The boats still make their slow loop below the River Walk turnaround, same as they always have. But look up now from that spot near the Shops at Rivercenter and something has changed. Where a food court used to sit — the every mall has (had), fluorescent and forgettable — there’s now a sprawling, more than 20,000-square-foot space that smells like fresh masa and citrus-cured fish, with a mural of La Catrina watching over the room like she’s been there since the building went up.
This is Mexico Ceaty, chef Jason Dady’s newest project, which opened to the public on April 20, 2026, timed to land right in the middle of Fiesta, after sitting in his notebook for more than a decade.
Say it out loud and you’ll hear the joke. Mexico Ceaty is spelled C-E-A-T-Y, a play on “eating” and a wink at Mexico City, and Dady has said the idea started scribbled in a journal at his old restaurant, The Lodge at Castle Hills, years before Rivercenter’s ownership group ever came calling. By the time Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation approached him about reimagining their downtown food court, he already had the whole thing mapped out in his head.
What he built is less a restaurant than a small neighborhood. Walk in through the Shops at Rivercenter near Fat Tuesdays or Holey Moley, down to the river level, and the anchor is Tres Arcos, the full-service Tex-Mex dining room where Dady still makes a habit of walking the floor himself, checking on tables like it’s opening night every night. The salsa sampler is the move here — five house-made salsas at different heat levels, served with fresh chips, and worth every bit of its price. Pair it with the mole sampler, five scratch-made moles that will fill you up before your entree even lands.
From Tres Arcos the space fans out. Dos Cantinas is the 300-seat bar, built with sunken garden seating and elevated lofts so it never feels like one big room even when it’s packed. Tucked past it — deliberately unmarked, because Dady wants people to hunt for it — is El Último, an agave-focused speakeasy lit mostly by candles, with a wolf mural glowing red on the wall. It’s the type of bar that makes you feel like you found something, even though plenty of other people found it that same week.
For daytime and grab-and-go, Dulce & Aroma handles the panadería side — Mexican pastries, churros, breakfast tacos, coffee — and the main plaza, which Mexico Ceaty calls the Puestos, is where you’ll find a tortillería turning out fresh corn and flour tortillas daily, a ceviche bar, a taquería, a fruteria for fresh juice, and a Baja-style burrito stand. There’s a small mercado woven through the whole space too, stocked with salsas, cookbooks, and gifts from local and Latina-owned makers.
All of it was designed by architect Frank Valadez of SA Partnership, and the murals throughout — La Catrina included — are the work of San Antonio artist Colton Valentine.
Dady runs the project alongside his wife Crystal and brother Jake, the same trio behind Tre Trattoria, Two Bros. BBQ Market, Range, Jardin, Tre Pizzeria, and Roca & Martillo. He’s been candid that Jason Dady Restaurant Group self-funds its builds rather than bringing in outside investors, which for a space this size is no small thing. He’s also been upfront that Rivercenter carries a reputation among locals as tourist territory, like a place you visited on a school field trip and never went back to.
His bet is that Mexico Ceaty gives San Antonians a reason to reclaim it — while still working exactly as intended for the out-of-towners staying in the hotels three blocks away who want tacos, margaritas, and Texas barbecue on their first night in town. Dady has said the buildout created roughly 150 new jobs, no small number for a single downtown project.
It’s a three-hour minimum if you actually want to see it all, and even then you won’t hit every stall. For Dallas readers plotting a River Walk weekend, this isn’t a quick lunch stop, it’s a destination built to be worked through slowly, ideally over more than one visit.
Mexico Ceaty is open now at 849 E Commerce St. on the river level of the Shops at Rivercenter in San Antonio. Reservations for Tres Arcos and group dining inquiries can be made through the Mexico Ceaty website, and online ordering is available through Toast. Follow along at @mexicoceatysa on Instagram.
