Sample the Best: San Antonio Restaurant Week

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

From August 15 through the 29 is San Antonio’s Restaurant Week. During the week, you’ll find deals available from so many amazing restaurants throughout the city. This is your opportunity to try out restaurants that you otherwise might not have give a thought to. Each restaurant is offering a 3 course, prix-fixe lunch and dinner for the duration of Restaurant Week. Participating restaurants are organized by 2 tiers. Tier 1 restaurants offer lunches at $15 and dinners at $35. Tier 2 restaurants offer lunches at $10 and dinners at $25. For each meal purchased, restaurants will donate $1-$2 towards the Culinaria Festival.

Acenar (Tier 1) is a contemporary Mexican restaurant located along the San Antonio Riverwalk (only 20 minutes from the Residences at La Cantera). Each Texas regional Mexican dish will bring with it flavors inspired by the history and traditions of Mexico. Acenar’s lunch consists of 2 choices for each course. For the first course you can pick between their special house salad and Chicken Tinga Empanadas. For round 2 you’ll have either beef short rib tacos or a chipotle chicken dish. For the finale you can have either caramel flan or pink cake which is orange flavored with pink icing and fresh berry compote.

At the Bavarian Brauhaus (Tier 2) you can get authentic German cuisine without straying too far from home (a 15 minute drive from La Cantera). The founders grew up in South Germany studying alongside the best German chefs so you know what you’re getting here is real and really good! For your first dinner course you can choose between 2 salads or a pea soup. For the main course you have the option of a Reuben sandwich, Maultaschen (pasta dough shell with meat filling) or Schnitzel. To round it off you have the choice between peach/raspberry strudel or bread pudding.

Both of these restaurants sound so amazing that I don’t know how anyone could possibly choose and these are only two of the many options! To see the full list of participating restaurants head here. San Antonio Restaurant Week is such a great opportunity for those who want to branch out in their tastes but aren’t willing to shell out loads of cash to try things out. Reservations aren’t required but they are definitely recommended as tables go quickly during San Antonio Restaurant Week.



Sources Cited
Acenar
Bavarian Brauhaus

Roller Coaster Day at Fiesta Texas

Image courtesy of Wikimedia

This Sunday, August 16th, is Rollercoaster Day! How else would you spend a holiday dedicated to intense thrill rides than experiencing them for yourself? San Antonio is blessed with a spectacular park right next door to our home at the Residences. Six Flags Fiesta Texas has enough roller coasters to knock your socks off, in the best way of course! Here are 3 of the most death defying coasters the park has to offer.

This one is gargantuan. Some rollercoasters are big. Some are huge. This one is Goliath. The swinging, overhead track coaster is a gut wrenching experience, not for the faint of heart. With a 360 degree flip and a 10 story climb then drop, this one will leave you a little shakey. Follow that up with a few zero-g rolls and you’ll be dizzy for days afterwards. If you want a preview of what it could be like check out this video before braving it for real.

This half-mile trip on the Poltergeist begins with one crazy fast launch that takes you from 0 to 60 in 3.5 seconds! That launch means you won’t have to sit through any long drags of climbing slowly up hills; you’ll be thrown right into the action! Poltergeist has been described as looking like a big bowl of spaghetti and the name really fits. This tangle of twists and turns and bends looks daunting but is definitely worth the heart stopping!

The largest roller coaster in Texas shares colors with one of the biggest super heroes in the world: Superman! Superman: Krypton is a floorless coaster that will let you experience everything the way Superman would. With the quarry walls as your backdrop you’ll soar 168 feet into the air before zipping through 4,000 feet of stomach dropping twists and turns. You will also get to experience the world’s second tallest 360 degree loop! This coaster will make you feel like the superhero you are.

Fiesta Texas is one of the greatest parks and we have all the proof to back it up. These three coasters are some of the biggest and baddest in the world and you’ll be coming back for more from each of them.

What’s your favorite roller coaster? Let us know on the Facebook or on Twitter.

International Beer Day

Image courtesy of TheNerdPatrol - Flickr

This Friday is International Beer Day, one of the MOST important holidays of the year. Whether you’re a lover of lagers or a keg connoisseur, there is a way for everyone to celebrate. International Beer Day has 3 sole purposes:

1. To gather with friends and enjoy the taste of beer.
2. To celebrate those responsible for brewing and serving beer.
3. To unite the world under the banner of beer, by celebrating the beers of all nations together on a single day.

San Antonio has an amazing selection of breweries and bars to wet your whistle. So take a brew journey with some friends and enjoy a cold one or two.

The idea for Alamo Beer Co. was taken from a brew back in 1884 by the same name. The beer has evolved since then and is now brewed by Real Ale and distributed in HEB grocery stores. They currently have 4 beers available for your tasting pleasure: a golden ale, an amber lager, German pale ale and a pilsner. The brewery is also eco-friendly, with solar panel art in the shape of the Alamo on the roof.

Freetail Brewing Company has so many different beers to choose from you’ll have to come back every weekend before you can sample them all. Their newest beer, Velocihopter IPA, is an India Pale Ale made with natural, limestone filtered water and crystal & kiln Amber malts. On top of delicious brews, Freetail also crafts amazing food. Their specialty pizzas are to die for and you can’t leave without trying some Green Chile Mac n Cheese.

The Blue Star Brewing Company has been crafting delicious beers in San Antonio since 1996. With a short but definitely sweet menu of brews on tap, you are sure to enjoy their selections. Not only do they have amazing beers for you to sip, they have a great selection of food for you to snack on. They have everything from pulled pork cheese fries to fish tacos with pico de gallo. You won’t be able to resist their BBQ Chop Brisket.

These amazing breweries can’t be missed this weekend for International Beer Day on Friday. If you want to celebrate properly, you’ll have to visit at least one of these places. All of these breweries are within 30 minutes of the Residences at La Cantera Apartments so you don't have any excuses not to check them out! Don’t forget to bring your friends, commend the beer craftsmen, unite with others under the common love of all beers.


Additional Sources: Wikipedia

National Cheesecake Day!

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

It seems like there is a holiday for everything these days. Ice cream (July 19), bourbon (June 14), even Take Your Houseplant for a Walk Day! (July 27) What about the important things in life? The issues that everyone cares about? We’re talking about cheesecake! Never fear. There’s a day for that too. Today is National Cheesecake Day! San Antonio has a lot of really amazing bakeries that you need to check out. Celebrate National Cheesecake Day the best way: with cheesecake, obviously!

BIRD Bakery located in Alamo Heights, uses only the freshest and finest ingredients such as Valrhona Cocoa and Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. Each day, all of the cakes, cupcakes and other assorted delicacies are baked from scratch right there in-store. At the end of the night, all unsold items are donated to local nonprofits and philanthropies. The next morning they fire up the ovens and start all over again! Some can’t-miss items on their menu include an amazing honey cheesecake and an assortment of delicious cookies to munch on. BIRD Bakery wedding and event catering and custom cakes for any occasion. To see some of their delicious treats head to their Instagram. BIRD Bakery is a 25 minute drive away from us at La Cantera apartments but it’s well worth the trip!

Stepping into the Ultimate Cheesecake Bakery, you won’t believe your eyes. There are so many different kinds of cheesecake here, your head will spin and your mouth will water! From Old Fashioned to Key Lime to German Chocolate to Amaretto Almond, there is a flavor for everyone. In addition to their decadent cheesecakes, UCB also offers layer cakes, cookies, bars, tortes, pies and other specialty items. They certainly live up to their name with their vast array of cheesecakes. Ultimate Cheesecake Bakery is only 20 minutes away from our home at the Residences.

In 2011, the owner of Little Aussie Bakery was nationally recognized as one of the top 10 artisan bakers in the U.S. by Dessert Professional Magazine and the only one of those recognized to bake gluten-free goods. The bakery offers everything from cakes and cheesecakes to breakfast foods and pizzas. The majority of their treats are gluten free and can be altered to accommodate any food allergies you might have. The delicious Little Aussie Bakery is a delight and only a 24 minute drive away from the Residences.

Each of these bakeries are wonderful in their own ways and have something to fit everyone’s needs. BIRD Bakery has only the freshest treats each day, Ultimate Cheesecake Bakery has so many cheesecakes to choose from you won’t know where to begin and the Little Aussie Bakery offers everything from gluten-free cookies to down under breakfasts. When it comes time to get that cheesecake for National Cheesecake Day tomorrow, it will be hard to choose just one. We recommend one slice from each bakery. Or two slices.


Sources Cited
BIRD Bakery
Ultimate Cheesecake Bakery
Little Aussie Bakery

National Ice Cream Month

Image courtesy of Pixabay

What’s better on those hot, steamy, sunny summer days than cooling off with a frosty treat? July is National Ice Cream Month and we have plenty of places to celebrate it. When the sun gets to be just too much you can hit up one of these amazing ice cream shops for a frozen delicacy.

The Texas based Amy’s Ice Creams has been around since 1984 and continues to be delicious to this day. With the first shop in Austin, Amy’s has since expanded with locations San Antonio and Houston. Home to the world famous Mexican Vanilla ice cream, Amy’s has over 350 flavors currently in rotation so every trip to the shop will be an adventure! In addition to ice cream Amy’s offers dairy free fruit ices and frozen yogurt if ice cream isn’t your style. Amy’s offers tours of the facilities throughout the week ending with a delicious scoop of ice cream! Amy’s is located on East Basse Road, a 20 minute drive away from the Residences at La Cantera.

The winner of SA Current’s 2013 Best Ice Cream Contest, Brindle’s Awesome Ice Cream certainly lives up to it’s name! Their amazing made-in-store ice cream, gelato and espresso are to die for and so mouth watering! They have regular, everyday flavors like mint, chocolate, vanilla but they also have flavors you won’t find anywhere else like pineapple, coconut and habanero. These delicious treats are perfect for the hot summer days we’ve been having so stop by and try some of the best ice cream you’ll find in San Antonio. You can find Brindle’s on Huebner Road, only a 7 minute drive away from us at La Cantera.

Culver’s Restaurant, founded in Wisconsin in 1984, has since expanded with locations all across the country. Culver’s has so many flavors it will make your head spin! Each day will find a new flavor of the day. Today’s flavor is Caramel Cashew so stop in and get yourself a scoop! Along with ice cream, Culver’s also serves a full menu of delicious burgers, salads and plenty of other dishes to fill your bellies. Culver’s is located a short 8 minute drive away from the Residences at La Cantera.

San Antonio can get pretty heated during the summer time and sometimes you just need to cool off. The best cure for the heat is ice cream! With all of the options in the area you can try a different kind of ice cream every day this summer!

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? Let us know on our Facebook or Twitter.

Additional Sources Cited

Amy’s Ice Cream

Culver’s

Summer Activities in San Antonio

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

School’s out for summer! With kids home for the summer, it can be hard to find things to keep young ones occupied and entertained with when they have so much free time. This month though, there are plenty of options for kids to not only keep them entertained but to enrich them and further their educations. Check out what San Antonio has in store for kids this month:

This Friday, July 17th, the La Cantera Barnes & Noble (a quick 5 minute walk from the Residences at La Cantera) is holding a free Minion Fun Event in honor of the new Minions movie in theaters now! At this fun-filled event you can become a certified minion and attend Villain-Con where you can help in the search to find the most evil villain to follow! Sign up in the store or call to reserve your space. Register soon, as all the good villains tend to get taken quickly!

Saturday, July 18th at 10 AM at the Rainbow Gardens join the Kids Garden Club in creating your very own terrarium! Bring your own soda bottle or wide mouthed jar to create your very own living ecosystem. This event is free but spots fill up quickly so reserve your child’s spot soon! The Rainbow Gardens are only a 20 minute drive away from the Residences at La Cantera which should make it pretty easy to get there!

On Friday, July 24th, the Harlem Globetrotters’ Summer Basketball Camp will be dribbling into San Antonio for one day only! The coaches will teach kids the fundamentals of basketball while the Globetrotters will be on hand to encourage the players and impart knowledge that will help them sharpen their skills. Campers will take part in games, ball handling tricks, and plenty of fun. Stars of the Harlem Globetrotters will be available after the camp to sign autographs and take photos with the campers. The Mission Concepcion Sports Complex is only a 20 minute drive away from the La Cantera Apartments.

If your child is a bit of a ham, then you definitely need to sign them up for Happily Ever After Summer Theatre Camp. Starting July 27th through August 7th, your little performer can perform songs as their favorite princess, pirate, hero or villain. Final performances will take place August 7th and 8th. The classes take place from Monday to Friday 9AM to 4PM and before and after care is available if needed. Register early as spaces fill up fast! The Woodlawn Theatre is only a 15 minute drive away from La Cantera.

This month is heating up not just with the heat but with plenty of fun things to keep kids happy and entertained. There is something for all ages and interests, from basketball to theater to gardening classes, your kids won’t have time to sit down! Do you know of any other kids’ activities happening in the area this month? Let us know on Facebook or on Twitter.

Sources Cited
SA Current 1 2
Rainbow Gardens

National Picnic Month in San Antonio

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Grab your checkered blanket and your wicker baskets because July is National Picnic Month! San Antonio has an abundance of beautiful parks just asking for you to throw down a picnic blanket and break out the snacks. Just make sure you clean up after yourself when you’re done! For a full directory of San Antonio's gorgeous parks go to the city of San Antonio's website.

Brackenridge Park is a 343 acre park located north of the city, just a short 20 minute drive away from the Residences at La Cantera. Within the park, you can find the San Antonio Zoo which contains over 750 different species of animals! You can also find the Japanese Tea Gardens or the Sunken Gardens, which found their home in an abandoned rock quarry. Within the park grounds you can take a ride on the San Antonio Zoo Eagle Train Ride. Brackenridge Park is a beautiful place to plant yourself for a weekend picnic. After your meal you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied!

McAllister Park, an 18 minute drive from La Cantera apartments, might not have a zoo located within its boundaries but it has so much for you to do! The park is outfitted with baseball, soccer and rugby fields for some pick-up games. The 15 miles of scenic trails will have you huffing and puffing your way through them. And don’t forget the dog park! Bring your furry four-legged friend down to the McAllister dog park and set him/her free to play with other pups.

Government Canyon State Natural Area has over 40 miles of hiking and biking trails for you to explore and navigate. The park is rife with opportunities for geocaching, guided hikes and ranger programs. The Natural Area is also home to 110 million year old dinosaur foot prints! So follow in the footprints of ancient dinosaurs and take your picnic baskets to Government Canyon State Natural Area.

While exploring these gorgeous parks make sure to follow the Leave No Trace 7 Principles to minimize human impact on the lands. The only way we can continue to enjoy these beautiful parks is if we maintain them and do our part to keep them clean.


Each of these fascinating parks has something to offer from hiking and biking trails to dog parks to geocaching, there’s something for everybody. After your picnic you can stick around and see what events are happening in the parks. Check the event calendar to see what's happening this weekend. Bring your picnic baskets but don’t leave anything behind!


Sources Cited
San Antonio.gov