Imagine a large kitchen table between San Antonio and Monterrey, Mexico. It sits inside a borderland cantina with generous plates, cold drinks and warm hospitality, a place that connects people from two regions in two countries.
Restaurateurs Lizzeth Martinez and Francisco Estrada created the concept, which carries an evocative tag line: “North Mexican. South Texan. No rules.”
The James Beard-nominated husband and wife team of Naco Mexican fame say they will open Santonia Cantina at Pearl before Thanksgiving. It’s not Mexican. It’s not Tex-Mex. It’s not Naco Mexican 2.0. It’s an interpretation of a borderland cantina.
Santonia Cantina, Martinez explained, is an attempt to blend the cultures of two cities, San Antonio and Monterrey, separated by nearly 300 miles.
“I don’t want to say it belongs on the Mexican side or the American side,” said Martinez, a UNESCO Chef Ambassador. “We want to make it one table in between San Antonio and Monterrey.”
Santonia Cantina is one of five new concepts scheduled to open at Pearl by spring. Later this year, Bludorn Hospitality Group will launch an unnamed concept in the 19th Century Boehler’s Liberty Saloon Building. And Loverboy House Eats, a coffee, lunch and cocktail spot, will open next to Perlen House, a boutique hotel scheduled for completion in May.
Italian steakhouse Rosso is set to open in the first quarter of 2027 in the building that once housed Cured. Nori Handroll Bar, a Japanese concept with Korean-inspired flavors, will debut in the Coopers Row apartment complex in the spring.
“These new restaurants build on the foundation laid by the chefs and operators who helped make Pearl what it is today — John Brand, Steve McHugh, Andrew Weissman, Jeff Balfour, Johnny Hernandez — while bringing their own stories, culinary perspectives and spirit of hospitality to the neighborhood,” said Ryan Howard, managing director for Potluck, the hospitality arm of developer Silver Ventures.
Decisions on which new concepts to incorporate into Pearl’s ecosystem transcend cuisine.
“We want to know, ‘What is the story and personality behind the shop,’” Howard said.
Santonia Cantina offers a compelling one. Martinez and Estrada moved from Mexico to San Antonio in 2017. She was an interior designer; he was a federal crime lawyer.
They opened a food truck on the side and were invited to submit a concept for Pearl’s Food Hall Bottling Department. Their proposal was rejected.
Six years later, a Naco Food Truck and Grayson regular asked the couple if they’d be interested in launching a new concept at Pearl. The customer: John Brand, vice president of culinary at Hotel Emma.
“John would ride a bike over and eat our food,” Martinez said. “He’s been a big supporter. He saw the opportunity and reached out. We started putting this together a year and a half ago.”
What’s on the new menu?
Items include pork shanks, botanas, ribeye tacos, potato crisps, shrimp flautas, ceviches, pozole, guacamole with brisket chicharrón, queso fundido, frijoles puercos and flour tortilla tostadas.
Bar cocktails draw on Northern Mexico and South Texas ingredients. Featured Mexican spirits include sotol, mezcal and tequila, which highlight traditional flavors like mezquite, avocado leaf and piloncillo.
The featured entree?
“The chamorro (pork shank),” said Martinez, a native of Nuevo Laredo. “It’s a bigger piece of meat to be shared. It’s marinated. You can put it on a tortilla or serve it with a fork.”
Rosso brings its own intriguing narrative to Pearl. The concept unites three chefs of renown: Rico Torres, co-owner of Michelin-starred Mixtli; Austin chef Gabe Erales, winner of Top Chef season 18; and André Natera, founder of Chef’s PSA, a leading culinary podcast.
Together, they form La Union Hospitality, a collective of longtime friends who’ve amassed a host of culinary honors. It isn’t often that three chefs of such distinction build something together.
Rosso’s vision?
“It is an Italian-American steakhouse, the kind of restaurant we want to eat at when we are not working, and we are hoping to create that same thing for everyone else,” Natera said. “Great steaks with a story, handmade pastas, and the classic Italian-American dishes you grew up loving, but our version. The food you want when it’s a special occasion, a celebration, or simply because it’s your favorite.”
Rosso joins Fife & Farro, a wood-fire pizza and pasta eatery, as a second Italian dining option at Pearl.
“Pearl has done a good job making sure every restaurant has its own reason to exist, and we think a steakhouse is what was missing,” Natera said. “There are already so many great restaurants there from chefs and groups we admire, and we feel like we are adding to a strong lineup. We don’t want you to have to leave Pearl, and you shouldn’t have to. A great steak, a glass of Barolo, and pasta bolognese. … Why would you go anywhere else?”
