Jul 8, 2026 | 12:00 pm
The oldest bar on the River Walk is shaking things up. After 15 years, San Antonio architect and developer Chris Hill is handing the keys to downtown’s The Esquire Tavern to its longtime beverage director, Stephan Mendez.
If Esquire wasn’t quite the genesis of San Antonio’s craft cocktail revival, it certainly nabbed the most attention. Before rescuing the bar in 2011 after a five-year closure, Hill drafted acclaimed Austin barman David Alan and one of the central figures in the city’s developing bar scene, Jeret Peña.
Peña was succeeded by an equally lauded mixologist, Houston Eaves, now the Beverage Director of Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group (Pullman Market, Ladino). In a few brief years, The Esquire became one of Alamo City’s can’t-miss destinations. To date, it is one of two San Antonio bars (Weathered Souls is the other) to be nominated for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program…