Hey y’all,
Cory here.
This week’s newsletter is all about what it takes to keep San Antonio vibrant—not just in spirit, but in practice.
We’re diving into the pressures facing local restaurants, the essential work of the San Antonio Food Bank, and the plants that make our landscapes more resilient. From outdoor festivals to Final Four fanfare, there’s a lot to celebrate—but also a lot to consider about how we all can thrive in a fast-changing city.
Let’s dig in.
🍔 Feature of the Week: A City That Eats Local—But Can It Still Support Local?
San Antonio’s restaurant scene is hurting.
That might come as a surprise in a city where new towers keep rising, tourism is booming, and we pride ourselves on being a cultural capital built around food.
But as reported in the San Antonio Report, a wave of closures is sweeping the city’s locally owned restaurants. From Mad Pecker Brewing to Revolutionary Wings to 225 Urban Smoke, beloved small businesses are shuttering—not from a lack of creativity or community support, but from economic conditions stacked against them.
“We were making enough money to pay bills at the restaurant. But we had no money coming home,” said Revolutionary Wings founder Joshua Paprocki, who took a second job to support his family.
So what’s going on?
• Rising food and labor costs
• High property taxes and rent spikes
• Overwhelming fees and permits
• Lack of post-COVID recovery for small independents
One restaurant saw its lease nearly double, and others are burdened by $4,000+ alcohol license renewals. These are not mom-and-pop success stories waiting to happen—they’re cautionary tales of a city in transition.
And here’s the real question:
If San Antonio wants to be a city that supports small business, especially its food entrepreneurs, are we creating the conditions for that to be possible?
From a sustainability standpoint, resilience starts local. Not just in where we source our ingredients, but in who owns the restaurants, who sets the culture, and who actually gets to stay in the game.
Right now, those best positioned to survive may not be the passionate, homegrown innovators—but well-capitalized out-of-town chains or second concepts from major players.
We don’t need to romanticize the struggle. But we should pay attention to the signals. When the people who’ve helped build this city’s culinary culture for decades say they couldn’t start the same restaurant today, we should listen.
Support your favorite local spots. Ask city leaders about policy shifts that could ease the regulatory and tax burden for small food businesses. And remember—every place you eat is a vote for the kind of San Antonio we’re becoming.
📆 This Week's Picks:
🎭 Romeo + Juliet – Shakespeare in the Park | Tuesday, March 25 – Sunday, March 30 📍 San Pedro Springs Park, tickets start at $18—experience Shakespeare’s timeless love story under the stars at San Antonio’s oldest park, brought to life by the San Pedro Playhouse in this beloved spring tradition.
🎶 Live Music Fridays at Legacy Park | Friday, March 28, 11 AM–2 PM & 5–8 PM 📍 Legacy Park, free—catch rotating local musicians during lunch or dinner hours in one of downtown’s most vibrant green spaces.
🌳 Spring Festival | Saturday, March 29, 11 AM–2 PM📍 Medina River Natural Area, free—celebrate the season with guided hikes, arts & crafts, fishing, food trucks, and more at this family-friendly outdoor fest hosted by San Antonio Parks & Recreation.
🎶 TOSA: Echoes in Diversion | Saturday, March 29, 7:30 PM 📍 H-E-B Performance Hall at The Tobin Center, tickets from $29—experience a dynamic fusion of classical, Spanish, and Latin American music as The Orchestra San Antonio launches its inaugural concert.
🌶 Salsa y Salsa | Thursday, April 3, 5–8 PM📍 The Good Kind, Southtown, $15—taste test top salsas from restaurants like Los Barrios and La Fogata, dance with Semeneya, and enjoy family-friendly fun.
🏀 One Watch/Listen: What It Takes to Host the Final Four
San Antonio is about to take center stage in the world of college basketball.
This week on bigcitysmalltown, Bob Rivard is joined by Jenny Carnes and Elena Wells from San Antonio Sports to break down what it actually takes to host an event as massive as the 2025 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
From ticketing logistics and fan fests to long-term infrastructure planning, this conversation offers a behind-the-scenes look at how San Antonio prepares for a $440 million event—and what it means for the city’s national reputation.
🎧 Watch/Listen here: What It Takes to Host the Final Four
🗓 Heads up: Final Four festivities take over downtown from April 4–7, including free concerts and family-friendly events. Whether you’re a hoops fan or just curious about how big events shape the future of cities like ours, this one’s worth a listen.
🥗 (Re)Discover Something New: The San Antonio Food Bank
If you only know the San Antonio Food Bank as a place that gives out groceries think again. This local organization serves over 100,000 individuals per week—and does far more than fill stomachs.
🎙️ In two recent Ensemble Texas features, I went behind the scenes with CEO Eric Cooper and Director of Food Sustainability Mitch Hagney to explore how the Food Bank addresses hunger at its root.
They describe their model as:
Food for Today, Food for Tomorrow, and Food for a Lifetime.
• Food for Today: 8–12 semi-trucks of food move in and out of the warehouse daily, valued at over $180 million annually, distributed through a network of 800+ partners.
• Food for Tomorrow: Staff help families apply for public benefits like SNAP, WIC, and Medicaid—a critical buffer against hunger that’s often underutilized due to fear or stigma.
• Food for a Lifetime: From workforce development to on-site farming, the Food Bank is helping San Antonians build long-term economic stability and reconnect with where food comes from.
But here’s the challenge: Federal funding cuts are threatening programs like The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which helps supply food pantries across Texas. If sustained, those cuts could mean fewer healthy groceries—and more empty shelves at a time when food insecurity is still high.
🎧 Part 1 – How the San Antonio Food Bank Serves 100,000 People a Week (with Eric Cooper)
🎧 Part 2 – Farming the Future at the Food Bank (with Mitch Hagney)
💡 Get Involved: Whether you give food, time, dollars, or your voice, the Food Bank depends on all four. As Eric puts it, “The Food Bank feeds the entire community.”
🦋 Texas Nature Journal: A Texas Native Plant Nursery Worth the Trip
If you’ve ever tried to landscape in San Antonio using big-box store plants, you probably know the feeling: sun-scorched leaves, stubborn soil, and the nagging sense that nothing is meant to grow here. That’s why I keep going back to Pollinatives, a Texas Native Plant nursery located just northeast of town.
This week, I visited the nursery with my camera and caught up with co-owner Donald Gerber, who walked me through some of the most versatile, drought-hardy, and pollinator-friendly plants you can buy in town.
🎥 Watch the full video tour here:
What Makes Pollinatives Stand Out:
• Hyper-local inventory: Just about every plant sold here is native to Texas—and often, specific to Central or South Texas.
• Deep knowledge, zero pretension: Donald doesn’t just know his plants—he teaches you how they behave. From why Bluebonnet seeds don’t all sprout at once (hint: evolutionary survival strategy) to the best grass for deep shade (Inland Sea Oats), there’s always something new to learn.
• Designed for our region’s challenges: Whether you’ve got rocky Hill Country soil, a dry hell strip between sidewalk and street, or a shady spot beneath an oak tree—there’s something here for your space.
• Affordability and sustainability: Donald’s advice? Start small. A $4 plant in a 4-inch pot often outperforms its $40 cousin if planted carefully.
This visit reminded me that sustainable landscaping starts with better nursery choices. If we want more pollinators, beauty, and resilience in our neighborhoods, we need to support retailers like Pollinatives—people working with, not against, the rhythms of our place.
👉 Mention “Ensemble TX” at checkout and get 10% off your purchase.
📍 Pollinatives is located in Converse, TX—open weekends & some weekdays. More info here.
If you check out any of this week’s picks—or have thoughts on what it really means to support local in San Antonio—I’d love to hear from you.
Just hit reply and let me know what resonated.
And if A Guide to Living in San Antonio helps you feel more connected to this place we call home, consider forwarding it to a friend. More eyes, means more good ideas!
Want to collaborate or support this work? Reach out anytime:
📩 sponsor@ensembletexas.com
Until next time,
Cory