Indy Coffee's City Guide to San Antonio

San Antonio’s most famous landmark, perhaps the most well-known building in the American Southwest, is the Alamo. Alex Lee moved to the city for college, and stayed afterward to create Indy Coffee, an independent shop serving beans from Brooklyn’s Parlor Coffee. Alex’s city guide to San Antonio recommends 7 restaurants & cafes, and 6 parks & green spaces to explore outside the Alamo.

Indy Coffee’s city guide to San Antonio

Alex Lee, founder of Indy Coffee in San Antonio, Texas — *Alex Lee founded Indy Coffee with his wife in San Antonio, Texas. Photos courtesy of Indy Coffee*

Filter: What do you like to do for fun around San Antonio?

Hiking/going for nature walks—we have great trails in the city.

We have a bustling specialty coffee scene, so I love visiting local cafes in my down time to read a book or catch up with friends.

If it's summer time, we are looking for natural water to swim to ease the intense summer.

Lastly I’m a live-to-eat type of person so I love visiting local mom and pop restaurants here in SA.

Filter: If a good friend came to visit, where would you be sure to take them?

I would probably take them to grab some tacos, donuts, and coffee in the morning, a little hike at Eisenhower Park to burn off some of that morning meal, and a nice dip in the pool with a drink at the Ranch Motel, and finish off with dinner and drinks at a favorite Tex-Mex spot like La Fogata or La Fonda on Main.

Filter: Where are your favorite green spaces or walks?

Favorite places to walk and visit are the Riverwalk from the Pearl Brewery side, Brackenridge Park, Denman Park to check out the Korean gazebo, Friedrich Park, Eisenhower Park, and McNay Museum to have a picnic and walk the grounds and courtyard.

Filter: What's another coffee shop around there that you really admire, and what about them stands out to you?

One of my favorite coffee spots in town is Theory Coffee off Nacogdoches and Gold Coffee in Southtown. They are fellow baristas I used to work with who opened their own spots. Theory is a great coffee trailer and the secret there is to visit Naco Mexican—they are right next to. Gold Coffee I love to visit them while getting a fresh cut at South District Barber or Heretic Moto and check out their Second Saturday programming which they do along with the rest of the Southtown neighborhood.

Filter: What do you like to do to get out of town?

I personally love to pack up my dog and head out to Canyon Lake with my wife to take a dip and spend the afternoon. We usually pack a lunch and tubes and have the whole day out there on a hot Texas summer day. The drive out to the Hill Country is really pretty and the water is always refreshing.

Filter: What touristy things in/around San Antonio are worth the hype?

This is a hot take but I do think the Pearl Brewery is worth the hype in the sense it provides a good amenity to the city and families in the city. It is well-funded to raise the bar of dining, entertainment, shopping, and experience while still being free and open to the public. Folks can bring their own food to the lawn and have their kids play in the splash pad [and it’s free] other than maybe paying for parking.

Filter: What makes San Antonio feel like home to you?

The community we serve through our cafe Indy Coffee and the after hours and during hours programming we get to do, whether it’s a photo show, creatives discussion panel, food pop-up, live music, or market we put together mostly of baristas and local creatives. That kind of community makes San Antonio feel like home and we are privileged to serve our community.

*Indy Coffee shop interior in San Antonio*

Filter: How did you end up in the San Antonio coffee scene?

I am originally from Austin, Texas. I grew up there and came down to San Antonio for college back in 2008. I met my now-wife in college and set up the cafe right across the street from the university after I graduated.

Filter: Can you share about your role at Indy Coffee?

I am the owner and operator of Indy Coffee along with my wife and small team, Alexus Clark and Crystal Rocha. I barista there behind the bar around 4 days out of the week while coordinating and curating programming throughout the year for the cafe along with new merch and meet ups that occur in the shop. I still love making coffee after over a decade of being a barista and business owner and I also love being a part of people’s lives in my community. Seeing folks on the daily and getting to serve them with a smile and great bev is truly rewarding and I find it a privilege to be of service to San Antonio.

Filter: If you could move to any place in the world just for the coffee scene, where would you move, and what shop would be the biggest reason?

Hands down San Antonio has a very inspiring local coffee scene and I think contends with any other major city in the U.S. but if I had to choose I would be in NY just for the fact that our coffee roasters Parlor Coffee is based in NY along with a lot of my family. The city is so inspiring and I love the utilitarian function for cafes in the city over cafes here being more of a work space where wifi and outlets and large tables are needed and folks camp at cafes.

Filter: Anything you’d like to add?

I think you’ve asked just about all I could think of that is noteworthy, we just celebrated our 10-year anniversary for Indy Coffee and in line with that got to do a very special collaboration coffee with Parlor Coffee, a washed process microlot Colombian pacamara that we were so proud to serve to our customers. Please go to their website and check it out and if y’all are ever in San Antonio we would love to serve you.

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Indy Coffee is a cafe on the north side of San Antonio, Texas.

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