San Antonio.
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9 places
Rooms you can walk into, ranked the way I would send you.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Go here first.
Where I'd actually send you first: the rooms I'd put a visitor in on night one, in town rather than an hour down the highway, spread so six cards are six different answers. Producers, markets and the rest of the city are below.
Cullum’s AttaboyBibjust added
Destination · French-American · Tobin Hill · $$$
walk-in
Christopher Cullum sells royal osetra by the gram and a $7 caviar setup because he wants his street eating it.
Nicōsi★just added
Destination · Dessert tasting menu · Pearl · $$$$
booking essential
Eight courses, all of them dessert, and one of them is a ramen bowl: jammy egg, caramelized Texas sweet onion, scallion greens turned into spongecake crumble, garlic overcooked until it tastes of chocolate and churned into ice cream.
Leche de Tigre Cebicheria PeruanaMichelinjust added
Solid · Peruvian · Southtown · $$$
book ahead
Emil Oliva cures the striped bass in an ají limo paste first, then dresses it in the leche de tigre itself: lime, raw fish, red onion, garlic, cilantro stems, celery and ginger, blended and strained.
2M SmokehouseMichelinjust added
Solid · Texas barbecue · South Side · $
walk-in
Esaul Ramos smokes brisket over post oak on the South Side and puts serrano-and-Oaxaca sausage, pickled nopales and chicharrón mac and cheese next to it.
Jue Letjust added
Listed · Cocktails · Pearl · $$$
walk-in
Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin named the bar for the Chinese cook who raised James Beard's palate, and she only went looking for him after her own Beard nomination.
New & next.
Jue Letjust added
Listed · Cocktails · Pearl · $$$
walk-in
Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin named the bar for the Chinese cook who raised James Beard's palate, and she only went looking for him after her own Beard nomination.
Somewhere tonight.
One tap hides everything shut today and everything that needs a booking, then sorts the rest by how close it is to you. I don’t publish opening hours, because they go stale faster than anyone can check them. Check the door before you go.
The makers behind it.
The mills, farms, butchers and bakers the kitchens buy from, and the rooms on the list that sell or cook with them.
The smoked sausage link
productCoarse-ground beef packed loosely into a natural casing and smoked over post oak, sold by the ring off the same counter as the brisket.
How San Antonio actually eats.
How people here actually eat, which is the part of a city you learn by living in it.
Central Texas barbecue
how it is eatenTexas Monthly prints the same two words beside joint after joint on its Top 50, post oak, and the rub is salt and pepper and nothing else.
On my list
These are on my list; I haven't been yet. 4 here.
Best Quality Daughterjust added
Asian American · Pearl · $$$
book ahead
Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin runs the kitchen-sink instinct of The Monterey, where she started as a fry cook, through Chinese American cooking.
Ridemakerzjust added
Sights · Downtown · $$
walk-in
You pick a Chevrolet, Dodge or Ford body, add rims and tires, then load it with spoilers and stickers and drive it out, freewheel or radio-controlled. Builds start at $24.99.
LEGOLAND Discovery Center San Antoniojust added
Sights · Downtown · $$
book ahead
Twelve-plus LEGO attractions, rides and 4D films sit on one indoor floor on East Commerce Street, with the SEA LIFE aquarium next door. You build alongside the master builders.
SEA LIFE San Antoniojust added
Sights · Downtown · $$
book ahead
Over 3,000 marine and fresh-water creatures sit alongside the LEGOLAND Discovery Center on East Commerce Street. Buy the two on one combo ticket.