The Fruteria is a Hip Twist!

Update to readers: This restaurant closed in January 2025 and is opening with a new concept.

 

I have been anxiously awaiting the opening of The Fruteria. It is the latest restaurant concept by Chef Johnny Hernandez. I am a huge fan of La Gloria, his restaurant at the Pearl Brewery, so I was more than curious to see his take on a fruteria, which in case you are not familiar, is a Mexican fruit stand.The name fruteria means “green grocer.”

It is located in a newer part of downtown San Antonio known as the Lone Star Arts District. It is not too far from the Guenther House, King William and Southtown. I haven’t  traveled down this part of  Flores Street in a very long time. The whole area now consists of lofts and apartment buildings converted from old buildings and warehouses.

 

 

 

 

 

It looks very cool, hip and trendy!

Since I have a husband, 3 kids and a dog while residing in suburbia, I was excited about attempting to feel hip for an hour or more!

 

 

 

 

The colors inside are very bright and cheery but it also has a warm feel from some wood elements found throughout the dining areas. There are two huge TV’s that had the playoff game on which made my teenage boy very happy.

 

We were there for Sunday brunch so we were given a brunch specific menu. In addition to the regular choices of tortas and tostadas, you can order salads and speciality items that contain eggs, bacon, potatoes, chorizo and other types of breakfast ingredients.

 

 

We had to order the fruit cup. Our server offered to bring  the traditional lime juice and chile on the side in case our kids didn’t care for the taste.The fruit was so fresh. One child didn’t like the chile but the other two did!

 

 

 

 

 

She was extremely helpful with all the menu items and brought us a  lot of different samples of the aquas frescas. These fruit juice drinks are made in house and vary according to what fruit is in season. We ended up ordering a simple orange juice and a pineapple/cantaloupe combination. They were both incredibly good and fresh and worth every penny of the $3.00 price. I was intrigued by a sample that was called oatmeal. I am going to have to go back and have an entire serving. It looked like milk but tasted like oatmeal sweetened with honey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The serving portions are pretty big but we decided to get a variety of food to share, so we could taste a little bit of everything. They do not have a kids menu but we weren’t too concerned about ordering off of the menu; our children are pretty adventurous when it comes to food.

 

The vegetarian tostada

 

 

An appetizer of chips and salsa is also available. It comes with a combination of potato and corn chips. The salsa is made of a red chili that is full of flavor but not in the least bit too spicy. It somehow goes perfectly with both types of chips. Our kids ate the chips pretty fast but luckily more was served with one of our tortas.

 

 

 

 

The vegetarian torta had a huge amount of fresh vegetables. I don’t think I’ve ever had cauliflower on a sandwich and the kids even loved it. The only complaint was that there was too much liquid of some sort, so the bread got soggy pretty quickly.

 

 

 

 

Our son really loved his specialty breakfast torta. It had eggs, bacon, and avocado with cheese that was oozing out of the side, just the way he likes it. The bread on both of these sandwiches was so fresh and had the perfect amount of crunch on the outside to enhance the flavor with each bite.

 

 

 

 

We also ordered the chicken tinga and vegetarian tostadas. Our kids loved the shredded chicken that was served on top and ate the rest with a fork. The crunchy part of the tostadas were saved by the kids to eat last and were not the least bit soggy.

 

 

 

 

I just wish there were a little more black beans on the vegetarian tostada, there wasn’t enough to get much flavor out of the beans.

 

 

 

 

Our favorite item also happened to be the most unusual. It was a jicama salad that is served with jicama, cucumbers, zucchini, cantaloupe, and toasted almonds. It is covered in lime juice and extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with guajillo dust. The flavors all come together for an incredibly healthy, fresh, and unique salad.

 

 

 

There were so many other items on the menu that we weren’t able to order. Although, it gives us the perfect excuse to go back without the kids on date night. After all, you can only feel so cool, trendy, and hip when you have to ask if they have a kid’s menu!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You need to file The Fruteria under your next date night destination!

Their website is found by clicking on THEFRUTERIA.

 

 

Stay Sassy Y’all.