There’s a new boss in town where the ice-cold beer began flowing from taps for the first time on the very same day Prohibition ended on Dec. 5, 1933.
The Esquire Tavern, the oldest bar on the San Antonio River Walk, announced new majority ownership Wednesday.
Architect and developer Chris Hill has passed the torch to Stephan Mendez, the Esquire’s longtime operator and beverage director, and now owner of the storied tavern.
Hill has owned the establishment since 2011, reopening it after a five-year closure and reigniting a cocktail culture in San Antonio. In 2017, the Esquire was nominated for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar Program.
Hill said he’s happy to “pass the proverbial cocktail shaker” to Mendez even as he remains at the Esquire as a minority partner.
“The Esquire is more than a bar; it’s embedded in the history of San Antonio,” Hill said. “Every person who has ever pulled up a stool here has become a part of what makes this place special. Stewarding that legacy has been one of the greatest honors of my life.”
Mendez followed noted mixologists Houston Eaves and Jeret Peña at the Esquire and is a founding member of the United States Bartenders’ Guild in San Antonio.
For the past dozen years or so, Mendez has gone from serving as back bartender to head bartender to bar manager to beverage director to overseeing operations of the parent company Spot On Hospitality, which includes the Tokyo Cowboy restaurant and Hugman’s Oasis, a tiki bar.
“I’ve been kind of doing everything for quite a while, and Chris and I have been close friends since 2013 and I think he was looking for a little bit of a change, and he trusts me to keep the vision and the culture and everything we’ve worked on going forward,” he said.
At the time Hill reopened the Esquire, there were few places that offered cocktails, where bartenders knew how to make those kinds of drinks, Mendez said. “That was something that called to me [and] I kind of fell in love with it from the moment I walked through the front door.”
In 2021, Hill opened The Canopy by Hilton, a cantilevered structure next door to the Esquire, at 123 N. St. Mary’s St.
Just west of the Esquire, he also renovated the circa-1866 Witte building at 135 E. Commerce, converting it for residential and commercial uses, including the bars, Hugman’s Oasis and Toyko Cowboy.
The Esquire, located at 133 E. Commerce St., features the original century-old and hand-worn wooden bar top from its start 93 years ago, a restored River-level lounge and patio, and a full menu of pub fare, beer, spirits, wine and cocktails.
Popular on the menu this summer has been the bar’s Hoover Maneuver, said Mendez, who described it as a refreshing, boozy and effervescent beverage for hot summer days.
