Best River Walk Restaurant

1. Casa Rio
430 E Commerce, (210) 225-6718
casa-rio.com

When walking downtown on business, we are often stopped by loud tourists asking for directions to some downtown bar or nightclub. We usually feign a thick Spanish accent, insisting we do not understand what is being said. But on the rare occasion we're asked for a recommendation, we often point to Casa Rio. It's one of those places that is quintessentially San Antonio down to its 1946 roots. It's also atypical of most River Walk restaurants in that it eschews the trendy or upscale (and often overpriced) and instead offers good, honest food. (A riverboat dining option will give you the tourist's perspective if that's your thing.) Even natives who have grown averse to the River Walk for all its magnetic buzz tend to make a seasonal exception of Casa Rio when entertaining out-of-town guests hoping for the whole River Walk/Venice-of-Texas chingadera. Fajitas, quesadillas, pollo asado, chile relleno. What else would you want?

2. Ácenar
146 E Houston, (210) 222-2362
acenar.com

3. Dick's Last Resort
406 Navarro, (210) 224-0026
dickslastresort.com