Allora: Where Coastal Italian Cuisine Dazzles in San Antonio

By Sara Branstetter | August 23, 2023

Open since March of 2022, Allora has staked its spot atop San Antonio’s Italian “best of” list. Between its open concept eating area with coastal accents and high ceilings, and its carefully curated menu highlighting the flavors of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Allora shines with the best of both worlds – ambiance and food.

Allora: Where Coastal Italian Cuisine Dazzles in San Antonio

Location

Allora is technically located at the historic Pearl Brewery, but in actuality is more Pearl adjacent as it is on the east side of 281 (the bulk of the Pearl is just west of 281) at the corner of Broadway and Pearl Pkwy. Allora shares a building with sister restaurant Arrosta, Credit Human, and the Oxbow Parking Garage.

Parking

Allora has a MAJOR advantage when it comes to parking at the popular Pearl-area restaurants. While there is ample parking around the Pearl, it can get annoyingly pricey and will fill up on the weekends. But since Allora shares a building with a parking garage, the Oxbow Parking Garage, parking is way less of a hassle, and way cheaper, than at other restaurants at the Pearl.

Parking at the Oxbow Garage is $5 for up to three hours, but Allora will validate, giving you free parking for up to 2 hours. Just make sure to bring your parking ticket with you to the restaurant. Upon exiting the garage, Allora is about a 2-minute walk away along a pleasant, covered sidewalk.

Exterior

Allora is situated in a tan brick commercial building with large first floor windows, large metal light fixtures, and a chocolate brown, basket-weave, brick walkway. Just around the corner from Allora at sister restaurant Arrosta, there is an outdoor fountain, attractive greenery, and a brick pergola.

Allora has an outdoor shaded dining area with marble tables and black and white striped seating with bright yellow pillows. The area is shaded by the building or by yellow sun umbrellas and there are some fans to help with airflow.

Unfortunately given the location of Allora, the view is limited to the street and there is a fair amount of road noise that can be heard.

Interior

In keeping with Allora’s coastal cuisine, the interior also features a minimalist coastal design aesthetic. Colors are soft and muted creating a peaceful atmosphere to dine in. The ceiling is two stories high which gives sound a lot of room to travel, cutting down on lots of noise. In fact, Allora is one of the quietest restaurants I have visited in months and found the fact that I didn’t have to yell at my husband to have a conversation a wonderful relief.

In the middle of Allora is the bar, which sits below a sweeping mural depicting a tranquil natural scene. Guests to the bar can choose to dine or simply enjoy a glass of wine from Allora’s seemingly endless wine list.

Service

Service at Allora was excellent and what you would expect from a high-end restaurant in San Antonio. Our server was friendly though not over-the-top, knowledgeable though not arrogant, and helpful without being intrusive or meddlesome. And he made sure to steer my husband, who harbors an abiding fear of leaving nice restaurants hungry and unsatisfied due to the small portion sizes, to appropriate and filling dishes. We both left Allora pleasantly stuffed.

Food

Allora’s game is refined coastal Italian flavors. And in a city like San Antonio that majors in BBQ and Tex-Mex, it can be difficult to find a solid, non-chain restaurant that offers something new and fresh. But at Allora, food isn’t just solid, it is sensational.

It is safe to say that Allora is one-of-a-kind in the Alamo city. There are many Italian restaurants here, some good – Arrosta and Battalion – and some less than good. But none highlight the fresh flavors of Italy’s Amalfi Coast quite like Allora.

Allora’s seafood-heavy menu consists of antipasti starters, sashimi, first-course pastas, main entrees, sides to share, and desserts. Portions are exceedingly respectable and given how rich much of the food is, can be difficult to finish. So plan on bringing some food home with you.

The night we visited, we sampled a number of Allora’s dishes including its headliner, the olive-brined grilled octopus served over crispy potatoes and charred scallions and covered in a piquant romesco sauce. The dish was utterly impeccable. The octopus was perfectly prepared, not chewy or fishy. The potatoes were breaded in something that came direct from the heavens, and the romesco sauce was the perfect tie-in. Highly recommend that any meal at Allora includes the octopus starter.

In addition to the octopus, we enjoyed the red Caesar salad which was crispy and fresh, the cacio e pepe spaghetti and tagliatelle alla bolognese bianco pastas, both of which were tasty but extremely rich, and the prosciutto di parma, a fresh-baked slice of sourdough topped with whipped burrata, prosciutto, and a black pepper vinaigrette. So, so delicious.

Entrees consisted of sauteed flounder and balsamic-glazed chicken, both of which were expertly prepared, tender, and delectable. Highly recommend both the crème fraiche panna cotta as well as the limoncello curd for dessert as they were refreshing and smooth – the perfect end to a rich dinner of robust textures and flavors.

Overall

Allora is a first-class coastal Italian restaurant with a charming atmosphere and captivating food. It is an excellent option for anyone looking for a great date night or who are celebrating something special. And it is a wonderful eatery for people who hate the modern inclination to create an environment of noise by blasting loud music, thereby making conversation impossible. Simply stated, Allora is classy, serene, and utterly delicious.