A new leaf

Downtown San Antonio steakhouse shutters to cook up fresh new look

Downtown's The Palm is taking a summer break.

Here’s the bad news: After almost two decades serving downtown diners, The Palm restaurant closed on June 29. But before San Antonio carnivores start to panic, know the shutter will barely last over a month. Following an interior refresh, the long-running steakhouse will be back on the scene in August.

According to a release, the restaurant is undergoing renovations for two reasons. A new bar will attract guests looking for a cocktail before a Majestic Theater show and a refurbished private dining room will more readily accommodate business functions.

The Palm debuted at 233 E. Houston St. in 2000. Although part of a chain with locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City, the restaurant has become a San Antonio icon for prime steaks, seafood, and Italian specialties like veal Marsala and linguine and clam sauce.

The food menu will not change; however, the reopening will introduce a new cocktail program. Though the release did not go into details, it did say that it “fuses its renowned generous pours with specialty mixology.”

Those generously poured drinks will be enjoyed in a new, open floor plan. Since walls are being knocked down, that may affect some of the eatery’s famous caricatures of prominent San Antonians, but the restaurant is taking steps to preserve them.

The improvements to the private dining area will not just be cosmetic. The chain is outfitting the room with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, flat screens, and laptop connections so it can accommodate presentations and meetings.

“We have been here for 20 years, and it is time to give the restaurant a facelift that will enhance the experience for our guests and better suit their needs,” says general manager Robert Sanchez in a release. “The restaurant will still have that classic feel, but with a fresh look that better celebrates and delivers everything our guests love about The Palm.”

Although The Palm does not yet know the exact reopening date, it does plan to complete the work as quickly as possible. Progress updates will be posted on the website throughout the summer.

closings downtown

NYT loves AUS

Pastry chef from San Antonio makes New York Times Best Bakeries list

Comadre Panadería/Instagram

Comadre Panadería is known for nostalgic Mexican bakes with feminine flair.

The New York Times has once again shined its spotlight on Austin’s culinary scene. It included Comadre Panadería, an Austin bakery by San Antonio native Mariela Camacho, on its new list of the 22 of the Best Bakeries Across the U.S. Right Now.

Interim food critic Priya Krishna praises pastry chef Camacho’s pastries that include conchas and her signature pink cake. “Despite their saccharine appearances, not one of the desserts is overly cloying, and even the coffee drinks (Texas pecan horchata! Cranberry vanilla agua fresca!) strike the playful tone of the pastries,” she writes.

Comadre Panadería has been widely recognized, including by this publication; Camacho, who is now based in Ausitn, won Pastry Chef of the Year in the 2023 CultureMap Austin Tastemaker Awards. She also earned a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker.

Camacho and Comadre as a whole are both invested in using baked goods to make a more equitable world, from the bakery's early days as a fundraiser for disaster relief, to a current insistence on charging enough to support ethical and organic foods, and paying staff enough to keep up with rising costs in Austin.

Although Camacho was born in San Antonio and started her baking career there, she also spent a significant time in Seattle, Washington, where Comadre started as a pop-up. According to Austin Monthly, she then moved back to San Antonio, and then to Austin. But no matter where she is, the Mexican cooking traditions of her ancestors take precedent.

Mariela Camacho of Comadre Panaderia in Austin Mariela Camacho, Comadre Panaderia. Courtesy photo

The Times also recognized Houston's Koffeteria. Krishna hails the bakery for pastry chef-owner Vanarin Kuch’s creative fare that includes dishes such as beef pho kolaches, Chinese sausage breakfast tacos, and butter mochi.

“Some of Mr. Kuch’s offerings are rooted in his Cambodian American identity — he makes cornbread with the coconutty, scallion-forward flavors of Cambodian street corn — while others are odes to Houston’s multicultural makeup. But most of the fun of Koffeteria is having no idea what Mr. Kuch will do next, and eagerly awaiting his next innovation,” Krishna writes.

Open since 2019, Koffeteria has been riding high this year. It earned a James Beard Award semifinalist nomination for Outstanding Bakery and a CultureMap Houston Tastemaker Award for Pastry Chef of the Year.

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Comadre Panadería and Koffeteria are the only Texas establishments to make the Times’ list. Only California and New York City, which each have three representatives, earn more recognition.

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