San Antonio Vacation: Family Restaurants

Though restaurants always provide a particular challenge when children are added to the mix, San Antonio has a number of restaurants that provide something special for the kids (and, by extension, for their parents.) Here are a few top San Antonio family restaurants.

The Rainforest Café

The Rainforest Café, located on one of the busiest sections of the River Walk, is arguably San Antonio’s most kid-pleasing restaurant. In fact, calling it a restaurant is less precise than calling it a theme park with food. The three-story venue includes a number of animatronic animals at various strategic places, and on cue, every half-hour, a simulated rainstorm envelops the entire restaurant in dramatic thunder and lightning (but, happily, no actual rain.) The food is also surprisingly good considering it’s part of a national chain and the obvious emphasis on atmosphere. Needless to say, the Rainforest Café also has a gift shop. 110 E. Crockett St., tel. 210-277-6300. Average entrée for lunch/dinner: $13. www.rainforestcafe.com

The Cove

The Cove looks somewhat unassuming from the outside, sandwiched between a Laundromat and a car wash on a forlorn corner just north of downtown. But The Cove is one of San Antonio’s hidden gems—a restaurant and bar, serving tasty and fairly healthy fare including fish tacos, spinach salads and lamb burgers. The Cove also offers a kids menu with solid, kid-pleasing selections. In addition, there’s a fenced-off back courtyard including a sturdy playscape. 606 W. Cypress St., tel. 210-227-2683. Average entrée for lunch/dinner: $8. thecove.us

 

• The playscape at The Cove is a great way to entertain kids until food arrives.

Courtesy of The Cove

Beto’s Comida Latina

Beto’s Comida Latina is located on the fringes of Alamo Heights, one of San Antonio’s more tony neighborhoods, yet Beto’s seems only a slightly more upscale version of The Cove with its playground and sizeable number of picnic tables out back. Beto’s has fast, simple, well-prepared food; among its more popular items are empanadas, tacos on fresh corn tortillas (including one of the city’s best al pastor tacos) and yucca fries. Beto’s also features traditional Mexican fare like palettas and aguas frescas. 8142 Broadway St., tel. 210-930-9393. Average entrée for lunch/dinner: $4 (combos $10). www.betoscomidalatina.com

Chacho’s and Chalucci’s

Chacho’s and Chalucci’s, a bit further north and east from Beto’s off the Perrin Beitel exit on Loop 410, is a massive, two-story restaurant open 24 hours a day, specializing in piled-high plates of nachos and colossal margaritas. One room of the emporium (restaurant is not quite enough to convey its size) contains a giant playground that takes advantage of the building’s full height, and there’s an additional network of sandboxes outside. Though the playground will keep your kids dazzled for a time, the restaurant can be a bit rowdy, and tends to get more chaotic later in the evening. As always with public play areas, keep an eye on the kids at all times, and know that you may need to swoop in at some point. 8614 Perrin Beitel, tel. 210-892-1400. Average entrée: lunch, $5; dinner, $6. www.chachos.com