SAN ANTONIO — Jaime Macias and his bar, Jaime’s Place, are built for the barrio and beyond.

“Everything that you see here at Jaime’s Place, from the branding to our ethos statement on our website, there’s thought put into everything,” Macias said. 

Jaime’s Place isn’t your typical cantina (dive bar) that you would find on San Antonio’s West Side. It has served as a space for cultura, art, music and gente (people) just trying to have a good time. 

It has run into a few obstacles, most notably the construction in front of the bar. The bar sits on West Commerce Street, a busy one-way street that goes from downtown deep into the West Side. 

There was a time when they closed for two days so patrons could avoid heavy construction, and Macias posted it on the business's social media pages. 

“All of this construction is taking place. Because of that, we want to give the construction crew enough uninterrupted time as possible to give them, well actually, to get them out as quickly as possible,” Macias said in the video. 

Macias has seen his fellow business owners in San Antonio get heavily affected by construction. He finds himself most nights directing traffic, but he says he knew about this construction project before he opened the shop in 2020, so it didn’t catch him off guard. 

“And then I also looked at it as an opportunity to get in front of maybe a wave of hopefully conscientious development,” Macias said. 

Instead of pushing back, Macias referred to his West Side upbringing and embraced his hardhat, highlighter vest-wearing neighbors. 

“It goes back to our ancestors, right? You got people in your front yard, and basically they’ve been in your front yard forever. I mean, it’s communication,” Macias says. 

He adds that construction workers have been nice and cooperative with him. He says he’s just grateful they wrap up their day at 5 p.m. when he’s getting ready to open his doors. Some businesses, he says, don’t have that luxury. 

He also credits his patrons for adapting with him. 

“Fortunately, the people still find a way to get here,” Macias said, laughing. 

Macias says he feels for his fellow business owners and doesn’t take his support from his barrio and beyond for granted. 

“So again, the alignment of the stars for this endeavor that I have taken on has worked out,” Macias said.