The 41st Cowboy Breakfast kicks off before sunrise on Friday morning in the Cowboy's Dance Hall parking lot on the city’s North Side.
The non-profit event is considered the unofficial start of the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, which runs Feb. 7-24. The breakfast is expected to attract as many as 30,000 for free breakfast tacos, according to event spokesman Mike Davis.
IF YOU GO WHEN: 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Friday WHERE: Cowboy's Dance Hall, 3030 NE Interstate 410 Loop COST: Breakfast is free
The Cowboys Breakfast Foundation puts on the event each year to help provide scholarships to the St. Philip’s College of tourism, hospitality, and culinary arts department.
Breakfast grills under giants tents will sizzle from 4:30 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. Around 30,000 breakfast tacos — filled with a combination of eggs, chorizo and potatoes — are expected to be served, along with 15,000 cups of coffee, and 5,000 pints of milk or orange juice. Biscuits with gravy will also be offered.
Visitors, while waiting in line, can also listen in to live music from Freddie Cruz and the Noble Outlaws.
The National Weather Service reports breakfast time temperatures will be hovering around 40 degrees, but the wind chill will make it feel like the low to mid-30s.
“The best advice is: Get here early. Everybody thinks about coming to this and they think a little bit too late, so it’s a little bit hard to find parking,” Davis said.
Parking is available in and around the dance hall parking lot.
Free shuttle buses will run from the parking lot of the Santikos Realto Theater, at 2938 N.E. Loop 410, to the event.
Around 300 volunteers are cooking and serving at the Cowboy Breakfast.
“Nobody’s getting paid, but it really is a blast," Mike Davis said. ”When you see the smiling faces and the effects of what our hard efforts go to, it just brings a smile to your face and makes you feel good inside.”
The first Cowboy Breakfast was held in 1979 at Central Park Mall.
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Brian Kirkpatrick can be reached at brian@tpr.org or on Twitter at @tprbrian
