San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Iconic building that housed Liberty Bar to welcome S. Texas-inspired eatery
Skillets will soon sizzle and spirits once again flow in one of San Antonio’s most storied restaurant spaces. Carriqui is set to open this September in the former Pearl-area home of Liberty Bar.
The new restaurant is named in honor of the colorful green carriqui bird that can be spotted fluttering around South Texas. The menu will draw inspiration from the carriqui’s flight path through the state, with fresh Gulf Coast seafood dishes, Rio Grande Valley-inspired botana platters, San Antonio’s pit-cooked barbacoa and brisket, and more.
Carriqui’s kitchen will be helmed by Jaime Gonzalez, who previously served as executive chef at Hotel Emma’s Supper restaurant. Cassie McCloud, who created the famous Three Emmas cocktail at Hotel Emma’s Sternewirth, will lead Carriqui’s bar program.
Carriqui will feature three distinct dining areas designed to model a South Texas aesthetic. The main building that once housed Liberty Bar will be dubbed the Carriqui House. The space has undergone a number of renovations that will offer diners two stories of seating and balcony tables on the second floor.
A smaller structure on the property called the Rock
House has recently been added to offer additional indoor seating. The restaurant will also have a courtyard space for outdoor dining featuring a cooking pit where many of the
restaurant’s proteins will be prepared over a live fire.
“It is an honor to work on this project. I am deeply passionate about the culinary program at Carriqui, which pays tribute to the flavors and foods that are central to our region,” Gonzalez said in a news release. “The food and experience will be warm and familiar — like you are spending time in the home of a close friend who also happens to be a great cook.”
The iconic 11,000-square-foot building housing Carriqui was constructed in the 1890s by former Pearl brewmaster Fritz Boehler. In its early days, the building served as a watering hole for Pearl Brewery employees, a general store, a boarding house and more.
Many San Antonians remember it best as Liberty Bar, which occupied the spot from 1985 through 2008. Liberty Bar, where everybody seemed to know your name, developed a loyal following for its funky, hip vibe. Liberty Bar has since relocated to a former convent in the Southtown area.
After Liberty Bar closed, the space housed Boehler’s Bar & Grille and then noted chef Andrew Weissman opened Minnie’s Tavern & Rye House there. The short-lived bistro served French-inspired fare in the mid-2010s.
Over the years, the building developed a distinctive lean that was fixed in 2014. The building has been moved multiple times — once to repair its foundation and again to relocate it closer to the Pearl, from its original site at 328 E. Josephine St. to its new spot at 239 E. Grayson St.
The new project was announced by the recently formed restaurant ownership and management company Potluck Hospitality. Potluck Hospitality is led by former Pearl Chief Marketing Officer Elizabeth Fauerso, who helped curate many of the restaurants currently operating at the Pearl.
Potluck Hospitality’s roster of concepts includes Pearl restaurants Best Quality Daughter, Brasserie Mon Chou Chou, The Bottling Department food hall and more.