Shuttered San Antonio bar La Botanica was once a popular nightlife destination for drag shows, vegan food and dancing the night away. But like so many businesses, the lively haunt disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Years later, the building, once full of life, continues to gather dust on the St. Mary’s Strip, but many still remember its golden days.
La Botanica opened its doors in 2015, inviting in people of all types to gather, imbibe and enjoy vegan food dreamt up by chef and co-founder Rebel Mariposa. Over time, the bar became a safe space for artists, performers and members of the LGBTQ+ community. It also became a space for activism and where many political groups, organizers and zines got their starts.
San Antonio superstars like Alyson Alonzo, Shayla Shimmy and the late, great Wayne Holtz were frequent flyers at La Botanica, where their fans could enjoy a Topo Chico or a cocktail while supporting local vendors who’d pop up during the show. The bar would set the stage for countless artisan markets, group yoga sessions, cooking workshops, poetry readings, fundraisers, drag shows, karaoke nights, burlesque routines and DJ sets until all things came to a halt in 2020.
Why did La Botanica in San Antonio close down?
On October 2, 2020, La Botanica’s owners, Rebel Mariposa and Andrea Vince, released a statement to share the bar’s status after months of uncertainty during the earliest period of the pandemic. In the statement, the owners revealed that La Botanica reached the end of its lease and was unable to secure an additional contract on the building where it had been for five years.
“In a bittersweet twist of fate, we find ourselves here at five years and 3 months with all the blood, sweat, tears, and joy poured into creating an inclusive safer space in SATX,” the owners wrote at the time.
In 2020, the building, located at 2911 N. St. Mary’s St., was owned by the people behind Tycoon Flats, which operates its long-running location across the street from the former La Botanica. It is unclear if that ownership continues into 2026, as the building’s deed was transferred to a new LLC in 2023, according to county records. To date, the building appears closed off, with no business stepping in to take over for La Botanica years after it vacated the premises.
Still, when the indomitable Wayne Holtz died unexpectedly in 2025, a makeshift shrine materialized in front of La Botanica’s former doorstep, where flowers and trinkets were left to memorialize the connection Holtz had to the space and the impact that the space had on San Antonio. While the bar no longer exists, the spirit of La Botanica continues to carry on through those who were lucky enough to experience it…