It's time for one of the most anticipated parts of the annual CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Awards: our annual Best New Restaurant tournament.
Anacacho Coffee & Cantina/ Facebook
We've selected 16 of the best new restaurants in San Antonio to square off in a bracket-style competition, and you get to decide the winner.
Make your voice heard by voting for your favorite new San Antonio restaurants during the four rounds of competition. You can vote once per day, April 23 through May 12.
We’ll reveal the winner during the 2026 Tastemaker Awards party at the Briscoe Museum on May 14, where guests will be treated to delicious bites from this year’s nominated restaurants and sip cocktails from our sponsors. Early Bird discounts are still available for General Admission and VIP access, so get your tickets now.
After buying your ticket, meet all the Tastemakers nominees via our special editorial series. Without further ado, here are the 16 nominees for San Antonio's Best New Restaurant of 2026. Let the voting begin!
Anacacho Coffee & Cantina
This cozy property serves two purposes for the storied downtown St. Anthony Hotel, offering coffee by day and cocktails at night. Both pair with Chef Leo Davila’s cross-cultural fare, including his famed Big Red and barbacoa tacos.
Church Burger
San Antonio has been in a smash burger craze since 2020, but the flattened patties rarely live up to the hype. These juicy-crisp wonders at Southtown’s Palomino bar are what the trendsetters promised, whether slathered in peanut butter and jelly or topped with puckery housemade pickles.
Gigi's Deli
After winning a cult following as a pop-up, this deli found a permanent home in St. Paul Square. Although it's on a hiatus until June while Chef Matt Garcia works on his new restaurant, Miles, the Italian Disco (mortadella, prosciutto, salami, and pepper relish) still glistens like a mirror ball.
Honey's Chicken Joint
The owners of San Antonio's Smoke Shack and The Pigpen Neighborhood Bar shook up Alamo City's fried chicken pecking order with this casual spot. It’s in the former home of a Church's Chicken, but the sides taste miles away from fast food.
Jots at Hotel Gunter
The Gunter's flagship restaurant draws inspiration from its earliest days, honoring the property’s namesake financier and turn-of-the-century supper clubs. Unexpected riffs on comfort classics include duck confit Benedicts, French dip sandwiches, and grilled pineapple French toasts.
Kaedama Battleship
The 2000s ramen craze largely skipped San Antonio, but Chad Carey's Empty Stomach Group is making up for lost time. The tonkotsu holds up to any established ideal, the Sapporo bowl with yuzu-scented meatballs surprises, and the macaroni salad with Spam and hot dog is a knowing wink to the everyman.
King William Wine Co.
This wine bar and restaurant is a new muse to San Antonio's gallery-filled Blue Star Arts Complex, catching inspiration among dark green walls and glittering chandeliers. That sparkle extends to a menu featuring butter-poached lobster tail with corn velouté and beef osso bucco served with a bone marrow "canoe.”
Lovers Pizzeria
After gaining a loyal following on the South Side, Dusty Dworak and Victoria Moreno's unfussy pizzeria relocated to Monte Vista and longer lines. The poblano pie with pepperoni — naturally leavened and fired in a coal oven — is the move.
Max's Sister
Chef Andrew Weissman's return to fine dining is less buttoned down than his early showstoppers like Le Rêve. The chicken-fried steak, served with potato mousseline, is like quiet luxury for the palate.
Otto's Ice House
Houston restaurateur Levi Goode opened the newfangled ice house at the Pearl without giving up the honky-tonk ghost. The Texas bona fides are all there — cold beer, live music, salty snacks — but the kitchen is doing things, like made-to-order guacamole, that most ice houses wouldn't dare.
Petit Coquin
This Southtown bistro has none of the usual maximalism of the Empty Stomach Group’s other spots. The prix fixe menus are pared down, too, with braised leeks, Le Puy lentils, and Chef Max Mackinnon's golden roast chicken served with schmaltz-flavored rice.
San Peter Taqueria
Ever-busy chef couple Charlie Gonzalez and Gaby Hinojosa (Panfila Cantina) bring their exacting approach to lonches, taquitos, and asada fries at this upstart food truck. Bring your own bag of chips or Cheetos, and the restaurant will load it up with meat, fries, and toppings for $10.
South Barbecue
Pitmaster Andrew Samia's fare was never an issue, but the fluorescent lighting of the old Southtown location didn’t exactly make the marbled brisket shine. The Monte Vista relaunch in a former service station finally gives the succulent ribs, creamed elote, and signature green bean salad the space they deserve.
Tacopolis
Chef Alex Paredes is famed for his Michoacán-style carnitas, but this Deco District taqueria proves he has other tricks up his sleeve. Barbacoa, birria, and button mushrooms are made with as much finesse as his fabled Carnitas Lonja pork.
The Desert Spoon (Spring Branch)
With his farm-forward offerings, Chef Tatu Herrera is proving that one can find fine cuisine outside the loop. The menu reflects the Hill Country with dishes like a red chimichurri slathered steak sandwich and a main-course salad made with smoked ranch.
Tucker's Italian
Chef Michael Sohocki’s latest project opens a new chapter for a San Antonio institution that first opened as a hot dog and burger stand in 1948. Decades later, the provisions have shifted to dense lasagna Bolognese and herbed focaccia, but the soul is still there.
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The Tastemaker Awards ceremony is sponsored in San Antonio by NXT LVL EVENT, Maker's Mark, Lone Star Beer, Seedlip, Ritual Zero Proof, and more to be announced. A portion of the proceeds will benefit our nonprofit partner, Culinaria.
