Jonathan and I went to San Antonio for the weekend, and we had some awesome food while we were there! We started at Magnolia Pancake Haus for breakfast. We met Alli there and luckily, she got there before us because there was a bit of a wait and the place was PACKED. They have tons of awards hanging on the wall when you walk in and you can tell it is definitely a favorite place for lots of people. I had the Bacon Cheddar omelet, which comes with a side of pancakes. And for $0.99 extra, you can make them an order of specialty pancakes. I had the Banana's Foster Pancakes. They are super delicious pancakes to begin with, but then they add slices of banana and a banana praline sauce and they transform into some of the best pancakes in the world. The omelet was very good too, it was massive and I was only able to eat part of it before giving up. Alli got an omelet too, but it is not on the menu online and I can't remember exactly what was in it. I do remember it involved goat cheese, spinach, something else, and a ribbon of creme fraiche. Both she and Jonathan got plain pancakes (weirdos) and Jonathan got Eggs Benedict.
After that breakfast, we should have been too full to eat ever again, but we went to the zoo, burned off a lot of calories walking around to see all the animals, and went to a Mexican restaurant that Alli suggested. Beto's, like Magnolia Pancake Haus, was on Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It was not as busy as Magnolia, but we had a later lunch (1:30ish) and probably missed some of the lunch crowd, there were still quite a few tables full. Because we had eaten such a big breakfast, we shared a combination plate. We picked the #3 combo, where you choose 3 things from the menu and it is served with rice and beans. We decided to try one of each type of thing, but next time I will definitely stick with the empanadas that they are known for. We chose the Chicken Poblano Empanada, the Al Pastor Taco, and Carne Asada Quesadilla. Next time, I want to try some of the sweet empanadas, I have had them other places before and I would bet Beto's knocks them out of the park.
We ended up joining Jonathan's family for dinner because his parents were in town to help his sister move. So there were 6 of us for dinner (her boyfriend joined too). We went to another of Alli's suggestions (she is doing well with these suggestions!), Max's Wine Dive. We started with an order of Pan Borracho (drunk bread). It was all warm and gooey and yummy and reminded us all of mac 'n' cheese, but grown up style. I had my first risotto that night, and I was very impressed! I ordered the Cracklin' Chicken and Butternut Squash Risotto. The description on the menu is as follows: roasted chicken breast served with butternut squash risotto, house-cured pancetta, pickled mushrooms, garlic sauteed young spinach, and a cinnamon brandy reduction. What is not in the description is how delicious the crispy skin is on the chicken. Or the unique but addicting tang that the cinnamon brandy reduction adds to the dish. All in all, it was an amazing meal. Jonathan got a Kobe burger (a little boring, but he said it was good), Alli got the Broken Arrow Cinghiale Bolognese, Ken and Steven got the fried chicken (both said it was the best they have ever had), and Jaye got the Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup. The grilled cheese was the only thing at the table that disappointed and not because it wasn't good, it was just very buttery and very heavy.
After all of that, Jonathan and I went and got a piece of cheesecake for dessert. We intended to eat at the Cheesecake Factory, but it was crazy packed when we went inside. Jonathan's first remark when we entered was, "This doesn't look anything like where Penny works!" (For those of you who don't watch "Big Bang Theory," shame on you by the way, Penny works at Cheesecake Factory and it does not resemble any Cheesecake Factory that I have ever been in.) We decided that our cheesecake would be much more enjoyable in bed at the hotel, so we took it back with us and indulged from the comfort of bed, it was a great idea. I had the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, which was not what I meant to get, but it was delicious, because, let's face it, when is cheesecake ever bad?
For breakfast, we stuck with a simple and easy breakfast at Einstein Bros. Bagels because every time that we go out of town and there is a bagel store nearby, I have to go. I just had a honey wheat bagel with jalapeno salsa cream cheese. I was intrigued by one of the new bagels that I'm sure was just seasonal, and I ordered one to take home. It was Maple Oatmeal and I brought it home to eat with peanut butter on it. I wish that I had gotten more of them because they were awesome and had raisins in them. I did totally luck out though because the guy getting my bagel accidentally toasted the one I wanted to take home with me, and when I asked him if he had toasted it, he told me to keep that one and then gave me a second, untoasted bagel. It was pretty great.
Though it sounds like we just ate all weekend, particularly a lot on Saturday, we did lots of other things too and had a lot of fun. We went to the zoo for a long time on Saturday morning and got to see a ton of animals. It was raining while we ate breakfast, so we weren't sure if we were going to the zoo, but the stars aligned and it cleared up enough for us to go. For the afternoon, we shopped a LOT. Then we went to Alli's apartment to help her with some moving. Then cleaned up and went to dinner. There really was a lot of shopping and walking around in the afternoon, my calves actually hurt the next day, that much walking. On Sunday morning we were going to see the riverwalk, but then it started raining right as we walked out of Einstein, so we just came home so that we could pick Otto up from the vet and watch the Super Bowl (and eat snacks of course!) :-)
All in all, it was a weekend full of food and fun. It was just nuts, completely pistachios.
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