![\"take](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Asian-Mint-Take-Out-Photo-by-Nathan-Hunsinger.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOne of the many things hurting restaurants is the increased cost of take-out supplies. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tOne of the many things hurting restaurants is the increased cost of take-out supplies. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Photo by Nathan Hunsinger <\/p>\n
This year, dining room sales at Renny\u2019s, the north Dallas neighborhood hangout, are down double digits. Meanwhile, the restaurant\u2019s catering and private-party sales are up in the double digits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best way to describe business right now is that nothing makes any sense,\u201d says Renny\u2019s owner, Mark Maguire. \u201cOther than the first months of COVID, this is the least predictable I\u2019ve seen in my 19 years in Dallas, let alone my time in the restaurant business before that. You really don\u2019t know what to expect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given that, it\u2019s probably not surprising that the latest Texas Restaurant Association member survey found that the state\u2019s restaurateurs are more optimistic about the future than they were at the end of 2025. The restaurant group measures its members\u2019 outlook on a scale of 1 to 100, and the score rose from 53 to 57 at the end of last year.<\/p>\n
And they felt this way despite reporting obstacle after obstacle in their way \u2013 higher food and labor costs, plus increasing concern about skyrocketing gas prices, all of which led to declining profits compared to the same time last year.<\/p>\n
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Situation Normal? <\/p>\n
Confused? Or is this just another example of \u201csituation normal\u201d in the restaurant business?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think, to put it into perspective, that last year was so tough, the new year brings new hope,\u201d says TRA spokeswoman Kelsey Erickson Streufert. \u201cThere seems to be a sense that our members can weather the storm better. It shows their resilience and how much grit they\u2019ve shown in the past six years since COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers are bad, in part because the survey was conducted in the middle of April, which includes the\u00a0gasoline spikes after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in March: 95% of respondents said gas prices have led to supplier fuel surcharges, higher food costs, and, subsequently, menu price hikes. <\/p>\n
In this, says Maguire, prices have even gone up for takeout supplies \u2013 plastic and styrofoam boxes, utensils, and the like \u2013 because they\u2019re petroleum-based products. This is especially annoying, he says, because takeout and delivery, particularly with third-party companies like DoorDash and Grubhub, are break-even propositions used more for marketing than for profit, and where every penny counts. We covered this extensively recently. <\/a><\/p>\n $4 Gas and Eating Out Less<\/p>\n