Short answer: They’re not good.
Nearly half of all Texas restaurants saw their revenues decrease over the last quarter, according to a new report from the Texas Restaurant Association. The vast majority — almost nine out of 10 — say their food costs are increasing.
And the Trump administration’s tariffs, along with its immigration policies, are partly to blame.
“We’re sounding the alarm on something that we’ve been watching very closely, that really played out in the Q3 data, and it’s really what operators are feeling, and that is an economic slowdown for our industry,” Emily Williams Knight, the president and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, said during a virtual news conference Friday. “Costs are rising, traffic is softening and margins are incredibly tight for most operators right now.”
The Texas Restaurant Association says businesses are seeing higher costs and fewer patrons this year.
The report surveyed more than 50 restaurants across the state in October. Eighty-eight percent of restaurants reported their food costs rose during the last quarter, while 40% said their costs went up “significantly.” Two out of every three restaurants also said their labor costs are increasing.
That’s a result, at least in part, of some of the policies from the Trump administration, the restaurant association reported. All but 10% of restaurants said they were seeing costs increase as a result of tariffs. Fifty-eight percent said their food and beverage prices had increased, and 46% said their disposable items like containers and utensils had increased in price.
Beyond that, restaurants in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods “are seeing a direct impact on sales and traffic in restaurants as a result of the immigration enforcement crackdown,” said Kelsey Erickson Streufert, chief public affairs officer for the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA).
“We know that restaurants are following the law, checking immigration status, that type of thing, but there’s no doubt that there is fear amongst the community, even folks who have work status or are citizens, and some of them are afraid to be out in public,” Streufert said. “And that is impacting not only our labor, which we need to be able to fully staff up during a busy holiday season, but it’s also impacting customer traffic.”
According to the TRA’s report, 19% of restaurants said they’ve seen traffic decrease and 19% reported losing employees as a result of immigration enforcement activities. Twenty-three percent said they’ve seen fewer job applications or job offers accepted because of the crackdown.
Asked by a reporter about potential solutions, Knight was hesitant to provide insight, saying there were too many uncertainties to resolve for a definitive upturn.
“If I had a crystal ball, I would say we would love it to be sooner than later,” she said. “But there are so many things right now out of the control of that restaurant, that small business owner, that I think that you have to have a number of them settle or be more defined on what the outcome is, for that operator to feel better about investing and growing — and for the consumer to feel better about going out and spending that money, because there is just so much uncertainty right now.”
The tariffs are also bad for people who like beer, people who like insuring their home, and people who like chocolate. The horrible and dehumanizing Trump immigration policies are bad for all decent human beings.
As for the Texas Restaurant Association, I have a very simple and obvious insight for them: You have to stop supporting everyone who is responsible for these policies that are bad for you. You can ask them nicely first to Do Something to reverse them, but when they can’t or won’t do that you have to work to vote them out of office and replace them with people who do support the things you support. This is how politics works, or at least it is how politics used to work. I’m available at a very affordable rate if you have any questions about that.
Asked by a reporter about potential solutions, Knught was too chuckenshut to tell the truth and shame the devul, saying there were too many uncertainties to resolve for a definitive upturn.
There, fixed it for ya.
When will I get my 2000 dollar tariff refund?
I remember cooking at a restaurant for $2.70/hr which was, I believe, $00.10 over minimum wage at the time. Due to already slim margins, restaurants are notoroius for underpaying Staff. Plenty of local stories on the interweb re: local establishments ‘stealing’ tips…
“Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille: A federal judge recently ruled that Perry’s ran an illegal tip pool by requiring servers to share tips with non-tipped staff, such as hosts, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The company was found to have “willfully” disregarded the law and now owes significant back pay and damages, with the exact amount to be determined.” $203,300… !!!
“Tejas Chocolate & Barbecue and Tejas Burger Joint: The owner/operator of these three north Houston-area restaurants was sued by the U.S. Department of Labor in July 2024 for allegedly using portions of employee tips to cover business expenses like condiments and takeout packaging. The lawsuit seeks back wages and damages for current and former employees dating back to May 2021.” https://www.hrdive.com/news/texas-restaurants-used-employee-tips-condiments-packaging/722299/