14 Unique First Date Ideas In San Antonio To Woo Your Potential Boo (2024)

As South Texas’s largest city, San Antonio is the place to be for a fun first date! Concerts, nightlife, restaurants, museums, outdoor entertainment…The Alamo City truly has it all! We at Peerspace love helping people connect through special event venues. That’s why we’ve put together this list of fun first date ideas in San Antonio to explore!

In fact, Peerspace has collected hundreds of party venues in San Antonio for dates, birthdays, and other special events! From private kitchens for a quiet dinner to party halls for quinceaneras, you won’t find a better selection of event venues anywhere else! 

1. Visit the Blue Star Arts Complex

There are few places that better capture the vibe of San Antonio’s Southtown Arts District than the Blue Star Arts Complex. The Arts Complex contains multiple venues to explore during a first date, including the Blue Star Brewery, artist’s studio, and a playhouse. You’ll find bike rentals here if you want to go riding along the nearby River Walk and a menu with tacos, burgers, nachos, and more! 

2. Enjoy a meal with a private chef

Dining out is a lot of fun, especially in a city with as many good restaurants as San Antonio. But it can be really nice to enjoy a dinner with just the two of you. That way, there won’t be loud conversations to talk over and you’ll have the complete attention of any serving staff. So why not book a private chef and have them come cook at your personal dining hall? Peerspace is the nation’s leading online marketplace for event rental spaces, after all! Instead of being locked into an entire day and night with Airbnb, consider an hourly venue of ours, like this lovely home on the Northwest Side! Your private chef will have a large kitchen stocked with modern appliances and a separate dining area to entertain you during your date! 

3. Play sports at Andretti Indoor Karting and Games

Beat the heat of a San Antonio summer by heading indoors to play! The Andretti Indoor Karting and Games has an incredible amount of fun to explore under a single roof. You’ll find arcade games, go-kart racing, laser tag, bowling, virtual reality games, and more! The games include classic standup arcade games along with skeeball and air hockey. The electric go-karts run on a multi-tiered track lit with neon. And there’s a full menu of food and drinks to enjoy here!

4. Have drinks at Little Death Wine Bar

Wine and conversation are a timeless combination so why not get to know each other better at a local wine bar? San Antonio has quite a few but Little Death gets the nod as our favorite! Their selection of classic and rare wines, subdued lighting, and the relaxed atmosphere make it a top first date idea in San Antonio. You’ll also find a delightful menu of sharable tapas and other snacks to go with your drinks!

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5. Stroll along the San Antonio River Walk

The San Antonio River Walk is the city’s #1 attraction and a wonderful place to have a casual outdoor first date! Stroll under bridges as you follow the winding river through downtown and pop into any shops or restaurants that interest you both. The River Walk is often thought of as a touristy, downtown-only venue but it actually includes 15 miles of trails well outside of downtown. The North and South River Walk have their own charms and lead to Missions National Historical Park and other local hotspots!

6. Visit the San Antonio Botanical Gardens

Are you looking for a casual outdoor first date idea in San Antonio? Check out the 38-acre San Antonio Botanical Gardens! The space includes educational installations for seasonal wildflowers and native pollinators, plus multiple garden beds filled with flowers and trees! You can take photos together in the Lucile Halsell Conservatory, learn about San Antonio’s connection to Japan in the Kumamoto En Garden, and enjoy concerts or other events seasonally.  

7. Catch a movie at a drive-in theater

Drive-in theaters are a retro date classic that’s still popular in San Antonio! The Stars & Stripes Drive-In Theatre in nearby New Braunfels is one of our favorites! They’re open five days per week and show the latest films. The menu includes not just classic movie snacks like popcorn but also more substantial meals like burgers and fries for a real dinner and movie experience!

8. Watch movies in a private screening room

What if you don’t want to sit with the general public and want a bit more privacy? Or maybe the local theaters don’t have anything you two are interested in watching? In that case, it’s better to book a private screening room! This way, you can watch whatever you like, bring whatever snacks or meals you prefer, and have the theater all to yourselves to laugh or cry! Peerspace has the largest collection of event venues in San Antonio. Have you seen this tropical-themed home with a theater room? The movie viewing area, den, and kitchen provide the perfect venue for a dinner and movie night!

9. Go spelunking in the Natural Bridge Cavern

Central and South Texas have some of the largest cave complexes in the state thanks to all of the limestone and water in the region. Check out what millions of years of erosion can do at the Natural Bridge Cavern! Taking an underground tour is certainly one of the more unique first date ideas in San Antonio to consider. Each tour has something different to offer, including light shows, stunning rock formations, bat flights, and full-on adventure tours with caving gear.  

10. Enjoy a dinner river cruise together

Did you know you can enjoy a dinner cruise even in the heart of Texas? As a river city, San Antonio has loads of fun activities on the water. For a scenic first date, check out a dinner river cruise! Companies like Go Rio Cruises take you on a slow journey through the downtown River Walk while you sip wine and enjoy a fine meal together. Some river cruises even offer performances and tours to go along with the food and drinks!

Scope out these unique indoor activities in San Antonio in case the weather is acting up on the day of your big date.

11. Book a cooking class

Cooking classes are a neat first date idea in San Antonio as you can bond over your shared love of creativity and food! The activity portion involves learning how to make food both look and taste good. Whether that means making homemade pasta, frying donuts, or melting fondue chocolate, you’ll need a kitchen and an instructor to help you! Have you been to the Culinary Institute of America? They offer year-round cooking classes that cover the basics or focus on specialty cuisines. Each class is 2 to 5 hours long and of course, you’ll get to eat what you make at the end!

12. Play arcade games

If you enjoy more competitive first date experiences, head to one of San Antonio’s video game arcades! For a full-on retro experience, it doesn’t get any better than Be Kind & Rewind, an ’80s, ’90s, and Y2K-themed dance club and bar downtown. Pinball games are $1 each and classic arcade games like Pac-Man or The Simpsons are all free to play! Kung Fu Saloon is an arcade bar on the North Side that has a large selection of quarter and dollar games to play. Not to mention basketball, skeeball, and karaoke!

13. Explore the Japanese Tea Garden

San Antonio and its sister city of Kumamoto, Japan, have a long history of cultural exchange. Celebrate this international connection at the Japanese Tea Garden, a beautiful garden park with free admission. You can walk among stone arch bridges over the koi pond, explore the lush island, and take pictures in one of the city’s most Instagrammable spots!

14. Sing at a karaoke club

Lovers of energetic first dates should check out a karaoke club in San Antonio! Karaoke clubs have private lounges where the two of you or a group of friends can enjoy drinks and food while singing your hearts out to hit singles. Each room has a karaoke machine and microphone plus lounge seating for a comfortable night of fun. For a more unique karaoke experience, check out Picks Bar SA, where a live band performs and the audience sings along! 

First date ideas in San Antonio: conclusion

As you can see, Alamo City has no shortage of wonderful places to get to know someone during a first date! Lovers of quiet spaces, party rooms, and experience-oriented dates will all find something to appreciate here. We think you’ll find just as much value in checking out our collection of event venues in San Antonio while you’re here! After all, Peerspace is a one-stop-shop for planners of date nights, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special moments! 

Find unique event spaces in San Antonio on Peerspace