International Plaza Shopping Center

Three of the shops at International Plaza called Baklova Bakery & Sweets, Silk Road Gallery and Naara Cafe, offering delectable sweets, antiques, and a hookah lounge for socializing, respectively.

The International Plaza shopping center is a community anchor within the Silk Road Cultural Heritage District. Created in 2024, the district celebrates San Antonio’s global community along Wurzbach and Fredericksburg Roads near Medical Center. The district has representation of communities stemming from Northern and Central Africa, the Middle East, and Northern, Central, Eastern and Southeast Asia.

Ali Baba International Food Market imports foods and ingredients from all over the world as well as locally harvested produce to bring a taste of home for so many people in San Antonio.

The shopping center has grown over the years, hosting multiple food related businesses for those who either want to prepare food at home or enjoy fully cooked meals and delightful desserts, create memories with loved ones or purchase antiques. Ali Baba International Food Market opened in 1999, the first grocery store to provide Halal meats from a certified butchery in San Antonio.[1] The grocery store continues to bring an assortment of international foods imported from throughout the world as well as provide a space for people to socialize while shopping. Other businesses located at International Plaza include Pasha Mediterranean Grill, Zaatar Lebanese Grill, Baklovah Bakery & Sweets, Naara Café and Hookah, and the Silk Road Gallery, an antique store, amongst others.

Meats roasting on the vertical broilers in the kitchen at Pasha Mediterranean Grill.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pasha Mediterranean Grill and Zaatar Lebanese Grill, along with local organizations such as the Mehr Foundation, distributed thousands of free hot meals to first responders and frontline workers along with other community members.[2]

Ali Baba International Food Market and Pasha Mediterranean Grill are both part of the City of San Antonio’s Legacy Business Program due to their contributions to San Antonio over the years.

Learn about OHP’s Local Markers Program, which includes the History Here program, and watch all episodes of There’s A Story Here.

OHP will share photos of you with the marker if you tag @SAPreservation on social media!

[1] “Ali Baba International Food Market on Texas Public Radio,” Texas Public Radio, accessed February 25, 2025, http://directory.tpr.org/texas/san-antonio/food-beverage-industry/ali-baba-international-food-market.

[2] “San Antonio Restaurant Offers Free Meals to First Responders, Frontline Workers and Their Families,” accessed February 25, 2025, https://www.ksat.com/features/2020/04/06/san-antonio-restaurant-offers-free-meals-to-first-responders-frontline-workers-and-their-families/.