Schilo's Deli, San Antonio, Texas

The first thing that comes to my mind when I associate San Antonio with food is Tex-Mex. Excellent restaurants like Casa Rio or Mi Tierra provide visitors with a taste of San Antonio's Spanish influences. Although San Antonio is heavily steeped in Spanish culture, the history of San Antonio reaches to many continents, with a wide range of early settlers bringing their traditions, food and architecture to the city. Among early settlers, German influences were heavy.
Among the German influences with a deep tradition is Schilo's (shee-lows) Deli located on Commerce Street next door to Casa Rio. Schilo's Deli dates back to the early 1900s. The restaurant and bar survived prohibition and the great depression, moving a couple of times along the way. The current location became Schilo's permanent home back in 1942.
Schilo's Deli is located close to the Riverwalk but does not have any frontage property. The entrance is on Commerce Street. The large restaurant has high ceilings that give the building a slightly industrial feel. The bar against the far wall completes the somewhat rustic look. Small tables that seat four are closely clustered in the center of the room, with booths running along the walls. I visited during lunch. The lunch crowd indicated that this restaurant is a popular lunchtime destination.
For lunch, I ordered the corned beef and cabbage special. My wife ordered the Wienerschnitzel. Our waiter arrived promptly and took drink orders which were quickly delivered to the table. After ordering our entrees, we waited another five minutes until our lunch arrived. Considering the size of the lunch crowd, I was impressed with how quickly we were served. The corned beef and cabbage had a good flavor, but the meat was sliced like lunch meat, which was a bit disappointing. The Wienerschnitzel came with a breading that appeared to be homemade and had visible chunks of breading. It was made from pork loin instead of veal. The Wienerschnitzel also had a nice flavor, while the breading gave it an interesting texture.
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