{"id":221565,"date":"2026-03-26T15:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/221565\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T15:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:11:08","slug":"where-to-find-the-top-10-kolaches-in-san-antonio-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/221565\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to find the Top 10 Kolaches in San Antonio, Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas has a lot of fighting words. Beans in chili<\/a>. Sauce on barbecue. Don’t even start on the breakfast taco war<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Only slightly less well-known is this: Don’t call a savory, sausage-stuffed\u00a0klobasnek\u00a0a kolache. Except we (almost all) do it.<\/p>\n

This week we’re diving into the Lone Star State’s favorite grab-and-go treat with Czech roots \u2014 because tacos will always hold the top spot \u2014\u00a0to find the best on offer. It’s a field that’s been in flux over the past decade or so. When venerable icons like San Antonio’s own Kolache Stop opened more than a decade ago, they were the only show in town specializing in\u00a0kolaches, either sweet or savory. Today, high-end bakeries, breakfast-run doughnut shops and everything in between have entered the fray.<\/p>\n

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This roundup focuses on the savory side: pastries technically known as klobasneks\u00a0but widely accepted across Texas as kolaches. They’re perfect for commuters, whether for breakfast or a late-night bite. And we’ve never had more of them available in the city.<\/p>\n

They’re also an economic engine for some bakeries. Pastry chef\u00a0Jenn Riesman opened her since-shuttered Rooster Crow Baking Co. about three days before the COVID-19 shutdowns, arguably the worst moment for the economy since the Great Recession. It was her kolaches (and arguably the best slices of pie\u00a0you’ll find anywhere) that kept the lights on.<\/p>\n

“It was a serious time when I started making these kolaches. It was right when the pandemic started and I needed to sell something. I just started my business at the worst possible time,” Riesman said.\u00a0“I kept making\u00a0kolaches, and I would deliver them to people’s porches all through the pandemic. And it just became a really important thing. I paid my bills through it.”<\/p>\n

In those early days, Riesman was a kolache renegade. She’d stuff them with pastrami, smoked brisket and carne asada. She has deep Texas roots, growing up outside of Dallas and indoctrinated on\u00a0kolaches from a Shipley Do-Nuts location in a neighboring town, but wasn’t about to be locked into tradition’s\u00a0chokehold.<\/p>\n

“You know, I’ve had a whole career on doing whatever I want,” she said. “They’re kolaches to me.”<\/p>\n

These days, Riesman can\u2019t play quite as fast and loose. Since becoming executive pastry chef at Bakery Lorraine in October, she\u2019s been overseeing commissary orders in the hundreds for the James Beard Award-nominated brand\u2019s multiple locations, rather than testing new concepts by the half-dozen.<\/p>\n

But her kolaches\u00a0were destined to live on.<\/p>\n

Riesman married Bakery Lorraine’s existing brioche dough with her own unique kolache flair to bring a sausage and cheese version that adds\u00a0jalape\u00f1os to the mix.\u00a0Riesman’s special dough has a layer of cheese on top that bakes into a crusty, caramelized cap she likens to the flavor of\u00a0Cheez-It crackers. And the sausage links tucked inside are hefty, weighing in around 3.5 ounces each. An order of one is a proper meal. Two is gluttony.<\/p>\n

“The kolaches are the first baked-good item that Bakery Lorraine started selling in its stores that were specific to me,” Riesman said. “People who’ve been eating my food for a long time, they recognized it. So when my friends and people who know me started seeing the Rooster Crow kolaches inside Bakery Lorraine, or the first time I got to see them, I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve left my mark, yeah? Who knew, 10 years ago, when I first moved to San Antonio, that things would play out the way that they did.’ “<\/p>\n

If you want to try Riesman’s kolaches, you’ll have to get to Bakery Lorraine early. Despite moving as many as 300 over a busy weekend, they sell out fast. But if you’re on a\u00a0kolache quest of your own, try any of the following, which make up our first-ever ranking of San Antonio’s kolache scene.<\/p>\n

This spot wins the award for best\u00a0kolaches to bring to a party. Opened in 2022 by\u00a0Mengsrun Seng and <\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Founded in 2015 by\u00a0Uddom Phal and his wife, Kaknika Soth, this Alamo Heights-adjacent bakery has som<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

This Houston-based chain has become a fairly substantial operation since launching in 1982, with 60 <\/p>\n

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This Deco District destination already holds the honor of being one of the city’s best choices for e<\/p>\n

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Since its launch in 2010, Kolache Stop has provided the city with a fast, dependable and affordable <\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Owner\u00a0Olena Romanko brought a taste of Ukraine to San Antonio after fleeing her home at the beginnin<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Facts being facts, this bakery opened by Emma \u201cChacha\u201d Bedoy-Pi\u00f1a of the Bedoy panader\u00eda family in 2<\/p>\n

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There’s only one\u00a0kolache here, a cheddar and sausage version, but it should enter a pastry beauty pa<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Scratch has been busy since opening a relatively large commissary kitchen in 2024 that services arou<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

In the earliest days at Pearl, Bakery Lorraine developed a national following with widely spread ima<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

\"PilePaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"TraysPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

This spot wins the award for best\u00a0kolaches to bring to a party. Opened in 2022 by\u00a0Mengsrun Seng and Tessa Hor, this spot offers mini\u00a0kolaches filled with Lil Smokies cocktail sausages for $7 for a dozen.\u00a0There’s no reason to ever spend an hour or two rolling out your own piggies in a blanket. In the sausage category, you’ll find classic Polish links with cheese and peppers, if desired. And if you just didn’t get enough of Mardi Gras last month, mild and spicy boudin kolaches are available as well.<\/p>\n

\"BoxPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"DonutPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"DisplayPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

Founded in 2015 by\u00a0Uddom Phal and his wife, Kaknika Soth, this Alamo Heights-adjacent bakery has something of a cult following for its apple fritters, but the kolaches are no slouches. The rolls sport a gloriously glossy and well-burnished finish lined in decorative striations. When heated, the sausages add a magnificent bath of salt and fat to a somewhat sweet dough for an enviable bite. If you’re lucky, you might find a handful of complimentary doughnut holes in your order.<\/p>\n

\"SplitPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"StorefrontPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

This Houston-based chain has become a fairly substantial operation since launching in 1982, with 60 locations around the country today. The sausage\u00a0kolaches occupy a Goldilocks spot between jumbo and cocktail franks. Plan on two if you hope to fill up. Which won’t be difficult with a sprawling menu that includes pepperoni pizza, chicken enchilada and barbecue among other fillings. The current monthly special is the Garden Omelet loaded with scrambled eggs, diced peppers and a\u00a0splash of salsa.<\/p>\n

\"PuffPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"BakeryPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

This Deco District destination already holds the honor of being one of the city’s best choices for expertly spiced\u00a0conchas, inventive empanadas and other Mexican pan dulce pleasures. And now, they keep a small assortment of kolaches in a hot case behind all that sugar. These are distinct in that the generous and snappy sausage links, cheese and\u00a0chiles are wrapped in flaky puff pastry. If too much butter isn’t in your vocabulary, this unique take on kolaches is worth a trip.<\/p>\n

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\"BoxPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"ManPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"KolachePaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

Since its launch in 2010, Kolache Stop has provided the city with a fast, dependable and affordable selection of both sweet and savory kolaches. The sausage options are modest in size, but maintain a good ratio of meat and fillings (watch out for the jalape\u00f1os: This spot doesn’t hold back) to bread. And that bread hits all the desirable hallmarks of tenderness and buttery aroma without steering into\u00a0desserty sweetness. You’ll have a hard time finding a wider variety of kolaches in town, with unique offerings including green chile chicken, meatball and pepperoni.<\/p>\n

\"BoxPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"UkrainianPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

Owner\u00a0Olena Romanko brought a taste of Ukraine to San Antonio after fleeing her home at the beginning of Russia’s invasion. Among the selection of Eastern European pastries in her matchbox of a bakery on East\u00a0Hildebrand Avenue, you’ll find a selection of sweet and savory patrushkas. While she doesn’t technically call them kolaches, if you’re craving sausage, japape\u00f1os and cheese swaddled in bread, these will scratch the itch, whatever you call them.<\/p>\n

\"ThreePaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"ChaChaPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

Facts being facts, this bakery opened by Emma \u201cChacha\u201d Bedoy-Pi\u00f1a of the Bedoy panader\u00eda family in 2021 isn’t known for its sausage\u00a0kolaches. The ones people line up for are filled with barbacoa, and they sell out in a matter of minutes. But the old standbys here, whether spiced with\u00a0chiles or not, should absolutely be on your short list. Keep an eye out for specials that pop up, such as a\u00a0kolache filled with ham, cheese and pineapple. It’ll add a whole other depth of what’s culinarily acceptable to that argument you’ve been having with that obnoxious friend for years about Hawaiian pizza.<\/p>\n

\"ThreePaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"CustomersPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

There’s only one\u00a0kolache here, a cheddar and sausage version, but it should enter a pastry beauty pageant. The meaty links are wrapped in finely lined ribbons of dough that look like a laminated croissant, but chew like the classic tender, buttery and slightly sweet bread we all love in a kolache. Extra Fine entered San Antonio’s bakery scene in the Monte Vista neighborhood in 2020 under the leadership of chefs Jessica and John\u00a0Philpot, longtime collaborators and partners with the prolific Empty Stomach group, and has since expanded into a Southtown location.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\"TwoPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News\"ScratchPaul Stephen\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

Scratch has been busy since opening a relatively large commissary kitchen in 2024 that services around 30 accounts at popular spots such as Nowhere Bookshop with its\u00a0kolaches and other baked goods. But the original shop in a charming Alta Vista home a couple blocks from San Pedro Springs Park is worth a visit. These kolaches stand out for their use of the beloved sausages from Fredericksburg’s legendary Opa’s Smoked Meats. If you like your kolaches to bite back, you won’t find a version in the city that delivers more natural-casing snap.<\/p>\n

\"Golden-brownAndrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News\"BakerAndrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News\"HandsAndrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News\"UnbakedAndrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n

In the earliest days at Pearl, Bakery Lorraine developed a national following with widely spread images of its gloriously colorful and photogenic\u00a0macarons. Those still dominate the display case, but recently installed executive pastry chef\u00a0Jenn Riesman’s kolaches are finding a foothold. She incorporates what appears to be a comical quantity of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, pickled jalape\u00f1os and a full link of pork-and-beef sausage into a tiny disc of buttery brioche dough that miraculously raises into a pillowy cloud somehow capable of containing the entire flavor bomb. Bonus points if you’re able to get through the whole thing without peeling off the magical cheese crust on top first.<\/p>\n

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March 26, 2026<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Paul Stephen is a food writer for the Express-News. He can be reached at pstephen@express-news.net.<\/a><\/p>\n

He moved to San Antonio from North Carolina in 2017 to join the Express-News Taste team. In that time, he\u2019s cooked through about 1,000 recipes, noshed at more than 200 restaurants and seriously considered getting a map of the city\u2019s grocery stores tattooed on his arm for easy reference. He cannot be trusted around your cookbook collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas has a lot of fighting words. Beans in chili. Sauce on barbecue. Don’t even start on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":221566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":{"0":"post-221565","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-san-antonio","9":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","10":"tag-san-antonio-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}