Flamenco · Food · Community
Tablaos
A record of San Antonio’s dedicated tablaos—and the restaurants, clubs, galleries, and gathering places that have made room for flamenco.
Flamenco, up close
In Spain, a tablao is a venue organized around regular flamenco performance, bringing dancers, singers, and guitarists together at close range. San Antonio’s history is less uniform. A few spaces functioned as dedicated or recurring flamenco rooms; others were restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, galleries, and cultural venues that presented flamenco periodically. This archive includes both while identifying the difference rather than treating every venue as a traditional tablao. For the people behind this history, browse the Artist Index; for the longer story, visit our San Antonio flamenco history.
Current Flamenco-Hosting Venues
These are active venues that host flamenco or collaborate with the community. They are not all traditional tablaos, and performances may be occasional rather than part of a permanent schedule.
Downtown · Live Flamenco
Carmens de la Calle
For more than two decades, Carmens de la Calle has paired flamenco, jazz, and world music with tapas, paella, and its signature sangria in an intimate room built for close-up performance.
Location: 320 N. Flores St., San Antonio, TX 78205
Venue information: carmensdelacalle.com · (210) 281-4349
Spanish Cuisine · Multiple Locations
Toro Kitchen + Bar
Spanish tapas, paella, wine, and live entertainment create a lively setting for flamenco experiences across Toro’s San Antonio locations.
Locations: Downtown, Stone Oak, and La Cantera. Check each event listing for the participating location.
Venue information: torokitchenandbar.com · (210) 592-1075
Southtown · Tapas Bar
Hola!
A Southtown tapas bar serving small plates, paella, sangria, beer, and wine in a welcoming setting near Hemisfair and the King William neighborhood.
Location: 603 S. Alamo St., San Antonio, TX 78210
Venue information: holatapas.net · (210) 236-5688
Midtown · Gallery & Studios
The Beacon at Midtown
A community-centered gallery, studio, and special-event venue supporting creativity, collaboration, and intimate cultural programming in Midtown.
Location: 1136 W. Woodlawn Ave., San Antonio, TX 78201
Venue contact: (210) 313-2563 · beaconatmidtown@gmail.com
Studios & Recurring Performance Spaces
San Antonio’s flamenco studios have also served as recurring performance spaces. Although they were not traditional tablaos, their student showcases, professional productions, and intimate performances helped sustain the city’s live flamenco scene.
Studio · Recurring Performances
Teresa Champion Dance Academy
A foundational San Antonio flamenco school that regularly presented academy shows, student showcases, and performances featuring members of the Champion family and generations of local dancers.
Location: 6732 S. Flores St., San Antonio, TX 78221
Studio · Recurring Performances
Raíces de Arte Español
Raíces de Arte Español combined instruction with recurring public performances and studio tablao-style programs, creating opportunities for students and professional artists to share the stage.
Location: 1722 Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, TX 78201
From the living scene to the archive
Historic Tablaos & Flamenco Venues
San Antonio’s flamenco nightlife reaches back decades. These former clubs, restaurants, hotel rooms, and River Walk venues helped create a local tablao tradition long before today’s festival circuit. Dates reflect documented periods of activity; some venues hosted flamenco regularly while others presented recurring shows.
By 1962 · Downtown
Patio Flamenco
Willie “El Curro” Champion’s own flamenco performance space was operating by 1962 at 417 W. Travis St. Contemporary accounts document visiting dancer Rocío de Granada appearing there before an engagement at El Matador. Champion family recollections indicate there were two successive clubs using the Patio Flamenco name.
Associated artists: Willie “El Curro” Champion, Teresa Champion, Rocío de Granada.
Source: Paula Allen / Express-News
1959–1969 · Downtown
El Matador
Located in the lower level of the Aztec Theatre building at 106 N. St. Mary’s St., El Matador paired its Mexican-Spanish atmosphere with live flamenco. A 1962 show featured dancer Rocío de Granada with guitarist José Treviño and was described in the San Antonio Light as energetic enough to make the floor vibrate.
Source: Paula Allen / Express-News
1960s–early 1970s · River Walk / North Presa
El Poco Loco
A celebrated River Walk nightclub and a regular flamenco stop during the late 1960s and early 1970s. La Presy danced there repeatedly, and surviving photographs show Willie “El Curro” Champion accompanying performers on guitar. The club was also part of the River Walk nightlife boom surrounding HemisFair ’68.
Associated artists: La Presy, Willie “El Curro” Champion.
Sources: San Antonio Current · Express-News
Late 1960s onward · River Walk
La Mansión del Río / Las Canarias
Not a dedicated tablao, but one of San Antonio’s longest-running flamenco residencies. Willie “El Curro” Champion performed at La Mansión del Río for nearly four decades, making flamenco guitar part of the River Walk’s nightly cultural landscape. Christopher Arispe later continued a flamenco-guitar residency at Las Canarias from 2012 to 2018.
Associated artists: Willie “El Curro” Champion, Christopher Arispe.
Source: Express-News
2000–2013 · Mistletoe
Carmens de la Calle — Original Mistletoe Room
The original 720 E. Mistletoe Ave. room became one of the defining intimate flamenco spaces of the 2000s. Flamenco was part of Carmens from its earliest years, with dancers and guitarists performing within feet of the audience. The Mistletoe location closed in December 2013; Carmens later reopened downtown and remains part of San Antonio’s live-music culture.
Associated artists: Jackie “La Morena” Rodriguez-Navar, Steve Arispe, Sonya Jimenez, Luis Linares, Alma Flamenco and many others.
Source: Express-News
Late 2000s–2010s · Northwest San Antonio
España Bar de Tapas
At 5638 W. Hausman Road, España Bar became a major recurring flamenco room, advertising weekly shows and hosting dancers, singers, and guitarists through the 2010s. When Carmens temporarily closed in 2013, the Express-News described España as the city’s primary remaining flamenco venue.
Associated artists: Tamara Adira, Antonio Arrebola, Francisco “Yiyi” Orozco, José Perelló, Jackie Rodriguez, José Linares and members of the Champion family.
Sources: San Antonio Tourist · San Antonio Current archive
Opened 2013 · Blue Star
Barraca Paella & Tapas Bar
Barraca opened at 1420 S. Alamo St., Suite 101, in the Blue Star Arts Complex in 2013. It was not a traditional tablao, but its arts-oriented programming included flamenco dancers and Spanish guitarists. The space had become another restaurant by 2016.
Sources: Express-News · San Antonio Current
2003–2011 documented flamenco residency · Broadway
Boardwalk Bistro
The long-running Mediterranean restaurant at 4011 Broadway hosted recurring flamenco alongside its better-known jazz programming. Randy “El Garrobo” Cordero lists Boardwalk Bistro among his regular performance venues from 2003 through 2011, and contemporary coverage documented his monthly appearances there.
Associated artist: Randy “El Garrobo” Cordero and collaborating dancers and musicians.
Sources: Cordero Flamenco · Express-News
2014–2026 · Blue Star
Brick at Blue Star
Brick was a multidisciplinary arts and event venue rather than a traditional tablao. It hosted flamenco productions by Tamara Adira and Arte y Pasión, including MINHA: An Offering for Peace and Belén Maya’s Yo Quiero Ser Humana in 2024. The venue closed in 2026.
Associated artists and presenters: Tamara Adira, Arte y Pasión, Belén Maya.
Sources: City of San Antonio Department of Arts & Culture · MySA
Former Studio & Performance Space
Entreflamenco
Entreflamenco operated as a teaching and performance space, regularly presenting flamenco shows alongside its studio program. Although it was not a traditional tablao, its recurring performances made it an important part of San Antonio’s live flamenco scene. The studio has since closed.
Plan your night
Performers, schedules, admission, reservations, and participating locations vary by event. Confirm details with the presenting venue before attending.