SAN ANTONIO – Guillermo Garza, the owner of Guillermo’s restaurant on McCullough, says things are taking a slight turn for the positive and has seen business picking up as we head into the holidays.
“Where we were at four months ago, we definitely have seen an improvement,” he said.
But it’s come at a cost. Food costs have skyrocketed, and Garza has had to increase wages to keep staff members.
“We had to. How well do you pay for that increase in pay? You pass it on to the customer,” he said.
Those changes are being seen across the industry, according to Kelsey Erickson Streufert, vice president of government relations and advocacy for The Texas Restaurant Association.
“For most restaurants, the holiday season is the most important time of the year. Many of them make their revenue for the whole year in the holiday season,” Streufert said.
Streufert urges people who are looking for holiday gifts and a way to support small businesses to turn to gift cards for local restaurants.
“Some recent data we did concluded that 62% of adults would love to get a restaurant, gift card or a holiday gift,” she said. “Gift cards or other merchandise and holiday gifts are a really great way to do that because they’re not impacted by the supply chain shortages, not impacted by workforce shortages.”