The owners of fried chicken restaurant Krazy Katsu said their July business was down 50% from the prior month. Credit: Brandon Rodriguez

Terry Corless, CEO of San Antonio’s Mad Dogs Restaurant Group, knows hot. After all, his job before arriving in San Antonio involved opening hotels in Dubai.

And right now, it’s blazing in the Alamo City, according to his assessment.

“It’s fair to say that I can’t ever remember any summers as intense or as prolonged in its heat as last year and this year,” said Corless, whose holdings include Mad Dogs British Pub and seven other downtown drinking and dining spots.

Corless said the heat’s become so pressing an issue that city officials should convene with stakeholders and consider constructing cooling pads such as those located in the middle of the Pearl in areas frequented by tourists.

“We need to be more fun, inviting, family friendly. We need to be proactive and deal with this heat,” he said. “That’s not likely to change.”

Corless and other San Antonio restaurant and bar owners — especially those whose establishments include outdoor dining — are trying to figure out a path forward in oppressive heat that many warn may not relent.

Restaurants operate on razor-thin margins, and San Antonio owners told the Current that oppressive temperatures are roasting their bottom line. The scorching heat is driving customers off of patios, and in some cases, away from dining out altogether.

As of press time, San Antonio has experienced a total of 37 days of afternoon highs above 100 degrees this summer, according to the National Weather Service. Meanwhile, Bexar County has already tallied a number of heat strokes this year equal to the entirety of 2022.

Climatologists also warn that this year’s volcanic weather may just be the precursor of worse heat waves to come thanks to human-caused climate change.

“The reality is, given the scientific predictions, this summer — with its oppressive and widespread heat waves — is likely to be one of the coolest summers of the rest of our lives,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo cautioned during the July launch of Heat.gov, a government website for heat information.

Many of Corless’ restaurants rely on outdoor dining spaces, which means he’s seen a downturn in sales this summer. He’s concerned that he’s hearing other industry insiders share similar news. Some tell him they have seen drops of 15%-30%.

The owners of fried chicken restaurant Krazy Katsu, which operates from a repurposed train car, said their July business was down 50% from the prior month.

Bad timing

Cranking up the agony, this summer’s extreme heat comes as restaurants are still trying to recover from the prolonged COVID-19 slump. During the pandemic, many also repurposed their assets to offer more outdoor seating — a move they now may regret.

During the health crisis, St. Mary’s Strip comfort food spot Tycoon Flats rejiggered its space during the pandemic to offer more outdoor dining and capitalize on a takeout business model, co-owner Malcolm Hartman said.

Now, Hartman is considering reconfiguring his restaurant once again. He said the July heatwave has cut into his foot traffic, already suffering from contruction along the Strip.

“We don’t want to be primarily outdoor dining,” Malcolm Hartman’s brother and business partner Richard said, acknowledging customers’ eagerness to seek out airconditioned spaces.

Corless has also noticed the reversal in customer behavior.

“The last sanctuary we had during COVID has turned out to be the last place a customer wants to sit,” he said.

Pricey solutions

Faced with a summer-long sales slump, restaurant owners are going to expensive lengths to keep customers cool.

While outdoor cooling systems such as high-pressure misting fans and industrial-style swamp coolers can make patios more inviting for guests, they can set buyers back thousands of dollars, according to Forrest Woods, owner of JetStream Outdoor Cooling. And that’s before installation costs and annual maintenance.

What’s more, swamp coolers and high-pressure misting fans aren’t perfect, said Woods, whose company is design-build contractor focused on outdoor heating and cooling.

High-pressure misters often fall short of cooling off customers in places like San Antonio, where humidity levels are consistently high. Such systems fail to provide cooling when humidity surpasses 80 percent, according to Woods.

Plus, depending on the design and layout of a restaurant’s outdoor patio, retroactively installing an adequate cooling system may not be an option. For example, misting fans need 10 to 12 feet of space to cool the air. Anything closer will result in a drenched customer.

“You have to worry about the southern breeze direction,” Woods said. “You have to worry about the distance of the mist before it hits people and gets them wet.”

As summers continue to burn hotter and for longer, very few restaurant owners are taking proactive approaches to their outdoor cooling system solutions, Woods said. Woods said he worries some restaurant owners will dump money into short-term fixes that don’t measure up.

But the alternative of installing a comprehensive new cooling system may be out of many operators’ budgets. Woods said a properly installed outdoor cooling system can run $10,000 to $15,000.

Changing psychology

High temperatures aren’t just taking a toll on outdoor dining. Restaurants’ HVAC systems are also chugging on high gear trying to keep up, which can lead to higher bills and unexpected maintenance costs.

Owners should be ready to combat the heat inside and outside their dining spaces, Texas Restaurant Association Public Affairs Officer Kelsey Erickson Streufert said.

“Really making sure that you have a solid business plan to deal with this heat [ is important],” she said. “Some of that is operational. By all means, make sure your AC equipment is in good order. Make sure you’re doing all of the maintenance.”

Since restaurant HVAC systems aren’t necessarily designed to combat 100-plus degree temperatures day after day, Streufert also recommends owners know who to call in event of an outage.

Beyond their cooling systems, Streufert said owners should be thinking about changing consumer behavior. They should consider menus that reflect the summer heat and work to drive off-premise dining through to-go orders.

She also recommends they consider changing business hours to allow customers to visit during cooler parts of the day. Reverse happy hours can be one way to bring in customers during later hours.

Despite the grim forecast, longtime outdoor patio bar owner Jody Bailey Newman of the Friendly Spot said she’s ready to roll with the summer’s punches. She said she appreciates seeing folks gather outside in the evening and being flexible about the time of day the choose to visit restaurants.

“Since the pandemic, one trend that I’ve appreciated is a further acknowledgment, and acceptance of real-life hours,” Newman said. “There’s a whole lotta life that happens outside of the ‘standard’ hours.”

Besides, summer is typically a slower period for the restaurant industry anyway.

“It’s nice to see less judgment on families out in the evenings enjoying sundown, ice cold beer and a huge rainbow slide,” she added.

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