EXHIBITS
October 18, 2025 - Ongoing
Ruben’s Ice house:
A community Hangout
“Ice House Capital of the World”
San Antonio was so well known for ice houses that a 1986 New York Times article declared the city “the ice house capital of the world.” The original ice houses were created to store and distribute blocks of ice for neighborhood iceboxes in the years before refrigeration. The city also became an early center for ice manufacturing, as early as 1867 three of the eight ice manufacturing plants in the United States were located in San Antonio. In the meantime, ice houses in South Texas became gathering places, as folks in the neighborhood would also stop by for drinks, snacks and other household essentials.
Advertisement for the San Antonio Ice Company, San Antonio Express-News, April 17, 1870.
In 1959, Manuel and Élida Reyes expanded their business by opening Ruben's Ice House, named for their oldest son. What started as a walk-in cooler and a few picnic tables became the gathering place for the entire barrio. Neighbors came after work, kids helped in the kitchen making hamburgers and french fries on a big comal, and the jukebox played. For over twenty-five years, Ruben's was where the Westside showed up for each other.
San Antonio was already known as the ice house capital of the world. But Ruben's was more than cold beer and a place to sit. It was a space built on the same confianza and good faith that had made M&E Grocery a community institution. Manuel ran tabs for neighbors, delivered goods in his little blue truck, and kept the doors open until 1987.
This gallery tells the story of Ruben's Ice House through photographs, artifacts, and the memories of the Reyes family and the vecinos who called it home.
Selected Exhibition images
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Inside Ruben's Ice House
Inside Ruben’s Ice House. From left to right: Manuel Reyes, Nick (a.k.a. La Piña), El Prieto (who had a store called Prieto’s on Guadalupe), Ruben Reyes (kneeling in front with sunglasses), Manuel’s brother Feliciano Reyes, Rudy, Raymond, Richard Hernández (a.k.a. Richito, who owned a dry cleaning business by Fort Sam).
Courtesy of the Reyes Family, date unknown.
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Ruben's Sponsored Women's Softball Team
The Reyes Family sponsored a women’s softball team for Cardona Welding. Here they are in front of the take-out window of the restaurant.
Courtesy of the Reyes Family, date unknown.
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Go ‘Stros!
In the late 1960s, Manuel Reyes chartered a bus for community members, friends, and family interested in enjoying an afternoon/evening of baseball with the Houston Astros. Here they are boarding the bus at the front of Ruben’s.
Courtesy of the Reyes Family, circa 1965.
Installation Images
