Brian Nagele
San Antonio is a historical, cultural, and family-friendly destination with fun and exciting attractions for all ages and interests. Kids and adults alike will enjoy Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Wax Museum, just one of downtown San Antonio’s many attractions.
You can spend the afternoon and evening strolling along the beautiful river walk before grabbing cocktails and dinner at one of downtown San Antonio’s many excellent restaurants. San Antonio is the perfect place to enjoy a weekend getaway, and while your afternoons and nights may be full of activities, you’ll want to get a slow, relaxing start to your day. There’s no better way to savor the morning than with a lavish brunch.
Candlelight PourHouse
107 Kings Ct, San Antonio, TX 78212
Phone: 210-738-0099
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Candlelight PourHouse is a coffee house and wine bar with a fantastic onsite garden of succulents, vegetables, and herbs that supplies the restaurant with fresh ingredients for their menus while also providing a lush atmosphere for outdoor dining.
Located on St. Mary’s Strip, Candlelight PourHouse’s weekend brunch coincides with their weekly lineup of live music and an art fair. The brunch menu offers a wide variety of Texas cuisine with a heavy Mexican influence. They have enormous breakfast plates like Huevos Rancheros, Eggs benedict, and a lox platter, as well as a la carte items like pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, and French toast.
Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar
15900 La Cantera Pkwy Suite 21200, San Antonio, TX 78256
Phone: 210-236-8095
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Sandwiched between Six Flags and the University of Texas, San Antonio, in the bustling La Cantera shopping complex, Whiskey Cake Kitchen and Bar is an upscale farm-to-table eatery and cocktail bar. The rustic-chic décor includes rich wood floors, antique Victorian furniture, and high ceilings with modern light fixtures and a giant bar.
All the food and beverages at Whiskey Cake are locally sourced from seasonal ingredients. Weekend brunch is served from 10 am to 3 pm with delicious brunch cocktails, elixirs, and fresh juices to accompany a luxurious Texas-style brunch. Try their incredible glazed monkey bread with apple, cinnamon, caramel, bacon, pecans, and cream cheese icing.
NOLA Brunch & Beignets
720 E Mistletoe Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212
Phone: 210-320-1572
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NOLA Brunch and Beignets started as a wildly popular San Antonio food truck run by husband-and-wife team Pieter and Susan Sypesteyn, who wanted to bring Pieter’s native New Orleans culinary culture to his new home in San Antonio. Their excellent selection of New Orleans classics created so much fanfare that they opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in a colorful old house in Tobin Hill.
Their delectable menu of daily boozy brunch features all your favorite New Orleans food, from Café Au Lait to muffalettas. Of course, you must order a plate of fried-to-order beignets, which come in various varieties from classic to lemon curd-stuffed.
Mash’D
17623 La Cantera Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78257
Phone: 210-538-5833
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Located in the Crownridge of Texas neighborhood, a quick drive away from Eisenhower Park, Mash’D is a trendy neighborhood bar and restaurant serving comfort food in a lively atmosphere with a local feel. Mash’D is an excellent place for adults to enjoy cheap brunch cocktails and hearty portions of brunch plates that often incorporate their signature moonshine into the ingredients.
Mimosas are only $2 a glass and come in four varieties. They also make a killer bloody mary, using a house-made bloody mary mix, high-quality vodka, tomato, garlic, and jalapeno with a jumbo gulf shrimp garnish. My favorite brunch plate is the over-the-top breakfast sandwich they call The Unholy One, featuring caramel moonshine french toast fried chicken and American cheese, with jalapeno maple syrup drizzle.
Cappy’s Restaurant
5011 Broadway, San Antonio, TX 78209
Phone: 210-828-9669
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Cappy’s has been an Uptown Central staple since 1977, offering upscale fine dining in a casual and comfortable atmosphere. Their extensive cocktail and spirit bar has over 30 types of scotch and bourbon, making them a favorite spot for happy hours and expertly crafted cocktails. Their boozy brunch received Open Table’s vote for top 100 Brunches in the U.S.
Cappy’s has classic American steakhouse and seafood dishes with a multicourse format for weekend brunch. I recommend starting with their incredible New Orleans Gumbo with shrimp, chicken, and andouille sausage. I loved their Louie platter with blue crab cakes topped with poached eggs and hollandaise over crispy hash browns.
18 Oaks
23808 Resort Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78261
Phone: 210-491-5825
Located inside the Fancy JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa, 18 Oaks is a contemporary fine dining steakhouse and cocktail bar with a beautiful dining space. The high-ceilinged interior with blown glass chandeliers and wide leather dining chairs has floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal a large outdoor veranda overlooking the hill country beyond.
Their weekend brunch is a lavish bottomless buffet of New American cuisine and complimentary mimosas. There is live music to serenade your brunch feast as well. Buffet dishes include raw bar seafood, a carving station with prime rib and turkey, artisanal breads and pastries, and much more.
Las Canarias
112 College St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Phone: 210-518-1063
Las Canarias is a AAA Four Diamond New American restaurant in an elegant banquet-like dining room in the lovely Omni La Mansion del Rio Hotel. The dining room has a Spanish colonial design to reflect the Hotel’s hacienda-like design, with large French windows revealing incredible views of the River Walk.
They source meat and produce from local artisanal purveyors, and their world-class brunch and breakfast menus come with complimentary champagne. If you’re looking for an authentic Mexican breakfast, try their chorizo and scrambled eggs with black beans, spiced potato wedges, and house-made salsa. For sweet breakfast fans, try the lemon curd pancakes.
The Magnolia Pancake Haus
Multiple locations
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With locations in Cibolo, the Medical Center, and Embassy Oaks, The Magnolia Pancake Haus is a family-owned hill country breakfast house and a dream come true for owners Robert and Sheila Flemings.
Their philosophy is to provide their beloved city with home-cooked, high-quality food. Their family-friendly, country-style dining room and consistently delicious Texas-sized breakfasts have been a San Antonio favorite for over 20 years.
Their extensive breakfast menu runs the gamut, from egg dishes to hashes to world-famous pancakes. The pancake menu has various options, from plain buttermilk to bacon pancakes. My favorite pancake is their prized family recipe for Bavarian apple pancakes.
Tony G’s Soul Food
915 S Hackberry, San Antonio, TX 78210
Phone: 210-451-1234
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Tony G’s Soul Food is the premiere spot for Southern Comfort food at its best in a warm and hospitable dining space with a full bar on San Antonio’s Eastside. Proudly black-owned and operated, Tony G’s serves heaping portions of piping hot soul food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Plus, they have a stellar Sunday brunch buffet with live music performances all day from 10-4 pm.
Tony G’s undoubtedly has the best buttermilk biscuits in town, and they usually come with your breakfast order. The best way to sample them is with Tony G’s decadent sausage gravy. They even have Texas-style soul food like steak and eggs and breakfast tacos.
COVER 3 San Antonio
1806 N 1604 W, San Antonio, TX 78248
Phone: 210-479-9700
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Located in The Waters at Deerfield, Cover 3 is an upscale sports bar and restaurant that originated in Austin when Austinite pals Matt Dodson and Doug Young wanted to enjoy their favorite sports games in an elegant and refined atmosphere with classy food that their wives would also enjoy.
Cover 3 has a full cocktail bar, an extensive wine list, and 12 beer taps with a rotating selection of local brews. Their lavish weekend brunches feature $4 mimosas, $5 bloody marys, and Mexican-style beer cocktails. I loved their elegant take on a Texas classic steak and egg dish, with chicken fried NY strip steak, two over-easy eggs, green chile gravy, and country-fried potatoes.
Snooze, an A.M. Eatery
Multiple locations
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Snooze, an A.M. Eatery is a national breakfast and brunch sensation, with three locations in San Antonio’s Deerfield, Alamo Heights, Huntington Place neighborhoods. Snooze is a trendy breakfast bar that uses sustainably sourced ingredients to create a massive menu that honors breakfast in all its forms.
Along with a full espresso bar serving responsibly sourced coffee and espresso drinks, they also offer a wide variety of brunch cocktails and freshly squeezed juices.
Snooze certainly has the most extensive breakfast menu on our list, with something for every age and cuisine preference. My favorite dish is the massive breakfast burrito filled with eggs, hash browns, black beans, cheddar, and jack cheese, then topped with pico de gally and green chile sauce.
Tucker’s Kozy Korner
1338 E Houston St, San Antonio, TX 78205
Phone: 726-999-3764
Located in Dignowity Hill, Tucker’s Kozy Korner is a music lounge and soul food kitchen in an old-school, flashy space that may be San Antonio’s best-kept brunch secret. Opening its doors in 1948, Tucker’s is one of San Antonio’s oldest venues and a favorite for locals and music lovers.
The food at Kozy Korner has some of the best Louisiana-style Cajun and Creole comfort food in town, with classics like shrimp etouffee and gumbo. Their brunch specialties include fried chicken and waffles, country-fried pork chops with cheese grits, and my personal favorite, Elvis French Toast with spiced rum bananas, Nutella, and seasonal fruit.
MAX’s Wine Dive
340 E Basse Rd Ste 101 Ste 101, San Antonio, TX 78209
Phone: 210-444-9547
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Founded by New York native Jerry Lasco who wanted to recreate his favorite NYC hangout bar, MAX’s Wine Dive is a gourmet restaurant and wine bar in a friendly, unpretentious atmosphere. Located in Alamo Heights next to the Quarry Golf Course, MAX’s serves refined takes on classic comfort food with an extensive wine list for a cozy brunch, lunch, or dinner with friends.
The weekend brunch menu has elegant renditions of southern comfort foods like fried chicken and waffles and short rib burritos. My favorite dish was the Shrimp and grits with applewood smoked bacon, scallions, parsley, jalapeno cheddar grits, spicy tomato fennel butter broth, and a poached egg, served with grilled sourdough.
Barbaro
2720 McCullough Ave, San Antonio, TX 78212
Phone: 210-320-2261
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Barbaro is an upscale cocktail bar, Neapolitan pizzeria, and contemporary Italian eatery in a charming urban-chic space in the heart of Monte Vista. Their bustling atmosphere, great background soundtrack, and excellent craft cocktails make Barbaro a popular hangout for the young adult crowd.
Barbaro has boozy brunch on Sundays, with bottomless mimosas and bloody marys for $15. You don’t have to choose one drink or the other, either, as you get them both in an unlimited supply. I loved their Italian take on eggs benedict known as Eggs Barbaro with two poached eggs on homemade focaccia with country ham, hollandaise, and spinach.
The Rustic
17619 La Cantera Pkwy Ste 204, San Antonio, TX 78257
Phone: 210-245-7500
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Founded by successful restauranteur duo Kyle Noonan and Josh Sepkowitz, The Rustic is a concept restaurant, music venue, and beer garden with locations in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. The Rustic is the Beckmann neighborhood’s favorite ranch-style eatery and giant outdoor music venue by night.
Brunch is served family-style from a delicious menu of creative comfort food fusions. I loved the Italian and Mexican fusion in their smoked cheddar grits, using creamy polenta cakes with roasted poblanos and smoky cheddar with sausage gravy. You also must try their small-batch donuts, baked to order.
