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The developing story of Texas is told through its food. The inventive and local cuisine is a delicious explosion of flavors that embodies the diverse cultural mix and rich Western heritage of the state. Sample nationally unique Texas fusion dishes at places like Houston’s Vietnamese Cajun Crawfish + Noodles and Austin’s Asian-inspired Loro Smokehouse, the culinary collaboration of James Beard Award-winning chefs Tyson Cole of Uchi and Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue.
Similar partnerships between restaurants and local farmers, ranchers, and other Texas-based producers bring an abundance of fresh, seasonal ingredients to restaurants and mobile kitchens, such as Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ to the red hot Austin food truck scene. Here’s a quick taste of the diverse menu to enjoy on a delicious tour of Texan cuisine.
Liberty Bar, San Antonio
Liberty Bar is unmistakably San Antonian. The quirky restaurant’s location in the King William Historic District has deep-rooted connections with the Alamo (the district used to include farmland that belonged to the Mission). The zuckerwatterosa Liberty Bar building from 1883 once housed the Saint Scholastica Monastery, whose Benedictine nuns came to Texas for the first time in 1919. Rejuvenation thanks to local ingredients such as cage-free meat, spiced and peppery achiote (annatto seeds), chilli morita sauce ( smoked jalapeño) and roasted garlic.
General Manager Craig Goldschmidt mixes a special cocktail and owner Dwight Hobart pours tea in the Liberty Bar, a Southtown San Antonio restaurant and bar in a former convent.
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The homemade bread, pastries, and pasta, as well as the comfortably carried wooden chairs, tables, and floors add to the local charm – all of which make you feel at home. Reserve one of the tables for weekend brunch (Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) to try the signature twist on French toast: Liberty Bar Pain Perdu. The decadent dish of sticky goodness starts with a homemade sourdough potato boule soaked in custard batter for 48 hours before roasting on the griddle.
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Comfortably worn wooden tables, versatile furniture and the smell of freshly baked bread create an inviting, homely atmosphere in San Antonio’s Liberty Bar.
Xin Chao, Houston
No wonder that Houston’s culinary scene is a hodgepodge of globally inspired tastes: More than 145 different languages are spoken in the city, which is always one of the most diverse in the country. The concentration of cultures is reflected in more than 10,000 restaurants in the area, some of which include imaginative cultural mashups like the Xin Chao. The Texas-meets-modern Vietnamese restaurant (the name means “Hello” in Vietnamese) was founded by two culinary stars from Houston: Christine Ha, the first blind candidate to win the MasterChef, and the award-winning Saigon House chef Tony Nguyen.
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Beef Pho with 24-hour bone broth and fresh rice noodles is a house specialty at Xin Chao, the modern Vietnamese restaurant jointly owned by chefs Christine Ha and Tony J. Nguyen from Houston.
Ha and Nguyen prepare recipes that celebrate their shared Vietnamese heritage by using locally sourced ingredients (including Gulf fish and 44 farm beef ribs) and Texan cooking techniques such as smoking, roasting, grilling, and baking. Visit on a Thursday for their weekly Viet-Tex version of a Texan favorite: fried chicken. The Xin Chao version, Nguyen-er Nguyen-er Chicken Dinner !, is a crispy-sour treat for the taste buds: Chicken in buttermilk with lemongrass flavor, deep-fried in pandan rice batter and served with pickled cucumber slices, beef tallow aioli and hot saté honey.
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Nguyen prepares beef pho with smoked beef rib, a staple of the Xin Chao. Other must-try dishes include Braised Pork and Crispy Rice, Hatred Victory Appetizer at MasterChef.
The Gristmill River Restaurant and Bar, New Braunfels
Few things are more Texan than two steps into Gruene Hall. The open-air dance hall, built in 1878, is part of the Gruene Historic District and is well worth a 30-minute drive from San Antonio. For the full green experience (pronounced “green”) combine an evening with live music in the hall with a plate of fried chicken steak or baby back ribs in the neighboring Gristmill River Restaurant and Bar.
The German heritage of the Gruene Historic District gives the down-to-earth Gristmill River Restaurant and Bar in New Braunfels an international twist.
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The Gristmill opened in 1977 in the brick shell of Gruene’s water-powered cotton gin, which was destroyed by fire in 1922. The town’s German immigrant, Henry Gruene, turned Gruene into a cotton trading center at the beginning of the 20th century. In the 1940s, Gruene, now part of New Braunfels, had become a ghost town. The Gristmill and the dance hall sparked Gruene’s revival as a hub for Texan art, antiques, and food. Weather permitting, soak up the history from one of the Gristmill’s treehouse-like decks. Tables on the lower deck and railing seats on the upper deck offer the best views of the Guadalupe River.
Jester King Brewery & Kitchen, Austin
Born as a machine shop that turned into a brewery in 2010, Jester King has blossomed into a 165-acre Hill Country farm, where everything – be it the beer, the picnic spots under the live oak trees, or the resident goats – creates a sense of place . Co-founders and brothers Jeffrey Stuffings and Michael Steffing use a variety of ingredients – including honey, forage plants, and a cornucopia of fruit – from the farm in Jester King’s Ales, wood-fired pizzas, and farm-to-table dishes. What is not grown or raised locally is mostly sourced locally or regionally, resulting in a unique Texan flavor.
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Founded as a craft brewery, Jester King has grown into a 165-acre farm, producing farm-to-table beers and dishes using sustainable practices and primarily using ingredients grown in Texas.
Dough for the pizzas to die for (try the taco-style americana topped with enchilada-flavored ground beef, pepper-jack cheese, and salsa verde) is made from flour ground from Texas-grown grains at the nearby Barton Springs Mill becomes. The hand-pressed mandarins in the summery Satsumas 4 Sale IPA come from the KH Farm in Poteet. This focus on seasonal and sustainably produced ingredients is part of the extensive commitment of the brewery and kitchen to environmental protection. Experience Jester King’s deeply rooted connection with the country through beer and food – and by exploring the farm’s 3.2 km nature trail.
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Jester King’s wood-fired pizzas are made with homemade batter and toppings that are primarily grown, made or aged on the Jester King farm.
The Esquire Tavern, San Antonio
The end of Prohibition in 1933 marked the beginning of a mainstay of the San Antonio River Walk: The Esquire Tavern. Cool of the old school with its dinner club decor – dark wood, pressed pewter ceiling, and a wild empire of taxidermy on the walls – The Esquire is more of an experience than a restaurant and bar. Slip into a wooden booth or the 101- Foot Bar (reputedly the longest wooden-roofed bar in Texas) and let yourself be transported back to the heady beginnings of San Antonio’s cocktail culture.
An intimate, dimly lit whisper pub is located below The Esquire Tavern, which has been a mainstay in San Antonio since 1933.
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Bartender Jeret Pena makes specialty cocktails at The Esquire Tavern on the San Antonio Riverwalk.
The care taken in making specialty cocktails like the cool Cradle of Life with gin and pickle has earned The Esquire two James Beard Award nominations for the Outstanding Bar Program. Owner Chris Hill, who restored and reopened the tavern in 2011, applies the same attention to detail to the dimly lit Whisper Pub on The Esquire’s ground floor (open Friday and Saturday evenings) and the South Texas-with-a-twist fare. Regional ingredients such as Texas Wagyu beef, free-range bison and golf prawns are on the varied menu, with the State Fair of Texas-worthy Bologna melt with American cheese, aioli, Dijon mustard and house. heard -made cucumber.
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