Pearl is in the holiday spirit and decided Monday, December 12, that it would bring back its favorite parking pastime this month with free parking on all of its surface lots. But San Antonio is less than receptive about the announcement. Why? Those free parking spaces are only free for three hours and ends on December 29.
The announcement was posted to Instagram and people in the comments pulled no punches, referring to it as a tease to the days when Pearl had more free parking than just the garage.
“Take something away from the locals then act like it’s a special to have it again for a few hours? Cool…” says user runningforbeers.
Many others asked the Pearl to return to free parking, citing it as the reason they no longer visit the old brewery site turned destination spot. Another person, happymamadesigns, said she spent $200 for dinner at the Pearl and their parking wasn’t validated. I haven’t been to the Pearl long enough since they started charging for parking so I’m not sure if validation was ever a thing.
It’s the end of a parking era at the Pearl. You can still see the remnants of Green Vegetarian Cuisine at Full Goods.
Steven Santana | MySA
Pearl started charging for parking in November 2020 when it also cut out its Full Goods parking lot to make way for a new green space. When Pearl made the announcement, longtime tenant Green Vegetarian Cuisine left the Full Goods building for the Alamo Quarry Market to get access to more parking.
Now the four of its parking lots $3 to $10 of parking after the first 30 minutes and the parking garage charges and the lot across the river charges up to $10 after the first two hours. Pearl is basically adding an extra hour for those two parking lots.