<\/p>\n
Johnny Gomez, left, and Julie Winston take a photo with their chicken on a stick on April 21, 2026.<\/p>\n
Isaiah Moseley\/Contributor<\/p>\n
Unpopular opinion: Chicken on a stick,<\/a> at least the way we’ve come to understand it, is bubkus. Nada, zilch and\u00a0zero.<\/p>\n I’ve been covering Fiesta and its ultimate food fest, A Night In Old San Antonio, better known as NIOSA, for the past decade. That’s a lot of skewered meat, deep-fried delights and, surprisingly, libations at arguably modest prices.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A woman holds a taco from Maria\u2019s Tortillas at NIOSA on April 21, 2026.<\/p>\n Isaiah Moseley\/Contributor Egg rolls in NIOSA’s China Town are a bargain at $4.<\/p>\n Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News NIOSA is famous for deep-fried chicken on a stick.<\/p>\n Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News The Cowboy Klopse found in NIOSA’s Frontier Town are a value at $4.<\/p>\n Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News Rain or shine, you can always count on a line at NIOSA’s Maria’s Tortillas.<\/p>\n Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News Steer on a stick is a beefy bargain at $8 in NIOSA’s Frontier Town.<\/p>\n Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News The Baja Fish Tacos in NIOSA’s Villa Espana neighborhood are a steal at $7.<\/p>\n Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News Famous NIOSA Anticuchos, sirloin chunks in a zippy pepper-laced marinate grilled over charcoal.<\/p>\n Isaiah Moseley\/Contributor Gorditas are a NIOSA staple.<\/p>\n Isaiah Moseley\/Contributor<\/p>\n Let’s be honest. There’s a lot to pass over. With 150-plus food and beverage vendors at NIOSA, you have to get a bit extrajudicial in deploying your dining dollars. There’s no humanly possible way to do it all.<\/p>\n This go-around, I opted to revisit the classics. All things on sticks. Anything with a charcoal kiss or sizzled in a bath of hot oil. Long waits for an epic tortilla. Fair food at its finest, in the nation’s greatest culinary fundraiser for historic preservation.<\/p>\n As a general rule, if you’ve seen it elsewhere before, it won’t be any better at\u00a0NIOSA. Tacos, quesadillas, tostadas. Brats, pretzels and burritos. Skip these and save your scratch for something special.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Like chicken on a stick. Just not the one you’re thinking of.<\/p>\n ALWAYS AVAILABLE: 5 San Antonio restaurants that serve chicken on a stick year-round<\/a><\/p>\n Grilled chicken on a stick is also available at NIOSA.<\/p>\n Isaiah Moseley\/Contributor<\/p>\n At NIOSA, many flock to the Froggy Bottom neighborhood to drop 10 (cash-only) tickets for a breaded and fried chicken cutlet skewered on a flimsy spear with a pickled\u00a0jalape\u00f1o on top. It’s a previously frozen commodity snack that looks great in Instagram photos. And it’s wildly inferior to the best chicken-on-a-stick concoction available at\u00a0NIOSA.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Instead, swing by the Pollo Ranchero stall along the South of the Border stretch near the Arenson Theatre. There, you’ll find stall chairman Jon Becker and crew grilling off 5-ounce portions of chicken thighs basted in tangy barbecue sauce. They spike it on a skewer, and\u00a0top the whole affair off with a pickled\u00a0jalape\u00f1o, just like the competitors.<\/p>\n It’s a succulent, juicy and seriously smoky generous bit of bird cooked over the fancy lump charcoal (go home, briquettes, you’ve had your last Lone Star). They brine the thighs in a bath that includes pickled jalape\u00f1os. And it costs three tickets less ($7) than the deep-fried fraud around the corner.<\/p>\n “This is chicken on a stick in my book,” Becker said. “They have the fried version, but this is what we tell everybody. It’s kind of the healthier version of chicken on a stick. And I think that’s really what draws the crowd here.”<\/p>\n There are NIOSA staples that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n I’ve visited nearly every tortiller\u00eda in San Antonio over the years. Personally, I root for South Side champs Victoria Tortilla & Tamales Factory.<\/a> But NIOSA is a different creature.\u00a0I’m a lucky boy. My various trips to NIOSA have always coincided with rainy weather. Meaning zero lines. Except for one stall: Maria’s Tortillas.<\/p>\n Maria’s Tortillas are NIOSA’s deceptively simple favorite for many visitors.<\/p>\n Paul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n