Dairy bars, otherwise known as milk bars, are a thing of the past in San Antonio, but less than a decade ago, Floyd’s Dairy Bar was still kicking on the city’s Southeast Side, where the business served up affordable burgers and shakes for more than 55 years.
What exactly is a dairy bar? No, it’s not a place where cows can get drunk. Floyd’s Dairy Bar was a proper example of the concept with its milk-powered menu of malts, milkshakes and floats, so essentially, the idea is it’s a place to grab a sweet, creamy treat among a small selection of hot foods. While it no longer exists, Floyd’s was once a San Antonio institution for its simple selection and low prices, especially when it came to burgers.
In 1961, founder Floyd Bell opened Floyd’s Dairy Bar as a one-stop shop for the hungry masses on the stretch of Goliad Road that was also home to the first Bill Miller Bar-B-Q. Bell operated the business until 1970, when he sold it to Leroy Tondre, the man who, along with his family, would run Floyd’s Dairy Bar for the next 47 years.
Throughout the decades, Floyd’s Dairy Bar became known for a certain burger deal that packaged five burgers for as low as $2.25 in its earlier days. Of course, inflation would see those prices rise somewhat over time, but it never appeared to surpass the $5 mark. Other menu highlights included chili dogs, onion rings, ice cream cones and banana splits.
Like many businesses, Floyd’s Dairy Bar began to hit some roadblocks in the 2010s, following an economic downturn. In a 2012 article published by MySA, Tondre’s daughter, Judy Tondre, said that the restaurant was losing money because her father was hesitant to raise prices despite rising costs.
“You can get a 32-ounce shake for $2.50. You can’t even get that at McDonald’s. But he was afraid people wouldn’t come back,” Judy Tondre said at the time.
By 2017, Leroy Tondre was ready to retire and proceeded to put Floyd’s Dairy Bar on the market. He soon found buyers in a father-and-son duo, George and Eric Gutierrez, who had big plans for the business, but they never came to fruition. By the end of 2018, Floyd’s Dairy Bar was finished.
Today, the space that used to be Floyd’s Dairy Bar continues to serve sweet treats to customers, as Frutería La Mission #2 opened in its place. As its name suggests, the frutería offers fruit cups, aguas frescas and other fruit-flavored snacks as well as a few savory bites, like nachos and elotes.
The previously stark white building has since been painted over with colorful motifs of grapes, melons and mangos, but the snack shop’s structure still hearkens back to Floyd’s Dairy Bar’s glory days, with its outdoor order window, its picnic tables and its covered patio that has shaded generations of San Antonians.
