Craving fall goodies? Here are some food pros’ favorites.

S.A. food and bar pros say it’s just not autumn without ’em

Labor Day has passed, the kids are back in school and, at long last, there is a hint of crispness in the morning air. It’s the most anticipatory time of the year in San Antonio, when we start to envision fall leaves and crackling fires, chunky sweaters and pumpkin patches.

And on the Taste Team, we start dreaming of cocoa and cider and other fall treats — and we know we’re not alone.

For a lot of folks, it’s just not fall without a pumpkin spice latte or fireside s’mores. We asked many of the city’s food and beverage professionals what foods scream fall for them.

Here are the San Antonio treats they crave when the temperature drops.

Bedoy’s Bakery sweet potato empanadas

Grimes has a big appetite for the foods of fall, but his favorite are the pastries at Bedoy’s Bakery — especially the sweet potato empanadas.

This San Antonio institution has been serving all forms of Mexican pastries for 60 years. Its selection of empanadas and other baked goods is huge and widely varied, but it’s the earthy heartiness of sweet potato that Grimes reaches for first this time of year.

Bedoy’s Bakery, two locations: 803 W. Hildebrand Ave., 210-7362253; 2714 Hillcrest Drive, 210-455-0454, bedoysbakery.com, Facebook: @BedoysBakery

Eggnog

Joel Rivas, Saint City Culinary Foundation founder

The second it becomes available, Rivas can be found stocking up on eggnog.

“I will buy it until they take it off the shelves,” he said.

He’s particularly fond of H-E-B’s house brand of eggnog, which he said has the perfect flavor and texture.

But he won’t stop at a simple glass of eggnog. If he sees eggnog ice cream, crème brûlée or any other variation on a menu, you can bet he’ll be ordering that as well.

JD’s Chili Parlor chili Mitch Hagney, Local Sprout Food Hub founder

For Hagney, there’s nothing more fall than making a big pot of iconic Texas red chili, and his favorite method is start with JD’s Chili Parlor’s Chili Fixin’s sauce bases.

The bases allow you to make a pot of chili with whatever ingredients you’d like to add.

Available in H-E-B stores across the city, or online at jdschili parlor.com

Michael Grimes, The Beignet Stand chef and owner

Lucky Noodle House hot pot

Sean Wen, Pinch Boil House owner

Cold weather gives Wen a

craving for hand-pulled noodles, and Chinese restaurant Lucky Noodle House is his top spot for those in San Antonio.

He’s particularly fond of

Lucky Noodle’s hot pot, which rolls out seasonally when the mercury — finally — begins to dip.

If the hot pot isn’t available, give any of the restaurant’s other brothy bowls of noodle soup a try for a proper belly warming.

Lucky Noodle House, 8525 Blanco Road, 210-267-9717, no web presence

Pete’s Tako House menudo

Valerie Patterson, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts bartender

When the temperature drops, Patterson bellies up to a bowl of tripe-rich menudo from this Tex-Mex staple that’s been serving bowl after bowl of the bright red stuff for more than 40 years.

Pete’s version is full of hominy and balances the earthy, hayfield funk of the tripe with plenty of pungent raw onion, serrano chiles and tart lemon served with fresh flour tortillas for a rib-sticking delight.

Pete’s Tako House, 502 Brooklyn Ave., 210-224-2911, petestakohouse.com Facebook: @Petes.Tako.House

Thai Dee’s Red Curry Pumpkin

Diana Barrios Treviño, Los Barrios Mexican Restaurant chef and owner

Barrios Treviño believes in supporting her neighbors, and when fall rolls around, that means ordering as much of the Red Curry Pumpkin as she can get away with from Thai Dee, which is a few blocks from the Los Barrios restaurant on Blanco Road. She usually adds shrimp to her order, and she slowly savors every morsel of that steaming pot of pumpkin, coconut milk, Thai basil and hot chiles.

“I like to just to sit there and linger over it, she said. “It clears your sinuses. It opens you up.”

Thai Dee, 5307 Blanco Road, 210-342-3622, thaideesa.com, Facebook: @ThaiDeeRestaurant

Getty Images Pumpkin pie and apple pie are traditional harbingers of autumn. But so are other fall delights found in San Antonio.

Associated Press file photo Joel Rivas of Saint City Culinary Foundation craves eggnog when the cool winds blow.

Bedoy’s Bakery Bedoy’s Bakery pastries are fall favorites of The Beignet Stand’s Michael Grimes.

Mike Sutter / Staff file photo Sean Wen, Pinch Boil House owner, craves hand-pulled noodles and noodle soup from Lucky Noodle House in the fall.

Starbucks Cesar Zepeda of Sangria on the Burg brushes off comments and goes for pumpkin spice lattes.