La Margarita Mexican Restaurant & Oyster Bar, Mexican restaurant and oyster bar in Market Square, San Antonio, United States.
La Margarita Mexican Restaurant & Oyster Bar is a Mexican restaurant and seafood bar located in Market Square in downtown San Antonio, Texas. The building has a New Orleans-style facade, and the menu covers both traditional Mexican cooking and Gulf seafood, served side by side.
The Cortez family, who had run businesses in Market Square for generations, opened this restaurant as an extension of their presence in the area. It became one of the places credited with making sizzling fajitas a standard dish in San Antonio.
La Margarita sits inside Market Square, a bustling outdoor market where Mexican goods, food stalls, and music create a setting that feels closer to a Mexican town plaza than a typical American shopping area. Dining here means being part of that broader street life rather than just sitting inside a restaurant.
The restaurant is right on Market Square in downtown San Antonio, within walking distance of the River Walk and other central spots. Parking nearby is limited, so arriving on foot or by rideshare tends to be easier than driving.
The Campechana on the menu is a cold seafood cocktail made with Gulf oysters and shrimp in a tomato-based sauce, a preparation more common in Mexican coastal towns than in Tex-Mex restaurants in the US. The name comes from the Mexican state of Campeche, known for its Gulf Coast fishing traditions.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.