After nearly three decades perched above Austin Highway near Alamo Heights, Silo has packed up its wine list and headed downstairs. The longtime fine-dining fixture has rebranded as Silo Oyster Tavern and reopened in the ground-floor space it now shares with La Fogata Mexican Cuisine, freeing up the upper floor for an entirely new concept from the same ownership group.
A Seafood-Focused Rebrand Takes Root
Silo Alamo Heights operated for 29 years at 1133 Austin Highway before this transition, according to San Antonio Express-News restaurant critic Mike Sutter, who has covered the city's dining scene since joining the paper's taste team in 2016. Silo Oyster Tavern is currently open for dinner starting at 5 p.m. seven nights a week, with owner Patrick Richardson saying lunch service is set to begin next week. Once fully up and running, the restaurant plans to operate from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
The new tavern's menu leans into its name, offering a daily selection of fresh East Coast oysters alongside dishes like mussels, lobster mac and cheese, a lobster roll, a burger, blackened redfish, parmesan-crusted chicken, beef tenderloin, and shrimp and grits. One holdover from Silo's old identity remains front and center: the chicken-fried oysters, a dish with deep San Antonio roots. The appetizer was originally created by chef Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks and later brought to Silo by former executive chef Mark Bliss, who went on to open his own Southtown restaurant, Bliss, as the San Antonio Express-News has reported.
What's Replacing Silo Upstairs
The move downstairs is making way for an upcoming white-tablecloth Italian restaurant concept upstairs — a version of Richardson's Nonna Osteria brand, led by Executive Chef Luca Della Casa. Della Casa brought a national profile to the project well before Nonna Osteria existed, having finished as runner-up on Season 10 of Food Network's reality competition Food Network Star back in August 2014, per MySA's coverage at the time.
Nonna Osteria itself has an established pedigree in San Antonio. The brand originally launched in late 2017 inside the historic Fairmount Hotel downtown and earned an honorable mention on Texas Monthly's 2018 list of the 10 best new restaurants in Texas, the Express-News' own review noted. Richardson and Della Casa later expanded the concept to a second location at 434 N. Loop 1604 near Stone Oak in September 2022, replacing the former Nosh North Side space. The Fairmount location's showstopper dish — handmade tagliatelle tossed tableside inside a giant wheel of Grana Padano cheese and finished with shaved black truffle — gives a sense of what diners might expect when the concept lands in Alamo Heights.
A Building With Layers of San Antonio Dining History
The Austin Highway building itself has gone through several commercial lives. Before Silo, the space was occupied by a humble gas station and later a Farm to Market gourmet food store, and from 2012 to 2020 it housed Nosh, an Italian precursor concept also led by Della Casa. The distinct cylindrical structure at 1133 Austin Highway requires patrons to take an elevator from the ground floor up to the second-story dining room, which overlooks the downstairs restaurant space below — a layout the Express-News has highlighted as part of the building's speakeasy-style charm.
Downstairs, the Nosh space eventually became one of three La Fogata Mexican Cuisine locations in 2022, and that arrangement remains unchanged even as Silo rebrands next door. Richardson's group acquired the broader La Fogata brand back in October 2015 from previous owners Dwight and Marilyn Lieb, according to MySA, and Richardson now also owns two other La Fogata locations on Vance Jackson Road and at Dominion Ridge, along with Nonna Osteria outposts at the Fairmount and on Loop 1604.
Part Of A Larger Restaurant Portfolio
Silo's broader footprint extends beyond Alamo Heights. Richardson's holdings include Silo Oyster Terrace at Dominion Ridge, Silo 1604 on the North Side, and Silo Prime at the Fairmount Hotel downtown, with Silo Oyster Terrace ranked among the top 50 restaurants. Silo as a brand has long leaned on a deep wine program, carrying a 90-label list across its locations.
The timing comes just months after Silo Alamo Heights was ranked among the top 10 restaurants in San Antonio's 78209 ZIP code by the Express-News in January, which described it as an upscale dining destination favored by the Alamo Heights neighborhood. Hoodline previously ranked Nonna fourth among top Italian spots in the city back in 2020, reflecting the brand's longstanding place in San Antonio's dining conversation even before this latest expansion. For now, Silo Oyster Tavern can be reached at 210-824-8686, while an opening date for the new upstairs Nonna Osteria has not yet been announced.
