Any San Antonio suggestions?

[katie111]

Heading to SA next week with our 3 kids (ages 8-13) for spring break. I think I have our general plans pretty well figured out but would love to get any suggestions on restaurants or things not to miss. We'll be there for 7 full days. We are staying 3 nights on the riverwalk and 4 nights in Hill Country at the Hyatt timeshare near Seaworld. We plan to do things in the city (alamo, Hemisfair park, Japanese Gardens, Tower of Americas, river cruise, etc) for the first couple of days. Fiesta will also be going on at the time so we plan to try to see some of those events. We are also planning on going to the Caverns in New Braunfels, Gruene, Seaworld and Aquatica. Maybe Enchanted Rock state park and Fredericksburg if we have time.

We're from the Boston area and have never been to Texas. Open to any suggestions on our plans.

 

[dennis99ss]

You have a lot of the things there already. Fiesta is a blast, depending on which event you are planning on going to. At night events, they can be like any other event, anywhere, with 10's of thousands of drunk folks, so just watch your P's and Q's.

Enchanted Rock is, I think, the best park in Texas. It is worth a trip, but it, along with Fredericksburg, will take a day. Fredericksburg has a nice shopping/small town shopping area. But, if you want to stay closer, Boerne has a similar area.

Restaurants--the places on the river are "touristy". But, go over to El Mercado, and shop in the market. There are two restaurants there, Mi Tierra and La Margarita. I prefer La Margarita but Mi Tierra is the one everyone will tell you about. El Mercado is on the trolley.

Best hamburger around is at Chris Madrid's--closer to downtown than to the Hyatt.

You should be able to do the caverns and Gruene in the same day. Gruene is a walk back into the past. Similar to Gruene is Floore's country store, and closer to where you are staying. It has music on weekends, and should over fiesta. About the caverns, check out natural bridge caverns just north of San Antonio, as it is a better cave then Innerworld? around San marcos area, and the one out west near Kerr county (forget the name)

See the Hall of Horns, across from the Alamo. The Pearl Brewery has some good restaurants I understand.

 

[CynBeth]

We will be there in the summer as part of a 2 city 9 day TX trip. We will start off in Houston. Let me know how it is. Enjoy!

 

[Mokat76]

Fiesta is challenging depending on the days you're there. Downtown can get flooded with people. But it's fun if you hit the right things.

I second Dennis99ss' recommendation of La Margarita at El Mercado. Love it. Mi Tierra, though, has the bakery. Yum.

If you have a car, venture up into the hill country from your second stop. There are glorious nurseries with beautiful wild flowers this time of year. Most are around Fredericksburg, which is a neat little town.

Have fun.

 

[AustinTink]

If you have never been to Texas before, I would schedule a couple of days in Austin. SA is fine but Austin is the true gem of the Lone Star State.

Fiesta is a crazy mess at night, i agree with the prior poster. Be ready for that.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I was there last year for a couple of days attending a work conference. It was during Fiesta, I had no idea till I got there and it was so busy. I really liked San Antonio, you will have a fun time. I went to La Margarita mentioned above and sat outside, there was live music in the area for the festival and it was a very nice time. Food was great! Also enjoyed a bbq place on the Riverwalk but don't recall the name.

 

[Planogirl]

San Antonio is a blast but you are going during a busy time so be prepared for traffic and busy venues. Parking is also expensive so be ready for that. You might want to park at Rivercenter Mall just to keep it as simple as possible. Rivercenter is actually on an offshoot of the river and very close to the Alamo and some of the other sights.

Which caverns do you plan to visit? The Cave Without A Name (really the name!) tends to be less crowded and is pretty close to Fredericksburg/Enchanted Rock.

We recently went to SeaWorld and had a fabulous time.

 

[aprilgail]

Heading to SA next week with our 3 kids (ages 8-13) for spring break. I think I have our general plans pretty well figured out but would love to get any suggestions on restaurants or things not to miss. We'll be there for 7 full days. We are staying 3 nights on the riverwalk and 4 nights in Hill Country at the Hyatt timeshare near Seaworld. We plan to do things in the city (alamo, Hemisfair park, Japanese Gardens, Tower of Americas, river cruise, etc) for the first couple of days. Fiesta will also be going on at the time so we plan to try to see some of those events. We are also planning on going to the Caverns in New Braunfels, Gruene, Seaworld and Aquatica. Maybe Enchanted Rock state park and Fredericksburg if we have time.

We're from the Boston area and have never been to Texas. Open to any suggestions on our plans.

That is a long time to spend in San Antonio- we went on a 30 day road trip last summer and it was by far our least favorite place of the entire trip next to Dallas. Riverwalk was no big deal-it was nice for part of a day but wouldn't go there more than the part of one day. I remember my daughter was so aggravated walking around by the wax museum area across rom the Alamo because everywhere we went these young males would be asking us to sign their petitions against the war on the "typical American family" and their petitions to "stop gays from being able to adopt children" after being asked to sign those petitions every time one would try to walk up to us we would just say "no go away!!"

 

[Pooh2]

The Pancake Haus for breakfast, Earl Abel's for pie!!

 

[Jennabeth]

Heading to SA next week with our 3 kids (ages 8-13) for spring break. I think I have our general plans pretty well figured out but would love to get any suggestions on restaurants or things not to miss. We'll be there for 7 full days. We are staying 3 nights on the riverwalk and 4 nights in Hill Country at the Hyatt timeshare near Seaworld. We plan to do things in the city (alamo, Hemisfair park, Japanese Gardens, Tower of Americas, river cruise, etc) for the first couple of days. Fiesta will also be going on at the time so we plan to try to see some of those events. We are also planning on going to the Caverns in New Braunfels, Gruene, Seaworld and Aquatica. Maybe Enchanted Rock state park and Fredericksburg if we have time.

We're from the Boston area and have never been to Texas. Open to any suggestions on our plans.

We just got back from a spring break trip to San Antonio and we loved it. Our highlights were Mission San Jose (we were not impressed with the Alamo) and the Natural Bridge Caverns. We did a river cruise dinner that was pricey but a lot of fun and the trolley tours. If you do the hop on & off tour you get two days and it will take you to 3 of the missions and the El Mercado (look for crazy Elvis). The day we went to the caverns we continued north to Driftwood, TX and ate at Salt Lick BBQ. It was worth the drive for the food and atmosphere! We also had breakfast at Guenther House and it was delicious. We were lucky to have 5 days there and thanks to many recommendations from this board I knew what to do to keep us busy.

We stayed at the Drury Plaza which felt like it was right in the middle of everything. We walked to most places or took the trolley. It was nice not dealing with the traffic. Have fun!

 

[Kellykins1218]

Comal Tubes. Most fun we've ever had tubing.

 

[mamacatnv]

The Cave without a Name IMO is worth a visit - I love the Natural Bridges Caverns in New Braunfels but the site has become very touristy. Last summer a friend was in town and we drove down to the Cave Without a Name in Boerne, it is a very different configuration and unique in that it appears to be part "wet" and part "dry" while Natural Bridges are definitely "wet" caverns. The tour is much more intimate and the location much more remote. We really enjoyed our visit.

If the weather is good and if the park is open, the Schlitterbahn Water Park is a great experience! The park is open weekends beginning 4/23/16 - this is my family's all time favorite attraction in Central Texas

 

[whitney250]

About the caverns, check out natural bridge caverns just north of San Antonio, as it is a better cave then Innerworld? around San marcos area, and the one out west near Kerr county (forget the name)

Wonderworld I went to TXST, so those billboards stuck in my mind lol!

 

[whitney250]

Heading to SA next week with our 3 kids (ages 8-13) for spring break. I think I have our general plans pretty well figured out but would love to get any suggestions on restaurants or things not to miss. We'll be there for 7 full days. We are staying 3 nights on the riverwalk and 4 nights in Hill Country at the Hyatt timeshare near Seaworld. We plan to do things in the city (alamo, Hemisfair park, Japanese Gardens, Tower of Americas, river cruise, etc) for the first couple of days. Fiesta will also be going on at the time so we plan to try to see some of those events. We are also planning on going to the Caverns in New Braunfels, Gruene, Seaworld and Aquatica. Maybe Enchanted Rock state park and Fredericksburg if we have time.

We're from the Boston area and have never been to Texas. Open to any suggestions on our plans.

Sounds like you have a fun week planned! If you like cinnamon rolls you can get a 5lb one at Lulu's which isn't too far from the Riverwalk. Gruene is a lot of fun and The Gristmill is a good restaurant there.

 

[AustinTink]

Wonderworld I went to TXST, so those billboards stuck in my mind lol!

I went to Texas State also, but back then it was Southwest Texas State. SWT, baby!!

 

[phorsenuf]

Sounds like you have a fun week planned! If you like cinnamon rolls you can get a 5lb one at Lulu's which isn't too far from the Riverwalk. Gruene is a lot of fun and The Gristmill is a good restaurant there.

Love going to Gruene! Last time we were visiting my son we ate at The Gristmill and it was great. Make sure to get the onion rings!

 

[elaine amj]

When we planned our Texas trip last year, my DD wanted horseback riding. I had a lot of trouble finding a reasonably priced one. We ended up at Hollow Tree Farm in New Braunfels (near the waterpark) and it was awesome! We got a Groupon so it worked out to $30 pp for 1 hour (a little less since I bought it on a 20% off Groupons day). Check it out.

We really enjoyed the ride. It was a super laidback country ranch type place. Our guides were two boys (about 13/14?) who did a fabulous job looking after all of us (there were 8 of us). At one point, my horse stopped in creek and enjoyed drinking, etc...completely refusing to move. One of the boys had to come back, get off his horse, and grab a hold of my horse to get him moving again. We were joined by a couple of dogs who had a blast running around with us (they also enjoyed plenty of pats while we were waiting to get saddled up). The trails around the ranch were lovely, it was lots of fun riding past cattle grazing - definitely felt like we were in Texas

My DD has always been a bit nervous with riding, but this time, she felt a little braver and the boys encouraged those who wanted to do so to get the horses trotting. One boy would take half the group off the trot while the rest of us walked sedately behind. We really enjoyed the laidback atmosphere of the whole ride (not your typical nose-to-tail regimented ride). Yes, we were still mostly in a line, but it was fine if we veered off a little too. It was all very charming and homey feeling.

As for San Antonio itself, my DH really enjoyed the Alamo. We did skip the shrine part though since the lineup there was very long. Strolling on the Riverwalk was beautiful. I was surprised how large it really is - one day we walked most of it. Don't miss the Tres Leche cake from Mi Tierra - it was amazing.

We did a BBQ crawl in Luckenbach. Look up on it - it's a hoot. It was a ton of fun but we got BBQ'd out pretty quick - had to quit after 3 stops. The funny thing is, our fave BBQ wasn't in Luckenbach, it was at one of the chain outposts of The Salt Lick (for frame of reference, there is one in the airport!). You can't go to Texas and not try their BBQ

 

[bookgirl]

I was not impressed by Mia Tierra (super crowded on the weekends). I've had better food at home and the rest of my table thought the same.

However we loved this place

http://www.casa-rio.com/

We sat right on the railing of the river (beware of the ducks) and it was very fun. Food was tasty, affordable and the staff were great. Their guacamole salad is really good. (GUACAMOLE SALAD Freshly made and served in a taco shell on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes and our house made chili lime vinaigrette.) I had the Steak and it was super tender.

This is what I got

CARNE ASADA $18.95 Choice 10 oz grilled ribeye steak with Santa Anna sauce. Served with mixed grilled vegetables, mexican rice, and a guacamole salad.

I am not a fan of Mexican style rice. Either I switched with my mom rice for beans (she hates refried beans) or they substituted for me. I can't remember.

Step dad had this

GREEN CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

2 for $10.25 or 3 for $11.50
Chicken enchiladas topped with Monterey Jack cheese, tomatillo sauce, and sour cream. Served with mexican rice and refried beans.

He said they were really good. (he got enchiladas at Mia Tierra as well and there was no comparison, in fact I think we all got Enchilada's at Mi Tierra)

Mom's choice

DELUXE DINNER $11.25OUR #1 SELLER - Cheese enchilada, tamale, crispy beef taco, chili con carne, chili con queso, mexican rice, refried beans, and a guacamole salad.

I think she liked most of this but said the Tamale's were only okay (She was comparing them to our favorite's at Uncle Julio's. I tried them and they were good)

One of the wait staff at our hotel offered this hotel up as a better choice then Mia Tierra as it was the weekend and we were on a time crunch, and as it was near the River Boat tour and the bus stop we decided to give it a try. So glad we did.

 

[phorsenuf]

I love Mammasita's, but I doubt you'd be up near there, but maybe. It's near USAA.

 

[Mokat76]

I'll echo what bookgirl says about Casa Rio. If you want Tex-Mex on the Riverwalk, it's the granddaddy of all the places there. In recent years it really upped its game on food quality. If you're tired of Tex-Mex, up on street level just above it on Commerce St. is an old deli called Schilo's. Their claims to fame are homemade root beer and split pea soup. Weird, I know, but every time I go back to SA, it's a must stop for me. They have good sandwiches, too.
For BBQ, I'm partial to Rudy's, which is a local chain.
Since you'll be there during Fiesta, pay attention to what events are downtown and whether streets will be closed off. Navigating down there can be enormously challenging if there's a big parade. Your hotel will know.