by Andrew Chalk
When I heard the name, I assumed San Antonio’s Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC) served Indian food. Wrong! They don’t even service bicycles! And there are two of them. I adeptly went to the wrong one (St. Mary’s) first of all for a media event before rewarding Lyft with another fare back to Hemisfair. St. Mary’s opened over 30 years ago, but Hemisfair is newer, opening in October 2023. Post-COVID travel has resumed and San Antonio is back. BBC is in a kind of rekindled build mode. Each is a bar and grill that offers great bar food and interesting beverages but the setting is quite different.
St. Mary’s is a boisterous bar with tight seats and a huge clientele. Hemisfair is starkly different,
First, the building was completed in 1890 by the Espinosa family, a Colombian family who moved to San Antonio and was a generous benefactor to the city. Today it has historic significance so all renovations have to be within tough city guidelines. The current owners of BBC, Bill Leighton, Satchie Seidlits, and Peter Sullivan worked with designer Gregorio Medino who passed part way through and his mother Gwen Griffith completed his vision to devise a quite ingenious interior. In front of the wooden walls they fitted LEDs and in front of them set up stained glass panels custom built and designed by Gregorio Medino with local artists so the walls resemble the stained glass windows of a medieval cathedral and also provide a diffuse lighting that makes the interior restful and evenly lit. Furniture did not come from Ikea. It is eclectic and mainly on the heavy side. Deep leather chairs create a members-club comfort that encourages dwelling. Two person bench seating encourages squeezing together.
That is just indoors. Outside is an encircling patio to watch the world and out the back a veranda for fine weather dining. Since this was a house it is divided into rooms, adding to the intimacy. In fact, the large room with the bar is new construction, not part of the old house, but butts-on seamlessly.
FOOD
Eclectic, crowd pleasers might be the genre here. Starters include Avocado Toast ($10.95), Scotch Eggs ($9.95), and some interesting Pad Thai fries ($9.95) where the fries are drizzled with Pad Thai sauce. Among mains we really enjoyed the Super Combo Nachos ($16.95) where the quantity would fill two adults, and the ABC Burger ($16.95).
ABC refers to avocado, bacon and cheddar cheese. Each burger on the list is built around a 6 oz Angus beef pattie, sesame seed bun, choice of mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, onions, pickles, and tomatoes accompanied by hand-cut fries or potato chips.
Other interesting burger options are the Sriracha Burger ($15.95) and “Beyond Meat” burger ($15.95) if you like your burger made out of mung beans.
My ABC would have been enough to fill two grown men so put doggie-bags in the equation.
Other food categories include some interesting-sounding salads like Blackened Salmon (not tried). Platters like Chicken Fried Chicken (!) and Fish Tacos and desserts which included a Bread Pudding made in house from Bill Leighton’s recipe.
DRINKS
As well as a large selection of cocktails, beers, and a modest wine list there are gems like a custom-made for-the-house Bombay IPA by High Wheel Brewery SATX, Codorniu Zero Brut (an early attempt at a zero-alcohol Cava). and they make a killer frozen margarita. Juices on the menu come “Freshly Squezeed”, which must be a lot as the z has changed places with an e.
SERVICE
BBC doesn’t just have a happy hour, they live it as well. Staff is visible, friendly, knowledgeable, and outgoing. Great surroundings, menu and bar make this a winner ready to join its older sibling as a mainstay of the San Antonio bar scene.
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