When your staff shirts wear out too soon, replacing them becomes another job all unto itself. Multiply that across a whole team and multiple locations, and what might have seemed like a “cost effective” decision when evaluating printers turns into a very costly situation.
When deciding on uniforms or promotional merch for your restaurant or brewery, think about what a shirt goes through on a shift. It’s gotta survive spilled queso and beer, hot line work, and a Tuesday double shift, then still look sharp enough that a regular customer asks where they can buy one for themselves.
We have long been a proud partner of Austin’s best restaurants, bars, and breweries – and we have over 115 5-Star Google reviews that serve as a testament to our success in partnering with these businesses. This guide covers what holds up on a busy team, what customers buy off the merch shelf, and how Kong makes it easy for Austin hospitality businesses to order it all.
How to Approach Restaurant Merch
Restaurant merch covers two product lines, team apparel or uniforms, and customer-facing retail merch.
Team apparel: the shirts, aprons, and hats your team wear to provide a professional, cohesive experience to your customers. This has to survive daily wear, washing, and it has to look consistent whether someone’s been on staff for three years or three days. Customer-facing merch: the hats, totes, koozies, and hoodies people pay for at the counter or online. This is the gear that makes people want to be on your team and promote your business.
If your restaurant, bar, or brewery needs both, treating them as one cohesive program instead of two separate things keeps colors, logos, and reorders consistent across everything with your name on it. Staff apparel and customer-facing retail merch don’t have to be identical, but they should share the same logos, ink colors, and merch provider so nothing drifts off-brand.
Common merch options for Austin hospitality clients:
- Embroidered polos and screen printed tees for front-of-house and bar staff
- Kitchen and line aprons
- Ball caps and beanies for staff and retail
- Pullover hoodies and crewnecks for retail racks and cold-storage shifts
- Tote bags and koozies as low-cost retail add-ons
Staff Shirts That Survive a Busy Shift
Staff apparel gets washed regularly, worn through a full shift in a hot kitchen or a packed bar, and sometimes even passed down when someone leaves and someone new gets hired. If the print cracks or the color fades after a handful of washes, the restaurant ends up reordering constantly, and every reorder is an unnecessary waste of money and time.
Screen printing is an option for team shirts and hoodies. We color-match every order to your brand’s Pantone colors at no extra charge, so your brewery’s hop-green logo prints the same this year as it did on the first batch two years ago.
For hats, polos, and other garments where an elevated, professional look fits the brand better, embroidery is a great choice. We also offer free color matching from Pantone colors to thread as well.
Customer-Facing Merch People Want to Wear
Staff apparel is only half of the equation. The other half is merch that a customer picks up at the register and wears out in the world, carrying your restaurant or brewery’s name with them.
When a customer buys your merch, it’s them putting a piece of their identity with your brand, saying “I’m on your team!”
It has to be more than just your logo, it should look like something a someone would wear to work, to shop, and to a different bar. This comes down to the design you choose and the blank garment you print it on. Bolder color, a design that consists of more than just your logo, and a garment blank that is stylish, fits well, and feels comfortable.
For a brewery, restaurant, or coffee shop, start by thinking about what you see in retail stores, online, and ask your regulars what they want to wear.
Why Austin Restaurants and Breweries Call Kong
Outfitting a working restaurant or brewery taproom means planning ahead, not just for the first order but for the reorders that follow. We’ve worked with the best Austin restaurants, bars, and breweries for over 15 years – so we know the pressures these organizations face and what it takes to make the process easy and successful fort them.
Kong has printed for a wide cross-section of the best of Austin’s hospitality scene: The Peached Tortilla, St. Elmo Brewing, Real Ale Brewing Company, Hai Hospitality, and Merit Coffee among them. We pride ourselves on partnering with these organizations across the life of a merch program. A new location opening, a seasonal merch launch, or a staff shirt reorder all run through the same relationship instead of a fresh vendor search every time.
Kong’s Google Business Profile shows 115 five-star Google reviews.
Minimums and Reorders
A single-location restaurant doesn’t need warehouse-scale volume to work with us. The minimum for most screen printing and embroidery orders is 25 pieces, which fits a staff roster or a first retail run without forcing an order size a smaller operation doesn’t need. We keep artwork, garment specs, and ink formulas on file for reorders. Plus you always have access to previous order information online, so a manager placing a second run of staff shirts has the details of the previous order to work from.
Two Ways to Order: Self-Serve or Guided
Some restaurant managers know exactly what they want. Upload a logo, pick a blank, and check out all without talking with anyone. Others want a person on the phone who can talk through Pantone matches, garment options, and make recommendations on the best way to approach the order. We are here to meet you wherever you are at, and have options for both.
For a self-serve order, our design tool at create.kongscreenprinting.com lets you browse blanks, upload artwork, and place the order directly. For a fully custom program, especially one that mixes staff apparel with customer-facing retail merch, talking with Kong directly gets someone who’s worked with Austin restaurants and breweries involved from the start. Either way, our team is there to help with questions and future orders.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as restaurant merch in Austin?
Restaurant merch covers two categories: staff apparel and uniforms your team wears on shift, like polos, tees, aprons, and hats, and customer-facing retail merch like hoodies, hats, totes, and koozies that customers buy to wear and promote your business. If your Austin restaurant, bar, or brewery needs both, keeping them under one branding program with matched colors and logos looks more consistent than treating them as separate orders from separate vendors.
What’s the minimum order for restaurant staff apparel at Kong?
The minimum is 25 pieces for most screen printing and embroidery orders. That size works for a single-location restaurant’s team uniforms or a first retail run without requiring the bulk volume a national chain might order.
What’s the difference between screen printing and embroidery for restaurant staff shirts?
Screen printing applies ink through a mesh screen to the garment. Embroidery stitches the logo directly into the fabric, which gives hats, jackets, and polos a more elevated, professional look. Kong offers free Pantone-to-thread color matching on embroidery and free Pantone-to-ink matching on screen printing, using your brand’s PMS Colors to guide the color choice for each method. Kong’s screen printing vs. DTG vs. DTF guide and screen printing vs. embroidery guide both go deeper on which method fits best.
Can Kong match our restaurant’s exact brand colors?
Kong mixes screen printing ink to your Pantone color at no extra charge. For embroidery, Kong uses thread carrying the closest assigned Pantone value, also at no extra charge. That gives reorders a color reference to work from as your staff changes.
Will restaurant staff shirts hold up through regular washing and shift work?
For sure! Tell Kong how your staff will use and wash the shirts, and the team can help you choose a garment and decoration method for the job. Those details are worth talking through before you order.
Can we order restaurant merch online without talking to a salesperson first?
Yes. Kong’s self-serve design tool at create.kongscreenprinting.com lets you upload your logo, pick a garment, and place the order directly. If your order mixes staff apparel with customer-facing retail merch, or you just want the reassurance from a pro on garment choices, you can also work directly with a Kong team member through Kong’s contact page.
Taking the Next Step
If you already know what you want, start an order at create.kongscreenprinting.com. If you want to talk through a staff-and-retail merch program with first, reach out to Kong here. Your custom merch deserves a partner, not just a printer.
