the esquire tavern

i thoroughly enjoyed my cheesy, spicy sirloin burger, and my friend enjoyed his tacos con papas (which reportedly had meat in them, even though it is not mentioned on the menu description) and chalupitas.

great place for crafted quality drinks. much respect to the bartenders here. the amount of detail and time that goes into making these one of a kind drinks shows the respect that a good spirt deserves. their food is a perfect selection to complement the drinks. deviled eggs - wow! this is a must try for the true cocktail enthusiast

avoid like the hipster plaque it is. hipster bar where everything is super organic. my bison burger was edible at first but 2 bites in it was salty to the point where i had to order a glass of water. the burger was topped with pickled red onions (which i asked not to receive but did anyways), and a list of topping not listed on the menu to include: a huge portion of mayo, organic lettuce, and a hodge podge of other peppers. don't think your burger is coming with fries either you're in a hipster bar after all so enjoy your 1 piece of couliflour, you 1 sliced green chili pepper and a quarter sized carrot portion. wife got the chicken salad and it was a slurry of chicken onions and mayo scooped onto a lettuce leaf. this entire abortion was very expensive (almost 40$ in total). avoid, avoid, avoid.

amateur hour. i went for lunch and the bartender looked 15 years old which didn't give me a lot of confidence in the place. he couldn't find any bottles and had everyone behind the bar helping him which made for an unrelaxed chaotic scene. he had to make some drinks for a party of about 4 people outside so took down his trusty book as he didn't know how to make them and proceeded to take about 30 minutes to get them together. when i made a comment ot the manager about his disorganization she shrugged and said "he's very young" - this is supposed to be a sophisticated cocktail bar with people who know what they are doing. and a glass of house white wine is $11 which is really too much for san antonio. give this place a miss!

the food was fine, much better than what was available in any of the other surrounding tourist traps, the cocktails are really the draw here. a cozy spot that draws a friendly eclectic / random crowd.

oaxacan mule.. what a great drink! i'm so sick of overly sweet cocktails, and this one was wonderfully tart and refreshing.

so living in san antonio for the last 7 years, i never spent time on the riverwalk. we decided to last night and came across the esquire. amazing, awesome & cool! the place is just very welcoming, very friendly and knowledgeable staff. they knew the history of the drinks, why they were made, etc. we will be back for sure. the drink were great, a little pricy but worth it. we didn't get to eat but the food looks great will be back for that.

re-assessment of the esquire tavern. benjamin visited recently and came to certain final conclusions about this place. i genuinely respect his reviews so i decided to come in for a visit.
i have to agree with several things that were said. there is a bit of a forced non-reality about the place. a certain off putting quality about their service and general demeanor.
he is right about the nature of the vibe. for me it is like a visit to an alt-disney reinterpretation of a new york lower east side experience. as a person who lives in san antonio and new york i should know. benjamin is spot on. by the way, the restaurants in the lower east side treat their customers much better. just head down st. marks pl. for that reality.
touche, to benjamin. i am going to join benjamin and not bother to return as well.


-----09 jul, 2011-----

so this is the new esquire, very cool.. this place reminds me of one of my favorite eclectic dives in astoria, queens, new york. it has a very cool vibe with an interesting clientele. i didn't see many tourists in the place so i assume they are not too comfortable with the look of the place. great. i really enjoyed the greasy hamburger but it looks like the place has food a step above pub food. i will be coming back.

it's a tavern people!. we fell in love with this place from the first time we sat down for drinks. we have brought several out of town guests in for drinks who have also enjoyed the gritty atmosphere. first off, anyone who is going into a tavern for an uplifting "wine" experience just makes me laugh! their wine list isn't something that is going to make you do back flips but they have some decent wines by the glass. as a matter of fact, they have even opened a new bottle of wine for me upon request b/c i didn't want anything that had jumped the shark. i will admit that our service hasn't always been speedy, but i didn't mind grabbing someone to get their attention. the food isn't bad for tavern food....we have eaten their on several occasions and i will tell you compared to some of the other tourist trap restaurants on the river walk....they have decent food, freshly prepared and good portions. all in all this is a great little place to relax, have some great drinks and soak in the ambiance. if you are looking for 3 or 4 star dining....this isn't your place; however, if you want some great drinks and atmosphere...this is the perfect place. in fact, taking some more out of "towners" to the esquire in just a few hours!

rather disappointed. we went to the esquire expecting greatness and received meh-ness. the drinks were pretty good for a fairly decent price, but the service was terrible. we got there and after finding seats at the bar we watched bartender after bartender walk by ignoring us before a manager finally realized we hadn't been served and took our drink orders. i had really high hopes for the esquire, but i probably won't go back.

thanks, but no thanks.. this is going to be a difficult review, because i know i'm going to go across the grain a little bit. to me, this place is just a bar. albeit, a good bar, with some really fun drinks. almost too fun - the demimonde kool-aid crowd will love this place. and i get that. young crowd, & alcohol with lots of sugar - who would've guessed!?!
but along with the bar comes two well-known bar staples - sub-par bar food, and a really poor wine list. the menu reads interesting enough (ooh - that sounds good...), but just doesn't deliver. everything is doused in a salt/spice mixture (which goes really good with sweetened alcohol, huh?) and then gets delivered on blotter paper to soak up all the grease. it's been a long time since i've had such an exciting build-up only to experience such a crushing let-down. (houston, we have a problem...)
i wont even discuss the wine at length. my waiters look of petulance when he learned i wasnt ordering a sweet-water vermouth whatever was just priceless enough to be comical. "what wines do you have?". "gosh, i'll have to go look - we don't really sell very much wine." okay. got it. its a tavern. "well, please just bring me something red. thanks." and just to make sure i truly wouldn't enjoy my very un-hip glass of wine - it was chilled. unbelievable.
the atmosphere is - well - dark. transylvania dungeon dark. (in fact, i'm pretty sure the light bulbs are edison's 1st attempt - don't really produce any light, but they do look really cool) this is kind of surprising to me too, because the uber-cool that will want to haunt this place need to be seen. they'll just have to make do with the glow from their smartphone's, i guess. there is a balcony on the riverwalk - with 3 very small tables. please let me know how that works out.
parking here is non-existent. period. riding the bus here is your best hope. i did find a garage 2 blocks down, and all this did was add a $10.00 bill to my dining experience here.
in summary - its just a bar. which i am sure some will find enjoyable. but for me, there's just so much that it doesn't offer on so many levels. so, respectfully, thanks, but no thanks.

a hidden gem on the riverwalk.... i love the esquire! i work on the riverwalk and finding a decent spot with good, affordable drinks and food is really hard in an urban area congested with over-priced, low-quality tourist restaurants.
the esquire has a fantastic atmosphere, and if it's cool enough- the balcony is awesome too.
as a vegetarian, sometimes my options are limited when i go out, but the tacos con papas hits the spot every time and i always recommend them to friends! moderately spicy, medium sized dish (not a large meal but nice for a hearty snack). the chili salt fries are amazing and the fried pickles are good too.
friends have had the bison burger and the fried fish sandwich and raved about them...buuuuttt, for an eleven dollar burger, it'd be nice to get some fries.
they have a fantastic selections of texas beers, and they have a great liquor selection. try the french 75 if you feel a little daring...it's gin, lemon and champagne...it sounds strange but it is fantastic!

the staff is all pretty friendly, at least mid-day, when i usually go...natalie is a fantastic waitress, she'll take care of you and can answer even the most complicated questions, particularly for a picky vegetarian like me!

the first time i went they lost my wife's drink order. the second time they double billed us. tonight it took me 15 minutes and 3 bardenters to close out my tab. great drinks, but some of the worst service in town.

great atmosphere. skip the food, stick with the drinks.

my favorite. absolutely dig this place. i wish it was cheaper, but you get what you pay for.