Two Step In for an Unforgettable Experience

Nestled among the hustle and bustle of 1604 and a retail shopping center is an oasis of great food. Never have I been more surprised about a restaurant than I was last week when I met someone for lunch at Two Step at their suggestion. What I had planned as a quick lunch soon turned into over two hours of one of the most pleasant dining experiences I have had in a very long time. My lunch companion and I were having such a relaxing time on the patio that we were both almost late for our next appointments.

The building itself is the renovated Ruempel homestead built in the 1850’s. They preserved the main house and the barn made of the original limestone and successfully blended together one of the most beautiful modern designs of a restaurant you will ever see. I just knew that the interior decorator had to be an award-winning designer. When I inquired about who designed the restaurant, I was told it was one of Chef Steve Warner’s wife’s friends. She has no design experience at all. I would hire her in a minute! This is what I loved the most about hearing the restaurant’s whole story. Chef Warner is from San Antonio and worked all over the United States acquiring various skills but he came back home when it was time to raise a family. Many of his family members work at the restaurant including his wife. There is a definite feeling of family at Two Step. On both of my visits, the wait staff was eager to tell me as many details about the building as I wanted to hear. And believe me, I asked a lot of questions. I was fascinated by just how they could combine the two buildings together so beautifully in such a manner that you were never aware of what it had been previously. I fell in love with the light fixtures and decorations throughout the restaurant. I heard similar conversations from other tables. I could go on and on about the atmosphere of this restaurant, but you really need to go see it in person for yourself. Can you believe I haven’t even gotten to the food?

The menu definitely seems to lean towards authentic Texas BBQ but there are a variety of other food choices for everyone. The price of the food seems very reasonable compared to the quality and quantity that you are served. On my first visit, I split some appetizers of the avocado stuffed with smoked chicken served on a bed of lettuce, which was incredibly rich and full of flavor. The other appetizer was the firecracker shrimp. It is a wonton that is wrapped around shrimp and served with a sweet and tangy dipping sauce. The shrimp was my favorite part of this creative appetizer. Chef Warner was most recently at Wildfish before opening Two Step, so I wasn’t surprised that this was one of several fish items on the menu. My main dish was the Two Step salad with your choice of protein and salad dressing. I chose the blackened catfish with the cilantro dressing and it was cooked to perfection. My companion twisted my arm to split dessert.  We chose the bread pudding that is served with vanilla bean ice cream. There were huge raisins, and it was seasoned with a lot of cinnamon, which I loved. It was perfectly moist inside but had the crunchy crust that is my absolute favorite part of any bread pudding.

I enjoyed my first visit so much that I brought my family back over the weekend. I had all of my kids with me, and we stayed over two hours again. The back patio has a lawn area for the kids to play but mine were perfectly content at our table.

We ordered a big variety of food. Our appetizer was the fried ribs. Yes, fried. My son was in heaven but I thought the ribs were wonderful without the crust. The twins spilt the brisket platter that came with a side, and we chose the green beans. All of my children love salad and most vegetables. Yes, I am one lucky Mom! They actually gave you a choice of a lean or fatty cut of brisket. It had such a wonderful smoke flavor that was even better the next day since we took home so many leftovers. My son ordered the hamburger which he eats pretty plain but it is served with a side of french fries which were good, not great but the taste of the burger more than made up for this. The bun was not your ordinary burger bun. It was crunchy on the outside and almost had a sourdough flavor to it. The combination together was very unexpected and quite delicious.

I went with the catfish, again, but this time in the form of tacos. It was served blackened on what had to be house made corn tortillas with crunchy cole slaw and a creamy spicy sauce that had just the right amount of kick. One of my daughters finished one of them for me.

My husband opted for the vegetable plate and ordered from the various sides. I begged him to get the roasted corn because I had a taste of that on my first visit. He ordered the corn, pinto beans, broccoli and rice casserole, and the steamed vegetables. The corn is served lathered in mayonnaise, cayenne pepper and other spices, as well as cojita cheese. I tried to be a lady and cut if off the husk but I can only imagine it tasting even better when you eat it with your hands. I am pretty sure I moaned when I had it again on our second visit. My husband enjoyed his choices so much that he said that he would order the exact same thing again. How do you make vegetables taste this good?

Finally, we ordered dessert to share for the table. We had the pecan pie and bread pudding. They were both served with the vanilla bean ice cream. I was told on this visit that all desserts are made in-house. The crust on the pecan pie was so thick and so very different then I have ever had before. It was my favorite of the two, and I usually don’t even like pecan pie that much. It had a hint of cinnamon but not the gooey center that you can sometimes find with this type of pie. The serving size was huge but the whole family enjoyed it to the very end.

As you can tell by my review, I loved both of my visits to Two Step. I can’t wait to take some of my friends that have kids so we can all relax on their back patio for at least two hours or more. I am sure my girlfriends will all enjoy my little HGTV guided tour of the restaurant.

This part of 1604 and Braun Road has long needed a great restaurant. What they now have is not only a great restaurant with wonderfully priced and delicious food but also a  beautiful space to hang out with your friends.

Two Step is located at 9840 West 1604 N San Antonio,TX  78254. The phone number is 210-688-2686. The website is www.twosteprestaurant.com.  Sassy Driving Tip: Headed West on 1604 then take a left at Braun Rd and turn right into Braun Pointe Shopping Center to avoid having having to turn around at the next red light.