Texas Restaurant Association

Next year will mark the 90th Texas legislative session, and we’re headed to the Capitol to fight for protections that keep the restaurant industry strong.

Over the past few months, we’ve been hard at work preparing for the 2027 legislative session. We’ve visited hundreds of restaurants and met with members from every single TRA chapter statewide to discuss what’s important to you, and to make sure your voice is heard at the Capitol.

When you’re a TRA member, you’re not going it alone: we’re here to fight for you every step of the way.

Want to get involved with our advocacy work ahead of next year? Learn more at: https://txrestaurant.org/Pub/Pub/Advocacy/Advocacy.aspx

There are a few tickets left! Grab yours today.

This week, in a direct response to TRA’s advocacy efforts, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Don Huffines signed an executive order to eliminate a tax on third-party delivery fees that has frustrated restaurant operators for years.

Right now, when customers order food from third-party delivery companies like DoorDash, UberEats, or GrubHub, the customer pays sales tax on their order. In many instances, the fees a restaurant pays to a third-party delivery company are not a separate payment. Instead, the fees are deducted from the customer's payment before the balance is sent to the restaurant. In this way, the state has been double taxing a single order.

But under this change, restaurants should no longer have to pay this tax.

We have raised this issue repeatedly over the years, never giving up. When Comptroller Huffines was recently sworn into office, he quickly identified this as something he wanted to better understand. He convened a group of business leaders to give him feedback, and we were grateful to be included.

So what’s next? The Comptroller's Office is publishing a draft rule to implement this change in the next Texas Register, which will start the formal rulemaking process in early October. They hope to get the new rule in effect as early as December, and then restaurants should start seeing the savings.

We will participate in the rulemaking process to ensure this tax relief is as broad as possible for our members.

Thank you for being a part of this community. We know every dollar counts right now, and we're honored to advocate for you in Austin, in DC, and in every local community across our state.

For more than half of U.S. workers, a restaurant job was their first work experience.

What skill or lesson did you learn in a restaurant that still resonates with you today?

Share your story with and explore more stories from across the industry: https://www.madeinrestaurants.com/

Looking to strengthen your restaurant strategy this fall?

Two major industry events are coming to Arlington this October: the Fast Casual Executive Summit and The Restaurant Catering Workshop. From emerging restaurant trends to catering growth strategies, both events are designed to help operators learn, connect, and plan for what’s next.

TRA members can use promo code TRA20 to save 20%.

https://fastcasualsummit.com/register/
https://cateringworkshop.com/register/

Hey, restaurant operators: switch to SpotOn and get up to $5,000 in free hardware, plus free expert installation with a real human, not a manual. Seriously!

Offer cannot be combined with TRA member benefit.

Learn more at:
https://www.spoton.com/lp/fall-offer/

A great service starts with a clean slate. Wetting your hands isn’t washing them, and a dirty uniform compromises your entire line. Proper hygiene habits are non-negotiable and essential for your entire operation.

As we continue National Food Safety Month, ServSafe has provided resources to help you lock down your team’s hygiene routines. The Week 4 Bundle includes:

✔️Step-by-step recipe card
✔️Posters to create visual reminders
✔️Shift meeting briefs to review before service starts

There’s still 20% off select ServSafe products with code NFSM2026. Don’t miss out! https://txrestaurant.org/Pub/Pub/Training/Texas-Food-Handler-Training---Certification.aspx?hkey=c062adca-7063-44c5-bc9f-54ffd6d2725c

📩 Download the Week 4 Bundle now: https://info.servsafe.com/nfsm-26-wk4/

We wrapped our fall board meeting in Corpus Christi, and we loved every minute of it. Here are five takeaways for you:

1️⃣ We are listening to you and turning what we hear into action.
2️⃣ We continue to grow our voice, reach, and influence.
3️⃣ We are building opportunities for the next generation.
4️⃣ The Texas Restaurant Show is becoming a bigger platform for our entire industry.
5️⃣ We are preparing TRA for its next 90 years.

There is a lot to celebrate from 2026, but 2027 gives us an extraordinary moment to continue building for what comes next, together.

A quick wipe down isn’t enough. In food safety, cross-contamination is an invisible threat.

Shared kitchen tools, poor storage layout, and rushed prep routines create unsafe environments. The good news? They’re also some of the easiest risks to prevent with the right training.

To celebrate National Food Safety Month, we’re passing over essential blueprints each week. Through our Recipe for Food Safety Success campaign, we map out brand new components necessary to secure your back-of-house operations.

For our Week 3 Bundle, we’re focusing on helping partition your kitchen workflows and keep your team aligned during rush hour. You can expect:

📝The ultimate recipe card for flawless, hazard-free prep workflows.
📄Printable posters designed to make cross-contamination rules stick at a glance.
📋A quick meeting brief that aligns staff before they start work.

Plus, save 20% for a limited time only on select ServSafe products throughout NSFM 2026 with the code NFSM2026 here: https://txrestaurant.org/Pub/Pub/Training/Texas-Food-Handler-Training---Certification.aspx?hkey=c062adca-7063-44c5-bc9f-54ffd6d2725c

📩 Download the Week 3 Bundle now and prevent cross-contamination.> https://info.servsafe.com/nfsm-26-wk3/

Did you know the restaurant industry is the second-largest private-sector employer in the United States?
Two out of three Americans have worked in restaurants, and the industry offers more than 70 career paths. Share where you got your start, then explore stories from others who were : https://www.madeinrestaurants.com/