The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near The Gruene Door Restaurant
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Rank 2. Buttermilk Cafe
Texan Comfort Food
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Rank 11. Burnt Bean Co.
Barbecue
Lines form before opening at this Seguin barbecue shop, where competition pitmasters Ernest Servantes and Dave Kirkland tend brisket and ribs of precise tenderness and delicate smoke. The industrial room fills completely, diners balancing rich meats with bright pickled okra and firm green beans—a formula that rewards patience.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · David Kirkland and Ernest Servantes
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · David Kirkland and Ernest Servantes
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Best Chef: Texas · Ernest Servantes and David Kirkland
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- San Antonio Express-News 2024 · #3 · Top 10 Italian Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #39 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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- San Antonio Express-News #9 · Top 10 Chicken-Fried Steak in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #10 · Top 10 New Orleans Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #7 · Top 10 Nachos in San Antonio
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Rank 28. The Barbecue Station
Barbecue
A converted gas station near the Loop holds thirty years of smoke and ritual. Brisket arrives in thick-cut slices on cottony bread; the turkey carries the gentler char of post oak and mesquite. The sides—particularly the house potato salad—deserve their own visit.
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- San Antonio Express-News #6 · Top 10 Fried Chicken in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #4 · Top 10 Brunch Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #34 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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- San Antonio Express-News #5 · Top 10 Chicken-Fried Steak in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #37 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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- Eater The Best Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #50 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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- San Antonio Express-News #6 · Top 10 Steakhouses in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #7 · Top 10 Chicken-Fried Steak in San Antonio
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Rank 40. Curry Boys BBQ
Thai/Texan
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Texas · Andrew Ho, Andrew Samia, and Sean Wen
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Texas · Andrew Ho, Andrew Samia, and Sean Wen
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- San Antonio Express-News #1 · Top 10 Steakhouses in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #29 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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Rank 59. Barbs B Q
Barbecue
Chuck Charnichart's weekend-only barbecue counter draws hours-long lines for good reason: tender turkey with black pepper crust, pork ribs finished with lime zest, and poblano-smoked sides that defy Lockhart tradition. The compact menu trades predictability for personality without sacrificing the slow-cooked fundamentals that make the wait feel earned.
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best New Restaurant
- Bon Appétit 2024 · America's Best New Restaurants
- Eater 2023 · The Best New Restaurants in America
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- San Antonio Express-News #10 · Top 10 Nachos in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #4 · Top 10 Outdoor Dining Restaurants
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- San Antonio Express-News #2 · Top 10 Brunch Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #46 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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- San Antonio Express-News #1 · Top 10 Pizza in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #47 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #3 · Top 10 Castle Hills Restaurants
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Rank 67. Clementine
Globally Inspired
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Nominee · Best Chef: Texas · John Russ
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #2 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
- The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In San Antonio
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- San Antonio Express-News #4 · Top 10 Fish Tacos in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #3 · Top 10 Nachos in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #36 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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- Texas Monthly 2024 · Honorable Mentions · Texas’s Best New Restaurants
- San Antonio Express-News #2 · Top 10 Fish Tacos in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #23 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #6 · Top 10 Chinese Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #8 · Top 10 Castle Hills Restaurants
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- Bon Appétit The Best Breakfast Tacos in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #32 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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Rank 74. Isidore
Texas New American
Isidore honors Texas ingredients and indigenous foodways through an ambitious, shareable menu anchored by a live-fire hearth in the Pearl District's midcentury modern setting. The popcorn chicken and dry-aged pork chop showcase the kitchen's confident hand with local sourcing and bold spicing.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- Esquire 2025 · Miracle of the Well · The Best Martinis in America
- The New York Times 2025 · The Restaurant List
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Rank 78. Nicōsi
Creative Dessert
A velvet-curtained counter in a darkened corner of Pullman Market hosts an entirely dessert-focused tasting menu, each course built around acidic, umami, bitter, or sweet. The theatrical plating—tomme cheese mille-feuille with caviar and gold leaf, short rib crowned in house-spun cotton candy—rewards the surrender of phones and photographs alike.
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Tavel Bristol-Joseph
- Eater The Best Restaurants in San Antonio
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Rank 80. Cullum's Attaboy
French
A cottage near St. Mary's where counter seating overlooks an open kitchen dispensing French-leaning breakfasts on a modest budget: proper omelets glossed with butter and hollandaise, house-made rolls cradling smoked brisket and egg, powdered sugar doughnuts that eclipse most beignets. The breakfast potatoes alone justify a visit—they possess a clarity other versions lack.
- Food & Wine 2024 · Ham & Cheese · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Nominee · Best Chef: Texas · Christopher Cullum
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
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Rank 82. Ladino
Mediterranean
Ladino channels Mediterranean ease through wood-fired pita and boldly seasoned vegetables in the Pearl District's verdant courtyard. The kitchen coaxes unexpected depth from seasonal ingredients—fermented tomatoes, labneh, smoked chili—with cocktails that match its restless creativity.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Texas Monthly 2023 · Honorable Mentions · Texas’s Best New Restaurants
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #12 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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Rank 87. 2M Smokehouse
Barbecue
Pitmaster Esaul Ramos Jr. runs a straightforward counter operation where you order by weight and sit among locals at picnic tables or benches, the smoke still clinging to your clothes. The brisket arrives juicy and the turkey brined in citrus-pepper spice, flanked by chicharrón mac and pickled nopales that hint at the kitchen's Mexican roots.
- The New York Times 2025 · Picadillo Macaroni and Cheese · The Best Restaurant Dishes We Ate Across the U.S.
- Texas Monthly 2025 · The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Texas · John Ramos and Jonathan Reyes
- Eater The Best Restaurants in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #41 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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Rank 91. Mezquite
Sonoran Mexican
Mezquite pivots toward Sonoran cooking in a sun-faded stall, opening with ceviche before moving to grilled onions and black garlic spread across paper-thin tortillas. Free-range chicken in pipian rojo arrives with a fleet of sides meant for sharing, and the flan closes the meal with custard-soft certainty.
- Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand
- Texas Monthly 2025 · #10 · Texas’s Best New Restaurants
- San Antonio Express-News 2025 · #17 · Top 50 Restaurants in San Antonio
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Rank 93. Best Quality Daughter
American Chinese
- James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Emerging Chef · Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Texas · Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Texas · Jennifer Hwa Dobbertin
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- San Antonio Express-News #1 · Top 10 Nachos in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #5 · Top 10 Outdoor Dining Restaurants
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- San Antonio Express-News #10 · Top 10 Fish Tacos in San Antonio
- San Antonio Express-News #9 · Top 10 Nachos in San Antonio
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Rank 98. Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery
Texas American
Inside the old Pearl brewhouse, Southerleigh pairs raw brick and steel with a brisk modern dining room where locals drift between tables and the bar overlooks the working fermentation tanks. Snapper throats arrive with remoulade, crawfish rolls come dressed in spiced fries—the menu speaks Texas Gulf and Southern comfort in a single breath, matched by house beers that taste of the place itself.
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