Editor’s Note: The University Star incorrectly described Grins’ situation as a closure. The correct information is that Grins is up for sale. Grins is still open for business.
The Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) reported 15% of Texas restaurants went out of business in 2021 due to the pandemic. While some San Marcos spots have remained open, Grins and Ivar’s River Pub are two still reeling from the effects of 2020.
Grins has been on sale for a year and a half
Grins first opened its doors on Valentine’s Day in 1975. After expanding three times in the early 2000’s, the restaurant found its permanent establishment on North LBJ Drive.
“We had to do [the expansions] because of the volume and for San Marcos at the time there weren’t a lot of restaurants,” Paul Sutphen, co-owner of Grins, said.
Over the next decade, Sutphen said Grins thrived, successfully building on this growth. Right before COVID-19 hit, Grins was having its best year in terms of sales and customers, according to Sutphen.
“2019 was the best year I’ve ever had, and I’ve never recovered since,” Sutphen said. “In 2021-22 I had problems getting enough people to work.”
Beyond the staffing shortage, Sutphen saw a decrease in customers frequenting the restaurant. In 2019, Grins accumulated around $1.9 million in sales. As a result of people opting to stay indoors, sales dropped 30% in 2020 and by the end of the year, Grins only made $1.4 million.
“It’s a different world after COVID-19 but the real impact that we’re still dealing with is getting supplies,” Sutphen said.
According to the Central Texas Food Bank, during the pandemic, Texas faced upheaval surrounding its food supply chain, specifically in the restaurant industry. Those issues resulted in a 5.8% increase in food prices in 2023.
Josh Daspit, an associate professor of management, said when the pandemic struck, restaurants faced various challenges, with one of the biggest being the need to shift to delivery services to maintain revenue.
“The issue is perhaps [restaurants] aren’t making enough money because they’re having to go through a third party but it’s an option that exists for revenue that wasn’t as salient before,” Daspit said.
For Sutphen, curbside pick-up and delivery helped keep Grins afloat at the height of the pandemic.
Daspit also said unemployment was a prominent side effect of COVID-19. According to the TRA, 91% of Texas restaurants have fewer than 50 employees as of 2024.
Sutphen said Grins only lost three employees at the pandemic’s peak in spring 2020 but was still short staffed.
“My full-time people, I had them come in anyway and would clean or do projects. My part-time people, I’d say ‘you’ll always have a job, but we can’t afford anybody right now’,” Sutphen said.
Grins has since gotten back on track, Sutphen said. Its sales have jumped back up to $1.85 million in 2023 – a 32% increase.
Despite the increase in sales, the owners of Grins have decided to put the restaurant up for sale. It has been on the market for over a year.
Sutphen said the reason for the sale is that he is getting older and the owners want to retire.
“We’d love for somebody to come in and keep the name or keep the tradition of a food restaurant, I really don’t want it to be condos,” Sutphen said.
Ivar’s River Pub recovers from COVID-19
Ivar’s River Pub, a family-owned restaurant next to Rio Vista Park, first opened its doors in 1996 under the name San Marcos River Pub and Grill. However, after the 2013 flood, the building sustained serious water damage and they shut down soon after.
“We took some time and money to be able to get it reopened, and we made the decision to completely redesign it – completely gutted the building, completely raised the main dining above the floodplain,” Denele Gunnarson, Ivar’s financial officer, said. “ We reopened in 2017 under ‘Ivar’s River Pub’.”
Like Grins, Ivar’s experienced a decline in sales when COVID-19 hit, with a 40% drop in 2020 compared to previous years. The restaurant closed for a month that year, leading many employees to quit during the shutdown
“It was really hard and we were just getting momentum,” Gunnarson said. “You don’t know when you’re going to reopen, you don’t know what it’s going to look like. There was a bunch of crying because no one knew what was going to happen.”
Daspit said maintaining a restaurant, particularly a family-owned one, requires resilience from the owners, as there’s more at stake than just finances.
“One of those things is the unique relationship they have with their employees and each other,” Daspit said. “Like during COVID-19, they were less likely to lay off employees.”
Gunnarson said Ivar’s had to raise its menu prices due to rising supplier costs—a challenge not unique to San Marcos.
According to the TRA, 92% of Texas restaurants increased their menu prices. Beyond Texas, the National Restaurant Association reported a 4.1% increase in menu prices in the U.S. from July 2023 to July 2024.
“What this taught us is you can’t have one supplier anymore,” Gunnarson said. “It was really hard to get product during [COVID-19], so I had to add three more vendors just to get our base product out.”
Kate A McCarty • Sep 12, 2024 at 8:18 am
I’m so sorry to see their struggle. We really loved both restaurants when we lived in San Marcos. I really hope Grin’s finds an owner. I’d also hate to see it become condos!