San Antonio restaurants and bars gear up to weather the heat
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Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
As another potentially record-breaking summer looms, local businesses are preparing to zig while the mercury zags up.
Why it matters: Adjusting to weather-related challenges is crucial for small businesses, especially as high temperatures often discourage outdoor activities.
Driving the news: San Antonio hit a heat index of 117 on Tuesday — the highest ever recorded in the city — amid heat advisories blanketing the region.
- Much-needed rain is not in the immediate forecast.
Threat level: Last summer's extreme heat could have reduced the state's GDP growth by as much as $24 billion, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' estimates.
- Jobs in leisure, hospitality, mining, construction and manufacturing are "notably affected" by heat waves, per the Fed report.
State of play: Several well-known local restaurants experienced a major slowdown last summer due to the heat. The Texas Restaurant Association noted this dip coincided with rising food costs and offered tips that local establishments are adopting.
- Ricky Ortiz, owner of the outdoor bar and food-truck park El Camino, is adding more sun shades, ensuring the mister system is serviced and shifting events to happen after sundown.
- Staff at Casa Rio, the oldest restaurant on the River Walk where waterside seating is a major draw, are being trained to recognize and prevent heat exhaustion, spokesperson L'Lee Cameron tells Axios.
- Hook Land and Sea, which recently opened at The Creamery, installed shade coverings to cover the patio, spokesperson Kim Beechner tells Axios.
What they're saying: Terrin Fuhrmann, who co-owns popular outdoor bar Elsewhere on the San Antonio River, tells Axios that the bar adjusted event hours to start later last August to account for the heat and he expects to do the same this year.
- "It's not that people aren't coming out – everyone is still coming to enjoy the space – but people are coming later when the sun goes down," he says.
- Elsewhere is installing a 17-foot greenhouse structure to provide more shade.
- Fuhrmann is also planning a water fight event, complete with a waterslide, to entertain and cool people off.
What we're watching: How San Antonio's restaurant industry influences the National Restaurant Association's 2024 estimates, which predict record-breaking sales of $1.1 trillion by the end of December.