Tito's - San Antonio, Texas

On our most recent trip to San Antonio the Dining Companion and I stopped in at Tito's Mexican Restaurant. We've walked by this place on prior visits and finally made the time to try it.


Tito's is a full service restaurant located in the historic King William neighborhood. We stopped by one morning for breakfast.

 We took a seat at the bar and looked over the menu.

Breakfast menu and a good morning margarita

I ordered the King William Favorite and the Dining Companion got a couple of breakfast tacos.

King William Favorite

Two eggs, ranchero sauce, papas con chorizo,

refried beans & a side of carne guisada

Salsa and fresh made tortillas

Breakfast tacos - (1) Machacado & (1) Barbacoa

For my money you can't beat a plate of carne guisada and fresh tortillas. The Dining Companion graciously shared his tacos with me. I'd never heard of or had machacado before. Machacado is a dried beef dish. The beef can be sauteed with eggs (machacado con huevos) or with peppers, onions and tomatoes. I can't be sure but I think the version we had was the one made with tomatoes, peppers and onions. What I do know, is that it's delicious, and I would gladly have it again.

If we get the chance to get back to Tito's we'll give it a try for happy hour and dinner. I'd love to try the fajitas.

When planning your trip to San Antonio be sure and plan to visit the King William and South Town areas for the great local bars and restaurants. A little off the beaten path but definitely worth exploring.

Note: If you're traveling with your pet Tito's outdoor dining area is pet friendly. One more reason to check them out.

Happy dining!

Pssssst...
I'm going to take a minute here to mention that we also stopped in at B&D Ice House this visit. We've been here before for BBQ but wanted to give the menu another look. This time we decided on two of their unique sandwich creations.

The "Bruno"

Southtown Slammer

 I did mention unique right? Tasty and the perfect thing with a cold beer. If you're strolling through the neighborhood and looking for lunch, definitely give these guys a try.

Marriott Plaza San Antonio - San Antonio, Texas - NO LONGER PET FRIENDLY

The Dining Companion and I recently spent a long weekend in San Antonio. It's a city that we both love and one in which we've spent a fair amount of time. A lot of our time there has been spent along the River Walk. It's a vibrant part of the city that is home to many bars, restaurants, various shops and attractions. Lot's to see and do and we always enjoy it. Having spent so much time along the River Walk, we've been branching out and spending time in and around the South Town area of the city. South Town is what feels like a pocket neighborhood that's adjacent to the more well known King William area.

We stayed at the Marriott Plaza San Antonio. It's location is perfect for both exploring in nearby South Town as well as being within walking distance of the Alamo and the River Walk. It's also very near Hemisphere Park and the Tower of the Americas. Just about the perfect location for exploring the area on foot. You can park your car and forget about for the weekend.

The walk-up to the entrance is very inviting.

 A walk across the lobby leads out to a courtyard and the park like setting beyond.

The Marriott Plaza San Antonio is a beautiful hotel. The property sits on six acres of lovely grounds. 

 

There are many walking paths located on the grounds that are perfect for a leisurely stroll.

The grounds are also home to several peacocks and pheasants.

You may find yourself sharing those very same walking paths with one or more of these feathered residents.

You'll find fountains scattered around the grounds as well...

...and some beautiful wrought iron work.

We didn't get a chance to go for a swim but the pool area looked great.

When the hotel was being built there were some existing structures located on the property. These historic buildings were saved and in some cases incorporated for use by the hotel.

The rooms are well appointed and there is both a bar and a restaurant onsite. If you wished to you could spend a whole weekend here and not have to leave the property.

Lastly, the Marriott Plaza gets a very high recommendation from the 4-Pound Wonder.

A spot of sunshine to lie in, huge grounds to explore and big birds to admire. What more could one small dog ask for.

Happy travels!

The Friendly Spot - San Antonio, Texas

Ice houses are a south Texas tradition that dates back to the 1920's. Ice houses served their obvious function, selling ice, but also served as early convenience stores and gathering places. The 7-Eleven chain grew out of the ice house culture. A bit  from Wikipedia:

Texas Ice Houses

In Texas, former ice houses are a cultural tradition. Ice merchants diversified to sell groceries and cold beer, serving as early convenience stores and local gathering places. The widespread US 7-Eleven convenience store chain developed from ice houses operated by the Southland ice manufacturing company in Dallas and San Antonio in the 1930s, which were first known as Tote'm stores.Today many Texas ice houses have converted into open-air bars. In the region of Central Texas, Southeast Texas, especially the Houston area, and the Texas Hill Country in particular, the word "icehouse" has become a colloquialism for an establishment that derives the majority of its income from the sale of cold beer, especially such locally produced labels as Shiner Bock, Pearl, and Lone Star.

There may be ice house bars in other parts of the country but I've only seen this particular style in south Texas.

From a sign at The Friendly Spot:

 

 

After walking past this place countless times on previous visits, we finally stopped in at The Friendly Spot on our recent trip to San Antonio. The Friendly Spot is a neighborhood bar, a locals place. It's kid and pet friendly; really a place for the whole family. Oh yeah, and they sell beer too, lots of beer. Not only beer, food as well and other cold libations. One of the drink specials the day we were there was, what turned out to be, a really decent Rum Punch. 

The Friendly Spot has both a regular menu and a brunch/weekend menu. While we didn't eat here, the regular menu has what I think of as beer friendly foods and the brunch/weekend menu has the breakfast options covered. 

Today's ice houses are mostly open air bars. There may be a covered patio area or even an inside space but for the most part the main bar is open to or in the out-of-

doors.

Lot's of seating, a play area for the kids (beyond the big tree) water bowls for the doggies. A nice way to spend an afternoon.

There is another bar area as well. The back bar that's, well, in the back behind the main bar area. There's a covered seating area back there with ceiling fans and TV's.

I came away from our visit to The Friendly Spot thinking about how nice it would be if every neighborhood had a great spot like this.

Not too far from The Friendly Spot is another ice house in the same neighborhood. (How lucky are the people who live here?) It's B & D Ice BBQ and Draft. Similar set up but on a smaller scale. We stopped in for a beer and had to give their version of Frito Pie a try.

The Frito Pie features BBQ in the place of chili

B & D has a nice patio with plenty of umbrella covered seating and an inside bar as well. This place has been around for 50 years but closed in 2010. It just re-opened recently and is back with cold beers and decent BBQ.

These two great bars were both within walking distance to where we were staying. There are a ton of things to do and places to see in the King Williams and Southtown area of San Antonio. If you're planning a visit you can't go wrong spending at least some of your time there. The River Walk is great and I love it but it's nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle.

Happy dining!