30-06-2025
The Best Dishes Eater Ate in San Antonio in June
The amount of excellent food available in San Antonio is dizzying. With your Eater editors dining out frequently, that means coming across lots of standout dishes and drinks that need to be shared.
200 E Grayson Street, #100
It's hard to choose a favorite from the magnificent dishes I had here, but the Pishkado crudo was a shared plate I ate entirely by myself, which speaks pretty loudly to its quality. This iteration was made with a base of red snapper cut into squares, mixed simply with cucumber, red onion, and radishes in equal-sized pieces, plus cilantro, mixed into a tahini-based vinaigrette with dollops of rich olive oil. The small touch that made it stand out was the use of whole coriander seeds, rather than ground coriander. At just the right moments, they added a bigger crunch than the vegetables, and a jolt of flavor in an otherwise mild dish.
812 South Alamo Street, Suite 103
The tasting menu at Michelin-starred Mixtli celebrates a 20-ish year period in history, up until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in 1848. Through that lens, the kitchen uses cooking techniques and ingredients from Mexicans, Texicans, Spaniards and other Europeans, as well as Indigenous Americans who roamed the larger land that was Mexican territory.
There are many standout dishes, but one that captured my attention was a course of acorn and pecan mole over root vegetables with amaranth, a South American seed similar to quinoa. The sous chef who served it that evening explained that the acorn in the mole is in the form of flour, which was taste-tested from the few varieties available until they found the right flavor. Pecans, acorns, and root vegetables are all things the Indigenous peoples of the area would have gathered. The chef left them uncut and imperfect, with long, twisted growths and roots intact.
Most of the people waiting in line ahead of me at Pinkerton Barbecue for lunch were there for the meat. I was there for the Baller Mac and Cheese — a large serving that comes with a scoop of moist brisket, and a serving of extra cheese spooned over the top. The mac and cheese here is already great, with slightly oversized noodles and a good combination of cheeses that makes it nostalgic, similar to the boxed stuff, but melty enough that you know they used the good stuff.
221 Newell Avenue, the Pearl
If there are beets on the menu, I am ordering them. And anyone who loves beets should order the version on Isidore's menu right now. The embered vegetables are roasted over the already-fired grilled bones from some of their steaks, and served in a fermented black persimmon-based sauce. The secret ingredient hidden under the beets is pecan butter — something the staff says is always on the menu here in some form or another. It would have never occurred to me to put these ingredients together, but they work so well. The creaminess and sweetness of the pecan butter mixed with the earthy beets do not change the profile of the ingredient, but bring out a little of their ripe sweetness. The sauce also has a touch of acid that balances the dish.
