A longtime image of San Antonio’s bygone culinary period has now been decreased to rubble. The enduring Pig Stand constructing at 1523 Broadway has been leveled as builders look towards the subsequent chapter for the near-downtown plot.
The constructing was one of many final vestiges of a once-mighty chain that performed a pivotal position in U.S. meals tradition. Based in Dallas in 1921, it was the nation’s first drive-thru restaurant, credited with inventing now-ubiquitous quick meals dishes like Texas toast and onion rings.
The San Antonio outpost arrived a little bit later, circa 1931, nevertheless it proved to have extra longevity. Even after the chain went bankrupt in 2006, the Broadway restaurant operated independently, nonetheless sporting its nostalgic signal.
That enviable run got here to an finish in March 2023, lengthy after the busy Broadway space was reworked by initiatives just like the close by Pearl. On the time, proprietor Mary Ann Hill was reportedly recovering from a 2022 open-heart surgical procedure and felt the stress of operating a restaurant was an excessive amount of to bear.
Southtown’s iconic “Huge Pig” was as soon as used as a carhop shelter.Photograph by Leonard J. DeFrancisci CC BY-SA 4.0
Native improvement agency GrayStreet Companions bought the long-lasting constructing the previous February, with Hill saying she deliberate to renegotiate the lease. That by no means occurred. In March 2025, the downtown developer filed a grievance alleging that the restaurant owed $17,100 in again lease and was promoting alcohol in violation of the lease. The swimsuit was settled by October of the identical yr, with Hill agreeing to pay virtually $14,000 in lease and attorneys’ charges.
Grey Avenue’s plans for the lot will carry eating again to the long-vacant constructing, however with extra density. Along with an unnamed meals and beverage idea, the proposal seeks to construct multifamily housing and a Marriott AC Lodge with a pool deck on the land.
Though the quick meals pioneer and its well-known pork sandwiches could also be a distant reminiscence, not less than one hint stays at St. Mary’s Avenue in Southtown, the long-lasting pink stucco “Huge Pig.” Though the historical past is murky and the sow-shaped construction has since been used as a nightclub entrance, sizzling canine joint, and even a short lived residence, it was created in 1935 by Mexican mason Anastacio Gaytan as a carhop shelter for the Pig Stand.
