Some buildings have such a distinctive look that even when they’ve been converted into other businesses and flipped time and time again, you’ll still know exactly what they used to be just by glancing at them.
Birria Barrio y más on South Flores Street on San Antonio’s Southside is one of those places. Today, it’s a black A-frame building with a canopy evoking an old-school drive-in. The flag of Mexico painted on the side is hard to miss as you drive past. Opened in 2023, it’s the second location of Birria Barrio, a local-favorite taqueria serving up quesabirria, birria ramen, birria mac and cheese and more.
Beloved San Antonio taqueria was once a retro Whataburger
However, it’s pretty easy to tell what it once was. Before there were tacos at 6023 S. Flores St., there was an A-frame Whataburger restaurant. According to RoadsideArchitecture.com, this former Whataburger was built in 1970, 20 years after the first one opened in Corpus Christi.
Whataburger founder Harmon Dobson channeled his love for aviation to come up with the eye-catching design and distinctive colors. The Texas State Historical Association says Dobson used to fly over Corpus Christi with a Whataburger banner in tow, dropping coupons from his plane to people below. The A-frame design allowed the restaurants to be more visible from the skies, and the colors take after those used on airport structures.
The first A-frame Whataburger was built in 1961 in Odessa, and about 80 would come to feature the design before the trend trickled out in 1976. The Odessa A-frame has since been demolished, much like many others that have either been wiped away or repurposed. Today, the only A-frame location left in Central Texas is Austin’s Cameron Road burger joint. Built in 1971, it’s also the oldest Whataburger in the Capital City.
The many lives of a unique South Flores Street building in San Antonio
It’s unclear how long the original Whataburger at 6203 S. Flores St. has been closed or what came between, but what’s certain is that the location has had many lives before Birria Barrio took over…