We are the champions

2 San Antonio favorites nab national acclaim on lists of America's best restaurants

Cured's brunch was one of the reasons it was named one of the top 50 Southern restaurant in America.

In 2018, acclaim for Alamo City’s culinary offerings is hitting a crescendo, and some of the city’s best restaurants are finally getting the attention they deserve. The past week alone has seen two of San Antonio’s brightest restaurants concepts receive national nods.

The first came from OpenTable, the online reservation platform. On July 25, the company announced the winners of its 50 Best Southern Restaurants in America. The list was compiled based on more than 12 million reviews of 27,000-plus restaurants all over the nation.

Citing the excellent brunch and charcuterie program, users of the site voted Cured as one of the elite few. With a 99 percent recommended rating, the Pearl eatery was the only San Antonio restaurant to make the list — and only one of six in Texas.

The recognition was the latest in a string of kudos for Cured and its chef Steve McHugh. In March, the chef was a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Award, his third time just missing the big prize.

McHugh isn’t the only San Antonian on a winning streak. Carnitas Lonja’s Alex Paredes is racking up an impressive array of shout-outs of his own. Hot on the heels of being named one of the 18 Best New Restaurants in America by Eater's national restaurant editor Bill Addison, his beloved taco joint has landed on another coveted list.

On July 31, Bon Appétit released the top 50 finalist list for its annual Best New Restaurants issue. Carnitas Lonja was the only San Antonio eatery to nab a coveted spot, joining just four eateries from across Texas.

To see if their hometown favorite makes BA's prestigious final 10, San Antonians will have to wait until August 14. If Carnitas Lonja wins, it will only be the second Alamo City restaurant to have received a spot since the list was founded in 2009. Hot Joy received the honors in 2014.

lists news-you-can-eat

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.

View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Koffeteria (@koffeteria)

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.

lists media desserts koffeteria new york times