The Foodie Duty
I think it’s finally time for me to come out the closet. This has been weighing heavily on my stomach for some time now. I’m just ready to live my truth. I…I am…A FOODIE. It’s true you guys… I love boujee foods, I love posting about it on social media, and you best believe I’m going to be “That-Guy” who will be taking tons of pics of his food before eating it. I don’t know why foodies get such a bad reputation. It’s like no one has ever heard of supporting local businesses by writing about their establishment. I think in the magazine industry they’re just referred to as columnist, BUT since we use social media as a medium in 2017 it’s just a bunch of arrogant hipsters eating boujee foods. Regardless, it’s time we stop fighting the foodies and commit to our Foodie Duty.
My goals to fulfill my duty: Always give honest opinions, Eat somewhere twice before hating it, and last but not least, EAT GOOD FOOD. I think it’s important that we support local business and to share our money/time with people who deserve it. So here it goes: My first task to fulfilling my Foodie Duty is this month’s Top 5.
Side-Note: I didn’t plan on including pickles in every one of the Top 5…It oddly happened that way, and I have a weird pickle addiction so I’m not bitter about it.
5. Paleteria San Antonio
Ok having recently moved to the steaming hot city of San Antonio, I wasn’t exactly sure how we beat the summer heat here. At home we have Snow-Balls. But what do the people of SATX do for a sweet-treat-in the- summer-heat? Apparently its popsicles. They are everywhere… All the local foodies were taking cute pics with them, and they’re dominating. I found it weird because when I think of these types of treats, I think of the ice cream trucks that used to sell the PowerPuff girls shaped popsicles. (And they looked less like PowerPuff girls and more like melting demons with gumdrop eyeballs.) BUT Paleteria changed my perspective on popsicles. They aren’t sugary-melting-struggles… they are organic/healthy treats that taste absolutely amazing. I personally wanted to try the pickle one, but they were out. Probably because it’s the best. So I settled for the banana Nutella… And at first I thought it would just be a flavoring…NO, It had legit Nutella in the middle, with vanilla wafers frozen into it! I was shook. I immediately ran outside to take a boujee picture of it and posted it to the gram. I think what these people are doing is amazing for the local community, and I think it’s important that they are introducing the next generation to a healthier/more-organic lifestyle.
The owner actually caught me working really hard to catch this photo.
4. Krause’s Biergarten + Café
Ok, so this lovely little gym was brought to my attention for one of the most amazing reasons. WIENER RACES. You all should know by now that I have a little half-breed dachshund and she is the love of my life. So when I heard they were having dachshund races, I KNEW me and tipsy were ready to check it out. I never really realized just how German Texas is. There are “Biergartens” and German culture all over this side of the state. So there should be no better place for a Dachsund race. While there, I enjoyed some really good beer. The selection was so large. The atmosphere was beautiful and super comfortable for me and Tipsy. The SANGRIA was life changing. It was my favorite part of the evening. Wasn’t overly sweet and it was always dressed very well with big orange slices. I will say that the appetizers weren’t the most exciting. I wasn’t exactly ready to eat a full dinner yet, so I decided to just get a couple of Apps. In honor of the wiener races I chose the sausage sampler. They aren’t kidding when they say “Sample.” On the plate was 2 tiny links of sausage, saltine crackers, 3 little sticks of cheese, pickled peppers, and pickles. It reminded me of a lunchable. The best thing on the plate was the pickles. (Of course) BUT they tasted like they were homemade! They were spicy and buttery with the best flavor. And the pickled little peppers on the plate were not only cute, but delicious as well. Screw the sausage sampler, next time I’ll take a jar of pickles. You can keep the saltines. Next time I go I hope to try more food. The larger dishes looked really good, but I wasn’t exactly in the mood for a meal at the moment. Ill be sure to update when I do!
3. Bird Bakery
First off, Let me be petty and say that they didn’t like my post on the gram. However, Im not bitter about this because the establishment was absolutely amazing. I loved the atmosphere so much. Its such a great place for a lunch or just to stop in to do some reading. There were lots of people studying and books lining shelves around the place. Then you get to the counter and you see all of the amazing baked goods that make you want to drool on the glass separating you and the food. I started off with the Chicken salad sandwich… This sandwich…Made…My…Day. I have a deep love for chicken salad. It’s so good but also very easy to ruin. I think people just think they can get away with mayonnaise chicken goulash, but these Birds made it so well. The bread it was on was delicious, and the mustard on it was so bomb. I really meant to ask about the mustard but I didn’t want to be too weird. Also it came with a pickle. It was a great pickle as well. It was almost spicy like the Krause’s pickle. AND AFTER…we decided to get some cupcakes, because how could we not? They sold little baby cupcakes, and we got a flight of 4. The best was the Red Velvet. I highly suggest people check out their cupcakes for any occasion. I know I will be ordering some for myself in the near future.
2. Tycoon Flats
OK Tycoon Flats… Let me get the bad out of the way first and then I will go on to why you’re amazing. Your fried pickles….are not right. There are very few times in life that I will dislike a fried ANYTHING. But I was so excited because the menu stated that the pickles were homemade by your restaurant. However, you can’t even taste that because the pickles were sliced so thin and extremely over-fried. I was not exactly excited after the app, but the meal did a 360 real quick when I hit the burger menu. YALL... These burgers are life changing. Seriously the best burger I have ever had. My first experience was the Cranberry-Feta-Candied Bacon Burger… SHOOKETH. It was so delicious. The mix of savory and sweet made me forget about those pickles real quick. The candied bacon was so delicious. NEXT time I came I tried the Balsamic Blue Cheese Burger…AGAIN…SHOOKETH. I didn’t think anything would make me like blue cheese (it’s like toe fungus) but you did. Thank you. You can also get a slider sampler, where you can get three different burgers! Me and my friends went one time and split the 3 sliders for lunch. Along with the food, the atmosphere is awesome and the drinks are always pretty decent. The outdoor patio is my favorite place to sit, but inside is like an old house and it’s really cute if it’s raining.
1. Estate Coffee
Ok…I know it’s weird that my number 1 isn’t based around food (It’s about drinks…maybe I should just label myself a foodie/drinkie). But I think what makes a food/drink place number 1 is my likelihood to return. Where I want to spend my hard earn doll-hairs. Estate Coffee saved me. I have been looking for a great coffee/coffee shop around here since I moved here. I grew up drinking coffee in my sippy cup, and I spent years in college as a barista for PJ’s Coffee. So when I moved here I just couldn’t find a coffee shop that I like. I went to a couple and they seemed really over-done. What I mean is, the baristas were hella hipster and extremely unhelpful. (I’m not a picky person either, I literally get iced lattes or hot lattes…no special instructions/ regular milk/ etc) The coffee was never quite right: they always seem like they were trying so hard they ended up just making me burnt-tasting-extreme-espresso-extravaganza. BUT NOT ESTATE. Estate’s crew was immediately very sweet, the atmosphere was quiet and relaxed, and the menu just made me want to die happy. I chose the iced Honey Lavender Latte, and while I was hella skeptical about lavender in my coffee…I was shook. I loved every drop. Naturally, I didn’t want to get too excited because some places aren’t consistent. So I went back a second time. STILL AMAZING. The coffee is strong without tasting burnt or bitter, and the drink was sweet but not too diabetic-sweet like a unicorn latte. It all just came together so perfectly. This place gets number 1 because I will frequent more than others for sure.
Overall, San Antonio has introduced me to so many new foods and restaurants. I love that people here think out of the box and really push their knowledge about food further. They don’t just make the same bacon cheese-burger or the same vanilla lattes. They care about giving people an experience. Which is what my blog is all about. Sharing my experiences. I hope you liked hearing about it and if you didn’t…well then you probably didn’t make it to this sentence. #Foodielife #Foodporn