River Walk

BY BeTH BonD

12 RIO Magazine

A beautiful spring day is ideal for a stroll down the River Walk, with its many enticing restaurants. We wouldnt want you to miss out on the best these dining spots have to offer, so weve created a rundown of the areas signature dishes and drinks.
Serving a dish thats described as almost as well-known as the Alamo, Paesanos is an iconic San Antonio spot open since 1969 thats beloved for its Shrimp Paesano ($12.95). The dish of sauted shrimp served over angel hair pasta with a garlic-cream-butter sauce sounds simple enough, but one taste and youll understand why its gained generations of devotees. Just about every restaurant on the River Walk has outdoor seating along the River Walk, but Casa Rio was the first to set up tables and chairs outside. The cantmiss menu item here is classic Tex-Mex enchiladas ($8.45 - $9.85), filled with cheese, beef or chicken and served with red sauce made in the traditional style with ancho chile paste or with a verde sauce of tomatillos. The recipes are about as authentic as Tex-Mex gets. At Bella, things take a Mediterranean turn with some New American style thrown in. The eaterys signature appetizer, Eggplant Josephine ($12), is a nod to a restaurant that once did business in Biloxi, Miss., called the White Pillars. Chef Sean Fletcher has borrowed the name and reinterpreted the recipe with a spicier kick. Hes the backbone and true reason for our success, theres no doubt, owner David Snyder said of the inventive chef. The dish is two slices of peeled, dried eggplant dipped in buttermilk, breaded and fried, then stacked with two layers of sauted Texas Gulf shrimp, mozzarella and sauce diablo and topped with house made hollandaise sauce and chives. A Texas bistro serving steaks and seafood with southwest flavors, Boudros has been a mainstay for 27 years. The Guacamole For Two ($9) is freshly prepared tableside combining

avocado with fresh squeezes of orange and lime juices, Bermuda red onions and cilantro, plus Roma tomatoes and serranos that have been smoked over pecan and mesquite wood. Its served with fresh homemade tortilla chips and makes a fine companion to a Prickly Pear Margarita ($8), concocted entirely in-house. Its made by marinating the juice of the prickly pear cactus with fresh tequila overnight and swirling the lot into a frozen margarita. Avocados arent just for guacamole at Iron Cactus, which serves a thinkingoutside-the-molcajete Avocado Margarita ($10.75). Lime juice, agave nectar and an avocado puree give a bit of creaminess and a sweet and sour punch to 100 percent organic, Austin-made Dulce Vita tequila. Seafood spot Landrys is keeping things fresh with a newly updated appetizer: Crab and Crawfish Boulettes ($5). Formerly counting shrimp, onion and celery as the main ingredients, the fried snack now has good-sized bites of jumbo lump crab, claw meat, crawfish tails and sauted bell pepper, all seasoned with white pepper, black pepper and cayenne and breaded with panko. Dip them in Tabasco mash remoulade for the perfect amount of spice. Landrys boulettes pair well with just about any drink, so you can pick your favorite type of red or white wine to go with this happy-hour-only menu item. If youre looking for a serious drink in a festive atmosphere, check out Howl At The Moon, which general manager

Aaron Bouroughs describes as not your parents piano bar. Its known for its 86-ounce buckets of booze meant for sharing between four or more people, but its most popular cocktail, is the X-Boyfriend ($9.25), made with X-Rated Fusion Liqueur. Its French vodka, Provence blood orange, mango, and passion fruit flavors are matched with orange, cranberry and pineapple juices and Smirnoff vanilla vodka. Burroughs says the cocktail is so popular that its lasted through at least five reworkings of the menu, so request this drink to sip while you request your favorite song for the performers live jukebox. With handmade cocktails and a menu in the style of Mexican street food, Barriba Cantina is a great River Walk choice. Its most popular dish by far is Perlas Pescado Salad ($8.99), named for the kitchen manager who created it. Presented in a tortilla bowl, the salad of lettuce, diced tomato, mango salsa and grilled tilapia is topped with salty cotija cheese and, unforgettably, a Mexican deviled egg, which is spiced with cayenne and cumin and finished with crisp jalapeo bacon. The best part about this salad? Its awesome when youre drinking beer on the River Walk, said Barribas marketing director Scott Ziskovsky.

RIO Magazine

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