CultureMap San Antonio

A sudsy new tour is now offering hop heads an inside look at San Antonio’s beer scene — without having to peddle around in 100-degree weather. City Brew Tours, a Vermont-based franchise, offers a guided experience with planned tastings, snacks, and air-conditioned transportation. Entrepreneur Chad Brodsky started the company in 2008 after taking a beermaking 101 class. Although he didn’t have a knack for creating quaffable ales, he did fall in love with the brewery community and began toting tourists around in a former church van. Local franchise owner Michael Lerch shares the founder’s passion for local craft beer scenes. San Antonio guests don’t just pull up for a pint; they get to meet the people responsible for some of their favorite (or soon-to-be-favorite) IPAs. “San Antonio's brewing scene deserves a bigger spotlight, and that’s really the intention behind these tours,” says Lerch. “We've got incredible breweries and a tight community that really supports each other and carries on the legacy of San Antonio as a premier brewing city.” The easily bookable tours might also be a lifeline to Alamo City’s struggling craft brewery scene, which is, like the rest of the nation, weathering a downturn. Tours begin at Hotel Indigo on the River Walk (830 N. St. Mary's St.) and then travel through three selected sites. Although the exact breweries visited depend on the booking, most are near the central core of the city. The company lists Alamo Beer Company, Idle Beer, Breakaway Brewing, Kunstler Brewing, Back Unturned Brewing Co., and Longtab Brewing as possible stops. Times vary by day, but daytime tours generally kick off at noon and evening trips start at either 5 pm or 6 pm. The public tour ticket prices are $89 per guest, but private tours are available for engagement parties, corporate retreats, and other special groups.

The richest billionaires in America have a collective worth of $8 trillion in 2026, a staggering $1.4 trillion increase since last year, says Forbes. And two members of San Antonio's H-E-B family are among the richest in the nation. Charles Butt and Eleanor Butt Crook are the two local H-E-B family members who made the cut among America's richest billionaires for 2026. The annual Forbes 400 list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies. In all, 43 billionaires across Texas made it on the 2026 list. Charles ranks as the 18th richest Texan this year, while Eleanor ranks 38th statewide. Charles Butt, 88, is the chairman of the Texas cult-favorite grocery chain, and he ranks as the 137th richest American this year. Forbes estimates his net worth at $11.3 billion, up from his 2025 net worth of $10. 3 billion. Eleanor, 94, is the 367th richest American with a current net worth of $4.7 billion, up from $4.4 billion last year. Forbes says the H-E-B heiress' city of residence is technically San Marcos, which is halfway between San Antonio and Austin. Other billionaire members of the family, like H-E-B CEO Howard Butt III and Dallas-based President of Shareholder Relations Stephen Butt, have a net worth of $3.2 billion, but that's not enough to qualify as one of America's richest billionaires. Instead, they join a growing group of 590 American billionaires that are "too poor to make the cut" this year, according to Forbes. "With the AI and data center boom in full swing and the U.S. stock market near an all-time high, it now takes a record $4.4 billion to rank among the nation’s 400 wealthiest people," the publication said. "That’s $600 million more than last year and $2.7 billion more than a decade ago. Texas' richest billionaires Elon Musk, 55, is the country's richest billionaire and the richest person in Austin. His net worth has more than doubled in the last year, from $428 billion to $908 billion. Walmart heiress Alice Walton, 76, who currently leads as the richest woman globally, is also the richest woman in America, the third-wealthiest person in Texas, and the richest Fort Worth resident for 2026. Walton's net worth has grown by $12 billion since last year, bringing her current net worth to $118 billion. She is the only daughter of late Walmart cofounder Sam Walton. She focuses her attention on other endeavors like the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas. Forbes still lists her residence as Fort Worth. Walton is one of only 62 women billionaires on the Forbes 400 list, making up just 16 percent of the total list.

First, Austin’s celebrated Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group planted a flag at Pearl; now, it’s paddling downstream to downtown. The restaurant company has revealed Barberry, the first concept going into the reimagined Sítio El Tropicano hotel. The name comes from a small, tart berry used to cut richness and sharpen flavor throughout the globe. Though most associated with Persian cuisine, a rare species (Alloberberis swaseyi) is native to Texas’ Edwards Plateau and the Hill Country and was a key component of Indigenous cuisine. Botany aside, Barberry uses the berry as a metaphor for its cooking, which combines punchy international flavors with Hill Country ingredients. Emmer & Rye says the menu focuses on balance, intriguing diners with precise contrasts instead of walloping them in excess. We’re guessing the menu won’t have a gold leaf burger. The Stetson chopped salad is served in colorful stripes/Photo by Robert Lerma Barberry did tease, however, offerings that riff on Texas cuisine and brasserie classics. Guests can expect dishes like chicken-fried quail, Wagyu steak tartare, a “Stetson” chopped salad, and sweet corn ravioles du Dauphiné (the diminutive cousin to Italy’s big pasta squares, served in one block). Barberry is set to open with the hotel's culinary lineup in late 2026. For now, details on the poolside concept and the lobby’s café and provisions shop are being kept hush-hush. The ravioles du Dauphiné are as beautiful as a dessert.Photo by Robert Lerma The restaurants are just one piece of Sítio El Tropicano’s restoration. The 1962 property, once a favorite of jet-setters, is being revamped into a 315-room urban resort by Trestle Studio and partners Town Lake Company and Sopris Capital. Once completed, the hotel will boast San Antonio's largest hotel pool deck, a 5,000-square-foot spa, and Sítio Club, a new membership club for entrepreneurs and creatives. "What excites us most about Barberry is the opportunity to create something that really feels at home in San Antonio," said Tavel Bristol-Joseph, partner and chief operating officer of Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group, via a release. "El Tropicano has so much history and character, and we wanted Barberry to feel like a natural part of what this property is becoming — a place that brings people together."

A new major player is entering San Antonio’s ongoing brunch food fight. Florida breakfast Keke's Breakfast Cafe has signed a six-unit franchising deal to introduce the quickly growing concept to Alamo City. Brothers Keith and Kevin Mahen founded the Keke’s in 2006, combining the first two letters of each of their names. According to the company, the siblings could not find an Orlando café that rivaled the diners in their native Philadelphia, so they decided to open a restaurant of their own. Although the chain steadily expanded throughout the 2010s, it was mostly a regional favorite. That all changed when breakfast behemoth Denny’s acquired the brand in 2022 for a reported $82.5 million. Denny’s decided to go all-in on the chain, investing in more markets even as it was closing more than 100 underperforming locations of its flagship restaurant. The two concepts are not that different. Both offer pancakes, stuffed French toast, and hefty omelets. But where Denny’s menu riffs on diner classics like steak and eggs, Keke’s has introduced Millennial-friendly dishes like avocado toast and breakfast bowls. And Keke’s is a player in the all-day brunch scene, competing against a slew of buzzy chains entering the San Antonio market. That means guests can get moony while they slam a few mimosas instead of washing down a Moons Over My Hammy with plain orange juice. The San Antonio Keke’s will come from longtime friends and restaurant novices Danny Ohioze and Adebiyi Wale. After immigrating from Nigeria around 15 years ago, both built careers in the tech sector — but that trajectory changed after Wale stumbled on a downtown Dallas location. "We walked in, and it looked fantastic," Wale explained in a release. "We sat down, the food was great, and immediately my wife started talking about how good the food looked. Before we even got the food, I texted Danny and said, 'We need to open this business.'" Wale and Ohioze do not yet have a target date and are still scouting locations, but have no doubts about their ambitious opening strategy — even in a market where national newcomers like The Toasted Yolk, Pür & Simple, Squeeze In, and Another Broken Egg Cafe are jostling with locals like Box St. All Day and Sunny’s All Day. "This is a very family-oriented city, and people are always looking for breakfast or lunch," said Ohioze. "There are only a handful of places that are doing it excellently well, and their waitlists are always super long. That tells me there is a market for these services."

One of San Antonio’s go-to spots for Italian cuisine is climbing northward from Alamo Heights. In October, Sorrento Ristorante & Pizzeria will move out of its longtime home at 5146 Broadway and into a new home in the Lockhill Village shopping center at 2311 NW Military Hwy. “For every celebration, every quiet weeknight dinner, every ‘the usual, please,’ and every face we've come to know and love over the years, we are endlessly grateful,” wrote the restaurant in a social media statement. “This community gave Sorrento a home, and that means more to us than we can put into words.” Anna and Gino Ciccone opened Sorrento in 2001. According to KENS5, the couple first came to San Antonio to help with a friend’s restaurant. When that business failed, Gino presented the landlord with an idea that eventually became the family business. Since then, it has become a dining staple in the neighborhood. Until he died in 2006, “Mr. Gino” was the face of the restaurant, often warmly greeting guests. Anna and daughter Margherita kept the restaurant going after his passing. Although the restaurant has added a few dishes over the years, the menu has largely stayed the same with hefty pizzas, classic Italian-American pastas like Alfredo and Bolognese, and mains like veal scallopini. Sorrento did not specify whether there would be any business disruptions during the move, and a request for more information was not immediately returned. But if Alamo Heights residents want a taste of the restaurant without the drive, they can order a trio of signature jarred sauces — della casa, puttanesca, and marinara — online.