Three decades after it began as a Filipino grocery operation in the Valenzuela family’s garage, Sari-Sari is celebrating its 30th year in San Antonio with a party that is decidedly bigger than cake and coffee. The family-owned restaurant, market and bakery is planning a Sunday bash featuring live music, dancing, street food and a pig roast. It is a milestone for a business that grew alongside the local Filipino community while inviting the rest of the city to pull up a chair.
The anniversary party is set for Sunday, Aug. 2, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a lineup that includes a live performance by Filipino American dance-pop star Jocelyn Enriquez, Asian dance groups, local artists, vendors, DJs and karaoke. MySA also reports that the celebration will include street food, coffee pop-ups and the sort of whole-animal centerpiece that tends to make a family party memorable: a pig roast.
From Garage Market To Filipino Food Institution
Adam and Imelda Valenzuela started Sari-Sari by asking neighbors and nurses what Filipino products they needed, then traveling to Houston to gather items that were difficult to find in San Antonio. The market first opened near its current home in 1995, and the family later added a kitchen in 1998 before expanding into a bakery with Filipino breads, pastries and sweets, according to Sari-Sari’s website.
What began as a small market eventually became a combined restaurant, grocery store and bakery, with the Jeepney Street Eats food truck adding another way to serve Filipino flavors around the city. KSAT 12 recently highlighted the business’s traditional dishes, specialty groceries, baked goods and family-style kamayan feasts.
Camille De Los Reyes Carries The Family Business Forward
Camille de los Reyes, the daughter of the founders, took over the family business in 2016 with her husband, Adrian. Her stated goal has been to introduce Sari-Sari to more of San Antonio while preserving the food and traditions that made it a gathering place for Filipino families.
That community-facing role extends beyond the restaurant counter. Axios San Antonio reports that Camille helped launch the city’s AANHPI Heritage Month Restaurant Passport program in 2022, connecting diners with Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander restaurants across the city.
After weathering the pandemic and the economic pressures that followed, Sari-Sari is marking 30 years by turning its own history into a public celebration. The party may last one day, but the larger accomplishment is the continued existence of a place where San Antonio can find Filipino groceries, ube-filled sweets, familiar comfort food and a little bit of home—all under one roof.
