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Acclaimed San Antonio restaurant shockingly shutters in Southtown

Feast is closing at the end of 2019.

The owners of a critically acclaimed Southtown restaurant shocked San Antonians on December 5 after revealing plans to close the famed spot. Feast will stage its last service on December 31, according to an employee.

The news was first announced via a Facebook post attributed to owners Andrew Goodman and Stefan Bowers. Although the statement did not delve into the reason for the closure, it did share that the team would ride out the lease through 2020 with pop-ups, concept tests, and barbecue parties.

When Feast opened at 1024 S. Alamo St. in September 2011, it was unlike anything San Antonio diners had seen before. The gallery white interior was filled with poppy contemporary touches like transparent molded Ghost chairs, glass bubble fixtures, and bold abstract art. Colored lighting bathed the dining room in the evening, giving the place the ambiance and energy of a Las Vegas club.

The food was just as bold. Debuting with small plates in 2011, Feast frequently changed its menu, which was divided into descriptive columns like “hearty” and “chilled” instead of listing the offerings by course. Over the years, the restaurant explored international cuisine, serving everything from burgers to massaman curry lettuce wraps.

Of course, the atmosphere also lent itself to drinking. Feast curated its cocktail menu with the same level of care as its wine list. The restaurant never lost sight of the belief that dining should be fun.

Though Feast is winding down, Bowers and Goodman still have plenty to keep them busy. Italian favorite Battalion, playful pizzeria Playland, and the pair of concepts in the St. Anthony hotel — Rebelle and Haunt — all remain open. The restaurateurs will also be opening downtown events space Below at Maverick by the end of the year.

closings

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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