Many of the events we celebrate here at San Antonio Country Club are incredible and merit their own time in the spotlight. But there is that one annual event that challenges all the clubs in this region, including ours. It maxes out our resources, exhausts our staff, and pushes the physical infrastructure our our clubhouses—including our cooler spaces. But it also represents a unique opportunity to challenge our imagination and create a really memorable, unique experience for our members and their guests.
The event is called Fiesta San Antonio. It is an annual celebration of the city’s rich and diverse cultures and it truly tests our organizational skills. It’s basically San Antonio’s version of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras.
According to the official site, Fiesta San Antonio started in 1891 as a one-parade event to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. It has evolved into one of the nation’s premier festivals with an economic impact of more than $340 million.
Here at SACC, we celebrate Fiesta San Antonio by serving over 3,200 members and guests in one night. It is the biggest event of the year for us, and it demands immense planning, preparation and organization. We must have all hands on deck in order to succeed. And I’m proud to say that we always do.
Beyond the menu prep, what I find most interesting about this event is the sheer volume we produce. In one day, we serve:
- 850 pounds of pork al pastor cooked live in the biggest paella pan there is
- 250 pounds of poblano green rice
- 100 gallons of queso
- approximately 1.5 million corn chips
- 400 pounds of guacamole
- 5,000 tortillas
- 250 pounds of pico de gallo
- 7,000 freshly fried churros for dessert
Each of these products demand our attention and they must be prepared with care and passion. Afterall, we start planning for this event months in advance. We can not falter during the three consecutive prep and execution days. And we don’t because SACC’s entire culinary team is invested in the success of this event each and every year.
The annual celebration ends with a spectacular 30-minute display of fireworks put on by the same company that runs the daily fireworks at our local Six Flags amusement park.
The menu for SACC’s Fiesta San Antonio changes every year, which is both challenging and exciting. It consistently tests our resources and skills—but it’s a challenge we truly enjoy.
We just celebrated Fiesta San Antonio this past April and are already tossing ideas around for next year. In the meantime, we will focus on the second biggest event of the year—the 4th of July. For it, we are planning to prepare seven, 100-pound pigs cooked in la caja china and we are looking forward to all the unexpected challenges and culinary opportunities we know will pop up.
