EAT HERE NOW

Comfort with a Purpose

The donation-based Comfort Café serves up homecooked classics in support of addiction recovery

BY EMILY GUAJARDO

THE COMFORT CAFE

5616 Bandera Road 512-575-0348 serenitystar.org/ san-antonio

Breakfast & lunch

Friday-Sunday

elicious, old-fashioned diner food is served with a smile (behind D a mask, for now) at the Comfort Café, but the 1950s-themed eatery with Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra vinyls pinned up on the wall is about more than just good food—it’s in the business of personal transformation.

One of seven divisions of SerenityStar Recovery, a nonprofit peer-to-peer residential program for recovering addicts and alcoholics who are working a 12-step program, Comfort Café began first in Smithville and last May expanded to San Antonio under the direction of founders Teri and Linda Lopez. The two met in 2005 at an outpatient recovery program in New York while on their own journey toward sobriety and relocated to Texas to start anew.

“When I moved from New York, I saw that all these restaurants had was Tex-Mex food with the exception of that one Dairy Queen,” Teri says, of their original outpost in Smithville. “That’s why when we started the Comfort Café, we wanted to bring foods that we loved back in New York—things like

ORDER THIS

San Antonio Burger Huevos Rancheros

Chocolate Strawberry French Toast

Chicken Curry Salad

a Reuben and different plates—and it’s obvious people really seem to like it, not only for the food, but for the mission behind our café.”

Teri says the recovery process can be an intense one so along with a place for their favorite foods, the café also was an outlet where program residents could begin learning new skills and practicing everything from maintaining eye contact with customers to accounting or baking.

“A lot of people assume that recovering means that you are broken or were broken at some point and that’s just not the case,” she says. “Many, if not all, of our residents are good people that went down a wrong path and are just trying to find a way out. Our program, this café, is their way out and back into the world. So, the person serving your coffee or taking your plate is learning as they go. In a way, you are part of their full recovery.”

Each dish has a suggested donation price, but the restaurant operates on a pay-what-you-can model.

The top-selling San Antonio Burger is a meal in itself as the house-seasoned beef and pork chorizo patty is topped with thick cheddar slices, house salsa, creamy chipotle mayonnaise, a deep-fried egg and crispy bacon.

For breakfast, indulge in huevos rancheros or the dessert-like chocolate strawberry French toast. Dipped in homemade batter and stuffed with whipped cream cheese, the platter of goodness is topped with fresh strawberries and plenty of chocolate drizzle. Those in the mood for something a little healthier will enjoy the Greek goddess omelet with spinach and roasted pepper or one of the many specialty salads, including a chicken curry with pecans and cran raisins.

Each server, line cook and baker has a story that includes pain and heartache but they also have an internal drive to change. Chris Homer, general manager for the San Antonio café and Serenity Star member, says that while food is a way of getting people around the table, the bigger picture is to show mercy and grace to those recovering and to create an environment where everyone is welcome.

“When I came in, I was broken. I thought that I didn’t deserve help or the air that I was breathing,” Homer says. “But they were able to show me a new way of life and they were willing to teach me how to love myself and that gave me life ... this café gives people their second chance and then they can go out and share that with someone else.”

12 Spots for Tamales

ADELANTE RESTAURANT (Alamo Heights) Known for its healthy take on Tex-Mex, Adelante offers handmade tamales and other fare for pickup or dine-in service. Tamale fillings change by the day, but they’re always served with enchilada sauce. 21 Brees Blvd., 210-8227681, adelanterestaurant.com

ADELITA TAMALES & TORTILLA (Los Angeles Heights) This institution was founded in 1938 and continues to deliver well-made pork, bean jalapeño and chicken tamales, made with nixtamalized corn. Meats, including barbacoa and carnitas, also are available by the pound. 1130 Fresno Drive, 210-733-5352, adelitatamales.com

B&B TAMALES & FOOD TO GO (South Side) Drive by too quickly and you might miss it. This family-run stop near South San Antonio High School is known for its pork and bean and jalapeño tamales. They’re affordable, authentic and sell out quickly. 866 W. Mayfield, 210-921-0847

DELICIOUS TAMALES (Multiple) A 30-plus-year San Antonio tradition, Delicious Tamales is 100 percent woman- and Hispanic-owned and delivers tamales made with the traditional techniques Valerie Gonzalez learned from her mother and aunts while growing up. Tamales can be picked up or ordered for shipping. Multiple locations, delicioustamales.com

JACALA (West Central) Rudolph and Adel Quinones started Jacala as a small dining room on Wilson Boulevard after he returned from serving in World War II. It’s since grown into a restaurant with multiple dining rooms and an outdoor patio plus plenty of pickup and delivery options for tamales and other favorites. Pork tamales are served with chili. 606 West Ave., 210-7325222, jacala.com

LA LUZ TORTILLA FACTORY (Los Angeles Heights) Flour tortillas, pork and chicken tamales, barbacoa and menudo are all house-made and there are always cans of Big Red to pair with your barbacoa. 4120 Blanco Road, 210-734-8523, facebook.com/laluztortillas

MARTINEZ BARBACOA & TAMALES (Alta Vista) Place an order for hand-rolled pork, chicken, bean or pork and jalapeño and don’t forget pan dulce from the in-store bakery case. 728 Fredericksburg Road, 210-734-6621, facebook.com/martinez-barbacoa-y-tamales

MI CASA TAMALES (Boerne) Enjoy fresh tamales on the expansive patio, where there’s live music on the weekends, or pick them up to take home for the holiday. All tamales are crafted without preservatives and are gluten-free. Try cream cheese jalapeño, chicken verde or traditional pork. 25930 I-10 W., Boerne, 210-698-6672, micasatamales.com

MIMI’S BARBACOA TACOS, TAMALES Y MAS (North Central) A third-generation family-run restaurant that’s known for its barbacoa, Mimi’s delivers breakfast tacos, chilaquiles and machado and its signature barbacoa and carnitas until they’re sold out. Call ahead to see if pork, pork jalapeño and chicken tamales are on the menu for the day. 10918 Wurzbach Road, Ste. 134, 210-558-6008, facebook.com/mimisbarbacoa

SARAH’S BARBACOA (Northwest) Teen Sarah Hernandez is officially CEO of this family restaurant, but her mother, Irma, is the one behind the classic tamales, using a recipe she learned from a grandmother in northern Mexico. Tamales can sell out so call ahead for large orders. 6330 De Zavala Road, 210-263-9955, facebook.com/sarahsbarbacoa

SA TAMALE BOY (South Side) Call orders in for tamales of every variety—from pork, chicken, beef and bean to cream cheese jalapeño, BBQ brisket, carne guisada and cream cheese with chicken and spinach. Tamale plates are also available for catering. 5300 S. Flores St., 210663-2033, satamaleboy.com

TEKA MOLINO (North Central, Terrell Hills) Pork tamales can be ordered by the dozen, individually or as part of a plate with enchiladas. Catering is also available for those larger holiday tamale orders. 7231 San Pedro Ave., 210-344-7281; 1007 Rittiman Road, Ste. 101, 210-2575514, tekamolino.com

Restaurants' service and menus may be affected by COVID-19. Please call ahead to confirm. For our full directory San Antonio restaurants, visit sanantoniomag.com/restaurants-bars.

OFF MENU

News from the restaurant scene

Bar Loretta has plans to open in early 2021 in the former Madhatter’s Café, which closed when the owners decided to retire. / The Hayden, a Texas-style Jewish deli, opened in Alamo Heights. / Southerleigh Hospitality Group is behind the new French restaurant, Mon Chou Chou, set to open in late November in the former Nao at Pearl. / Vietnam-based Lustea, which serves tea, bubble tea and food items, opened its first U.S. location in San Antonio this fall. / The chefs behind Mixtli are opening Kumo, a Japanese-Mexican concept, in Mixtli’s former home at The Yard in Olmos Park. Mixtli will reopen in a larger space in Southtown in early 2021. / Pinkerton’s Barbecue, a Houston-based eatery named one of Texas Monthly’s 50 best, plans to open a location in San Antonio later this year. / Tandem opened on the South Side, serving coffee, beer and wine. / Jaime’s Place, an indoor-outdoor bar on the West Side, opened in October. / Central and South American chain Cerveceria Chapultepec opened its first U.S. location in the former Fontaine’s near Pearl, with a single-price model—everything on the menu costs $2.90. / Longhorn Cafe sent a cease and desist letter to Andrew Weissman and his Mr. Juicy restaurants asking that Weissman discontinue the use of the word “juicy” because Longhorn has copyrighted the phrases “home of the original big juicy” and “original big juicy.”

Tell us about your favorite Mexican food or Tex-Mex recipe. Where did you learn the recipe from and is there a restaurant in town that prepares it the way you like?

Since I grew up on South Texas comfort food and discovered regional Mexican dishes later in life, I’ll offer two answers: For Tex-Mex, it’s the thick and flaky flour tortillas that my mom taught me how to make when I was a kid. Nobody makes them quite the same way, but perhaps the closest is M&I Meat Market on the West Side. For interior Mexican, it’s another simple dish, chilaquiles, and Guajillo's makes my favorite restaurant version. A plate of those always takes me back to Mexico City and Cuernavaca.