By Christopher Salinas, Janelle Ramon and Phillip Bowie

Out of all the missions that we’ve seen in San Antonio, we would have to say that Mission San Juan, located at 9101 Graf Road next to the Stinson Regional Airport, is very secluded. You get a feel for what it was like to live there in the 1700s.

Although the Mission San Juan church is currently under restoration, you can still maneuver in and out of the rooms. What we found interesting is that San Juan has its own self-guided trails.

The closest restaurant to Mission San Juan is the historical Stinson Airfield Patio Café. Unfortunately, the café will be closed until July 2012. (October 2023 update: Trailblazer Café is now located at Stinson.)

We did, however, find a relatively close restaurant called Capparelli’s Italian Food and Pizza, located at 3857 East Southcross Boulevard off of Pecan Grove, which has something for everyone. The restaurant looks like a little house, and it is very cozy.

The service is different from other restaurants that we’ve been to in terms of how you order your meals. You order and pay for your food at the counter along with your drinks and then afterward, you seat yourself and your food is brought to you by the servers.

The lasagna, drenched in red pasta sauce and melted mozzarella cheese, is filled with cheese, meat and even a few tiny mushrooms.

The spicy chicken Alfredo was another one of their specials, and it was phenomenal. It had fettuccine noodles with spicy chicken and spicy Alfredo sauce. Your dish also comes with a side salad of your choice.

The classic pepperoni pizza comes with a unique twist: the cheese is on top of the pepperoni. The personal pizza could be bought as a side and shared with friends.

Lunch specials are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the prices of our dishes were less than $10. Their hours of operation are from 11 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. On Fridays and Saturdays, Capparelli’s is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The restaurant is closed on Sundays. Their phone number is (210) 337-8700.

Denise Barkis Richter, Ph.D., author of “San Antonio’s Passport to Fun,” has been blogging about San Antonio since June of 2010. Follow her at facebook.com/SanAntonioTourist so that you’ll never miss a post. Her love affair with the Alamo City began at Hemisfair in 1968. She moved to San Antonio in 1979 as an 18-year-old college student, and San Antonio has been her home ever since. Denise completed certification to become a professional tour guide in 2019. Please contact her at sanantoniotourist at gmail dot com if you’d like for her to curate a fabulous San Antonio experience for you!