The Texas Restaurant Show, hosted this year at the Henry B. González convention center, smelled delicious.
Among the roughly 500 exhibitors hawking everything from restaurant supplies, cost management systems and insurance, were dozens of food purveyors, offering samples of grilled meats, fresh-baked breads and pastries, hydroponically grown lettuces, cheeses and ice cream, wine, spirits and more.
Thousands of chefs, restaurateurs and industry professionals descended on the convention center Monday, the last day of a three-day event that was part trade show and part conference. They attended cooking and product demonstrations, education and advocacy sessions and the Texas Restaurant Awards, held Sunday night at the Boeing Center at Tech Port.
Food service recently surpassed health care as the number one private employer in Texas, with $106.8 billion in sales in 2023, a remarkable recovery for one of the industries hardest hit by the pandemic.
Texas is now home to almost 57,000 restaurants — that’s up from a pandemic low of roughly 30,000, according to the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA), which hosts the annual restaurant show and advocates for the industry.
Those restaurants, plus other food service businesses, employ more than 1.4 million people, or 11% of the state’s workforce.
Nine out of ten are small businesses, with 50 employees or less.
Tackling child care
San Antonio, which was named a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in 2017, supports about 5,660 restaurants, more than half of which are independently owned, according to the TRA.
Another thousand or so are franchises — in fact, San Antonio is home to a higher percentage of franchise businesses than any other city in the country. Small and large chain restaurants make up the rest.
But while the industry is coming back strong, many restaurants continue to struggle, said Kelsey Streufert, chief public affairs officer for the TRA. About half of all restaurants have taken on debt, she said, while food costs are up 30%, labor costs up 25% and credit card swipe fees in some places have doubled since the start of the pandemic.
“On the other side of the equation, we have consumers who are really pinched by inflation as well,” she said. “So they have to be really thoughtful about where they’re spending their dollar in this economic climate.”
Hiring and retention remains a top pain point for restaurants, said Streufert, who moderated a panel discussion on child care at the show.
She said 60% of non-working parents say that child care is the top reason they are not in the workforce. Cost and lack of access are the biggest challenges.
Last year, the TRA joined forces with the Texas Association of Business, Texas 2036 and Early Matters Texas to form the Employers for Childcare Task Force, which is working to find ideas it can advocate for during the next state legislative session, which begins in January 2025.
Creole connections
Before the child care panel, Nola Brunch & Beignets Executive Chef Pieter Sypesteyn demonstrated a favorite on the menu of the beloved New Orleans-themed restaurant, which recently opened in new digs at 1101 Broadway.
“Green Eggs and Ham” consists of a buttermilk biscuit, griddle ham and poached eggs topped with sauce inspired by the classic dish Oysters Rockefeller. Sypesteyn began by browning bacon and onions in a large pot before adding “the holy trinity” of Creole cooking — green bell pepper, celery and garlic.
The mouthwatering aroma wafted out over the audience, which included Alice Martinez Harper, matriarch of Ma Harper’s Creole Kitchen. “We have a celebrity in the house,” said Sypesteyn, gesturing to the diminutive Harper, who will turn 95 next month.
“Jesus lets me” continue working at the restaurant at this point in her career, Harper said later, emphasizing that she still hires “second-chance” employees — those who’ve been involved in the criminal justice system.
“If we bring ’em out, we have to keep ’em out” by offering gainful employment, she said.
Harper said she’s been a member of the TRA for decades, and was pleased to see the annual event hosted in San Antonio.
Culinary capital of Texas
Tony Abruscato, TRA’s chief marketing officer, said attendance at the show was up 10% over last year, when it was held in Houston.
And while the show has traveled to various cities in the past several years — it was in Dallas the year before last — Abruscato said the show would return to San Antonio in 2026, 2027 and 2028.
“We’re making San Antonio our home,” he said.
Visit San Antonio, which markets the city as a leisure and convention destination, has been emphasizing the city’s food scene and its status as one of just nine Creative Cities of Gastronomy. Landing the Texas Restaurant Show “further cements San Antonio as the culinary capital of Texas,” said President and CEO Marc Anderson.
“We’re thrilled that the Texas Restaurant Show is coming back to San Antonio from 2026-2028,” he continued. “Visit San Antonio’s partnership with the Texas Restaurant Association aims to elevate the Texas culinary landscape and foster excellence for all restaurateurs and chefs in the state.”
San Antonio will benefit from the restaurant show in another way, too.
The TRA connected with the San Antonio Food Bank to turn over any leftovers, something it does every year.
It likely won’t be an insignificant amount of food, said Abruscato, who said that after the Houston show, “several tons” of food went to that city’s food bank.
