When the Adelante restaurant posted on its Facebook page that it would be closing on April 1 next year, there remained some hope among the health-conscious customers of the Mexican spot that it might be an April Fool’s joke.
This was not the case.
After 40 years of veggie tamales, spinach quesadillas and tacos at their quirky and colorful family restaurant, Adelante owners Deb and Dan Soder began their long goodbye on Brees Boulevard, just outside Alamo Heights.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Dan Soder, who bought the restaurant with his wife Deb in 1981, when it was across the street in the Sunset Ridge Mall. “We survived the pandemic, but it’s getting harder and harder to find things. At least we didn’t have to worry about the labor shortage, because it’s the two of us most of the time.
The Soders moved Adelante to its current location in 1985, the same year they recast the restaurant’s identity as a home of “health-Mex”, moving away from beef, bacon and white flour and into focusing on vegetables, chicken, fish and the best turkey. picadillo in the city.
Known as much for the folk bazaar spirit of its decor as it is for its cuisine, Adelante is an ad hoc gallery of Dan Soder’s papier-mâché cacti, watermelons, fish and vegetables, and Mexican art of a lifetime. Every surface is painted, even the floor, and the dining room is neatly divided by a display of Soders World Globe Collection.
What comes next is an open question. Adelante could pop up here and there with tamales or queso at farmers markets after the restaurant closes, Dan Soder said. And they haven’t ruled out selling the restaurant if the right buyer comes along, he said.
In the meantime, they remain open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday through April 1 next year, doing what they have been doing for 40 years.
Adelante Restaurant, 21 Brees Blvd., 210-822-7681, adelanterestaurant.com
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