France thanks to Brasserie Mon Chou Chou. The restaurant's Christmas decorations are not to be missed, and we loved that they even had options on their menu for guests with dietary restrictions (for example, the Couscous Aux Legumes Et Piment D'Espellette is warm, hearty, and completely dairy and egg free.) If you're okay with dairy, the Sandwich Au Fromage Raclette is a guaranteed crowd pleaser or good for the 'Gram if you're dining solo. 312 Pearl Parkway

Bonus: San Antonio Pets Alive!
If you're in need of some unconditional love and want to help pets in need, consider volunteering for a shift or two at San Antonio Pets Alive! The local pet shelter is always in need of fosters for pets looking for loving homes too, particularly during the holiday season. What better way to escape holiday stress then with a hearty dose of puppy love? Click here for more info about volunteer opportunities.

Further afield:
If you're doing some holiday shopping up in Austin and need a break, the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa is a serene spot with multiple restaurants, spacious grounds, and fun Christmassy opportunities open to hotel guests and visitors just stopping by like their Holiday in the Hills light trail, and a Holiday in the Hills Snowdown light display.

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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.

Disney's Little Mermaid remake goes swimmingly despite new so-so songs

Movie review

The biggest problem with the majority of the live-action updates to classic Disney animated films is that they haven’t been updates at all, choosing to merely regurgitate the moments audiences know and love from the original in a slightly repackaged form. That’s great for nostalgia, but if that’s all viewers wanted, they’d just go back and watch the original.

The Little Mermaid falls into much the same trap, although the filmmakers get at least a little credit for trying to offer something new. The story, of course, remains the same, as Ariel (Halle Bailey) has a fascination with everything above the surface of the ocean. Her rebellious nature, at odds with strict King Triton (Javier Bardem), leads her to spy on a ship with Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) and his crew, putting her in position to save Eric when the ship crashes into rocks.

Now totally enamored of Eric, Ariel is convinced by the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) to give up her voice for a chance to live on land and make Eric fall in love with her. Trouble is, despite the help of Sebastian the crab (Daveed Diggs), Flounder the fish (Jacob Tremblay), and Scuttle the seabird (Awkwafina), Ursula has no plans to let Ariel succeed fair and square.

Directed by Rob Marshall and written by David Magee, the film clocks in at nearly one hour longer than the original, going from 83 minutes to 135. They accomplish this feat with the addition of several songs, including ones “sung” by Ariel while she is without voice, a relatively clever way to get into her thoughts during that long stretch. There are also additional scenes that give Prince Eric more of a backstory, making him more than just a pretty face on which to hang all of Ariel’s hopes and dreams.

The new songs are hit-and-miss; Ariel’s “For the First Time” is a fanciful number that fits in nicely, but “Wild Uncharted Waters,” a solo song for Prince Eric, feels unnecessary, and the less said about “The Scuttlebutt,” a rap performed by Scuttle and written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the better. What most people want to see are how the original songs are done, and they come off well for the most part. The actors’ voices are uniformly good and the staging is engaging.

Other changes seem half-hearted, at best. A vague environmental theme broached at the beginning is quickly dropped. The cast is very multicultural, but haphazardly so. The film is obviously set on and around a Caribbean island, making it natural for The Queen (Noma Dumezweni), Eric’s adopted mother, and other islanders to be Black. But giving Ariel “sisters from the seven seas,” allowing for mermaids of several different races and ethnicities, feels odd and forced, and a little creepy given that King Triton is supposed to be the father of all of them.

The fact that Bailey herself is Black, while great for representation, is neither here nor there in the context of the film. Bailey has a voice that is equal to everything she is asked to sing, and her silent acting is excellent in the middle portion of the film. McCarthy makes for a great Ursula, bringing both humor and pathos to the role. Hauer-King, who bears a similarity to Ryan Gosling, plays Eric in a more well-rounded manner.

The live-action version of The Little Mermaid, like almost all of the Disney remakes, never truly establishes itself as its own unique thing. Still, it’s a thoroughly pleasant watch with some nice performances, which clears the bar for success for this era of Disney history.

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The Little Mermaid opens in theaters on May 26.

Photo courtesy of Disney

Halle Bailey in The Little Mermaid.

These 6 San Antonio museums are offering free admission for military families all summer long

spread the museum love

Half a dozen San Antonio museums are honoring active-duty military personnel and their families with free admission through the Blue Star Museums initiative, May 20 through September 4, 2023.

Established by the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and the U.S. Department of Defense, the Blue Star Museums program annually provides military families free access to 2,000 museums nationwide throughout the summer. The program begins yearly on Armed Forces Day in May and ends on Labor Day.

Free admission is extended to personnel currently serving in the U.S Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard (including those in the Reserve), and all National Guardsman. Members of the U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps and NOAA Commissioned Corps are also included in the program.

Those who qualify can use their military ID to bring up to five family members - including relatives of those currently deployed. More information about qualifications can be found here.

There is no limit on the number of participating museums that qualifying families may visit. Admission for non-active military veterans, however, is not included.

According to the National Endowment for the Arts website, the initiative was created to help "improve the quality of life for active duty military families" with a specific focus on children. The site states two million have had a parent deployed since 2001.

"Blue Star Museums was created to show support for military families who have faced multiple deployments and the challenges of reintegration," the website says. "This program offers these families a chance to visit museums this summer when many will have limited resources and limited time to be together."

Here's a look at all the museums in San Antonio that are participating in the Blue Star Museums initiative this year.

For those looking to take a drive around Central Texas, the Sophienburg Museum & Archives in New Braunfels and Bandera's Frontier Times Museum are also participants in the Blue Star Museums initiative.

More information about Blue Star Museums and a full list of participants can be found on arts.gov.

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