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The Little Rhein Steak House is located on a site historically rich and diverse.
The Coahuiltecan Indians founded settlements on the site before 1500 and Spanish soldiers and Canary Islanders established colonies in the early 18th century. During the Battle of the Alamo Mexican general Santa Anna encamped at the location. In the late 19th century German immigrants settled the area designating their neighborhood as the Little Rhein District. The Steak House derives its name from that district.
The restaurant is housed in a building that was constructed circa 1847 by Otto Bombach for use as a residence and store and is believed to be the first two-story structure in San Antonio. The lower level, home to the two private dining rooms, was hidden under silt until it was rediscovered during restoration in 1950.
The structure had been used as an early Texas home, a boarding house, a German saloon, a hangout for desperados and an historical museum before Frank W. Phelps established the Little Rhein Steak House in 1967. Collectibles chosen by Mr. Phelps line the walls of the Main Dining Room. Unique brass lights in the dining room once illuminated the old Federal Courthouse in Chicago, and the wooden booths are from the old train depot in Katy, Texas.
The San Antonio Conservation Society protects the building, and the U.S. Department of the Interior has listed it in the National Registry of Historical Places since 1972. |
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