Annual Cowboy Breakfast will be a private event this year in response to pandemic
Jan. 6, 2021Updated: Jan. 6, 2021 11:01 a.m.
More than 30,000 were expected to attend the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
From left, siblings Miracle Irvin, 11, John Irvin, 9, Christian Irvin, 8, and Kimberley Irvin, 6, hold onto their warm cups of coffee along with their mother Johnny Ivin-Wilcher, right, during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and has continued until this year where it draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Carlos Sanchez dances with his daughter Lilandra Sanchez, 16, during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and has continued until this year where it draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Volunteers packed over 35,000 tacos to give away for free during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Volunteer Matthew Thompson, right, with Republic Services in San Antonio, hands out free Rudy’s BAR-B-Q tacos during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and has continued until this year where it draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Miracle Irvin, 11, center right, takes a cup coffee along with her siblings Kimberley Irvin, 6, second right, and John Irvin, 9, third right, along with their mother Johnny Irvin-Wilcher, right, during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and has continued until this year where it draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Ann Broussard, left, and Alejandrina Aguilar, right, check their photos together during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and has continued until this year where it draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Barbara Kiolbassa Britton, right, dances with her son, Douglas Britton, left, during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Volunteers John Garza, left, and Brittney Armstrong, right, cook Kiolbassa Sausage during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Both Garza and Armstrong are on the Dairy Committee for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Over 30,000 are expected to attend the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
40,000 tortillas sit in crates ready for packing with chorizo, bacon, eggs and sausage during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Attendees line up to receive free tacos, sausage and egg plates, coffee and donuts during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Attendees line up early to receive free Wing Stop wings during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Eggs and chorizo are cooked up during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. Twelve thousand Kiolbassa chorizo and egg tacos were cooked for this breakfast.
Matthew Busch
From left, volunteers Blake Evans, Sarah Mosher, and Jack Evans, cook up bacon and eggs during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. This is Mosher and Jack Evan’s 25th year and Blake’s 1st volunteering to cook for the breakfast. “We had to bring him in right,” Mosher said.
Matthew Busch
From left, volunteers John Gapinski, Justin Martinez, and Felipe Lopez, cook chorizo and eggs during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. This is Martinez and Lopez’s 14th year volunteering to cook and Gapinski’s 5th year. They cook an estimated 300 lbs of food at this station alone.
Matthew Busch
Attendees turn up early and bundled up to grab their share of free tacos during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
Volunteer Brittney Armstrong, right, cooks Kiolbassa Sausage during the 41st annual San Antonio Cowboy Breakfast held outside Cowboys Dancehall in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, January 25, 2019. The Cowboy Breakfast started in 1979 and draws over 30,000 people for free tacos, coffee and other food to kick off the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
Matthew Busch
San Antonians will have to forgo their free tacos from the Cowboy Breakfast this year.
The annual tradition that also serves as an unofficial kickoff to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo will be a private event this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a representative from the Cowboy Breakfast Foundation said Wednesday.
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Chuck Christian, the vice chairman for the foundation, said organizers are concentrating on delivering the tacos to local non-profits who’ve helped the community during the pandemic.
According to Christian, the Cowboy Breakfast board is in the process of choosing the non-profits, the date of the delivery and where the cooking will occur. Last year, the 42nd annual edition of the event took place on Jan. 24 in the parking lot of Cowboys Dance Hall on the Northeast Side.
Each year thousands wake up early for the tacos. In 202o, the Cowboy Breakfast dished out 12,000 egg tacos, 10,000 beef tacos, 8,000 biscuits and 5,000 potato and egg tacos.
Although the event isn’t public, Christian said the foundation still needs support for the deliveries. Several sponsors and hundreds of volunteers have helped produce the festivities in the past. Through the sponsorships, the Cowboy Breakfast funds scholarships for St. Philip’s College culinary arts students.
Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | [email protected] | @CillaAguirre
