The Esquire Tavern — Restaurant in San Antonio

Off the rip for a fairly middle shift on a Thursday at almost 6pm we were sat immediately which was nice, but apparently our server Jennifer doesn’t watch her section as she eventually showed up to the booth and apologized for the delay she stated “no one told her” that she had a table which was nearly 15 min and we were about to walk. PURE LAZINESS IMHO. We ordered drinks the old fashioneds, they were missing the cherry in each of our drinks, definitely not correct. Another poor choice in ordering the fried pickles, they are half sour pickle chips, sorta fried with a smattering of batter but mostly doughy and stuck together. We were starving after walking 10 miles so we still ate them, not our proudest moment. I ordered the BLT which comes with NOTHING, so I ordered fries. I will say the BlT was great and definitely the star of the show! Those fries, first of all if a patron asks you for salt don’t give your opinion, it wasn’t solicited and behavior like that cuts into your tip. As a former service industry person nothing like snippy little comments throughout your meal from your server to ruin a partially decent meal. Now back to the fries they were edible but not hot and not close to crispy and definitely NEEDED THE SALT. Also there were 2 sauces that came with the fries and one being ketchup, that other sauce should be banned. Whatever that sauce was, was just hands down vile, it was so bad I couldn’t even figure out what it was short of unnecessary. My husband liked his shrimp and grits; I took a bite, I’ve had better and I’ve definitely had worse. Then she proceeded to flirt and joke I guess with my husband, while I’m sure that works for some people, however after forcing your unsolicited opinion on me, serving us old fashions sans cherries and then trying to get a better tip, you failed to realize I’m the wallet. You’d have gotten a better tip if you had been a better sever. You didn’t come back and check on us, never mind offering to procure additional drinks. You made a large assumption based on him finishing his meal that it was wonderful and not that we just made the best of it. You didn’t even ask me what I thought, you didn’t ask me anything at all. I/we had to ask for everything. So my tl:dr make sure your servers name isn’t Jennifer or go elsewhere, as I bet you...

On this visit to rustic San Antonio River walk area we had opportunity to visit the vaunted Esquire Tavern. Which is reported to have the longest bar in Texas, well they did not disappoint, This place was nothing short of awesome! It gives off a very old world and rustic feel where you could imagine walking into a high end saloon in the wild west or in a Frontier town. The huge 100 ft bar top is made of real polished wood and the bar back is real heavy wood too. They have the largest selection of premium liquors that I have ever seen in one bar. The place can be loud and blostious depending on the crowd and time of day. I'd say the revelry was at a medium pitch when we entered. It did require raising your voice a bit to be heard. I could go on for a while about the charms of the rustic western decore but since a picture is worth a thousand words I'll let my pics tell that story (see below). The staff here are all very friendly and are not opposed to letting you sample some of the exotic selection before you make your choice. Daniel was our Bar Tender and the man is a true specialist, super friendly and really knows his selection and was a great help with our decisions. While Amy crafted me one of the simplest yet best tasting Old Fashioneds I've had. (I would give it a top 3 rating) meaning I'd have to have the 3 best ones ever, side by side to tell the best one. Great Job Amy, kudos to you. Thank you Daniel and Amy for making our first visit to the Esquire Tavern an experience that we will never forget. We also sampled some of the food while we were their and the cuisine is far above what you would expect from a bar. My wife sampled the 8oz Delmonico Steak with black garlic butter and it was delicious! We both had their famed fried pickles and they deserve their fantastic reputation, delicious with a twist! I sampled The Bison burger topped with crescenza cheese, bacon jam and shaved onion with French onion spread (mouth watering delicious)We shared a side of chili fries at (Amy's suggestion- thank you again M'Lady) because the portions are indeed very generous. Overall I think this magnificent bar has earned a visit from us everytime we visit San Antonio, definitely our new favorite spot! I recommend this Tavern with my highest praise, I would grant it 6 Stars if it...

Leaving The Magestic and you see the mass of people flooding out to get to their cars and you think to yourself….. self, do I want to spend an hour in the Travis parking garage getting out (ps much easier than the one near the theater!) or do I want to sit at the oldest bar in San Antonio and the longest bar in Texas with a cold cocktail, amazing food, and some of the best service I have had in a while? No brain answer there.

When we arrived we were instantly greeted and we decided to sit at the bar. After settling in, Breck came greet us. Probably the friendliest bartender ever. He made an amazing old fashioned for the hubs and I had a French 75. When I say the attention to detail was there… man it was. I almost didn’t want to drink my beverage it was so pretty. Food came out quickly and pipping hot. Husband had the burger and I had the mussels with fries. All the mussels were open which means the kitchen pays attention to detail. Yall I wanted to drink the sauce from the bowl, but I decided to drop my fries into the sauce and let them swim a moment before eating them. I had a bite of my husbands burger. When you bite into the burger, it melts in your mouth. They do not overwork their meat and they know how to cook a medium rare burger (those that don’t like the redness in a burger, move on. It’s worth the risk). Such an amazing texture and perfectly seasoned.

Since it was 5pm and approaching my bedtime (don’t judge me) I had a coffee and we split a key lime pie. They do the coffee right with the French press and the key lime has a meringue topping that was perfectly toasted.

Yeah definitely made the right choice and had a better experience then waiting for an hour to get out of the garage.

I hope yall try this place and ask about the history. Good food, amazing drinks, and a history lesson on the side. You...