San Antonio, TX Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

San Antonio Code § 4-4 makes it an offense to possess an open container or publicly consume any alcoholic beverage anywhere inside the mapped downtown central business district, the zone bounded roughly by Commerce, Alamo, Durango, IH-10 and the Frio/San Marcos streets that takes in the River Walk core. Police enforce it as a Class C misdemeanor carrying a fine up to $500. It is a defense that you were drinking in a motor vehicle, in a private building, in a residence, or on a TABC-licensed premises, which is why patrons legally drink on a River Walk bar's licensed patio but not while walking the public path with an open cup. A separate § 4-4.3 bans open containers within 12 feet of public streets in the King William area.