Stone Oak Restaurants: Katerina and Stone Terrace Take Different Approaches

Katerina Restaurant & Bar had been open for less than a week in February 2026 when co-owner Dick Jones told the San Antonio Current something that should have sounded like bad news for a brand-new restaurant: they were already fully booked for Valentine's Day, plus a wedding in the private dining room. For most new restaurants, that kind of early demand is a headline. It was a notable start for a location with a long restaurant history.

The space at 18740 Stone Oak Parkway has had several restaurant tenants. Buckles & Buns, Drew's American Grill, Watermark Grill, CoCo Bongo, and most recently Frida Mexican Restaurant & Bar occupied it after Reggiano's, which closed in 2009. Frida appeared to have closed in fall 2024, after its interior furniture had been cleared out, according to Community Impact's reporting at the time. Katerina opened at the address in 2026.

A separate restaurant space on the Stone Oak Parkway corridor had a different history. Stone Terrace Gastropub opened there in August 2024, before Katerina opened in 2026. Their approaches differ, but both stories return to the same question: what does it take for a restaurant to find a place in Stone Oak?

The Restaurant History of Stone Oak Parkway

Reggiano's was an Italian restaurant in Stone Oak Plaza that operated for roughly a decade before closing in 2009. The later tenants brought different concepts to the space.

The nearly 10,000-square-foot space has hosted a succession of restaurant concepts since Reggiano's closed.

Reggiano's History at Stone Oak Plaza

Jones didn't hide that Reggiano's was the target. Speaking to the San Antonio Report before Katerina's soft opening, he framed the whole project as an attempt to recover something the neighborhood had lost, not simply fill a vacant storefront.

"We are driven to bring back the atmosphere that existed with Reggiano's. I am part of the community that loved Reggiano's and I want to recapture the energy of that iconic location."

Jones described Reggiano's as an influence on Katerina's atmosphere and energy. The later restaurants at the location operated under their own concepts.

Katerina expanded the dining footprint by roughly 30 percent, brought in chefs with genuine pedigree (Justin Manzi trained at the Culinary Institute of America with stints at The Oceanaire Seafood Room and Morton's Steakhouse, Greg Carter a San Antonio native who worked Michelin-starred kitchens under Joel Robuchon, Bobby Flay, and Thomas Keller), and rebuilt the interior from the cobalt booths of Frida into something with an open kitchen and a central tree under skylights. The ambition is obvious. But the pitch, straight from Jones, was never "better than Reggiano's." It was "back to Reggiano's."

Stone Terrace Gastropub's Different Approach

While Katerina was being built out in early 2026, another restaurant was operating nearby. Skip Robinson, a Navy veteran who'd spent nine years in the alcoholic beverage business and once owned four liquor stores in Colorado and six more in South Texas, opened Stone Terrace Gastropub on Aug. 9, 2024, in a Stone Oak Parkway space that had previously hosted five restaurants since 2011.

Robinson described his view of the local restaurant market to the San Antonio Report as Stone Terrace approached its two-year anniversary in August 2026.

"You can't just be flashy and expensive. I don't think that's what Stone Oak wants. Stone Oak wants a quality restaurant and not necessarily an expensive restaurant. They want high quality, a scratch kitchen and scratch ingredients. But it costs to make things from scratch. The product has to match the expense. It's a hard balance."

Robinson said half his early tables mentioned finding the place through a post on the San Antonio Restaurants Facebook page, something he hadn't even known existed until customers kept bringing it up. Two years later, he was still there, serving beef flights and a rotating cocktail list. He described his hope for the restaurant this way: "Our hope was to put up a restaurant the neighborhood could be proud of and that would be a great addition to the community."

How the Two Restaurants Differ

Jones and Robinson describe different approaches. Katerina's menu includes wood-grilled steaks and hand-tossed pizzas alongside a black-truffle burger, and its happy hour is 4 to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Stone Terrace serves beef flights and lobster bisque.

Jones described himself as part of the community that missed Reggiano's. Robinson said some early customers found Stone Terrace through a neighborhood Facebook page. Their comments provide two perspectives on local dining.

The lesson isn't that expensive fails and cheap wins. Katerina isn't cheap, and as of September 2026 it was ranked the top restaurant in Stone Oak on Yelp. But these two restaurant stories alone don't explain why the earlier restaurants closed.

What's Actually on the Table Right Now

The Parkway's restaurant history is one part of the local dining scene. Stone Oak's food scene has kept moving on multiple fronts through 2025 and into this year. Tacos on the Street, a Puerto Vallarta import specializing in charcoal-grilled carne asada, opened its first U.S. location in Stone Oak, choosing San Antonio as the base for its American expansion. Nashville hot chicken chain Urban Bird made its San Antonio debut in the same stretch. And at the corner of Stone Oak and Huebner, the team behind The Hush Room converted the former Cross-Eye Seagull space into The Roxbury, a sports bar and grill with a golf simulator built in.

Other Stone Oak restaurants include Toro Kitchen + Bar, Curry Boys BBQ, Mian Noodles and Dumplings, and The Hoppy Monk.

The Part That Matters If You Live Here

These restaurant histories don't change property lines or school zones, but they do provide one view of Stone Oak: the address at 18740 Stone Oak Parkway has had several restaurant tenants, while Katerina and Stone Terrace reflect different approaches to restaurant ownership.

If you're curious what else has shifted in Stone Oak recently, from everyday routines to what's changed on the ground, our neighborhood guide and our piece on what everyday living looks like in Stone Oak go deeper. And if the conversation ever turns from where to eat tonight to what your home is worth in today's market, the team at Rutter Realty Group is happy to Schedule a Confidential Consultation whenever you're ready, no pressure, no obligation, just a local read on where things stand.