Shop and Eat Like a Texan at San Antonio's Newest Market (2024)

Last week, Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group opened Pullman Market within San Antonio's bustling Pearl district, a longtime destination for shopping and eating. An epic grocery store, food hall, and multi-restaurant facility, Pullman Market has already become the go-to place for understanding and experiencing everything Texas has to offer.

The plan was to build a grocery store where you could buy the same premium ingredients that chefs use at their restaurants. “[Our community] really deserves the best of the best,” says 2016 Food & Wine Best New Chef Kevin Fink, partner and co-founder of Austin-based Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group.

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Just as Eataly is a one-stop shop for the Italian culinary experience, Pullman Market is Texan through and through, all built within one, gorgeous facility. On the same trip, shoppers can stock up on Sonoran-style tortillas, Barton Springs Mill flour, Texas wagyu, Gulf oysters, Texan wines, and bouquets of locally picked flowers.

The grocery store is the heart of Pullman Market, with all of the produce sourced directly from Texas farmers. The meat, fish, and every other product available goes through an internal audit to qualify for sale — while local, independent businesses/purveyors are preferable, the primary qualification is whether it’s something that could benefit the community.

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Many of the areas of the grocery store are linked to quick-service concepts, demonstrating how to utilize the raw ingredients in thoughtful, interactive, and shockingly affordable ways. There’s a bakery that produces sourdough bread and croissants, astand with fresh pastas, and a tortilleria making fresh flour tortillas. At the butcher, there’s a burger concept where you can get a Wagyu patty on a house-made milk bread bun for just $10. At the fishmonger, you can order ceviche, tacos (made on said flour tortillas), and platters of oysters. The deli counter, where they’re curing meat for charcuterie like bologna and mortadella, doubles as a sandwich shop. There’s also an ice cream bar and a coffee shop.

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Go deeper into Pullman Market and you’ll find casual, full-service restaurants: Fife and Farro, serving pasta and Neo-Neapolitan sourdough pizza and Mezquite, which celebrates the cuisine of Mexico’s Sonoran region. There’s also The Mezcaleria, which, unsurprisingly, is a top-notch mezcal bar. And later this year, the Emmer & Rye team will open a fine-dining restaurant called Isidore alongside Nicosi, a dessert tasting menu from the mind of 2020 Food & Wine Best New Chef Tavel Bristol-Joseph.

But the real magic at Pullman Market is how all these many concepts come together, ping-ponging raw ingredients and dish elements from one concept to another as seamlessly as a dance performance. The flour tortillas, sold by the pack at the market and on tacos at Mezquite and the cevicheria, are made with Wagyu beef and pork lard from the butcher. The Wagyu beef also makes an appearance at Fife and Farro, where it’s made into a ragu and tops the tagliatelle. Leftover chicken parts are used to create one of the most innovative treats at Pullman — chicken stock caramel swirl ice cream in a crispy chicken skin waffle cone (cheekily coined the “Hey Bird!”). Any scraps that they can’t find a use for? It’s composted and sent back to the farmers.

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While a concept like Pullman may be reminiscent of other multi-concept food halls like Eataly, there has never been something quite so locally-driven and community-minded.

“My dream is that [Pullman Market] becomes a replicable idea — not just by us, but by many,” says Fink. “An evolution that allows farmers to produce and gather together and be celebrated. To have food shift from that transactional space to one of deeper meaning, and to just allow people to really learn and interact with food.”

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Fink also thinks places like Pullman Market can have the power to eliminate the taboo of working in the service industry. “I really hope that we’re able to make something that people can be really proud of working in,” he says. “People can be proud of being a vendor [here] and the community itself can feel the impact of it.”

The opening of Pullman Market marks a massive step forward in the grocery store industry beyond just San Antonio — one that will lead to more accessible, delicious ingredients and a more fun shopping experience overall. Perhaps a Pullman-like market is the future. All we can do for now (unless you live in San Antonio) is wait for one to arrive in a city near you.

Shop and Eat Like a Texan at San Antonio's Newest Market (2024)

FAQs

What food is San Antonio, Texas known for? ›

10 Best Local Dishes from San Antonio
  • Puffy Tacos. Sample legendary taco variations. ...
  • Texas Quail. Order native Texas poultry. ...
  • See also. 10 Best Museums in San Antonio. ...
  • Sweet Potato Fries. Try a healthy alternative to French fries. ...
  • Chilaquiles Verdes. Enjoy flavorful Tex Mex. ...
  • Pozole. ...
  • Chicken Fried Steak. ...
  • Pan Dulce.

Who owns Pullman Market in San Antonio? ›

Pullman Market is the new 40,000-square-foot food hall and grocery store at Pearl in San Antonio from the Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group. I like that I can get coffee in a ceramic cup if I ask, because everybody knows coffee tastes better served in something heavy enough to match the weight of the day.

What is unique to San Antonio? ›

Only In San Antonio
  • "The World of Irreversible Change" at San Antonio Museum of Art. ...
  • Pullman Market. ...
  • Pearl. ...
  • San Antonio | The Saga at San Fernando Cathedral. ...
  • San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. ...
  • Historic Market Square. ...
  • Japanese Tea Garden. ...
  • San Antonio's Thriving Public Art Scene.

What is the oldest known restaurant in San Antonio? ›

Now, 100 years old, Schilo's is the oldest operating restaurant in San Antonio.

Is San Antonio a foodie town? ›

San Antonio – One of only two UNESCO-designated Creative Cities of Gastronomy in the country and the Culinary Capital of Texas®. We have big culinary accolades, and once you taste San Antonio's flavors, you'll understand why.

Who bought Pullman? ›

In 1944, the court concurred, ordering Pullman Incorporated to divest itself of either the Pullman Company (operating) or the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company (manufacturing). After three years of negotiations, the Pullman Company was sold to a consortium of 57 railroads for approximately US$40 million.

When did SWBC move to San Antonio? ›

1982. The headquarters for Southwest Business Corporation is relocated to San Antonio, Texas.

Who owns Central Market in San Antonio? ›

Central Market is an American gourmet grocery store chain owned by H-E-B Grocery Company based in San Antonio, Texas.

What is San Antonio's nickname? ›

San Antonio, also known by such titles as the Alamo City, the Mission City, the River City, and Military City, U.S.A. (which the city trademarked in 2017), has a 300-year history that stretches back to Spanish Texas with the establishment of a presidio, town, and five Franciscan missions along the San Antonio River.

What is the most famous thing in San Antonio? ›

If there's one thing San Antonio is known for, it's the Alamo. Once a Franciscan mission, it was here that 189 Texans fought and lost their lives in 1836 during a 13-day siege by Mexican ruler, President Antonio López de Santa Anna.

What is the famous walk in San Antonio called? ›

The San Antonio River Walk, also known as the Paseo del Rio, is a network of walkways along the banks of the San Antonio River in downtown San Antonio, Texas. It is a popular tourist destination that draws millions of visitors every year.

What is with all the black birds in San Antonio? ›

It also seems to be the time of year when Texans start to notice giant flocks of ominous-looking black birds perching in supermarket parking lots. The great-tailed grackle is native to Texas, and they have a habit of congregating near artificial light sources — like the ones that you'd find outside a shopping center.

What is the name of the revolving restaurant in San Antonio? ›

Enjoy the gorgeous panorama from the Tower's revolving Chart House Restaurant, take in the scenery from the Observation Deck or experience the thrilling 4D Theater Ride.

Which downtown Mexican restaurant is home to one of the most distinctive dining rooms in San Jose and serves authentic Oaxacan regional cuisine? ›

Located in Downtown San Jose, Mezcal boasts one of the most distinctive dining rooms in San Jose. The brick exterior, metal work and indigenous Mexican motifs, sets the restaurant apart from its neighbors.

What to do when you don't know what to eat? ›

For example, if you are craving something sweet, a bowl of fruit with yogurt or a smoothie might hit the spot. A bag of chips or a bowl of popcorn might do the trick if you are craving something salty. And if you are craving something savory, a bowl of pasta or a grilled cheese sandwich might be just what you need.

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