Texas Restaurants Offer Up a "Taste of Texas" at 2023 Inauguration Celebration

More than 60 ProStart culinary students will help serve up diverse cuisine from across the state as Texas kicks off its 88th legislative session. 

AUSTIN, TX (January 12, 2023) – The Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) has been selected by the Texas Inauguration Committee as the official culinary partner to the 2023 inauguration on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. The TRA represents the state’s $87 billion restaurant industry, which encompasses more than 53,000 locations and a workforce of over 1.3 million employees. By leveraging its statewide network, the TRA is partnering with the Texas Inauguration Committee to ensure the event benefits small businesses, high school students, and the community.

Inauguration attendees will enjoy a diverse and delicious selection of food samplings from independent restaurants across the state, including:

Restaurant Name	Region	Menu Item
The County Line	Austin	County Line’s own slow smoked sausage topped with warm BBQ sauce and served with a side of potato salad
Salomé on Main	Rio Grande Valley	Carne asada, 2F Akaushi beef, mole verde, huitlacoche tamal, and corn relish
George's Restaurant	Waco	Crazy wings (chicken, pepper jack cheese, and jalapeño, wrapped in bacon, fried, and served with ranch)
PHAT Eatery	Houston	Texas Wagyu brisket in Malaysian curry
River Smith's Chicken & Catfish	Lubbock	Southern style fried catfish, coleslaw, and hush puppies
SILO Elevated Cuisine	San Antonio	Braised boneless short ribs, creamy parmesan orzo, blistered cherry tomatoes, and fresh horseradish
The Pelican House Restaurant	DFW	Cajun chipotle corn salad and BBQ brisket jambalaya
The Spot	Galveston	Seafood gumbo
Western Sky Steakhouse	San Angelo	Steak bits and German fries
Industry	Austin	Beverages – coffee, tea, water & Coca-Cola products

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We are proud to have been selected by the Inauguration Committee to showcase the diversity of restaurant offerings in the State of Texas,” shared TRA President and CEO Emily Williams Knight, Ed.D. “We are especially pleased to support our community through this event by including more than 60 ProStart students, Keep Austin Fed, and the Texas Restaurant Foundation—the Association’s 501(c)(3) non-profit.”

The Texas Restaurant Foundation and each participating ProStart school (Connally High School, Del Valle High School and Taylor High School) will receive a contribution from the event. In addition, ProStart students will gain valuable experience by participating in this large-scale, public event. ProStart is the Foundation’s flagship program; it is an industry-based, two-year high school culinary arts and restaurant management program that reaches over 25,000 Texas students every year. Finally, the TRA is partnering with Keep Austin Fed to ensure surplus food is donated to the community.

The TRA is proud to support local businesses, our students and educators, and the community while offering a “Taste of Texas” at the 2023 Inauguration Celebration.

 

 

MEDIA CONTACT
Tony Abruscato (Chief Marketing Officer) & Kelsey Erickson Streufert (Chief Public Affairs Officer)
[email protected]

ABOUT THE TEXAS RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION
Formed in 1937, the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) serves as the advocate and indispensable resource for the foodservice industry in Texas. As a leading business association, the TRA represents the state’s $87 billion restaurant industry, which encompasses more than 53,000 locations and a workforce of over 1.3 million employees. Along with the Texas Restaurant Foundation, the workforce development arm of the TRA, the association proudly continues to protect, advance, and educate a growing industry as the TRA enters its 86th anniversary year. For more information, please visit www.txrestaurant.org.

ABOUT THE TEXAS RESTAURANT FOUNDATION 
Established in 1994 by the Texas Restaurant Association, the Texas Restaurant Foundation (TRF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a strong professional foodservice workforce in Texas. Leveraging the latest skills, tools, and certifications, the TRF creates pathways of opportunity for one of the state’s largest and most diverse industries. The organization’s flagship program is Texas ProStart, an industry-based, two-year high school culinary arts and restaurant management program that reaches more than 25,000 students across 215 high schools in Texas. The TRF also supports restaurants in times of crisis; for example, in 2020, the TRF established the TX Restaurant Relief Fund to raise and distribute more than $3.5 million to support over 800 independent restaurants and their employees through the COVID-19 pandemic.