Tag: San Antonio Texas

Dos Sirenos Brewing – San Antonio Texas

Posted on by David Cox

On the last day of my trip to San Antonio, I had the pleasure of going to Dos Sirenos Brewing. It’s a brewery with a sort of nautical/mythological theme in the area around a mile south of the downtown/Riverwalk area. I walked down there along the Riverwalk (the part that to the south that is more park like and less commercial). After trying it, I probably would’ve walked 5 miles to get there.

I walked up to the building, and it’s pretty funky, with a couple of mermen drinking beers painted right on the front of the building. It’s definitely an interesting choice but I actually like it. When I walked inside there was a lot more of the theme, especially with the large mural on the back wall. This is gonna be interesting.

I sat down at the bar and ordered an Atlas Strong Ale. It’s an English Strong Ale and as usual for me, if you have an unusual beer style at your brewery, I’m probably going to order it. Now, I’m not an expert in this beer style so I can’t tell you whether it was appropriate to the beer style but I can tell you it was delicious.

I also ordered the Hera DDH IPA and again it was great, just a really great example of what a double dry hopped IPA should be. I finished my beer tasting with the Sea Turtle Stout, which is a turtle chocolate candy inspired stout and it was a great dessert beer, and capped off my meal wonderfully.

The beer was the best of any of the breweries that I tried in San Antonio, but I really don’t want to talk about that because, you see, I had a life-changing meal at Dos Sirenos. Ok, so life-changing is an exaggeration, but still, DAY-YAMN it was good.

On the menu, there was something called Pork Belly and Grits. The description was “Crispy Pork Belly, Parmesan Grits, Tomatillo Succotash, Salsa Macha.” I was confused. How in the hell do all of these things work together? These ingredients seemed to me to be completely unrelated. Ok, sure, I get the pork belly, but I’m an ignorant Yankee, parmesan grits? Grits can be flavored with parmesan cheese? And what is tomatillo succotash? I love tomatillos and it’s never occurred to me for it to be in succotash. Also, I love all kinds of salsa and I have no clue what salsa macha is.

Pork Belly and Grits

I was intrigued and asked the bartender about this dish. He told me it was the chef’s favorite dish. Ok, that solidified it, bring me this weird ass dish, I’m super confused by this and I need it to make sense.

This bowl shows up and it’s a whole heap of of tomatoes and corn in a tomatillo sauce sitting on a base of parmesan grits with a ring of this salsa macha and a few chunks of pork belly on top. The first thing I did was taste the grits and I was instantaneously enraged. It’s delicious, creamy and with a perfect amount of parmesan goodness. Why am I mad? Because I know plenty of southerners and they kept this from me. You named these grits? You know that you named this deliciousness ‘grits’ to keep us Yankees from eating this. How did you not call this dish ‘super creamy corn yum-yums’ or something? Grits? That’s what you went with? I avoided these for 48 years because it sounded nasty. Not a single one of you ever said me “psst, they’re really not gritty?” C’mon!!!

There is a massive amount of outdoor seating that was going unused that afternoon.

Next, I grabbed a spoonful of the succotash, grits, and the salsa. They went together perfectly. The succotash is bright, flavorful, and acidic with the tomatillos adding the acid. The salsa is spicy and a touch oily, which since I was unfamiliar with salsa macha, was unexpected, but it added a perfect amount of fat and spice to the bite. Overall, it felt fairly light because of the succotash and grits but the pork belly added some additional crispiness and fat to the dish to balance it all out. It was a perfect balance of textures and flavors and it was just unbelievably well done. Honestly, it’s probably the best meal I’ve had in years.

The back wall of the brewery has a massive mural covering the whole wall.

This dish was dreamed up in a mad scientist lab somewhere and it’s just off the charts. I actually went home after this and learned how to make salsa macha, parmesan grits and tomatillo succotash so I could continue to eat this, since I don’t live in San Antonio. It’s probably the best thing I cook now, but it still isn’t as good as the original. Seriously, if you are within a 1 hour drive of Dos Sirenos Brewing, just stop what you’re doing and go there now, before the chef takes this off the menu. Of course, who knows what insane thing this chef might do next. You can find out what they’re up to at https://dossirenosbrewing.com/.

San Antonio Riverwalk

Posted on by David Cox

I had the opportunity to take a business trip to San Antonio and the thing I was most excited about was revisiting the Riverwalk. It had been probably around 25 years since I had been there when my wife and I took a day trip there with my parents years ago. I had remembered it as beautiful, full of life and surprising cool on what was a pretty hot summer day. It was every bit as lovely as I remembered and probably even better than it was 25 years ago.

I arrived in San Antonio in the early afternoon and was dropped off at my hotel, the Springhill Suites by Marriott near the Henry B Gonzales Convention Center. My first impressions of San Antonio weren’t great. There are a lot of empty lots in the area directly west of the convention center. There were a lot of unimpressive buildings and surface parking lots and frankly it looked like San Antonio was dilapidated. It reminded me of so many midwestern cities that deteriorated following the closure of big manufacturing plants in those cities. My hometown is one which is still recovering from plant closures dating back to the 80s, and I am well aware of this ‘look’. Early on in the trip, I did a decent amount of walking along the sidewalks in the area around the Riverwalk and it just wasn’t enjoyable at all. There didn’t seem to be any cohesive feeling that you get from walking around a downtown area with block to block buildings like you get when walking along the downtowns of Chicago, New York or San Francisco. I think the reason for this, however, was that in San Antonio all of the energy of this city is centered around the Riverwalk.

Surface parking lots are necessary in cities, but the number here seemed excessive.
A gravel parking lot with shipping containers is not what you expect to see in a vibrant city center.

As soon as I had a chance, I headed to the Riverwalk, and it was more impressive than I remembered. The first thing that I noticed was just how close the walkway is to the water. Living in a city that is hit almost yearly with floods, this is impressive. In my hometown, we have some bike paths that are deliberately built 20 feet above normal river level, so that they don’t flood when the river rises (not all of our paths are high enough to avoid flooding). I live in the Quad-Cities, which is built around the Mississippi River. In our area, the height of the river can vary 15 feet over the course of a year. Designs of parks along the Mississippi take this into account and this makes the river feel somewhat distant, but in San Antonio, you can literally sit on the walk and touch the water.

This is the dam on the downstream side of the downtown area.

What makes this possible is some really impressive engineering, involving dams and an enormous flood tunnel. They essentially turned this section of the San Antonio River into a canal by being able to control the river level so effectively. The tunnel is 24 foot diameter bored tunnel approximately 140 feet deep that works as an inverted siphon. It’s a brilliant design that helps keep this river from overflowing.

This is the outlet of the flood tunnel, it’s a couple of miles downstream of the downtown.

The second thing that hit me is just how close restaurants and bars are to the river. There just aren’t that many places where someone can sit at a restaurant while dining directly next to a river, but there are quite a few restaurants along the Riverwalk where you can do just that. Even on weekdays, these restaurants seemed to get a decent amount of business. They seem incredibly romantic, but since I was traveling alone, I had no desire to dine in a romantic atmosphere. I instead did what any self-respecting solo man on a business trip would do, I ate at bars.

Also impressive are all of the little touches that are at virtually every point along the Riverwalk. There are art pieces, statues, and planters everywhere. Anytime your eyes wonder, they come across something interesting and beautiful. Sometimes its a bright mural sized painting adding contrast to the stone walls.

Sometimes its an enormous statue in the middle of a set of bridges.

Sometimes its a set of unique light fixture illuminating the path.

And sometimes, its a fountain making the underside of a bridge beautiful. I mean, honestly, when was the last time you were impressed by the underside of a bridge.

I was even impressed by where they stored the boats that they used for tours.

There are a lot of these tourist boats that float around the Riverwalk loop in the downtown area.
They park these things in rooms under the bridges or parking lots.

There are these storage and maintenance areas under parking lots and streets in the area where these boats operate. It is such a unique solution to use the space under the streets for what is essentially maintenance garages.

The “garage” for the boats is under the street.
Here is another maintenance area under a street.

Throughout the Riverwalk area, there are flower planters and trees that not only offer beauty, but also provide shade. I don’t know if there is an actual temperature difference between the temperature in a parking lot in San Antonio and the temperature in the Riverwalk, but I would say that it feels like about 10 degrees cooler by the river.

I also loved the fact that stone was used throughout the Riverwalk area. It seems like an obvious choice to use the same material all along the river, but it’s literally miles of stone. Maybe this is an extremely common type of stone in San Antonio, but they used a ton of it and it makes everything feel cohesive.

Oh, and there are water features – everywhere! I love these kinds of water features. They add to a cooling effect by creating some mist in the air and they also provide noise that has an amazing ability to calm the soul.

There are so many water features, they even hide some in grottos.

One of my favorite things along the Riverwalk was the Amphitheatre that straddled the San Antonio River. On one side, there is a raised stage right on the edge of the river and on the other is a seating section that looks like it had capacity for a few hundred people. The seating has a unique stone and grass layout, which means that if you were attending a show there, you would be seated on grass. I imagine that would be comfortable, but you might be a little worried about grass stains on your pants. There weren’t any shows there during my stay in San Antonio, but I hope it gets used a lot because it is very beautiful and unique.

Stage for the Amphitheater
Seating for the Amphitheater

I really love the Riverwalk area in San Antonio and I can see why so many shops, bars and restaurants have located themselves around it. The Riverwalk is one of those amazing examples of how important city planning and engineering can be to the vitality of a city. San Antonio could have easily just decided that they would build enormous flood walls or giant berms to prevent flooding and if they had done that then the area certainly wouldn’t be the commercial success it is today. Creative engineering and great design created a space that is truly unique, and it is definitely a fantastic reason to visit San Antonio if you get the chance.

Back Unturned Brewing Co- San Antonio, Texas

Posted on by David Cox

I walked into Back Unturned Brewing company in the early evening having not had a proper meal all day. The place was a little dark and industrial. The color scheme is one of a lot of black, deep reds, stainless steel and grey, There was a lot of original art on the walls and the lighting was dim. Oh, this place is edgy, trendy and I most definitely am not. I’m middle-aged, milquetoast, boring, you know, the kind of person that uses the word “milquetoast.” But I needed food and I wanted a beer, so I was gonna stay, even if I wasn’t cool enough to be there.

Dark as Helles Lager – oxymoronic name, delicious beer.

I sat down at the bar and ordered a Dark as Helles Lager which they had listed as a schwarzbier. I took a sip of this an immediately said to the bartender “Are you sure this is a schwarzbier?” I didn’t mean that as a criticism, it was absolutely delicious but it was rich, malty and had lots of roasted flavor. Frankly, it was too flavorful to be a schwarzbier because they tend to be run a little more muted. Honestly though, I don’t care how they classified this beer, it was damned delicious.

Red subway tile and LED lights make for a sharp looking tap station.

I took a look at the menu and decided on a margarita pizza. I order margarita pizza somewhat regularly, especially when I know I’m going to be eating out a lot. They usually satisfy my hunger but since they’re vegetarian, they tend to not weigh me down the same way a sausage pizza would. One problem with ordering them at restaurants is that margarita pizzas are made a lot of times by people who don’t cook vegetarian very often and forget that you need to season vegetarian dishes more aggressively, because there isn’t any meat to do the seasoning for you. This was not a problem at Back Unturned, however. This pizza came out with a perfect flatbread crust, and it was properly seasoned. The chef had laid each pizza piece with a tomato slice and a leaf of basil and most importantly he put enough salt on it to balance the tomato. It was so good. It was definitely the best margarita pizza I’ve had in a long time.

Mmm margarita pizza – and look at that char, perfect!

I also had their Wrath of Marz(en). Which was a very well done märzen style beer. The bartender was extremely friendly and was willing to chat a little in between pouring drinks, which I appreciate when I’m sitting at the bar by myself. Overall, it was a great experience and I would definitely return, even if I’m not really cool enough to be there.

Pro tip: If you walk into a place with a sketch of Anthony Bourdain on the wall, order food.

For more information on Back Unturned Brewing Co, visit their website at https://www.backunturned.com/beer.

Roadmap Brewing Co – San Antonio Texas

Posted on by David Cox

I was in San Antonio for a work conference and between the flight, checking into the hotel, and standing in an insufferably long line to check in and get a lanyard for the conference, I was a touch cranky. Alas, there is generally a solution for my crankiness, beer, so I wandered over to the closest brewery I could find – Roadmap Brewing Company. It’s a little less than a mile walk from the main Riverwalk touristy area, but definitely worth the walk.

Looks like a fairly inaccurate map of Texas highways and interstates. Still a nice touch, though.

Roadmap plays up the classic road trip theme. For a microbrewery, it is a good size with a decent amount of seating. It has a industrial feel, with concrete floors and high top tables that are made of wood and black pipe. The stainless steel brewing equipment is right out in the seating area and not in the back room, which I like, but might make for some overpowering smells on brew day. The music was playing at a comfortable volume, mostly a combination of pop punk and rock. I believe there was a food truck parked outside, but I didn’t pay any attention to that, I just wanted a glass of ale.

I love this logo!

I ordered a Craven Cottage, which is a classic amber English Pub ale. It was a really solid and tasty version of the style. It’s not usually my go to style of beer, but it’s also a fairly uncommon style for American craft breweries, so of course I was going to try it. It was well-balanced with toasty biscuit and caramel notes, very drinkable. Craven Cottage is definitely the kind of beer that you could have a few. I also had the Minivan Dad, which is a double IPA at 7.9% ABV. I thought it was another well done beer, which was malty enough to hold up to the fairly aggressive hopping. I thought they did a pretty good job of balance on this one, and I definitely enjoyed it.

Sister breweries posted on the wall. The road signs look is a nice touch.

Hey Gen-Z, Did You Know?

Roadmaps were mapping systems, like Google Maps or Apple Maps, only they were printed on paper. Some of these were for cities or states and would be on large (approximately 3′ x 3′) paper that would be folded up so that it could fit into a glove box. Others would in the form of a road atlas, where a collection of roadmaps would be bound with a spiral binder. You can still find road atlases either shoved under Grandpa’s truck seat or between his WWII books and his Tom Clancy novels in his “study.” If you are lucky enough to find one, it is usually marked up with highlighters and stained with tears. These roadmaps were normally paired with the passenger in the shotgun seat that would relay instructions to the driver. Together this made up the Passenger Seat Navigation system.

Differences between Phone Navigation (PN) systems and Passenger Seat Navigation (PSN) systems:

  • While PN systems warn the driver 10 miles before an interstate highway exit, PSN systems let the driver know about their exit 300 feet before the exit, causing the driver to cut off 2 lanes of traffic.
  • PN systems can anticipate road construction and route drivers around traffic issues while PSN systems typically just scream “I told you that you should have taken [other route] but noooo you never listen to me.”
  • PN systems are typically polite, while PSN systems refer to the driver as “dickhole”
  • Unlike PSN systems, PN systems require no human interaction and frees passengers up to nap and eat Munchies.
  • PN systems give minute by minute updates on expected arrival times, while PSN systems occasionally blurt out “Ugh, I’m gonna be dead by the time we get there.”
They ordered the menu from low to high ABV, I’m detecting a little OCD.

Overall, I really liked Roadmap Brewing Company. The vibe was cool and it definitely seemed like a great place to relax. They had a really nice selection of beer on tap, not only because they had 16 taps, but they also hit quite a few beer styles on the menu. It looked like, based on the collection of cans they had on top of one of their coolers, that they probably rotate out their beers fairly frequently, which should keep their regulars coming back. If I lived in San Antonio, this would definitely be a regular customer at this brewery.

If you would like more information on Roadmap Brewing Company, why not visit their website at https://www.roadmapbrewing.com/?