Before Katerina opened, six restaurant concepts occupied the roughly 10,000-square-foot space at 18740 Stone Oak Parkway over sixteen years, and each eventually closed.
Now a restaurant called Katerina occupies that address, and it opened into a fully booked Valentine's Day and a wedding reservation in its private dining room before most of Stone Oak had even tried the food. Katerina's opening comes amid nearby changes in the dining scene: in the twelve months bracketing its opening, four other food and drink spots opened within a few minutes' drive, and a fifth is now filing paperwork with the state.
The Site's Restaurant History
Before you eat at Katerina, it helps to know what came before it. According to reporting from the San Antonio Report, the site's most successful tenant was Reggiano's, which ran for a decade in what the paper called "upscale 78258" before closing in 2009. After that, several other restaurants occupied the space:
- CoCo Bongo operated for about a year
- Buckles & Buns closed after a short run
- Drew's American Grill closed after a short run
- Watermark Grill closed after a short run
- Frida Mexican Restaurant & Bar operated for four years before closing in 2024, the longest stretch since Reggiano's
That history provides context for Katerina's opening.
What Katerina Is Betting On
Dick Jones and his partner Katerina Akimova, for whom the restaurant is named, brought in two chefs with resumes built for a destination play. Justin Manzi trained at the Culinary Institute of America and worked at The Oceanaire Seafood Room, Morton's Steakhouse, and Pig & Prince Modern Gastro Pub. Greg Carter, a San Antonio native who studied at Le Cordon Bleu, spent time in Michelin-starred kitchens alongside Joel Robuchon, Bobby Flay, Thomas Keller, and José Andrés.
The menu leans into that pedigree without losing the approachability Stone Oak diners actually want on a Tuesday night: wood-roasted Wagyu meatballs, chili crunch calamari, ginger soy Brussels sprouts, wood-grilled steaks, hand-tossed pizzas, a black-truffle burger, and a coriander-crusted duck breast alongside braised beef short rib. Dessert runs to a maple-peanut butter pie and a caramelized banana bread pudding.
Katerina officially opened February 9, 2026, and word moved fast. "We're already fully booked for Valentine's Day and for a wedding in our private dining room," Jones told the San Antonio Current within days of opening. That kind of early demand is a good sign for any new restaurant; Katerina's opening adds to the area's recent dining activity.
Two Corners, Four New Doors
Katerina did not open into a vacuum. A short drive south, the corner of Stone Oak Parkway and Huebner Road quietly became its own small cluster over the back half of 2025. The Hush Room, a speakeasy-style bar built by Stout House veteran manager Brad Vehrs alongside partners Erik Duron and Donnie Ferguson, opened August 20, 2025, in the former Social House space on the corner's southeastern side.
Two months later, the same ownership group opened The Roxbury directly across the intersection, at 19141 Stone Oak Parkway, Suite 206, in the space that used to hold Cross-Eye Seagull. The Roxbury's soft opening landed October 15, 2025, and the concept leans into sports-bar basics done well: large screens, a covered patio, a golf simulator, and a game room built around a full-size pool table. The two bars opened at the same intersection within eight weeks, with the same three people behind them.
The Next Few Blocks North
Head up US-281, and the same pattern shows up again. Tacos on the Street, a fast-casual chain with more than thirty years of history in Puerto Vallarta, chose Stone Oak for its first location in the United States, opening September 4, 2025, at 22026 US-281 North, Suite 106. The build-out is worth noting on its own: the interior was designed by Joel Mozersky, whose past work includes Pullman Market and Mon Chou Chou, with ceramic elements handcrafted by the Guadalajara studio Cerámica Suro.
One day earlier and a short distance up the same stretch of highway, Urban Bird opened its first San Antonio location at 22106 US-281 North, Suite 102. The Houston-born, veteran-owned Nashville hot chicken chain uses all-natural halal chicken across seven heat levels, and it is already planning two more San Antonio locations, one on the far West Side and one at The Rim. A chain that expands that fast rarely picks a first location by accident.
Nearby, the 100-year-old Milkshake Factory chain opened its first San Antonio store close to Stone Oak at 21025 US Highway 281 North, Suite 1314, known for handspun shakes and housemade ice cream. And on Loop 1604, Pour Cocktail Collective opened at 5123 North Loop 1604 West, Suite 108, a low-key craft cocktail bar that has picked up a following among the neighborhood's adult crowd, with live music on select nights.
Line all of it up and the area's recent dining activity includes several openings by different owners.
Nearby Options for a Night Out
For Stone Oak residents, Katerina is one of several nearby places to visit, alongside a mix of casual dining and nightlife.
In August 2026, a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation showed Crust Pizza planning a new location at Stone Oak Mercantile, 20135 Stone Oak Parkway, Suite 130, with an estimated $400,000 build-out. Work is slated to begin November 30, 2026, with completion targeted for May 15, 2027. The filing adds another proposed restaurant to the area.
If you already live in Stone Oak, none of this requires a plan. It requires a Friday night and a short list: start at Katerina if you want the closest thing to a special occasion, work the 281 corridor if you are in a hot chicken and milkshake kind of mood, or point toward Huebner if the plan is a quiet cocktail followed by a louder patio. Nearby restaurants and bars now offer several options for an evening out.
You can browse more on what makes this part of North San Antonio distinct on our Stone Oak neighborhood page, and if a night out here ever turns into a longer conversation about buying or selling nearby, Patrick Bean is always happy to Start a Conversation.
