As the number of restaurant closures continues to mount in Dallas-Fort Worth, those lists don’t capture small businesses that are still open but treading water.
Restaurants are strained by high food and operating costs. Consumers are pinched by higher groceries and gas. Rather than suffer in silence, some North Texas food businesses are using social media to ask consumers for help.
Smoak Town BBQ, a trailer in the Rockwall area that made The Dallas Morning News’ list of best barbecue joints, saw a 40% dip in traffic in August 2026, owner Cameron Haley wrote on Facebook. His post revealed financial challenges during the heat of the summer.
Summertime is often slow in Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants because customers leave the region for vacations or don’t want to dine in the heat. The Texas Restaurant Association said restaurant traffic was down about 2% year over year in May and June.
“That is a meaningful deterioration from last summer,” Kelsey Erickson Streufert, chief public affairs officer for the Texas Restaurant Association, wrote in an emailed statement.
But, summer spending at Texas restaurants in 2026 was not at a historic low, Streufert wrote via email. TRA’s data show restaurant receipts in Texas were up 3.8% year over year in July. If menu prices increased in the past year, it makes sense that guests’ receipts would be higher in 2026.
“Those dollar figures mask what operators are experiencing: menu prices are higher, guest counts remain under pressure and consumers are being much more selective about when they dine out and what they order,” Streufert wrote.
The owners of three restaurants in Oak Cliff, Rockwall and Plano made pleas in summer 2026 for more customers on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
‘Worst summer’ for chocolate
Katherine Clapner, owner of Dude, Sweet Chocolate in Oak Cliff, took to Instagram to tell customers about the historically low sales at her shop that sells toffees, fudges and drinking chocolate. Clapner filmed outside the store on a weekend, “in a neighborhood that’s normally bustling” — the Bishop Arts District — and counted fewer than 10 people who walked by in a few minutes.
In nearly 17 years operating Dude, Sweet, Clapner said it’s “the worst summer I’ve seen for retail.”
Clapner said tariffs are sending prices of goods higher. She pleaded with customers to help independently-owned businesses that are struggling.
“If you see a small business, support them,” she said on Instagram.
“It’s astonishing that small businesses have to struggle so hard.”
Dude, Sweet Chocolate is at 336 W. Eighth St., Dallas.
Guessing game in barbecue
A dip in sales during the hot month of August leads to an “exhausting” guessing game, Smoak Town owner Haley wrote on Facebook.
“Briskets take 14+ hours to cook,” he wrote. “Ribs, turkey, pork belly, sausage and sides all have to be prepped and cooked long before we have any idea how many people are actually going to show up that day.”
The number of people he feeds from his food truck each day can fluctuate from a dozen to six times that.
“Cook too much and you’re staring at pans of food at the end of the day,” he wrote. “Cook too little and you risk selling out early and disappointing the people who did come support you.”
Haley’s plea yielded over 300 comments, a sizable number for a small business with 11,000 Facebook followers.
He reminded fans he needs their support in person, not just online. “So if you’ve been saying, We need to get back over to Smoak Town, come see us.”
Even “a few extra customers,” he wrote, “can make a bigger difference than you realize.”
Smoak Town BBQ is at 107 Elmhurst Lane, Rockwall.
A 15-year-old’s big idea
At the beginning of the summer, the 15-year-old daughter of a Plano restaurant owner turned to TikTok to ask for more exposure for her family’s Mexican restaurant, Sazon de Loa.
“Please be part of my dad’s dream,” she told viewers.
Is it that simple, to post a video and get an influx of customers? Often, no, but Leslie de Loa’s video received tens of thousands of likes. According to a video from de Loa, the most important supporter was TikTokker “Bucky Wild Child,” who visited Sazon de Loa after seeing her plea. He filmed himself eating in the restaurant and meeting the chef and owner, and over 4 million people liked it. The restaurant saw an increase in customers.
Fox 4 then spotlighted the de Loa family, bringing extra attention to the business.
A viral video’s effect may not last, however. After the initial boom, the family thanked customers and influencers for visiting Sazon de Loa. They added: “Please, keep coming.”
Sazon de Loa is at 3421 Renner Road, Plano.
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This article originally published at Amid tough summer, Dallas-Fort Worth restaurateurs plead for help.
