Leo Davila

The Place Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Davila cooks from a hometown vantage point rather than from a borrowed map. “San Antonio is a magical city. That local line runs through Stixs & Stone, where his title is both ownership and execution. The role matters in a practical way: the person setting the direction is also the chef responsible for how the masa is prepared, how the mole lands on the plate, and how the menu speaks in more than one culinary language.

The Method Training runs through The Art Institute of San Antonio. Davila studied there, then returned to its classrooms as a Culinary Instructor in 2018, a detail that places teaching inside his career rather than outside it. His specialty is Mexican-Asian fusion, and the work becomes most legible through specific dishes rather than broad labels. The Big Red & Barbacoa taco is widely recognized: heirloom nixtamalized masa is infused with Big Red soda, giving the masa its distinct red hue, then paired with barbacoa. The technique is memorable because the color is not garnish; it is built into the masa itself. Nixtamalized corn, a soda strongly associated with local taste, and barbacoa meet in one taco, making the dish both playful and materially precise. Another marker is the Hibiscus and Pecan Mole, served over duck breast. Hibiscus brings tart floral depth, native Texas pecan gives the sauce a regional nut note, and the duck breast provides the structure for the mole to carry those ingredients.

The Range Across these dishes, Davila’s range sits between rootedness and cross-cultural composition. Mexican-Asian fusion is the stated specialty, but the most persuasive evidence is tactile: red masa, pecan, hibiscus, duck, barbacoa, and the deliberate use of a soda to change both color and identity. The through-line is San Antonio as origin, classroom, and workplace. A chef born and raised there, educated there, and teaching there in 2018 now runs Stixs & Stone with a menu that treats local flavor as material to be worked by hand.

Signature

Leo's signature dishes include Big Red & Barbacoa taco and Hibiscus and Pecan Mole.

In Their Words “As a local, homegrown chef, my goal is to create a concept that speaks to the city’s and bold flavors.” “San Antonio is a magical city. I love the energy the city brings from tourists to locals alike.”