Taqueria Los Cuates is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
When I ranked the 10 best restaurants in Southtown last month, the list trended toward the higher side of the ticket. But the neighborhood is so much more than that. And so much less. Here are 10 more Southtown restaurants I recommend for their affordability, from burgers and breakfast to Tex-Mex, tacos and late-night pizza.
Birria Barrio is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Birria Barrio
The green, white and red neon of the Birria Barrio sign burns until midnight Wednesday through Sunday. But one color remains true day and night: the dusky sundown red of the shredded beef birria braise that cuts across a menu of quesabirria tacos, grilled cheese sandwiches, ramen bowls, egg rolls and mac and cheese. An order of tacos and a full bowl of Tapatio noodles animated by consomme and birria will feed both of you for around $29, backed up by a salsa bar that includes radishes, limes and cucumbers. 1203 S. Alamo St., 210-289-4066, Facebook: Birria Barrio
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The Friendly Spot is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
The Friendly Spot
Between the taps and the coolers, this spontaneous outdoor sports watch party offers something like 200 kinds of beer to go with your burgers, nachos, boneless wings, loaded fries and Fiesta-style chicken on a stick. The nachos are half-price on Thursdays. The adult time while the kids hit the playscape? Priceless. 943 S. Alamo St., 210-224-2337, thefriendlyspot.com
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The Haven Southtown is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
The Haven Southtown
This Tex-Mex joint formerly known as Taco Haven on the south side of Southtown opens at 7 a.m. every day, with breakfast tacos, huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, oatmeal, pancakes and the rest of the mom-and-pop breakfast playbook. Or start the day with enchiladas, fajitas, puffy tacos, tortas and the fried carne asada tacos called Alena’s Ralphi Tacos. The value-conscious prices feel like nobody told The Haven they were a Southtown restaurant. Let’s keep it that way. 1032 S. Presa St., 210-533-2171, Facebook: The Haven Southtown
Julian’s Pizza & More is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Julian’s Pizza & More
This expansion of the San Antonio Italian family operation opened in Southtown a year ago, just in time to fill the void left by La Focaccia’s closing. Julian’s rises above that modest set of expectations with good lasagna and even better New York-style pizza. At lunch every day until 3 p.m., that lasagna with a salad is a solid value at $12.95, and a slice of pizza the size of two hands is just $8.95 with a salad. The good news for by-the-slice fans extends from 3 to 6 p.m. with happy-hour slices for $4.75 and $3 off meatballs, burrata and fried mozzarella appetizers. 620 S. Presa St., 210-594-0653, julianspizzaandmore.com
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Labor Street Cafe is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Labor Street Cafe
This modest cafe tucked into the Lavaca neighborhood (still Southtown, don’t forget) opens every day from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for a breakfast and lunch menu that includes eggs Benedict, good pancakes, a burger, a Tejas twist on a BLT, a damn fine cup of coffee and the best biscuits and gravy you can get without taking a road trip to a country cafe. They’ve added dinner hours from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with an expanded burger and sandwich menu. 718 Labor St., 210-942-8527, laborstreetcafe.com
Liberty Bar is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Liberty Bar
Liberty Bar’s been part of San Antonio since 1985, when it lived in a tilted building on Josephine Street. Dwight Hobart moved Liberty to Southtown in 2010, folding its eccentric charm into a former convent building rendered in white marble and pink stucco against blue sky and big palms. The day-to-day operations are in the hands of his daughter Maya Shugart, his son Peter Shugart and Maya’s husband, Craig Goldschmidt. In their hands, Liberty Bar is getting better with age, finding room for both the bombastic queso-pepper stew they call minguichi and the calming simplicity of matzoh ball soup that commands the bowl with clarified chicken stock and starbursts of dill. In-between is the sweet spot, the place where a lamb burger on house-baked brioche and a pizza with pesto, goat cheese, mushrooms and arugula can make you wonder if this really is a bar and grill or an elaborate cover-up for a serious kitchen. The real sweet spot? Lemon chess pie and pecan pie a la mode. 1111 S. Alamo St., 210-227-1187, liberty-bar.com
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Luna Rosa Puerto Rican Grill y Tapas is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Luna Rosa Puerto Rican Grill y Tapas
Sure, you can spend $37 on seafood paella at Luna Rosa. Or $36 for steak and shrimp. So what qualifies it as “affordable” here? The fact that you can assemble an army of tapas for a fraction of that. Patatas bravas, cod fritters, meatballs, grilled chicken skewers, plantain tostones, empanadas. They’re priced so that a couple plates with a strong cocktail are a strong value, especially during a generous happy hour schedule that includes all day on Thursdays. But go ahead, pay the $19 for Luna Rosa’s El Guavate, a Puerto Rican roast pork with as many layers of bark, fat and lean as championship carnitas. 1014 S. Alamo St., 210-314-2723, lunarosatapas.com
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Pizzeria Vesuvio is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Pizzeria Vesuvio
This is the little pizza trailer that could, launched in 2020 by coworkers from the late Southtown Pizzeria’s best days. The three partners — Esteban Alvayero, Anthony Rodriguez and Ana Martinez — parked the trailer in front of a hair salon in a cottage on South Alamo, then moved into the cottage when the salon moved out. The pizza still carries that can-do attitude, whether it’s the four-in-one sampler called the Quattro Stagioni or the over-the-top King William with pepperoni and bacon and a mozzarella-stuffed collar, served with a crown of crispy-baked pizza dough on the side with marinara. The style of crust lies somewhere between Neapolitan and New York, with the former’s toasted lightness and the latter’s foldable gravitas. Call it Southtown style. 1110 S. Alamo St., 210-245-7478, pizzeriavesuviomenu.com
Taqueria Los Cuates is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Taquería Los Cuates
The flames of the seasoned pork on the rotisserie spit they call a trompo give the meat a caramelized crunch only fire can create. They slice it to order from the trompo, blast in on the flat-top, then fold it into doubled-up mini corn tortillas with pineapple, onions and cilantro, with four kinds of salsa on the side. The only question for you: How many? At just $2.50 apiece — all of them. 732 S. Alamo St., 210-999-5274, Instagram @taqueria los cuates
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Tito’s Mexican Restaurant is one of the 10 best affordable restaurants in San Antonio’s Southtown neighborhood, according to Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter.
Mike Sutter/San Antonio Express-News
Tito’s Mexican Restaurant
A neighborhood without a solid Tex-Mex cafe would be less of a neighborhood. Mark Rodriguez knew that when he started Tito’s in the heart of Southtown in 2003. And he’s followed through with a menu that celebrates enchiladas, crispy tacos, fajitas, gorditas, mini-tacos and the infinite combo possibilities they hold. My favorite is the No. 5 Lunch Express plate with a creamy chicken poblano enchilada, a crispy beef taco, rice, beans and flour tortillas for just $10.99 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. It’s one of 16 combos at that express price. And Tito’s weekday happy hour from 3 to 7 p.m. includes 10 dishes under $10 and a house margarita for $8. 955 S. Alamo St., 210-212-8226, titosrestaurant.com