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Today on Texas Eats NOW:
SLIM CHICKENS
7022 N Loop 1604 E, San Antonio, TX 78266
Slim Chickens is a fast-casual chicken concept that has opened its newest San Antonio location at Loop 1604, bringing with it a kitchen-forward approach that sets it apart from typical quick-service spots. The brand’s signature tenders begin with a 24-hour brine in a saltwater solution, followed by a buttermilk soak — both steps designed to deeply tenderize the meat and build flavor from the inside out. From there, the chicken is battered and fried to order, meaning every piece coming out of the kitchen is fresh.
The menu centers on those brined tenders, available in spicy or regular, served alongside a selection of 13 dipping sauces — including Slim Sauce and honey mustard — that can also be used to toss wings, bites, and sandwiches. Chicken wings come in options like Buffalo, garlic parmesan, and cayenne ranch, and guests can request all drums or all flats. Standout plates include the chicken and waffles — three tenders served with butter and syrup — and the new jalapeño honey pimento sandwich, built with jalapeños drizzled in honey, a large chicken breast, and pimento cheese. For dessert, the menu features jar options like chocolate brownie pudding, strawberry cheesecake, and a limited-time key lime pie, with a banana cream jar returning soon.
CARNITAS DON RAUL
325 W Jones Ave, San Antonio, TX 78215
Carnitas Don Raul is a San Antonio institution rooted in authentic Michoacán tradition. The concept originated in Morelia, Michoacán, in 1991, founded by the Muñoz family, and grew into a pair of beloved San Antonio food trucks before co-owners Martin and Michelle Muñoz opened the brick-and-mortar location just steps from the San Antonio Museum of Art. The restaurant prepares its carnitas the traditional way — slow-cooking hundreds of pounds of pork daily in the animal’s own rendered fat, honoring the regional techniques passed down through the family.
The menu is built around the many cuts of the carnitas which can be enjoyed across a range of dishes. The torta moreliana layers refried beans, grilled cheese, guacamole, and carnitas on a loaded sandwich, while the quesadilla moreliana features two crunchy tostadas stacked with the same ingredients. Flautas come filled with shoulder meat and topped with sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce. To drink, the restaurant offers aguas frescas including cucumber lime, hibiscus, horchata, and a strawberry pink horchata.
PEI WEI ASIAN KITCHEN
11647 Culebra Rd Ste 108, San Antonio, TX 78254
Pei Wei is a fast-casual Asian concept with more than 160 locations across the United States, brought to life through a partnership with Food Network chef and restaurateur Jet Tila. Over the past five years, Tila has worked to re-energize the brand around Thai and Korean flavors, bringing his 30 years of kitchen experience — spanning mom-and-pop restaurants to large-scale culinary operations in Las Vegas and beyond — to deliver bold, authentic flavors at fast-casual speed. Every dish is cooked to order, with a standard ticket time of two minutes, using high-quality, pre-prepped ingredients in the tradition of a French brigade kitchen.
The menu signature is the drunken noodles, made with gluten-free rice stick noodles, bell pepper, white onion, garlic, chicken, and a proprietary blend of sauces, finished with fragrant Thai basil and a customizable heat level. The dish is wok-cooked over high flame to achieve that characteristic smoky char.
DARKSIDE PIZZA
25 Truss Dr, Boerne, TX 78006
Darkside Pizza is a brick oven pizza concept in Boerne built entirely around the nostalgia of the 1980s. Owner Michael Haas designed the restaurant to recreate the feeling of hanging out at a mall food court as a kid — complete with an atmosphere packed with retro memorabilia — and paired that experience with serious, scratch-made pizza. The menu reflects Haas’s personal love of pizza and the desire to bring something distinct to the Boerne dining scene, with his wife Denise contributing several of the dessert items.
The pizza selection spans a white margherita and its sauced red counterpart, a fan-favorite barbecue chicken, a brisket pizza topped with pickles, and a signature pepperoni. Beyond pizza, the kitchen turns out veal meatballs served with a generous pull of melted cheese, and a hearty meatball sandwich loaded with sauce and cheese. Bruschetta rounds out the appetizer side of the menu. For dessert, Denise’s darkside skillet cookie and a classic crème brûlée are both on offer.
SCHILO’S
424 E Commerce St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Schilo’s holds the distinction of being San Antonio’s oldest restaurant, having served the city since 1917. Rooted in German-Texan tradition, the downtown institution carries more than three centuries of San Antonio history within its walls — and has even earned a reputation for a bit of haunted history along the way. With a menu that honors its heritage and a spirit that has endured generations of change, Schilo’s remains a touchstone of the city’s culinary identity.
The Reuben sandwich is one of the most iconic items on the menu, built with thin-sliced corned beef, house-made sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and a black Russian rye bread, finished with a sauce that delivers a sharp, satisfying zing. The root beer is equally legendary — a recipe developed during Prohibition so that San Antonio’s German community could still raise a glass in the spirit of celebration — and it remains a must-order alongside any meal.
LACOSTE BAKERY
4421 De Zavala Rd, San Antonio, TX 78249
Lacoste Bakery is a French bakery on the northwest side of San Antonio, founded by Vincent Lacoste, who began his craft at age 16 and spent a decade working in his family’s bakery in France before bringing his expertise to Texas. The shop operates with an uncompromising commitment to authenticity with flour, butter, and even the ovens and equipment are sourced directly from France, resulting in award-winning breads and pastries that reflect a strict, time-honored process.
The menu spans a wide range of French baked goods. Croissants come in multiple varieties: plain, chocolate, almond, and many more. Alongside the pastries, the bakery produces traditional French bread and baguettes, all shaped and baked after an overnight rise in the refrigerator — a process that gives each item its signature texture and depth of flavor.
OSTRA
212 W Crockett St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Ostra is a seafood restaurant inside the Mokara Hotel, situated directly along the San Antonio River Walk. Executive Chef Robert Cantu leads the kitchen with a menu rooted in Texas cuisine, drawing on ingredients and flavors from across the state. The setting — with the River Walk just outside — makes it a natural choice for both special occasions and casual waterfront dining, and the menu rotates seasonally to reflect what is freshest.
The Seafood Tower is a centerpiece of the dining room, presented in three tiers: a bottom layer of Gulf oysters from Copano Bay, Canadian oysters, and East Coast oysters; a middle layer of Gulf shrimp tossed with herbs, and house-made ceviche with tortilla chips; and a top layer of Maine lobster and snow crab claws. Charbroiled oysters, also sourced from Copano Bay, are finished with a garlic butter cream sauce and served with grilled bread. Rounding out the menu is the surf and turf burger, a combination of a lobster roll and an Oklahoma-style smash onion burger, served together in one towering bite.
TWANG
6255 Wt Montgomery, San Antonio, TX 78252
Twang is a San Antonio-based flavor company founded in 1986 by Roger Treviño, who developed the concept of packaged citrus salts after observing the tradition in Mexico City. What began as a small local operation — distributing lemon and lime salt packets to convenience stores — has grown into a full-scale manufacturing facility on the far west side of San Antonio, producing hundreds of thousands of packets per eight-hour shift and shipping products nationally and internationally. The product line includes beer salts, snack salts, fiesta shakers, michelada mixes, and cocktail rimming salts, all developed from concept through production entirely in-house.
The facility moves through several stages: a pre-weight room where each ingredient is precisely measured, a blending room where those components are combined in large-capacity mixers, and a packaging area where finished product is funneled into pouches and boxed for distribution. The flavors translate directly to the table — chili lime salt is the star ingredient in the chili lime veggie roasted tacos, made with bell peppers, red onion, and zucchini tossed in olive oil. The classic batanga cocktail — tequila, a splash of lime, and Mexican cola — gets rimmed with the Fiesta Lime rimming salt, a ready example of how Twang’s products move from the factory floor to the rim of a glass.
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