As restaurant costs rise, shared kitchens, food trucks and community college programs are offering local aspiring chefs lower-cost paths into the industry.

Why it matters: San Antonio's growing culinary reputation is creating opportunity, but rising costs are changing how chefs break in.

The big picture: Shared kitchens like Wingman Kitchens are becoming launchpads for San Antonio pop-ups and caterers.

• "I think this is going to be the future, because things are going to keep getting more expensive," Max Kunik, co-owner of Wingman Kitchens, tells Axios.

Chef Ricardo Bravo, chairman of the Texas Chefs Association board, tells Axios that many restaurants gaining attention started as food trucks or pop-ups because the model lets chefs build a following without full restaurant costs.

• "This is how chefs are doing it now," Bravo says. "Food trucks and pop-ups make it easier to get your name out there."

Zoom in: Jonathan Lamb, founder of dumpling pop-up Good Fold, tells Axios that starting with Wingman Kitchens let him test the business without "sinking $300,000-plus into a food venture just to prove the concept."

Zoom out: Ricky Ortiz, owner of El Camino Food Truck Park & Bar, tells Axios he expanded during the pandemic — eventually opening Perfect Tender Hot Chicken — by focusing on food trucks and other lower-overhead businesses while many traditional restaurants struggled with operating costs.

• "The bigger issue is mentorship, financial literacy, access to resources and lack of support in lower-income communities," Ortiz says.

Between the lines: St. Philip's College is teaching students restaurant finance alongside cooking skills as it tries to widen access to the industry.

• A two-year culinary degree at St. Philip's — including books and equipment — costs about $15,000 total, according to the school, offering students a lower-cost path into the industry. Tuition at San Antonio's Culinary Institute of America (CIA) campus exceeds $42,000 annually.

The bottom line: David Uminski, director of St. Philip's hospitality program, says understanding restaurant finances has become as important for aspiring chefs as learning how to cook.

San Antonio's vegan and vegetarian dining scene is faltering in a tough economy and as consumers focus on protein, but experts say plant-forward dining isn't going anywhere in the long term.

The big picture: Beef tallow is everywhere, meat sales hit a record high last year and the number of U.S. adults identifying as vegetarian or vegan has declined in recent years.

State of play: Local restaurants focused on meatless offerings are disappearing — Green Vegetarian Cuisine closed this spring after 19 years in business.

• Project Pollo, a San Antonio startup for vegan fast food, lasted only a few years.

Zoom in: Elise Russ, pastry chef and co-owner of Clementine in Castle Hills, tells Axios that the local decline in meatless dining is directly tied to a tough economy.

• People are seeking comfort food — often dishes that are heavy on carbs, fats and meat, Russ says.
• Plus, people on GLP-1 weight loss drugs want protein, she says. Diners don't always recognize the plant-based foods in which protein is plentiful.

What they're saying: Still, Clementine offers a range of meatless dishes that sell well, says Russ, who has been a vegetarian for more than 30 years. She thinks Clementine bucks the trend because they've been around long enough (eight years) to establish a relationship with diners who trust them.

The intrigue: More restaurants are offering meatless dishes on menus that also feed carnivores, chef Katrina Flores-Guzman, lecturing instructor at the CIA's San Antonio campus, tells Axios in an email.

Between the lines

San Antonio restaurants are starting to embrace artificial intelligence.

Why it matters: The restaurant industry is one of the nation's largest employers, yet one of the slowest sectors to adopt AI tools, Ben Knorr, Texas Restaurant Association's vice president of strategic initiatives, tells Axios.

• "There's a misconception that AI is going to replace hospitality workers, but in reality, it's there to protect the hospitality aspect of restaurants," he says.

Zoom in: Local chain Mattenga's Pizzeria is an early adopter. Co-owner Hengam Stanfield uses Owner.com as a "digital storefront" — handling the restaurant's website, online ordering and a custom app while automating marketing and review requests.

• After each online order, the platform sends automatic texts asking for customers to leave a review. Stanfield tells Axios that's helped their Google ratings climb.
• "Now all of our locations are 4.5 plus," she says.

Between the lines: Stanfield says tight margins and chronic labor shortages are pushing restaurants toward AI.

• "The model that we have is how can we do more with less," she says, adding that they leverage AI wherever they can so staff can spend more time serving guests in front of them.

What's next

San Antonio restaurants and coffee shops aren't just selling food and beverages anymore — they're building a fanbase.

Why it matters: The pandemic forced small businesses to get more creative about reaching customers. The loyalty forged has stuck around and evolved.

The big picture: Hats, hoodies and pins are part of the playbook for local restaurants, coffee shops and fitness studios.

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

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.