The 39th annual Bar and Restaurant Expo in Las Vegas, from March 24 to 26, 2025, provided essential tools that bar and restaurant owners, operators, and managers need to effectively run and grow their businesses.
Suppliers to this group displayed and merchandised their products and services at this most influential annual gathering at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The Bar & Restaurant Group, which produces the event, is part of the Questex Travel and Hospitality Division that also produces Bar and Restaurant News, Vibe Conference, as well as World Tea News, Tea Expo, and World Tea Academy.
This year’s Expo welcomed 10,984 attendees who enjoyed exclusive access to leading suppliers, endless networking opportunities, expert speakers, educational workshops, and more.
The attendees were primarily industry members, plus Las Vegas locals who were offered a $99 admission ticket.
Some were there to learn about the industry, while others indulged in the liquid libations offered to all.
Attendees were limited to those over 21 years of age.
Day one of the Expo (March 24th) included numerous presentations related to the industry.
Days two and three were the main event, featuring over 500 exhibits.
The Expo Hall opened on Tuesday, March 25th, with a 12 noon ribbon cutting that was preceded by a special red carpet.
McLucas told the crowd that this was the first year the Expo occupied two floors of the convention center.
He announced that the 2025 Expo included a Japanese food and beverage exhibit, along with Mexican and Italian exhibits.
The second floor was primarily devoted to food suppliers and international exhibitors, also featuring the Pizza and Fry Zone.
This zone helped demonstrate to attendees how to elevate popular side dishes into profits, making it a popular spot for those with a good appetite!
During the ceremony, Expo organizers presented a $5,000 donation to CORE (Children of Restaurant Employees), the event’s official charity partner.
Additionally, two Johnson & Wales University students, Lea Dalton and Grace Miles, each received a $2,000 fellowship grant to support their studies in the beverage and culinary fields.
The Expo floor featured multiple key activations, including the IFMA The Food Away from Home Association.
This offered attendees a unique opportunity to explore industry innovations, understand emerging trends, and connect with influential leaders shaping the future of hospitality.
The Japanese Food and Beverage Showcase immersed visitors in the best of Japan’s culinary craftsmanship, allowing attendees to source high-quality ingredients and cutting-edge products directly from Japan’s top producers.
Additionally, the Italian Aperitivo Showcase presented leading spirits and flavors from Italy, while the Cocktail Clubhouse provided a dynamic and captivating space exclusively designed for owners, operators, and bartenders passionate about pushing the boundaries of beverage creation.
Bar & Restaurant Expo also recognized winners of various prestigious awards, including the Industry Excellence Awards, Industry Impact Award, and the second annual Supplier Awards.
“Bar & Restaurant Expo is focused on supporting the evolving needs of our industry,” said Tim McLucas, Vice President of the Bar & Restaurant Group at Questex.
“The event offers the latest education, new ideas, new solutions, and brand-new innovation that helps owners and operators navigate challenges and take advantage of key opportunities to grow their businesses.”
In addition to supporting the industry through education and networking, Bar & Restaurant Expo made a meaningful impact on the local Las Vegas community by donating a total of 1,213 pounds of food to Three Square, the region’s primary food bank network.
The donation included leftovers from the Food & Beverage Innovation Center, with several participating sponsors also contributing their unused food to the collection.
This collective effort helped ensure that quality food did not go to waste and instead supported those facing food insecurity across Southern Nevada.
My wife Dianne and I made several trips around the Expo floor and felt that there were a lot more exhibits featuring non-alcoholic beverages than in the past.
There were also quite a few tequila exhibits that we enjoyed sampling.
At the Old Smokey Distillery, we met Holly Parsons, the Director of National Accounts for the company.
She told me that this corn whiskey distillery, located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, invites visitors to view the two working copper stills and learn about the distilling process up close, while also discovering the history of moonshine production in the Smoky Mountains.
I don’t see a trip to Gatlinburg in my near future, but I did spend some time sampling a variety of flavored moonshine products, including cookies and crème moonshine, peanut butter moonshine, black cherry moonshine … and then I could not remember what I sampled next.
I closed my eyes and pictured myself in Rome as I sampled the liquors of Italy.
We also visited the Citrus America booth, which manufactures a series of products that produce fresh-squeezed orange juice.
It was quite refreshing.
Smartfruit sells fresh fruit beverages, and this New York-based company only uses fresh fruit to produce their drinks.
They add small amounts of superfoods to enhance their quality.
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