San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
The top 10 River Walk restaurants
From homegrown food to steaks and Tex-Mex, the best in waterway dining
There’s a set of filters that click into place when I talk about restaurants on the River Walk. I call those filters my River Walk goggles.
I put them on when someone asks for recommendations along that watery carnival midway and I have to answer the ultimate question:
Is it good? Or is it River Walk good? You know, like just good enough to fool the out-of-towners, or at least wash away their discernment with bottom-shelf tequila.
I’ve worn these goggles throughout this four-part River Walk series. I’ve worn them to pick the nine best locally owned restaurants. I’ve worn them to sort out the seven best hotel restaurants. I’ve worn them to pick the six best chains.
And I’ve worn them to every single restaurant on the River Walk on the way to making those lists. More than 50 on the stretch between César E. Chávez Boulevard and Fourth Street, if you’re keeping track of who’s open, closed or just winging it in the aftermath of the pandemic’s devastating impact on tourism.
Now it’s time to take off my River Walk goggles and rank the 10 best River Walk restaurants overall, folding in the locals, the hotels and the chains. Restaurants that aren’t just River Walk good, but good enough to recommend without an asterisk, without a caveat.
Anybody want my goggles?
10. Paesanos Riverwalk
The best Italian restaurant on the River Walk is famous for Shrimp Paesano, and rightly so. Lightly fried with lemon butter garlic sauce, it’s copied all over the city. Have a bottle of Italian red, a respectable red sauce lasagna and ask for one of the bistro tables right on the river. 111 W. Crockett St., Suite 101, 210-227-2782, paesanosriverwalk.com
9. Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse
Bite for bite, this might be the best value on the River Walk, a nonstop procession of grilled meat and a market table of salads, cheeses and marinated vegetables that’s practically a meal in itself. With the whitetablecloth elan of a high-end steakhouse, Fogo de Chão is nevertheless fine with your shorts, your hat and your baby stroller. Ask for the bay-windowed front room overlooking the river. 849 E. Commerce St., Suite 393, 210-227-1700, fogodechao.com
8. Landry’s Seafood House
Landry’s parent company owns a lot of the tourist-trap concepts on the River Walk. They’re not on this list. But the flagship is, thanks to its sense of style, a strong margarita and a properly grilled rib-eye piled with crab, shrimp and scallops.
The dining room’s like a cattle baron’s parlor, but the umbrella tables on the riverfront give you a better sense of the wildlife, human and otherwise. 517 N. Presa St., 210-229-1010, landrysseafood.com
7. Range at Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk Downtown
Yes, you can go for a nice rib-eye here, seared and seasoned to enjoy at your table with a window view of the river. But Range has so much more, well, range thanks to celebrity chef Jason Dady’s creativity with dishes like the South Texas answer to beef tartare called parisa and deviled eggs topped with brisket jam. 125 E. Houston St., 210-227-4455, rangesa.com
6. Ácenar
There’s no way you can make a River Walk Top 10 without a Mexican restaurant, right? It’s not that simple, because among the dozen or so dedicated Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants, only a few rise above processed cheese and homogenized spice. The best of those is Ácenar, a lively resort-style place with creative spins on enchiladas, tacos and grilled meats, with reliably strong margaritas and one of the biggest riverfront patios on this list. 146 E. Houston St., 210-222-2362, acenar.com
5. Ostra at Mokara Hotel & Spa
Ostra is the River Walk’s best overall seafood experience, with fresh East Coast oysters and a
deft touch with roasted and grilled fish. It’s formal without being stuffy, and the striped beach umbrellas on the riverfront sidewalk have a nice synchronicity with margaritas served in giant blue martini glasses. 212 W. Crockett St., 210-396-5817, omnihotels.com/hotels/san-antonio-mokara/dining/ostra
4. Landrace at the Thompson San Antonio - Riverwalk
Maybe you want the comfort of a big-city cosmopolitan grill when you travel. Landrace is down with that, with modern furniture, grilled steaks, smart cocktails and a posh side room overlooking the river. But look deeper and you’ll find Texas in a menu that celebrates local produce, grains and proteins overseen by perennial James Beard finalist chef Steve McHugh. 111 Lexington Ave., 210-942-6026, landracetx.com
3. Boudro’s Texas Bistro
Guacamole made right at your table has turned into a kind of running joke at places where avocado-juggling is in fashion. But not here. Making guacamole tableside is serious business at Boudro’s, with studied precision and custom spice levels that produce a shaggy, engrossing guacamole. It’s a handshake for the broader Boudro’s experience that includes a great Black Angus beef filet and creative Southwestern options. Look for the ochrecolored umbrellas that look like the brim of a cowboy hat. 421 E. Commerce St., 210-224-8484, boudros.com
2. Ocho at Hotel Havana
Chef Jesse Kuykendall describes Ocho as a Latin melting pot, where you can get the steakand-weenie quesadillas that helped Kuykendall win an episode of “Chopped,” as well as a comforting roasted chile relleno or even lamb chops with aromatic mamey mole, at least until the fall menu comes online in a few weeks. The restaurant itself is perched above the River Walk like a glass-walled greenhouse for growing a reputation. 1015 Navarro St., 210-222-2008, havanasanantonio.com/restaurant-and-bar/ ocho/
1. (tie) Biga on the Banks
The No. 1 spot is a tie between Chef Bruce Auden’s Biga on the Banks and chef Michael Sohocki’s Restaurant Gwendolyn for their shared sense of place, execution, settings and great food.
Biga is the place for big expressions of game like Axis venison with Lockhart quail or more subtle renderings of Scottish salmon or grilled Australian lamb. The staff is polished and professional, the wine and cocktails lists are by turns creative and lavish, and the second-story terrace overlooks one of the river’s calmer settings. 203 S. St. Mary’s St., 210-225-0722, biga.com
1. (tie) Restaurant Gwendolyn
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Well, the good news is that Restaurant Gwendolyn is still outfitted like a 1920s Parisian coffee house, with food that stays true to a 150-mile foraging limit and a kitchen that shuns electricity in favor of pre-industrial muscle. And the charcuterie board is still the best in the city.
The bad news is that Gwendolyn’s last day of service on the River Walk is Dec. 18. After that, it’s moving to the former 5 Points Local restaurant building, where Sohocki plans to retool the concept. Enjoy the magic of the River Walk spot as long as you can. 152 E. Pecan St., Suite 100, 210-222-1849, restaurantgwendolyn.com