Empty tables and closed doors: Inside the storm squeezing Fort Worth restaurants
Texans love eating out, but it’s nevertheless been a difficult year for Tarrant County restaurants, with a number of high-profile closings.
In the past few months, Fort Worth has lost places like Brix Barbecue, Cat City Grill, Maiden: Fine Plants and Spirits, Fitzgerald and the Taco Heads on Montgomery Street. Arlington has said goodbye to longtime favorites Bodacious BBQ and Campo Verde (though Campo Verde is changing to a different restaurant). And there have been others.
All these shuttered doors raise the question of why so many restaurants are having so tough a time right now.
Emily Williams Knight, CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association, said restaurant operators are facing myriad headwinds, some of which are unprecedented.
First, there’s the straightforward issue of cost. Food prices are up approximately 25% since 2020, said Knight, and labor costs are as much as 35% higher.
At the same time, consumers have less discretionary income because wage growth is not keeping up with inflation, and many simply haven’t gone back to eating out at the rate they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The balance sheets in the post-pandemic era are not as healthy as they were in 2019 going into 2020,” Knight said.
Jonas Flores spoke with the Star-Telegram recently after having lunch with a friend at Fort Worth’s Spiral Diner and Bakery at 1314 W. Magnolia St. That meal not withstanding, Flores said he’s cut back on eating in restaurants because of the cost.
“I find myself not wanting to go out as much,” said Flores, adding that it typically costs him around $20, with tip, to dine out.
“It used to be easier five years ago, or back in 2019. It used to be like $15. And that makes a difference, especially when wages haven’t increased like you’d want them to.”
Flores said he and his lunch companion used to work at the Spiral Diner and Bakery in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, which closed in 2022. Flores no longer works in the industry, but he’s seen firsthand how difficult it is to keep a place going.
“We worked there during the transition period, before the pandemic and during the pandemic.” he said. “In 2018, 2019, it was just booming — people were constantly ordering. Once the pandemic hit with all the restrictions, people just didn’t want to come out and eat, and things got hard.”
Fort Worth chefs talk about the changing economic landscape
Fort Worth chef and restaurateur Jon Bonnell (Bonnell’s, Buffalo Bros, Jon’s Grille, Waters Restaurant) said his labor and food costs are higher than ever while revenue streams are not as strong as they once were.
Bonnell said alcohol sales, in particular, are down. He attributed that, in part, to more consumers using THC products instead of alcohol to unwind. The popularity of canned cocktails and seltzers have also cut into bars’ profits, Bonnell added. It seems people are electing to stay home and pop open a can from the fridge as opposed to going to a watering hole for their margaritas or vodka tonics.
And you can add rising rents to the list of restaurants’ worries. Chef and restaurateur Adam Jones (Grace, 61 Osteria, Little Red Wasp) said there was a time when a smart operator could easily see a double-digit profit margin, but those days are “long gone,” in part because of rent prices.
“The landlords think us restaurateurs are made of money,” he said, “but this is a scratch business.”
Evolving challenges for restaurant operators
Times are hard, but financial pressure is nothing new for restaurants. What really seems to have operators rattled are a handful of new challenges.
Immigration enforcement
First, there’s the recent crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Regardless of your position on immigration, there’s no denying that immigrants, particularly Mexican immigrants here in Texas, are the backbone of restaurants.
According to a Texas Tribune report, daily immigration arrests in the region encompassing Fort Worth and Dallas are up approximately 30%. Across the country, arrests have jumped from 85 a day, on average, under President Biden to 176 a day under President Trump. Nearly a quarter of the nationwide immigration arrests made between January and late July occurred in Texas, according to the Texas Tribune.
This has affected the restaurant industry’s labor pool. Knight said it has also resulted in the loss of valuable experience that enabled operators to run their businesses successfully.
“If you have someone who has been with you for years, and they decide to self-deport, you can’t replace that knowledge,” said Knight.
Immigrants, of course, don’t just work in restaurants; they frequent them, too. So, immigration raids and the fear of deportation have cut into the consumer base for many establishments. Knight said in communities that have a Mexican immigrant population of 40% or more, restaurant sales are down across the board.
Weight loss drugs
Both Bonnell and Knight mentioned a new hurdle restaurant operators now have to consider: the rise in GLP-1 use. Drugs like Ozempic and Trulicity used to manage diabetes and help people lose weight have led to changes in long-established eating and drinking habits.
GLP-1 users typically have decreased appetites and crave less fatty and sugary foods, studies have shown. Users have also reported a decreased desire for alcohol.
According to recently released survey data from RAND, more than one in 10 Americans have used a GLP-1 drug. That means millions are potentially eating less, and instead of having a cheeseburger and a beer at a restaurant, they’re opting for healthier, perhaps less expensive, alternatives.
“It’s changing what people eat and when they eat,” Knight said.
Food delivery services
The rise of food delivery services like DoorDash, Grubhub and Uber Eats have also changed the way people eat, Bonnell said. As opposed to going out, more and more consumers are having food delivered. In a lot of cases, said Bonnell, they’re ordering less than they might otherwise if they were sitting in the restaurant.
Operators also have to worry about getting favorable contracts with those delivery services. Depending on the terms, Bonnell said, delivery charges can easily eat into a restaurant’s profits, especially for those offering free delivery.
How are restaurants responding?
Alyse Chung, from Parker County, and Michelle Arrington, from Fort Worth, spoke with the Star-Telegram after having lunch at Terra Mediterranean at 2932 Crockett St. in Fort Worth’s Artisan Circle the day before Thanksgiving. Arrington said she was surprised there weren’t more people out with it being a holiday week.
Indeed, Artisan Circle was quiet that afternoon. Recently, the area lost Si Tapas, Hurts Donuts and Mash’d, which had been open for 10 years.
Chung and Arrington said they still eat out a fair amount despite higher prices, but they rarely come to Artisan Circle anymore, choosing instead to dine in Clearfork or at eateries along University Drive. There are better selections in those places, both said, not to mention free parking.
What Chung and Arrington have noticed is that mid-priced restaurants seem to be struggling the most. Similarly, Bonnell and Jones said lower-priced restaurants and upscale eateries are doing OK. It’s the ones in the middle that are hurting.
The rationale is that customers still patronize low-cost establishments because they’re looking for value, and many will pay a lot for a meal at a fancier restaurant, like Jones’ Grace, because they crave that heightened experience.
For those restaurants in the middle, Knight said it’s incumbent upon operators to find a balance, providing quality products and a welcoming ambiance at a reasonable price to make customers feel as though they’re getting something for their money.
“People are willing to trade other conveniences because they want to eat out,” Knight said, “but the restaurant community needs to meet them where they are.”
Regardless of where they fall on the price spectrum, though, restaurant operators simply have to be nimble and forward-thinking, said Jones and Bonnell.
Whereas Bonnell used to change his menus a handful of times each year, he’s now looking at them a couple of times a month and making adjustments to selections and prices as needed.
Chicken wings, for example, used to be a “throwaway” product, Bonnell said. In the old days, restaurants could charge a quarter per wing and make money. But chicken wings have gotten so popular that they are now the most expensive parts of a chicken.
Buffalo Bros specializes in wings and pizza, so Bonnell has had to re-evaluate his prices to reflect market rates, though he said he does so carefully so as not to give customers sticker shock.
Likewise, Jones said he’s had to be strategic when adjusting prices to ensure he’s not losing money. It’s tough, he said, because even an increase of a few cents here and there can lead to customer pushback. While Jones acknowledges he sees that less in his restaurants given the higher price points, it’s something that operators in that middle-priced zone have to consider.
Going back to rent prices, Jones added that operators, especially ones opening new restaurants, have to have foresight when signing leases. They have to negotiate the best rate for today while thinking about what the rent landscape will likely look like in five and 10 years. That way operators can plan accordingly for rent increases so they don’t completely obliterate the bottom line.
Despite the challenges, Knight, Bonnell and Jones were all optimistic. In Bonnell’s case, he’s confident enough about the future that he’s opening a Buffalo Bros location in Burleson.
Part of that confidence, Bonnell said, comes from the reliability of his concept. Buffalo Bros is a sports bar, and Bonnell said people like going out to watch their favorite teams, especially now that fewer folks are springing for expensive cable packages to watch games at home.
Bonnell said he has always focused on making Buffalo Bros an inviting place, with good food, large and comfortable bars and a lot of TVs, and customers have responded favorably.
“Day in, day out, people still love coming to Buffalo Bros, drinking a schooner and eating some wings and fries,” said Bonnell.
To be sure, things aren’t all doom and gloom. While there have been several restaurant closings in Tarrant County, there have also been a number of highly anticipated openings, in addition to the new Buffalo Bros — places like Nikuya Sushi on the rooftop of the Sinclair hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Dos Mares on West Seventh Street and the Mont on St. Amand Circle on the west side.
Jones said “the future is bright” for restaurants, and he stressed that it is possible, even at a fine dining establishment, to enjoy yourself without breaking the bank.
“I still think if you plan correctly at a restaurant, you can get a great meal for a reasonable price,” he said.
Knight, of the restaurant association, said while consumers have less financial flexibility to eat out these days, they still have the desire to do so. There is, as Knight put it, a pent-up demand. She also said Texas is a strong market compared to other states. All that is enough to give operators hope, even as today’s challenges will likely extend into 2026.
Entering the holiday season, Knight said the Texas Restaurant Association is urging consumers to consider gifting experiences as opposed to things, with the idea that gift card sales will help support eateries that might be struggling.
Jones said over his 50 years in the business, he’s weathered plenty of storms, and what’s happening now is just another example of that. Running a restaurant will try you, Jones said. It’s a lot of work, but when you love what you do, it’s worth it.
What keeps Jones going is the sense that he’s able to create an escape for people who dine with him — provide a place where, for a couple of hours, they can let go of the pressures of life and break bread with friends and loved ones.
As Bonnell put it, change is constant when you operate a restaurant, the changes are just coming a bit faster now. He points to COVID as a big reason why, saying it accelerated many of the shifts in consumer behavior we see today.
But there have always been rough waters to navigate. For restaurateurs, what’s happening in 2025 will be a distant memory in a few years, the hurdles likely replaced by new ones.
“There’s not a normal,” Bonnell said of the industry. “It’s always evolving.”
This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.