Ro-Ho Pork & Bread just flipped the switch on its long-awaited second spot, a drive-thru-only “Express” on San Antonio’s Southeast Side at 618 Fair Ave. There are no tables, no chairs and no lingering, just a compact building with windows built for quick orders and carryout. On opening day, cars were already stacking up, all for a faster shot at the torta ahogada that helped turn this neighborhood favorite into a national talking point.
According to MySA, the new Ro-Ho Pork & Bread Express runs like a classic drive-thru: you order at a speakerbox, roll ahead to pay at the window, then grab your bag and go. The standalone menu is trimmed for speed, but the torta ahogada is still the star, coming in at about $13. Fillings include carnitas, pork skin and a vegetarian option, and every order is packed with a bag of the house tomato-based salsa, plus cabbage, pickled onions, radish and lime. MySA also reports the express window keeps hours from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. most days, with the operation going dark on Wednesdays.
From the Original Kitchen
Chef Jorge Rojo launched Ro-Ho in 2015 and built the concept on scratch-made birote rolls and slow-cooked pork, according to Ro-Ho’s website. The flagship at 8617 N. New Braunfels Ave. sticks to a tight lineup of tortas, tacos and a few sides, with a big focus on baking bread and simmering sauces in-house to keep the torta ahogada rooted in its Guadalajara origins. The owners say that even with the faster, window-only format at Fair Ave, the goal is to keep those same flavors front and center.
The Long Road to Fair Avenue
The Fair Avenue project first surfaced in early 2022, when filings for a roughly 995-square-foot outpost closer to downtown appeared, as reported by San Antonio Current. Progress did not exactly sprint along. In 2023, an act of vandalism delayed the buildout, a setback detailed in a January 2026 update from WhatNow San Antonio. All of that helps explain why a seemingly straightforward drive-thru took years to finally appear on the city’s culinary map.
National Spotlight and Local Buzz
The torta ahogada that made Ro-Ho a local obsession eventually pulled in national attention too. The shop landed on Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in December 2024, according to Community Impact. Coverage of the restaurant has also highlighted earlier acclaim, including a nod as one of the best sandwiches in Texas from Food & Wine, which helped build the reputation that now feeds both the airport storefront and the new Fair Ave window, per MySA. The express setup simply offers a new way to handle that demand without tinkering with the formula that drew attention in the first place…