The big picture: Hats, hoodies and pins are part of the playbook for local restaurants, coffee shops and fitness studios. They drop merch like streetwear brands.

• Restaurant merch "is the new band tee," as many have put it.

What they're saying: "Businesses that found other ways to reach customers … really saw that as value," Emily LoMenzo Washcovick, podcast host and former small business expert at Yelp, tells Axios.

Zoom in: Singhs, a Vietnamese restaurant with locations on the St. Mary's Strip and near UT San Antonio, sells branded koozies and chili oil in addition to shirts and a sweater.

• Drippy's Coffee near Pearl, which has a dedicated online fanbase, sold its own Fiesta-themed shirts this year on top of its regular merchandise.
• Tandem, a South Side coffee shop and bar, and Cherrity Bar, an East Side ramen restaurant, both sell shirts.

The bottom line: Food and fandom go hand in hand.