Some buildings have such a distinctive look that even when they’ve been converted into other businesses and flipped time and time again, you’ll still know exactly what they used to be just by glancing at them.

Birria Barrio y más on South Flores Street on San Antonio’s Southside is one of those places. Today, it’s a black A-frame building with a canopy evoking an old-school drive-in. The flag of Mexico painted on the side is hard to miss as you drive past. Opened in 2023, it’s the second location of Birria Barrio, a local-favorite taqueria serving up quesabirria, birria ramen, birria mac and cheese and more.

Whataburger founder Harmon Dobson channeled his love for aviation to come up with the eye-catching design and distinctive colors. The Texas State Historical Association says Dobson used to fly over Corpus Christi with a Whataburger banner in tow, dropping coupons from his plane to people below. The A-frame design allowed the restaurants to be more visible from the skies, and the colors take after those used on airport structures.

The first A-frame Whataburger was built in 1961 in Odessa, and about 80 would come to feature the design before the trend trickled out in 1976. The Odessa A-frame has since been demolished, much like many others that have either been wiped away or repurposed. Today, the only A-frame location left in Central Texas is Austin’s Cameron Road burger joint. Built in 1971, it’s also the oldest Whataburger in the Capital City.

It’s unclear how long the original Whataburger at 6203 S. Flores St. has been closed or what came between, but what’s certain is that the location has had many lives before Birria Barrio took over. 

The oldest image available on Google Maps is from 2008, showing the building painted a shade of brick red with yellow trim. Roadside Architecture says this former Whata housed Rinaldi’s Homemade Ice Cream and later Rene’s Mexican Restaurant, falling vacant in 2011. However, a 2011 Google Maps image does show the Rene’s sign above the building, so there were signs of life that year. By 2013, it had changed to fruteria Los Valles, where San Antonians could grab fruit cups, shaved ice, corn cups and aguas. 

The change came along with a major update to the exterior, as the side of the A-frame was painted with a huge American flag behind bunches of fruits. It would stay Los Valles until at least 2017, as a Google image from 2018 shows a new sign above the building: Victoria Factory. It served tamales and tacos on the Southside for a few years, but the tenant would soon flip once again. 

In 2022, gone was the fruit-and-flag mural in favor of a bright orange exterior (no stripes this time). By then, it was La Birrieria, a spot for birria burritos, consome, quesabirria tacos, tortas and more. Lastly, Birria Barrio y más moved in early January 2023, and the rest is history. 

Find it: 6203 S. Flores St., San Antonio, TX 78214