Drive to San Antone, Then Lounge Forget the Alamo

Because the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower doesn't serve Scotch, on your next History + Tex Mex excursion check out these spanking new Mission City watering holes:

Ocho Lounge: A glass atrium'd beacon of Riverwalk relaxation playing ornate chandeliers & Persian rugs off bars & signage from the Roundtop Antique Fair, the latest from the Lambert's/Jo's Coffee/Perla's team is connected to Hotel Havana and's equidistant from the SA Museum of Art and the Texas Ranger Museum (convenient for Walkers). Pan-Latin eats run from Sweet Plantain Griddle Cakes (w/ Mexican crema, blueberries, maple syrup) to the achiote pork shoulder Havana Cubano Torta, while imbibing happens via tipples like the "Santiago Painkiller" and, with Clement d'Orange, rum, brandy, fresh fruit & cava, "Martinique Punch" -- which like Mart-annn Punch hits harder than you'd expect, but not because it's disguised as an obese grandmother.

Esquire Tavern: Built in 1850 before the Riverwalk even existed, Esquire's now been renovated and reopened as a throwback cocktail den with a bronze-paneled ceiling and an over-100ft bar that claims to be the longest in TX -- a World's Largest Ball of Twine for people who spin more entertaining yarns. Concocted in part by ATX cocktail king Tipsy Texan, mental refreshment sees the likes of the Rubus Mortem (aged rum, sweet vermouth, framboise, chocolate bitters), and the orange liqueur, Tenneyson absinthe, and St. Germain "Corpse Reviver No. 69" -- if you actually prefer historical landmarks to that, well, you're in no...position to talk.