Adelante begins its long goodbye

When Adelante Restaurant posted to its Facebook page it would be closing next year on April 1, hope lingered among some customers of the healthconscious Mexican spot that it was an April Fools’ joke.

It’s not.

After 40 years of veggie-forward tamales, spinach quesadillas and tacos at their quirky, colorful, mom-and-pop joint, Adelante owners Deb and Dan Soder have begun their long goodbye on Brees Boulevard just outside Alamo Heights.

“It’s not getting any easier,” said Dan Soder, who bought the restaurant with his wife, Deb, in 1981, when it sat across the street in the Sunset Ridge shopping center. “We survived the pandemic, but it’s getting harder to find things. At least we haven’t had to worry about the labor shortage, because it’s the two of us, mostly.”

The Soders moved Adelante to its current spot in 1985, the year they recast the restaurant’s identity as the home of “health-Mex,” moving away from beef, bacon and white flour, and focusing on vegetables, chicken, fish and the best turkey picadillo in the city.

Known as much for the folkart bazaar spirit of its decor as its food, Adelante is an ad hoc gallery of Dan Soder’s papier-mâché cactuses, watermelon, fish and vegetables, along with a lifetime’s worth of Mexican art. Every surface is painted, and the dining room is neatly divided by the Soders’ globe collection.

What comes next is an open question. Adelante might pop up here and there with tamales or queso at farmers markets after the restaurant closes, Dan Soder said. And they haven’t ruled out selling the restaurant if the right buyer comes along, he said.

In the meantime, they’re staying open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday through April 1, doing what they’ve done for 40 years.

Adelante Restaurant, 21 Brees Blvd., 210-822-7681, adelante restaurant.com

Staff file photo The health-conscious Mexican eatery Adelante Restaurant is closing April 1.