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By Publisher Ed Avis
Raul Luis
Publisher’s Note: We have surveyed our readers about their business every autumn for the past 10 years, and each year we learn more about how their restaurants are faring. As we have in past years, we followed up the survey with interviews with some respondents. This article is based on the survey and those interviews.
Raul Luis, owner of Birrieria Chalío in Ft. Worth, Texas, has a lot in common with other Mexican restaurant owners: He is of Mexican descent; his family started the business as a home-based operation in the 1980s; and today, his family runs multiple restaurants in different parts of the country.
But in one important way Birrieria Chalío stands out: Business has increased in 2024, whereas many Mexican restaurant owners have seen little or no growth this year, according to an el Restaurante reader survey.
“Business is up about 8 percent,” Luis says. He cites several reasons for the growth, but sees a new social media effort as most important. “I had never in the past used any type of social media, but about two months ago I started using it. I think that is one reason business is up.”
One example: an October 17 Facebook post asking customers to “Join the birria craze” and to “Subscribe to our YouTube channel for mouthwatering recipes, cooking tips, and tasty adventures…”
The el Restaurante survey showed that 45 percent of Mexican restaurants have seen sales expand in 2024. Twenty-three percent said sales have been flat, and the remaining 32 percent said sales are down this year. In 2023, only 25 percent of respondents to this survey reported that sales were down from the previous year.
Among restaurants that showed growth, more than half said business is up less than 25 percent. About 11 percent said business has more than doubled this year, and the remaining respondents whose business grew said it is up between 25 percent and 100 percent. The survey was conducted in mid-October and was answered by 40 owners of Mexican/Latin restaurants.
Growing in Spite of Challenges
Patty’s Mexican Kitchen and Catering in Moscow, Idaho, is another restaurant that saw sales expand in 2024. Gerardo Alvarez and his wife, Patty Alvarez, opened the restaurant 25 years ago after successfully selling salsa at a local farmer’s market.
“We blossomed because my wife’s approach to food is so amazing!” Gerardo says. “She cooks from the soul and the food has to be perfect and from scratch. We make a phenomenal team because I am the face/voice behind the register and she is the creator and executive chef behind everything.”
Gerardo says sales are up this year because they simply make consistently great, innovative food.
“We are trendsetters in our community,” he says. “We make scratch food from the heart and we are known for having the best patio dining, great Mexican food, and customer service.”
Great food is part of Birrieria Chalío’s success, too. Birria has become more mainstream in recent years, and Luis has created interesting promotions that have attracted new customers. One example is the “The Quesa-Chiva Challenge,” in which customers taste birria made the original way, with goat (chiva), and then the newer way, with beef.
“Pepsi did the Pepsi Challenge, and that was very successful, so I thought ‘How can I leverage the birria and fly with [that promotion]?’” Luis says. “I tell people chiva is the original, and when they say they’ve never had it, I say ‘Why don’t you take the challenge? See if you can determine which is what and which you prefer better.’”
Luis believes geographic diversity also contributes to the restaurant’s success. He opened Birrieria Chalío’s Fort Worth location in 2005, and his family owns several other locations in Los Angeles. Because the competition among Mexican restaurants is tougher in Los Angeles than in Fort Worth, new ideas bubble up more quickly. Luis learns about those from his family in LA and brings them to his Texas restaurant.
For example, he was charging $3 to $5 for aguas frescas in his restaurant, then saw that restaurants in Los Angeles were adding Chamoy, Tajin and fresh fruit to the drink.
“Nobody was doing that in Texas,” he explains. “So I added that, and now I’m able to sell something that normally is $5 for $10. There’s a higher perceived value.”
Managing High Food Prices
The el Restaurante survey revealed that rising food costs continue to be a major challenge for Mexican restaurant owners. Eighty percent of respondents said food prices are up this year — almost the same percentage who said that in our 2023 survey.
In one open-ended question that asked respondents about products that had increased in price, respondents named everything from chicken to spices to produce to dairy.
Both Luis and Alvarez have increased menu prices to deal with the higher costs. For example, egg prices jumped from $40 a case to $150 a case in early fall, Luis reports, prompting him to bump up prices of menu items that contain eggs.
“I adjust my pricing maybe once every two weeks, or when [the price of] something really just takes off,” Luis says.
Luis uses a QR code on his menu instead of listing prices, so he can change prices without reprinting the menus. That also makes the increases a little less obvious to customers.
Alvarez also bumps up his menu prices to offset the rising costs.
“Ninety-eight percent of my customers do not complain because I’m still cheaper than my competitors,” he says. “The ones that do complain about prices are folks who do not appreciate good food anyway. They prefer to dine at a fast food establishment.”
Shoring Up Labor Shortages
A bright spot in this year’s reader survey came in answers to the question about finding employees. Our 2022 survey found that 78 percent of restaurants were finding it harder than usual to get new employees. That dropped to 55 percent in 2023, and this year it fell to just 30 percent.
Furthermore, in this year’s survey 30 percent of respondents said they have no problem finding employees, compared to 19 percent who said that last year. And only 12 percent said that in 2022.
A natural consequence of a better employment situation is that fewer restaurant owners feel compelled to increase pay or benefits. In 2023, 88 percent of respondents said they had raised pay in the previous year; in 2024, that dropped to 68 percent.
Moving Ahead Feeling Positive Vibes
In spite of all of the challenges 2024 has brought, Luis and Alvarez are happy with how things are going with their restaurants.
Luis participated in a program sponsored by Goldman Sachs that helped him create a growth plan. While he was there, he met a public relations professional who has helped him leverage past media hits into new coverage.
“Different media are starting to pick up on what birria really is,” he says.
Alvarez relishes the fact that customers still appreciate what Patty’s Mexican Kitchen brings to the community even after a quarter century in business.
“Folks in our neck of the woods have followed us and watched us grow into an amazing business,” he says. “My mood about the business is exceptional — my wife and I love what we do. And it shows in our business.”
Sidebar: Restaurant Owners Share Concerns
What worries el Restaurante readers most? Here is how some readers answered that question, which was posed in our 2024 survey:
“Government dictates on tipped employees and overtime rules new in 2025”
“Not enough people coming thru the door to sustain salaries”
“People are feeling insecure about the near future.”
“Weekday lunches are slow.”
“Customers are not spending like before.”
“Restaurant saturation, young people not going out anymore”
“Profit margins are practically non-existent. Everything has increased: rent, gas, water, electricity, permits, repairs, etc.”