Wine and dine at San Antonio’s Pearl restaurants from morning till night

It’s a lot to squeeze into one day. But if I had one day to wine and dine you at the Pearl, here’s where I’d take you, broken down into 10 phases of the day, starting at 6:30 a.m. for coffee and running until midnight and beyond for drinks, with multiple choices for lunch and happy hour to experience the Pearl’s newest destinations and revisit some old favorites.

MORNING COFFEE

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Local Coffee Founders. The caffeine starts flowing at 6:30 on weekday mornings, 7 a.m. on the weekends. The shop’s tall windows offer a great view of the dogwalkers, restaurant workers and early risers that get the Pearl’s day going. Go for a strong drip coffee, a properly bitter espresso or the sweet, refreshing jolt of a salted caramel iced latte. 302 Pearl Parkway at the Pearl, 210-530-1004, localcoffee.com 

BREAKFAST

Supper. Breakfast at Supper. I like the contradiction in that. Hotel Emma’s elegant flagship restaurant starts serving breakfast at 7 a.m. from an all-day menu that runs until 5 p.m., with a menu that includes eggs Benedict with sweet ricotta and fruit (Emma’s Breakfast) and French toast with a maple and pepita crumble so sweet you don’t need syrup. 136 E. Grayson St. at Hotel Emma at the Pearl, 210-448-8351, supperatemma.com

Chilaquil (for breakfast tacos). I’m obligated by local ordinance to alert you to the presence of breakfast tacos at the Pearl. This is where they live, at Chilaquil at the Bottling Department food hall from 8 a.m. to noon every day, where they offer seven varieties on soft flour tortillas with spicy orange and green salsas. 312 Pearl Parkway, Building 6, at the Bottling Department food hall at the Pearl, eatchilaquil.com

LUNCH

Arrosta. This new rustic Italian trattoria just outside the Pearl’s main campus showcases the cooking of respected chef Robbie Nowlin, who can be seen rolling out pasta with dusty hands as lunch service gets going at 11 a.m. Try his robust lasagna Bolognese with a glass of aggressive Sicilian red wine, or order the chef’s special three-course lunch. 1803 Broadway, Suite 101, 210-979-9950, arrostapearl.com 

Ladino. Chef Berty Richter grew up in Israel speaking the Sephardic Jewish language called Ladino, and he’s brought the culture and its mix of Mediterranean and Middle East cuisine to the Pearl. Let go of your gyro-and-pita fixation and embrace spicy lamb ribs, rich lamb-and-beef dumplings called shish barak, roasted red pepper muhammara with pecans and the fresh fish  revelation of agristada. Mainly a dinner destination, Ladino recently added lunch hours Friday through Sunday. 200 E. Grayson St., Suite 100, at the Pearl, 210-325-6007, ladinosatx.com 

Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery. Southerleigh’s always been the kind of place to roll-your-sleeves-up and get some fried chicken, fresh oysters and house-brewed beer. They closed for a few weeks this fall to polish and upgrade their dinner menu and refresh their outlook. But hey, the fried chicken’s as good as ever, marinated in a salty brine, fried hot to order with biscuits and red-eye gravy. Even at lunch, maybe especially at lunch, it goes great with whatever the brewers have up their tattooed sleeves. 136 E. Grayson St., Suite 120, at the Pearl, 210-455-5701, southerleigh.com

BRUNCH

Full Goods Diner. Brunch is whenever you say it is, and Full Goods is there for it from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday. This stylish diner arose from the popular Austin breakfast food truck Paperboy, and the menu features steak and eggs, a thick Dutch baby-style pancake, cocktails, coffee and Texas Hash with roasted pork, sweet potatoes, a poached egg and pecan mole. 200 E. Grayson St., Suite 120, at the Pearl, 210-819-4226, fullgoodsdiner.com 

AFTERNOON COFFEE

Bakery Lorraine. You need coffee to prep for the night ahead. Bakery Lorraine pours the full range, but cappuccino in a giant white ceramic mug is just the thing to set down beside Lorraine’s fabled pastel rainbow of featherlight macarons, a layered almond croissant and its pumped-up version of a Pop-Tart. They’re open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. 306 Pearl Parkway, Suite 110, at the Pearl, 210-862-5582, bakerylorraine.com 

HAPPY HOUR

Best Quality Daughter (5 to 6 p.m. weekdays). One hour isn’t very long to take advantage of half-price cocktails and $3 beers, but it’s enough time to take in the custom San Antonio wallpaper and the charming Insta-ready cuteness of this Chinese-American restaurant named for a line in “The Joy Luck Club.” Try the cheeky tequila-lychee cocktail Are You There God? It’s Me, Margarita, grab a $3 Singha beer from Thailand and add on a few regular-price appetizers, including giant Bougie Egg Rolls and vegan-friendly Impossible Potstickers. 602 Ave. A at the Pearl, 210-819-4236, bestqualitydaughter.com

Botika (4 to 6 p.m. daily). This Peruvian-Chinese-Japanese restaurant is an education in world foodways, and the teaching doesn’t stop at happy hour, when a $10 flight of five sakes will take you beyond hot cups of the cheap stuff to explore the worlds of ginjo, junmai, draft and sparkling sakes with names like Winter Warrior and Bride of the Fox. Pair those with $6 achiote chicken wings or $10 sushi rolls, including the Dragon Roll’s double crunch of tempura shrimp and crispy noodles. 303 Pearl Parkway, Suite 111, at the Pearl, 210-670-7684, botikapearl.com

Carriqui (4 to 6 p.m. weekdays). If dinner at Carriqui is a platter-size commitment to the barbacoa, achiote chicken, smoked brisket, grilled seafood and ceviche of South Texas and Mexico, think of happy hour as a handshake to meet this Pearl newcomer, housed in the former leaning home of Liberty Bar, now a modern Southern mansion of a place. For $8, let tequila guide you to a respectable frozen margarita or a cocktail made with Mexican Coke, tequila and lime called the Charro Negro. Another $8 buys some of the best tacos dorados with potatoes in the city. 239  E. Grayson St. at the Pearl, 210-910-5547, carriquitx.com

Cured (3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday). There’s a reason Cured chef and owner Steve McHugh’s been nominated a million times for a James Beard Award. His mix of Southern spicing, Midwestern heartiness and Texas swagger makes Cured one of the best restaurants in San Antonio, not just the Pearl. During happy hour, Cured’s signature heritage hog poutine with turmeric cauliflower is just $8.50, a double cheeseburger made with Pabst Blue Ribbon is just $7.50, and fried quail legs clock in at 50 cents apiece. Drink a $5 Rose Quartz Cocktail with gin and $2.50 locally made HighWheel Betty kolsch. 306 Pearl Parkway, Suite 101, at the Pearl, 210-314-3929, curedatpearl.com

EARLY DINNER

Savor. One of the Pearl’s greatest accomplishments was luring the Culinary Institute of America to its basecamp. Great for the students; even better for us. Because the CIA operates Savor, an elegant little bistro across from Hotel Emma that offers three- or four-course dinners during the school year for $45 and $53 respectively. It’s one of the best fine-dining restaurant values in the city. And with hospitality professionals Fabien Jacob and chef Sofía Sada supervising the advanced student crew, Savor turns out white tablecloth-quality roasted lamb, softshell crab, lobster tlacoyo and deconstructed tres leches cake with service that feels like the staff has some skin in the game. 200 E. Grayson St., Suite 117, at the Pearl, 210-554-6484, savorcia.com

LATE DINNER

Brasserie Mon Chou Chou. When the Express-News started doing full restaurant reviews again in 2020 after a pandemic grace period, Brasserie Mon Chou earned a full five stars with a fully immersive French experience, from the confident European decor to the hospitality of a veteran staff led by Philippe Placé to the perfectly tuned kitchen of chef Laurent Réa. It’s still all of those things, with a dinner that might include classic steak frites seared rare, a strong Vieux Carre cocktail, a charcuterie plate like an oil painting and scallops with lobster served on half-shells like The Birth of Venus painting. 312 Pearl Parkway, Building 2, Suite 2104, at the Pearl, 210-469-3743, brasseriemonchouchou.com

DESSERT

Lick Honest Ice Creams. Sometimes you just want ice cream. Lick honors that desire with ice cream that’s simple and complex at the same time. Simply cold, simply creamy, simply delicious. But complex enough to embrace ingredients like roasted beets and fresh mint or dark chocolate with olive oil and sea salt. They’re open until 11 p.m., late enough to catch dessert after just about anywhere at the Pearl. 312 Pearl Parkway, Suite 2101, at the Pearl, 210-314-8166, ilikelick.com 

DRINKS

High Street Wine Co. The bottle list goes on for pages and pages at High Street, a wine bar and retail shop with a speakeasy vibe inside and a wall of windows that opens onto a courtyard when the weather’s nice. The staff speaks the language of wine aficionados, ready to nerd out over tannins and terroir, by the glass or by the bottle. And they’re always ready with a flight of three well-chosen wines built around a theme for about $25. A flight called Home for the Holidays featured French wines made with the sauvignon blanc, garnacha and malbec grapes that found fame in other parts of the world. A 3-choice charcuterie board for $20 included lamb salami, smoked duck ham and deep orange mimolette cheese with baguette, pickles and jams. 302 Pearl Parkway, Suite 104, at the Pearl, 210-908-9144, highstreetwine.com 

Sternewirth. There’s a fine line between turn-of-the-century industrial design and steampunk, and Sternewirth is happy in both worlds. The cavernous tavern inside the equally eclectic Hotel Emma is decked out with fermentation tanks as private booths, columns like a Goth cathedral and a second-floor mezzanine to watch it all unfold. There’s a food menu served until 11 p.m. that includes a first-class double cheeseburger, but the bar’s the thing, rolling until midnight Sunday through Thursday and all the way to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Here’s your chance to try the Three Emmas cocktail. Take it. Made with gin, Pearl Beer and sherry, it’s named for the true-crime story of the Pearl founder and the three women in his life, all named Emma. 136 E. Grayson St. at Hotel Emma at the Pearl, 210-223-7375, thehotelemma.com/culinary/sternewirth