The KENS 5 team explores some of the tastiest options San Antonio has to offer, from Little Italy’s pasta to Plantaqueria’s tacos and Saucy Bird’s creative sauces.
[Music] howdy there a big Welcome to our neighborhood eat special I’m Henry Ramos and I’m Andre Casto you know everyone loves food and San Antonio has an exceptional culinary scene from Buffalo Wings to vegan breakfast tacos we love to showcase our local restaurants that bring creativity diversity to the food and to the drinks and first up Justin galeron takes us to a place that is truly a revolution in wings and to grind some coffee beans this week they’re not too coffee there’s a Revol underway so these have been smoking for 3 hours this is our smoked bacon powder be prepared for a culinary Uprising at revolutionary Wings near the airport there is a hidden gym that is saucing and tossing around innovative ideas to chicken wings this is not your dive or sports bar food this is a complete dining experience I am from Buffalo New York so that was the driving force behind getting you know opening a wing uh truck and a wing restaurant originally a food truck that started back in 2016 Joshua P Rocky and wife Felicia Lee both came from fine dining backgrounds and wanted to elevate the hot wing thing creating Picture Perfect plates in the process our traditional Wing section is is your normal run-of-the-mill traditional Buffalo butter garlic parm things like that and then we have a signature section where you know us chest get to kind of play around with a chicken wing you know from a hot Cheeto to a Belgium and Waffle our grilled and smoked wings and so on and so forth we got about 30 different flavors and you can’t forget about the burgers sandwiches and other items here let’s check out their old school wing flavors the black garlic belum waffle and our flaming hot Cheeto oh yeah oh yeah and the new school flavors with grilled chimmy churry cheddar and Dill Wings chear tears oh wow everything is scratch made everything’s made in house from our pickles all the way to our desserts but most of all our wings we have over 30 different flavors we also are Facebook Instagram and we also have our own app those look so amazing and guess what guys we have some right here oh yes this is Hot Cheetos Hot Cheetos Wings all right let’s try it all right we got to do the wing cheer remember Wing cheer all right we get a little bit of ranch you’re a ranch gal right some people like blue cheese I’m a ranch I it’s got to be Ranch all the way M these are so good mhm I’m impressed with you you don’t even like spicy stuff I don’t I will say when it comes to Cheetos Hot Cheetos not my thing oh this says up my alley I will take this whole plate this is really good though oh very good very good yum you can check out revolutionary wings at 427 East Ramsey Road and at revolutionary wings.com they even got an app a $45 burrito and I read that right $45 burrito it’s not a joke and you can find it at a popular food truck downtown yep the 2 lb wrap stuffed with beef rib and macaroni well it may cost you a pretty penny but Sarah Duran shows us why it’s worth every cent hey there today we’re in downtown San Antonio at El Camino where there is a food truck viral for its Dino it’s viral viral has a shock value what are you what are your customers saying about it so they want to pull that bone out they get they get that bone [Music] up a feast fit for a beast let’s check out bus and Q and joining me now is Anthony buo the owner of bus and C thanks for hanging out with us today tell me about your food truck I had a food truck a couple years ago was a Smash Burger truck you know we noticed that everybody loves barbecue we changed the barbecue it’s been a hit and it hits the spot the brisket grilled cheese soaked in barbecue sauce more grins for the greatest of all time Burger do a little happy dance and a delicately smoked Dino beef rib put it in a giant beef burrito with mac and cheese queso barbecue sauce go and what’s crazy is all of this is made in a food trailer now if you want to check out bus and Q you can find them in the downtown area at El Camino that’s next to the Riverwalk the address is 1009 Avenue V super excited about this place those are some big bites all right but how about Burgers Wings sandwiches and a side of golfing a Hidden Gem on the Southeast side is serving up all of your favorite foods on a golf course Darcy Ramirez finds out if the burgers are as good as a golf swings this Southside hidden gym has all your favorite American Classics Rock and jro is located on the mission Del Lago golf course but you you don’t have to be a golf expert to enjoy the food it’s open to everyone grap Burgers Wings tacos which is made with fresh meat that we season every day owner Ray Garza originally opened a food truck in the middle of the pandemic before moving to this brick and mortar location he Prides himself on using fresh ingredients and everything is made to order getting in the food business was something I never expected to do in my entire life I had a lot of background in business I love good food and I just tied them together we jumped in with their handmade Mushroom Swiss burger that is Juicy lemon pepper and mild wings feel like this is a classic the Erica’s egg sandwich named after Garza’s wife I really like it and the unique outof bounds burrito loaded with bacon jiso potato egg bean and cheese it tastes like Grandma’s making tortillas if you want more American Classics Rock and J is the place to go feels good and feels right and feels homel JY AMZ neighborhood eats all right Audrey a taste of the windy city is in the Alamo City a Chicago bite is in its third year of business and the owner wants as many people as possible to taste the food that reminds the native chicagoan of his home Simone Simpson takes a bite getting her business out the mud is do crystal cross I love to make people happy through food I’ve always been that way I had no idea that it would be on this large scale Crystal was a teacher and assistant principal for 17 years before moving from Chicago to the Alamo City things Don’t Come Easy in Chicago it’s a hustle mentality the move header leaving the classroom for the kitchen let’s see if a Chicago bike can transport this Texas girl to the windy city first round is the authentic Chicago dog dressed in neon green Chicago style relish delicious next up is the beef polish amazing next the openface Italian beef it’s like a pizza in a s sandwich delicious and my new favorite wings with mild sauce M that is so good you like that sauce I love the sauce and a soul food staple catfish oh that’s good tastes like my grandmother made it Simone Simpson Ken five all of it looks so delicious and we have some right here and this is the Open Face beef beef okay this looks really good so as you can see all the cheese there we got a beef and then it’s on bread right underneath is that what that is MHM M mhm Simone did not lie this is delicious all the sounds that we’re making mhm M no that’s really good I want to keep eating gosh that cheese is delicious so good it really is but there’s so much more to get to and we’re getting a little taste of a culinary Staple in Converse actually okay the family business is going on its third generation of owners Justin Calderon is finding out if Papa really knows best in this week’s neighborhood eats I’m just stirring up our original sauce we make about three batches of this a week this week it’s a taste of the Old Country we’re celebrating 45 years of classic family recipes and feeling saucy at Papa Dante’s located in Converse PES has been in Italian main stay since 79 as much as it’s called Papa Dante it was really Mama Dante that matriarch she was running behind the scenes the whole time and then my dad and my mom they joined and did the big remodel in ‘ 87 and then that that’s when my uncle and my dad really took over everything at one point my sister and I were old enough and we just kind of started taking it over from there she’s like leaning up embrace the fun overly eccentric atmosphere we were just under 5,000 pictures on the wall main Staples our garlic bread with our homemade garlic butter we have hand rolled meatballs they’re 3 oz meatballs they’re delicious super filling everything from pasta to parm Subs spaghetti Sandos scampy beer and wine fresh desserts and pizza you leave full you usually have a to- Go box just somewhere nice that you know you can go and just have something reliable let’s kick it off with a Homestyle Pizza slice oh yeah your classic spaghetti and meatballs and that sauce is just so good it’s so rich the Italian war hero mhm absolutely shrimp scampy and if you’ve never been here give us a try we have all kinds of items such as Pizza Pasta Subs we even do things like chicken fried steak and meatloaf you can also follow us on social media to find out about all the offerings that we have Justin colon kin 5 so they also sell sports cards at the restaurant you can find Papa Dante’s in Converse at 860 7 fm1 1976 very cool flour water and salt it is a winning combination of ingredients for one hotus Baker her simple sourdough recipe is scoring High Praise from Sarah Duran she takes us there today we’re at the shops of Old Town Hall Lotus where the sourdough brings in the cash flow at this Bakery let’s take a look inside it’s just so like magical to me to mix up a tub of flour water salt and some sourdough starter and end up with it so this is what I’m talking about about let’s get to baking at spread the Loaves and now we have the owner of spread the loaves Sophie Jeffrey thank you for having us course thanks for coming out let me just say wow this bread looks fantastic tell me how you came up uh with spread the loes how’d you get started it was after that winter storm um I baked a lot of bread for like friends and family who were having trouble finding groceries her love for helping people turned into a passion for baking bread sourdough is her favorite to create so do you want deep one and that kind of like tells it where I want it to expand and then these ones are just decorative this process is called scoring it guides the way the dough rises in the piping hot oven steam keeps the crust soft and stretchy before hardening off oh my goodness look at that ah fasha bread is also on the menu I love me some warm bread m this tasty this is tasty including a number of pastries like mouth watering cinnamon rolls I have no words and if you want to learn more about spread the Loaves and visit their location you can find them at uh we’re at 14743 Old Bandera Road we’re in building six uh in Oldtown hotus awesome well I’m going to take this to go you can’t stop me lady go ahead yeah be sure to check him out thank you all righty and an Italian restaurant on the North side is bringing East Coast flavors to your dinner plate Ken 5 Simone Simpson has this in today’s eats if you’ve always wanted to travel to Italy this tiny kitchen packs massive flavor we’re here at Little Italy restaurant in Pizzeria where they serve Italian Pine New York style here in San Antonio we make everything we love owner Dominic visado always Tred of being just like his parents always in all my dad I want them to be just like him Dominic’s parents Victor and paa visaro traveled from Sicily to New York and opened their restaurant in Pizzeria there but in 1983 Dominic’s father was looking to expand his dream back in the early ‘ 80s there weren’t too many Italian restaurants here in San Antonio he saw the market here in San Antonio and it was and santon was small and it was growing it was booming back in the early 80s and so he saw the potential that potential now pleasing palettes for decades it’s the sauce spaghetti behold the staple the Italian Stallion spaghetti with a very nice mayata sauce and it has uh our homemade meatballs and homemade the Italian sausage delicious now let’s try a classic lasagna we have a beef lasagna and a spinach [Music] lasagna yes if you want a warm meal with a sizzly Sizzle Little Italy should be your next stop on your travel itinerary and this is just a little taste of what Little Italy restaurant in Pizzeria has to offer Simone Simpson Ken’s 5 Little Italy restaurant in Pizzeria is located on the North side on Afterglow Street and actually we get a little taste yes we do if only you could I mean the way the marinara smells right now I’m telling you delicious all right you ready so good you can always judge a place by their spaghetti go for it all right so apparently the meatballs have the Italian sausage so I’m excited to try this okay I’m still swirling is it good oh wow I feel like this is going to be messy at first it takes a while for act like I’m such a food critic here m it takes a while for the U for you really to get it going and it’s delicious you’re going to see my dinner dance soon I know exactly the same way so good oh that sauce is delicious well we know that San Antonio wouldn’t be San Antonio without the tacos I mean come on we’re all about the tacos it’s the perfect breakfast lunch dinner snack you name it nonetheless you’re on a diet yeah but one Local woman is cooking up a healthy alternative for everyone to enjoy some of your favorite Mexican foods Sarah Duran takes us to the restaurant that serving up plant-based tacos ever heard of jack fruit I haven’t but these folks have today we’re in downtown San Antonio to check out at takaria where jack fruit is on the menu it is a big fruit before it is ripe it’s not sweet so if you cook it in that form you can kind of just inject flavor into it and flavor is what we are craving let’s take a bite out of plantaria joining me now is the owner of plantaria Sophia Ria so like I was telling you I am not vegan I don’t know a lot about it but looking at these tacos these look like the real deal great how did you come up with this concept yeah so that’s the goal is for it to look like what you’re familiar eating a San Antonio staple headlines the menu the breakfast taco so this is our BB Goa made with jack fruit on our handmade flower tortilla vegan tortillas of course we make them vegan um typically corn tortillas aren’t we also make our flow tortillas in house removing the lard to perfect the recipe and they are still just as tender and delicious all right so we tried all the tacos and but you have a Thor what does a Thor mean yes so this is made with the boo BR okay so it just it has a different flavor to it right than a taco and just offering something a little bit different yeah yeah there let’s finish our meal with a brada half cold Brew half plant- base or Chata look at that now if you want to check out planta where can people find you we’re located downtown we are on the corner of Broadway and Travis at 124 Broadway H would you try that plant-based I I totally would listen I always say you can’t knock it till you try it absolutely yeah it’s different but I like it all right on the way other side of that the foundation was put down decades ago in San Antonio and now four plus decades later they continue to Thrive and these days just outside the Alamo City so venan said I found some home cooking R hidden away but not really just off Main Street in Bernie Texas if you’re hungry and can eat like a horse the Hungry Horse the Hungry Horse started in 1983 in San Antonio on worst Von Evers and in 2001 we moved out here to Bernie and we’ve just been chugging along here in Bernie ever since home cooking reasonable pricing and friendly staff how else might one describe dining in Texas Hill Country you get what you pay for I always take it home I get at least one or two more meals out of it it’s huge you know a lot of the people in the stores downtown they send a lot of tourists our way we get a little bit of both but we really strive to be like the local spot our very most popular dish is chicken fried steak second would probably be fried catfish and then our burgers are also very very popular and you can add meatloaf to that list we did part of our yum yum taste [Music] test so our catfish is just domestic Farm race catfish that we hand bred in our own homemade cornmeal just like Mama used to make the meatloaf we make every day we uh mix a big old 20 lb batch it makes like eight pans of meatloaf and we sell pretty much a whole batch every day that’s what I’m talking about mhm chicken fried steak is hand breaded served with a homemade cream gravy Country Roads Take me home we’re definitely a I’d say a a pillar in the community in Bernie at the Hungry Horse Vinnie vinetta kins if that food looks too good to pass up it’s a short trip from San Antonio the Hungry Horse located on Saunders Street just off East San Antonio Avenue there in Bernie take me home and a Bernie absolutely that looks so good the chicken fried steak with the gravy yes I’m a fan me too all right so we start as casual cookouts with loved ones turned into a popular business for one San Antonio family the owner built his barbecue business from the ground up Simone Simpson takes us to auggie’s barbed wire Smokehouse like a painter with his paintbrush we call Liquid Gold auggie’s barbed wire Smokehouse owner August Cortez Jr ugie doggy sets the gold standard for Texas barbecue I want to make it feel like it’s your going to your grandpa’s backyard and you’re sneaking pieces off the barbecue pit meet big bacon the largest pig in San Antonio and the mascot for auggie’s barbed wire Smokehouse when you smell smoke everybody starts drooling immediately right you cannot afford to ignore this morgas board first let’s try to dessert a [Music] pigtail so refreshing and my new personal favorite a brisket [Music] sandwich so good the chili cheese dog is up [Music] next mhm and what would a barbecue restaurant be without trying the beef ribs yes indeed what began as a hobby for casual getto togethers with family turned into a smoky staple for the Alamo City I’m very proud to have U been here 24 years and provide this service to our community for Auggie seeing the smiles from customers makes every day worth it when your guests come to eat they’re already eating with their eyes and their nose and their ears Simone Simpson k Augie even got a hug from Simone you know it’s good so auggie’s bwire Smoke House is just North of downtown right across from the Japanese tea garden if you haven’t been there you definitely need to check that out too this is on North St Mary Street can’t miss it all right and after its sudden closure last year the owner of sangria on the Berg was quick to reassure its customers that they had something else cooking up I mean I was sad when sad it’s right across the station we go there for lunch all the time or even quick dinner but listen the doors are back open same Loca same location but new name and new menu our favorite finger foods at a fair price Sarah Duran is getting Saucy today we are heading to the Northwest side of San Antonio to check out a chicken joint with more than a dozen kinds of sauces so we have a spicy honey mustard and a regular honey mustard chil gravy regular gravy pH is right let’s take a dip into Saucy Birds joining me now with Caesar sapeta the owner of Saucy Birds my man this food looks amazing tell me about this New Concept you developed here you know I wanted to do something that was affordable for the guests and for us and make sure that we can uh do a really good meal at a really good price for $14 or less you can dive right into their buttermilk bathed chicken strips at their Texas heat seasoning for a little kick your Thai taco salad this looks delicious so we put a little bit of this chai dressing on there and it’s just a beautiful bite nice it’s a good one right said it nice C this is where all the magic happens this is where you’re cooking up all the stuff yeah he’s coming again ah that fresh bread smell that fresh bread smell and it’s so good made from scratch baked in house milk bread so good then wash it all down with a drink if you want to check out Saucy Birds it’s located at 5115 Fredericksburg Road it’s on the northwest side of the city and I feel like the only way to cap this off is with a chicken cheer Cesar how about that all right Che [Music] man all right we got to do our own chicken cheers yeah we do I love the whole Wing cheers and chicken cheers chicken cheers okay so jalapeno Ranch I don’t know what that is but it looks delicious I’ll go with this one you try that one [Music] it’s in the sauce in the sauce I get the name now mhm the Saucy and I know there’s a lot of different sauces too I’m a sauce girly so I’m actually going to try the other sauce do your friends ever make fun of you for ordering like chicken tenders at restaurants they like are you a child my friends do cuz sometimes I just want a good chicken tender you know yeah I wouldn’t do that unless it was here unless it was here Henry no this is good all right this was delicious all of the food has just been amazing today it really has and most important part these are local businesses which is always important to support the local eateries so if you’re still hungry because I know I am I know you are we can always eat for more neighborhood eats there’s plenty for you to check out yeah be sure to check out our stories and videos about dozens of great local restaurants by heading over to kens5.com eats and again I’m Andre Casto and I’m Henry Ramos bone Appetit and happy eating bye y’all [Music]