It’s another one for CultureMap’s history books, folks. Our statewide journey to recognize some of the best chefs, restaurants, and more in 2023 has finally come to a close.
The series kicked off April 13 with our sold-out Houston Tastemakers at Silver Street Studios, then we moved to Cowtown for our Fort Worth event on April 27. The Texas culinary tour steered us to our Metroplex neighbors in Dallas at the Fashion Industry Gallery on May 4. From there, we took a drive to the Hill Country for Austin’s evening festivities at Fair Market on May 11, then concluded our journey with our second-ever fête in San Antonio on May 18.
The 2023 Tastemaker Awards honor the state’s most innovative culinary pioneers, allowing nominated chefs and restaurants to showcase their talents for guests before announcing the winners during a live ceremony.
Guests sampled chefs’ specialty bites and imbibed a variety of creative cocktails or mocktails, with a few Topo Chicos sprinkled in throughout the evening. But as always, our nominees and winners are the main focus of our program and are the reason we can bring these celebrations to life.
Nominees are brought forth by a panel of previous Tastemaker winners and CultureMap editors. While the panel choses a majority of the winners, the winner of Best New Restaurant is determined by our readers in an online, bracket-style tournament. New this year in each city, a sizzling on-site Burger Throwdown sponsored by Goodstock Beef by Nolan Ryan.
Without further ado, let’s meet our 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards winners, listed by city:
San Antonio:
- Restaurant of the Year: Carriqui
- Chef of the Year: Robbie Nowlin, Allora, Arrosta
- Bar of the Year: Amor Eterno
- Brewery of the Year: Künstler Brewing
- Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: The Magpie
- Pastry Chef of the Year: Sofia Tejeda, Hotel Emma
- Best Burger: Last Place Burger
- Best New Restaurant: Reese Bros BBQ
Houston:
Künstler Brewing Instagram
