A light November mist is falling outside of Cullum’s Attaboy on the Monday before Thanksgiving. The restaurant is closed, its wooden floors swept clean. The owner-chef sits on a stool at the bar, reflecting.

Christopher Cullum never intended to run a business out of this old Tobin Hill house. It once belonged to a barber. A barber who called it home. A barber who ran his barber shop two houses down at Cullum’s Attagirl, a self-described “run down chicken shack” with an alleged customer quote on its website:

“If Olivia Newton and Dolly P. had a lovechild born in the concession stand of an old roller rink with free wifi, you’d have Cullum’s Attagirl.”

Two spaces in a historic neighborhood reveal a lot about Cullum. He’s a character cut from a different era whose skills cover a broad culinary spectrum: fried chicken at one joint, caviar tin and blini at the other.

Joint is probably not an accurate descriptor for Attaboy. Texas Monthly calls it “More Paris Bistro Than San Antonio Diner.” Cullum calls it a childhood dream. Back when he cleaned the kitchen at The Landing, his father’s River Walk jazz club, Cullum aspired to cook the perfect burger. He was 15. Around 1992, he broke the news to his father, Jim Cullum, the legendary cornetist. 

“I want to go into the restaurant business,” the son said.

The father took the news well. He suggested they each write down 14 possible restaurant names and discuss them the following week.

“When we met, he said, ‘I know you worked really hard on your list but throw it away,’” the son recalled. “He said, ‘I found the name. It’s Attaboy.’”

A sign from Chef Chris Cullum’s father, Jim Cullum Jr., and his River Walk jazz club hangs at the entrance of Cullum’s Attaboy. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

The eyes close and the head tilts back. Memories flow. Attaboy first opened as an Airstream trailer in 2010. An improbable series of events led him to buy the home of a barber in 2023 and turn it into a restaurant with a fuller name: Cullum’s Attaboy. The father never lived to see the Michelin recognition (Bib Gourmand in 2024 and 2025). But he got to eat his son’s cheeseburger at the trailer.

“There was nothing he enjoyed more than an Alamo beer and an Attaboy burger,” the chef said.

The San Antonio Report sat down with Cullum to discuss a range of topics, from his start in the business and journey as a self-taught chef to his James Beard Award nomination and the growth of the local culinary scene.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You got your start in the restaurant industry at The Landing in the late 1980s. What did you do and how did your career develop?

I started at age 11, working every weekend, washing dishes by hand. I did that for about five years. Eventually we expanded the kitchen and got a real dishwasher. And then I was in hog heaven. 

And you worked your way up?

Yes, I did every position possible. I was a host. I ran the numbers and did the books. I served as a waiter for many years. I became an assistant manager and then the manager. 

When did you begin to cook at The Landing?

Around 15. I was like, ‘This is awesome.’ I fell in love and I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to make hamburgers and I wanted to do them very well. I wanted to do everything — grind the meat, make the bread and just knock it out of the park. 

What was the dining scene like in San Antonio when you were growing up? Where did you and your family go out to eat?

Well, man, I just had the greatest childhood. My father would send me on dates to La Louisiane (a French restaurant). He’d call ahead and say, ‘Let him have a glass of wine. They can have one glass of champagne or two. It’s fine.’ And I’m 13 years old.

You were 13? Did your father drop you off at La Louisiane?

I don’t actually remember being dropped off. But I’m sure it was my mother or father dropping me off. Who knows? 

Chef Chris Cullum of Cullum’s Attaboy outside of his Michelin Bib Gourmand eatery in the St. Mary’s Strip neighborhood on Monday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Where else did you dine in those days?

We’d go to Chez Ardid and the original Paesanos and of course to Mi Tierra and dad would play with the mariachis. It was almost a nightly date. That was a gas.

Unlike a lot of chefs here, you are homegrown. You’ve seen San Antonio evolve into a culinary destination. What has that been like for you?

In the 80s and 90s, we had two really great restaurants: La Louisiane and Paesanos and maybe Naples. It was those three and just delicious Mexican food everywhere. There wasn’t much pushing the boundary culinary-wise until they opened The Monterey (an imaginative retro diner).

What was special about The Monterey?

Charlie Biedenharn, Chad Carey and Quealy Watson opened this awesome project with some off-the-wall cooking in Southtown around 2010. The Monterey gave us great wine and adventures in food to where food became fun. And it just broke boundaries. It was beyond fusion. And it introduced us to some new wines and different styles of service. Out of Monterey, Hot Joy was born, which led to a million other amazing restaurants that exist today.

San Antonio is now home to three one star Michelin restaurants. What was a turning point in the city’s culinary development?

Becoming a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy (in 2017) was the first really big deal. That was a huge win for San Antonio. I remember growing up and hearing, ‘Oh, Austin is better.’ Or ‘Dallas is better.’ I felt the opposite. I was like, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about.’ This made me upset. And that’s why Attaboy exists. It’s highlighting all the amazing restaurants that we did have to show everyone that San Antonio has been amazing all along. I’m slowly losing that chip on my shoulder because now we’re a city of gastronomy and we have Michelin recognition and everyone sees us now.

How did Attaboy start? 

Initially it was a 1977 Airstream land yacht that I found on Craigslist. I pulled it from Houston. I didn’t know what I was doing. The doors were flying open. The windows were flapping. I had to pull over and  figure it out. I took it to the South Side and built the most modest kitchen you could ever build. 

Owner and chef Chris Cullum in the indoor dining area at Cullum’s Attaboy on Nov. 24, 2025. A 1980 map of San Antonio that belonged to Texas architect O’Neil Ford hangs on the wall behind him. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Five months after you opened the brick-and-mortar, Texas Monthly gave Cullum’s Attaboy a glowing review. How did it feel and what did that piece do for business?

Opening Attaboy was the biggest win of my life. But being recognized by Texas Monthly was a huge deal. It did impact business. We got busy on the weekends. I wish my father had been around to celebrate with me.

You were a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Texas in 2024. What did that recognition do for Attaboy?

It helped. You’re never shooting for James Beard or Michelin. But when someone recognizes you for it, that’s special and it feels really great. But that doesn’t change anything for me personally. I’m gonna dust. I’m gonna clean. I’m gonna scrub. Because if you love the work, you’re willing to do it all. I love all the problems that come with it. I’ve grown up here. I’ve never left. I’m in love with San Antonio and everything it’s given me. And I just want to make it proud.