Allison Balfour
Co-Founder - Administrative Officer
Allison Balfour is the co-founder of Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery located in the historic Pearl community of San Antonio, which she opened with her husband Jeff Balfour in 2015. As a full-time team member, she leads the back house operations and administrative procedures for the growing restaurant. She is dedicated to upholding Southerleigh’s high quality standards and customer experiences as well as supporting the restaurant management and company initiatives.
Prior to this role, Allison was an Enterprise Account Manager at Rackspace, where she utilized her organizational and sales management skills as she oversaw some of the largest clients in the tech industry. She managed contractual compliance and established goals to ensure team members were upholding service excellence standards.
Allison discovered her passion for the hospitality industry when attending the University of Houston. Her first invitation to explore the exciting services business was with the Four Seasons Houston where her talent was quickly recognized as she flourished from an entry level opportunity into management while honing her skills in guest services.
In 2002, Allison was recruited by Valencia Group out of Houston to become a member of the opening team for their new luxury hotel concept, Hotel Valencia Riverwalk. During her decade at Hotel Valencia, she gained experience in various aspects of hospitality sales and marketing as a Group Sales Manager and eventually, their Business Travel Sales Manager.
Allison is dedicated to her community and volunteers for many organizations including Habit for Humanity, Adopt-a-Highway, San Antonio Pets Alive!, and Children’s Hunger Fund and hosts adoption events for Alamo City Pit Bull Rescue at Southerleigh Fine Food & Brewery. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio as a member of the Development Committee.