San Antonio’s dining scene may be getting fancier by the moment, but sometimes Alamo City locals don’t want to lace up shoes in order to enjoy a good meal. That’s why this month we’re taking it back to the basics. These six hole-in-the-wall restaurants might not have craft cocktails or swanky Instagram decor, but they have something better — food that pleases every time. Slip on some chanclas and head out the door; these international hidden gems require no reservations.
Amen Cafe
This sunny cafe took over the former Northwest Side home of Saucy Birds in February, offering San Antonians an all-too-rare taste of Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine. While it might be a hyperbole to call it a spiritual experience, we have sung a few hosannas while scooping the kitfo — rare minced beef seasoned with chilis, cardamom, and a spiced butter — in a hand-torn wedge of injera bread. For plant-based eaters, there are even more reasons for devotion, like luscious lentils cooked in a Berbere sauce.
The Hut Diner
There’s some inherent romance in sitting at a diner counter. Will knees touch with a well-timed stool swivel? Is the hottie peeking above their laminated menu staring straight through your soul? While peccadillos happen in the wee hours of midnight, meaningful connections occur while going hog wild on a plump omelet stuffed with bacon, ham, sausage, and cheese. Maybe it’s just the charm of the Deco District — or the interior clad in chrome and race car red — but no place else makes a little dab of whipped cream on a waffle look quite as seductive.
La Marginal
This near-airport spot specializes in Puerto Rican fare, but its best dish comes westward on the Greater Antilles. Made with succulent roasted pork, the Cuban sandwich is a tightrope of fat and brine. Further down the Caribbean, guests will find mofongo in a garlicky cream and pineapple-marinated chuletas with plenty of tropical bite. The colorful murals complete the island illusion with trompe l’oeil recreations of San Juan.
A dazzling array of dumplings at Momo House.Momo House/Facebook
Momo House
The only ambience you are likely to find at this Shavano Park-area convenience store-slash-restaurant is crumpled rows of Lay’s potato chips. But it provides succor in a city begging for dumplings that don’t come from Trader Joe’s. In Nepal, momos (the food) are typically stuffed with pork, chicken, or pork, but this tiny kitchen plays with unexpected proteins like bison, lamb, or wild boar. Whatever the filling, order more than you expect to eat. The fried variety crisps up beautifully in an air fryer.
Moroccan Bites Tagine
The diverse cuisines of the Mediterranean Sea often get mashed into a grocery store hummus, but this Leon Valley strip mall joint is about specificity. As the name proclaims, these bits are proudly Moroccan, even the Niçoise salad, rooted in the sweet-savory palate of the North African country instead of the garlic mania of its neighbors. The other part of the name, those conical earthenware pots, holds a variety of temptations. But guests will have the most fun pulling the lid off an appetizer sampler filled with spicy carrots, briny olives, and eggplant stewed with tomatoes and bay leaves.
Thai Esan & Noodle House
Like every metro, San Antonio is crowded with Thai restaurants, some of them even worth their popularity. Finding Issan cuisine, the fiery, herbaceous food of Thailand’s north, is a far more difficult task. But on the Northwest Side, it’s there in all its Scoville-busting glory. Zippy laab moo (a minced pork salad), a spectacular green papaya salad, and an absolutely feral Tiger Cry. It’s all served in an atmosphere that somehow squeezes elegance out of a shopping center box.