After weeks of being on pins and needles, the best restaurants, bars, chefs, and more culinary superstars were crowned at the 2025 CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Awards.
For the past few weeks, you’ve read about all the deliciously talented nominees in our special editorial series, then voted for your favorite new restaurant in a bracket-style tournament. On Thursday, April 10, the winners were finally revealed.
Alamo City’s culinary trendsetters and hundreds of ravenous fans gathered at the Briscoe Museum for our annual tasting event and awards ceremony, emceed by KENS-5 afternoon anchor Sarah Forgany. Guests sampled savory and sweet delights from nominated restaurants and sipped drinks from our sponsors before our winners were unveiled. A portion of the proceeds benefited Culinaria.
Our 2025 CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Award winners capture the spirit of the city — warm hospitality, a commitment to excellence, and an everlasting sense of community. So, let’s get right to it! Join us in toasting our Tastemakers:
Restaurant of the Year: Ladino
Named after a language, a stir of Castellano, French, Italian, Greek, Turkish, and Hebrew, this Pearl restaurant relishes regionality. Traditional Mediterranean dishes like Medjool date cake and shawarma, updated with mushrooms and peanut salsa, are contemporary without losing their tether to an ancient past. Whatever else is on the table, make sure there's an order of hummus — a spreadable masterpiece that only bears a passing resemblance to the grocery store stuff.
Chef of the Year: John Russ, Clementine
Russ earned his chops in the luxury sector, beginning his culinary career at the Ritz-Carlton and the tony Capella Hotel Group. Still, the neighborhood restaurants he remembers from his New Orleans youth more fully defined his approach to dining. Dishes like fresh berries paired with pickled ramps and creamy stracciatella show his finesse with careful sourcing and a global palate. They still have the ease of a Sunday family supper.
Best New Restaurant: Freight Fried Chicken
This Bottling Department food hall stall is a tribute to Black women entrepreneurs during Emancipation. It uses a traditional dry batter to give its fried chicken extra crunch; fried corn, mac 'n' cheese, and flaky biscuits extend the Southern hospitality.
Pastry Chef of the Year: Alessia Benavides, Chocolatl
After building a successful online business, Benavides opened a brick-and-mortar in February. Thank goodness! Her gleaming bonbons must be seen in person to get the full effect. The geometric bars peacock with subtle decoration and unexpected flavors like guava, Speculaas (a Dutch shortbread cookie), and pistachio kunafa — her take on the viral Dubai chocolate trend.
Bar of the Year: Gimme Gimme
Like the Ramones song it references, this Southtown bar does the most with three chords. The decor may be stripped down, but the stellar cocktails, conversational staff, and exceptional food amp up what could have been a run-of-the-mill dive. Grab one of the booths with some reformed punk rock friends and imagine how rad it would be if CBGB made it into adulthood.
Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year: Cullum's Attagirl
A country cousin to Chris Cullum's more metropolitan Attaboy, this Tobin Hill hot spot is decorated with the shopworn clutter of a rural general store. Here, the chef's trademark nostalgia is thrown in a blender, building Paradise Garage in Mayberry. What would Aunt Bee think of Opie getting rowdy on a frozen piña colada and a plate of Nashville hot wings?
Brewery of the Year: Roadmap Brewing Co.
Roadmap has brewed a line of award-winning core beers, such as the Alright Alright Alright Pilsner, Craven Cottage English pub ale, and Mama Dukes West Coast IPA. But there’s a large rotating selection of brews, including a New England IPA series named “Cat on a ….” with fun fill-in-the-blanks every time a new beer is introduced. Additionally, Roadmap offers popular annual brews, such as Cousin Eddy’s Hot Coco Marshmallow and Cocoa Stout, which tend to run out fast.
Wildcard: Best Coffee Shop – Folklores Coffee House
Though the logo riffs on The Exploited’s familiar skull and mohawk, the Beacon Hill and Government Hill locations of this shop show none of punk’s surliness. Instead, it focuses on the movement’s individuality and penchant for DIY. The interiors are lived-in, filled with band posters and a graffitied skateboard decks. And drinks like the pistachio matcha latte undeniably have an edge. But owners Tatu and Emilie Herrera have a softer side, helping their community any time there’s a need.
The Tastemaker Awards ceremony was brought to you by The Yuengling Company, H-E-B, Jim Beam Black, Hornitos, PicMe Events, and Reyka Vodka.
