How to get NIOSA foods without the Fiesta San Antonio crowds at La Villita in 2022
The Fiesta favorite chicken on a stick is available at Anchor Bar in San Antonio. For Mike Sutter's story.There’s no bigger food event in the city than A Night in Old San Antonio. The raucous Fiesta event is defined by the beloved dishes served by scores of vendors spread out among 14 culturally themed areas inside La Villita Historic Village.
The celebrated gala of gluttony returns this year after being canceled in 2020 and scaled back in 2021 amid the pandemic. And, no doubt, that news is calorie-laden music to the thousands of visitors who cram into NIOSA every year for a taste of chicken on a stick, grilled anticuchos, hulking turkey legs, the quirky twist on nachos called shypoke eggs and more.
But anyone who’s been to NIOSA — and every self-respecting San Antonian should attend at least once — also knows there are plenty of reasons to stay home. For starters, the crowd is always huge. Your toes will literally be stepped on, and there’s a near certainty you’ll go home smelling like beer sloshed from a fellow reveler’s cup.
Queuing up for food rises to near blood sport, with a chain of increasingly hungry and grumbling patrons snaking for yards from nearly every stall. And all those people, well, that’s just so many people. For some, it’s too soon to attend a potential superspreader event, regardless of how culturally significant it is.Fortunately, many of the favorite dishes served at NIOSA can be found in San Antonio restaurants. So here’s how to get your taste of NIOSA without going to NIOSA.