When the lights go down at Sari-Sari Thursday night, Buddhafull Belly, San Antonio’s new late night Chinese food spot, will awaken to become a cherry beacon for the after-hours stragglers.
Owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes are extending their brand to include a Chinese food menu served exclusively from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Popular local foodie influencer Alex Serna, known to his nearly 40,000 followers as “@sanantoniomunchies” is partnering with them on the new concept.
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If you follow San Antonio’s foodie stars on Instagram, you may have seen a flood of Chinese food posts Wednesday night. Buddhafull Belly’s sneak peek preview may have had something to do with that.
RELATED: San Antonio will soon have a late night Chinese food spot serving until 2 a.m.
I skipped out on dinner to be hungry enough to do the hard work and find out everything you need to know — and taste — at the new business.
Buddhafull Belly is located inside Sari-Sari at 5700 Wurzbach Road.
Fill up below.
There’s now a carryout option
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
When news of the late night option was first announced, the partners were planning to only offer delivery. Serna said guests will now be able to swing by the restaurant to pick up their orders. DoorDash is also available.
Let’s get rolling
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
Egg rolls are a must, plain and simple. Our review? My date (my mom) unabashedly asked for a second helping despite me asking her not to — who raised these parents?
Dom Boheman, the brains of the Sari-Sari/Buddhafull Belly, explained the secret to the tasty bites. He said Sari Sari fans might notice the egg rolls have the same flavor profile of the Filipino restaurant’s lumpia. That’s because Boheman uses the same beef filling to make the egg rolls and adds more vegetables.
But wait, there’s more
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
That was just the appetizer. Here’s everything on the working menu for Buddhafull Belly: egg rolls (duh), lo mein, orange chicken, “Admiral” chicken, beef and broccoli, “Buddhafull” pork belly, vegetable fried rice.
A mein point
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
The lo mein was served with chicken, but it can be ordered with beef or just vegetables. Talk about a lo mein-tenance dish! I tasted it with each of the samples and liked it best with the sauciness of the orange chicken.
There’s a salute to the Admiral on the menu
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
Buddhafull Belly put a fun spin on General Tso’s chicken by naming it after a military member San Antonians are more familiar with, David “The Admiral” Robinson. Boheman said the Spurs name adaptation was a must given the Alamo City’s love for the team. The Admiral chicken and the orange chicken were the Twin Towers of the menu in my heart.
Sari-Sari’s menu will get a makeover at night
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
Like magic, Sari-Sari’s online menu will transform into the Buddhafull Belly one each night at 8 p.m so guests can place their orders Thursday through Saturday, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Sari Sari knows Chinese food
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
Though Sari-Sari is a Filipino restaurant, this isn’t their first pan-Asian dabble. Camille De Los Reyes said the restaurant offered Chinese food before. She said the Buddhafull concept is a “fun way” to fire it back up.
They hope the college kids are hungry
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
Serna said he is looking forward to promoting the new concept to late night royalty, the college crowd (not pictured). Although the “I’ll go out for one drink and that’s it” peeps also known as the Millennials (pictured) will likely lie to themselves and their friends and will be ordering after the bar, a few White Claws later, at 1:45 a.m.
It has the backing of well-known San Antonio chefs
The restaurant side of Sari-Sari Filipino Restaurant Market & Bakery serves an extensive menu of Filipino food.
Mike Sutter /Staff
Wednesday night was a San Antonio restaurant family affair. Ceasar Zepeda, owner and chef of Sangria on the Burg and Alamo Biscuit Company, and Mike Nguyen, owner and chef of Noodle Tree, showed up to support the launch. Before they sat down to eat, they helped the employees serve the samples to all the guests.
The foodie fan favorite goes to…
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
The “Buddhafull” Pork Belly (top right corner). My fellow guests couldn’t get enough of the fatty meat. It starred in most of the influencer food posts of the night.
The owners hope it will cook up a trend
Sari Sari owners Adrian and Camille De Los Reyes presented their new late night concept with local food influencer Alex Serna on April 20, 2021.
Madalyn Mendoza for MySA
Serna said he’s confident the idea will take off. San Antonio is home to some under-the-radar late night Asian spots and Serna said Buddhafull Belly will add to the movement to keep the city full after the bars close down.
“It’s going to move forward, it is,” he said. “And San Antonio wins from it.”