imagiNative eats & cocktails | live music | art shows | on-site food gardens | classes | film screenings | a fun place to gather!
We’re a new spot opening on the vibrantly re-emerging North St Mary’s Strip — join us in cultivating a truly unique space in San Anto dedicated to food that isn’t just delicious and nutritious but also respectful of our planet and its inhabitants.
Given our incredible history and culture here in Tejas, our food will embody the rich traditions of TexMex, Gulf Coast, New Mexican and Mexican cuisine. Our food and drinks will be designed around accessible and seasonal ingredients. But more than an eatery, La Botanica aims to be a gathering place for an eclectic beloved community.
Edible gardens in our sizable wrap-around yard will supply fresh veggies and herbs for our kitchen, serving as an accessible laboratory for those wanting to learn to grow their own food. We also envision film screenings and live music on our lovely patio, regular installations by local artists, cooking and gardening classes, and benefits for to raise funds for movements that advance social justice.
Let’s be real: opening a restaurant is easier for some people than others. My hope is La Botanica thrives as part of a growing wave of women/Latina-owned-&-operated food businesses in our city — and beyond! In order to flourish, La Botanica needs individuals with faith in our mission to step up to the plate, so we can pay for renovations in the kitchen, for our gardens, and to hire a great staff and pay a living wage.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Vegan fare is new and unfamiliar to numerous San Antonio residents, but we’re confident the utter scrumptiousness of our eats will obligate even the most diehard carnivores to forget to gripe about their plant-based meal and instead focus on what savory item to order next…
Additionally, the culinary traditions we draw upon — TexMex, Gulf Coast, New Mexican and Mexican — are fond and familiar to our city and will greatly enable us to break down unfounded gastronomic prejudices, while demonstrating and teaching how fun and accessible it is to have a healthy lifestyle.
The property housing La Botanica hasn’t been operational in two years, so re-hauling it has required major effort. Thanks to the work of more than a dozen volunteers, we’ve deep cleaned the kitchen, rebuilt furniture, constructed a garden bed system, tamed the yard, painted the venue, etc.
Our sizable space at La Botanica presents a multitude of possibilities on the cultural front, & figuring out the right mix & timing will be a bit of a challenge: Are yoga classes a good fit? How often shall we offer live music or show films? Some old-fashioned, patient experimentation and observation should do the trick…
Lastly, while I’ve run a business for several years, a bona fide restaurant is new terrain & will surely entail a bit of a learning curve, but surely nothing insurmountable! I can’t and I don’t want to do this alone. I have partnered with experts and mentors in the food and bar business and I am surrounded by friends, family and community members who believe in this vision.