Pesto Ristorante | Our Story
Started in 2007, still cooking with heart
Pesto Ristorante opened in Olmos Park in 2007 because Chef Alejandro Santoyo loved Italian food and his wife Nora believed in him enough to say go for it. The table has been set the same way ever since — like you're coming over for dinner.
How Pesto began
Chef Alejandro brought more than 20 years of culinary experience to that first kitchen, weaving his Spanish background into the Italian cooking he loved. The result was something San Antonio hadn't quite tasted before — not a replica of Italian tradition, but a genuine expression of it through his own lens.
Simplicity as a standard
Chef Alejandro's goal has always been to project simplicity yet uniqueness in every plate — and that shows up in dishes like Shrimp Alejandra and in the fresh hot bread made from scratch every single day. Nothing is phoned in; the kitchen treats each plate as if the guest is eating it for the first time.
Italian flavors, one neighborhood
Pesto sits in Olmos Park, a quiet, tree-lined corner of San Antonio, and that setting shapes how the restaurant feels — unhurried, welcoming, the kind of place you return to without needing a reason. Fresh pasta, authentic Italian favorites, great wine, and a kitchen that genuinely means it.
Buon Cibo, Buon Vino, Buon Amici
Good Food, Good Wine, Good Friends — that's the motto the Santoyos built this place around, and it holds whether you're marking a milestone in the Private Wine Room or just stopping in on a Tuesday. Everyone who walks through the door is family.