The Pickleball Craze Continues in Texas

How One Unexpected Guest Experience With GoTab Became The Foundation Of Smashers’ Food & Beverage Operation

OVERVIEW: When JC Gallagher and his wife walked into a breast cancer awareness fundraiser in 2023, they had no idea they were about to discover a sport that would change their lives. They had never heard of pickleball, never held a paddle, and had no plans beyond supporting a good cause. By the end of the evening, they were hooked.

As colder weather arrived in Texas, enthusiasm quickly turned into frustration. The couple struggled to find an indoor place to play.

What happened next sounds almost too good to be true. During his regular gym sessions with pals in San Angelo, Gallagher vented about the lack of indoor pickleball facilities. Eventually, one of his training partners offered a simple response.

“Well, why don’t you open one?”

The challenge sparked momentum. Gallagher returned home and began researching indoor pickleball facilities across the country, spending eight to 10 hours a day building a business plan.

“I sent it out to the guys just to look at, not as investors,” Gallagher said. “And they were like, ‘It looks good. I want in.’” Interest soon ignited. Financing came on board. A 37,000-square-foot property surrounded by hotels became available. City leaders fast-tracked permitting. Just over a year after that first conversation outside the gym, construction began.

On Dec. 13, 2025, Smashers Pickleball + Bar + Grill officially opened its doors.

As the concept evolved from courts into a full restaurant, bar and entertainment venue, the team needed a hospitality point-of-sale platform capable of supporting multiple revenue streams across a large footprint. Gallagher said the decision came from a firsthand guest experience.

“We were in Austin playing at a pickleball place,” he said. “I went to a picnic table, scanned the [GoTab] QR code and started ordering. My wife went to the bar and ordered with the bartender, and then they combined our tabs. I was like, that was cool. That was awesome.”

Months later, as the Smashers team evaluated technology options, Gallagher returned to the system he remembered.

“I had taken a picture of GoTab,” he said. “We were looking at three other systems. I looked into it, and the group decided that’s the direction we wanted to go.”

CASE STUDY RESULT: 

• Powered by GoTab, a first-time hospitality team with no restaurant background launched a multi-use sports and entertainment venue that reached 70% court utilization within its first month of operation. 
• The facility now serves 100 to 150 players most evenings, alongside restaurant and bar guests, without the staffing levels typically required for a full-service operation. This case study examines how the team achieved rapid growth and operational stability in a short period of time. 

A Facility Built For Every Kind Of Guest

Smashers is not just a premier pickleball facility. It is a 37,000-square-foot entertainment complex designed to serve up to 1,300 guests at capacity.

The venue includes seven indoor pickleball courts, two outdoor courts, a full-service bar and restaurant, an upstairs golf simulator, a private party room, 32 televisions and a 10,000-square-foot outdoor artificial turf playscape for kids. An 80-by-40-foot patio provides additional space for dining and gathering.

“The way it was set up was you don’t have to play,” said Jake Powers, the facility’s general manager. “We have people that just come in to play and they don’t eat, or they’ll play and drink. And then we have people that just walk in for lunch or hang out in the evening to have a beer.”

Activity remains steady throughout the day. Morning play from 8 a.m. to noon typically draws 30 to 40 players. Traffic slows in the early afternoon before ramping up again by early evening, when 100 to 150 guests fill the courts most nights. Overall court utilization averages about 70% across the week.

Beyond pickleball, demand extends throughout the venue. The golf simulator is booked most Saturdays, and the private party room is reserved nearly every evening.

With multiple guest zones spread across a large footprint, Smashers needed a system that allowed guests to move freely without interrupting service. Using GoTab’s QR code ordering platform, guests can order food and drinks from anywhere in the building.

“We’re set up the way GoTab works,” Powers said. “There’s not a spot in the building that you can’t order from.”

The menu was built to serve both athletes and casual diners, balancing healthier options such as protein bowls, salads and gluten-free choices with classic favorites including smash burgers, wings and flatbreads. Additional offerings include Mediterranean chicken salad, salmon bowls, fish tacos, gyros and pork rinds.

For Powers, GoTab’s flexibility is essential to Smashers’ daily operations.

“With the size of the building and all the different areas, we would have had to hire a dozen or more waiters or waitresses,” Powers said. “There’s just no way.”

The Mobile Ordering Education Process

While mobile ordering is second nature in larger Texas cities, it required education in San Angelo.

“In San Angelo, nobody’s used really any type of system,” Powers said. “Most people are used to a QR code menu, but they’re not used to ordering from their phone at all.”

To ease the transition, Smashers’ service attendants guide guests through the process. Attendants greet customers, explain the system and can place orders on a guest’s behalf. Once a tab is opened, guests can scan QR codes in new areas of the building to continue ordering as they move.

Right now, many first-time visitors rely on staff assistance. However, behavior changes quickly. “I think the more that people come in, they see it is way easier just to order another beer instead of waiting,” Gallagher said.

Repeat guests adapt even faster, particularly those using the patio, party room or upstairs golf simulator. By their second visit, many sit down and begin ordering without assistance.

The building’s size made this flexibility essential.

“With the multiple areas, we would have had to hire a dozen or more waiters or waitresses,” Powers said. “There’s just no way with the size of the building we created to have a traditional system.”

Why GoTab Won: ‘It Has Made A Big Difference’ 

Beyond the mobile ordering capability, GoTab's integration options sealed the deal. Smashers uses Court Reserve for pickleball court bookings, and the integration between the two systems lets guests charge food and drinks to their Court Reserve account if they want. While most guests prefer to pay out directly through their phone, the integration offers flexibility.

When Powers noticed that guests were getting confused during the payment process, he reached out to GoTab's support team. The team didn't just troubleshoot the issue. They took his feedback up the chain and prioritized UI  changes to improve the customer-facing checkout flow.

"I made a specific request and it actually is getting changed so that it makes it easier for our customers," said Powers, who oversees the day-to-day operations as general manager. "And I don't know if any other platform would be able to provide that in the way that GoTab has.” 

The relationship with Taillon Whitt, their GoTab Account Manager, has been a key part of the experience. “I’ve worked with her from the start, and she’s been fantastic,” Powers explained. “From day one, whenever we needed something, whether something wasn’t working or we just didn’t know how to use it, I could email her or call her, and she’d fix it on the spot.”

The system has delivered on everything GoTab promised during the sales process. He added that the flexibility of the GoTab system has been especially valuable, both for staff and guests.

“The adjustments we can make on the customer side were a big reason we chose it,” he said. “We liked how the interface looks and feels for guests. But what’s made it even better is the support behind it. Being able to make changes and get help when we need it has made a big difference.”

Building Something Special in San Angelo

Just over a month into operations, the response from the community has been overwhelming. Guests routinely tell Powers they've been to facilities all over the country, including massive venues in Dallas and Austin, and Smashers ranks among the best indoor pickleball facilities they've seen. 

"Everybody that's walked through has been very surprised that they have something like this in San Angelo," Powers explained. “The support has been amazing.”

For him, watching guests discover the space still feels a bit surreal. "It's awesome to see people that come in, especially people that come in to play, and they say, man, this is awesome. I had no idea how big this was or the things that were involved in this."

The partners are already eyeing expansion into another Texas city. Given how smoothly everything came together for the first location, they're ready to do it again in a town that’s hungry for a pickleball bar and restaurant. 

“It was crazy how easy everything went,” Gallagher shared with a smile. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Venue: Smashers Pickleball + Bar + Grill; San Angelo, Texas
Opened: December 13, 2025
Implementation Timeline: Approximately one year from business plan to opening

GoTab Tools Used:

• GoTab POS with Mobile Ordering & Payment throughout the entire facility
• Court Reserve integration for court bookings and tab charging
• Mobile ordering from courts, patio, party room, golf simulator, and restaurant
• Handheld devices for service attendants
• Custom checkout flow modifications based on operator feedback

Why It Works: GoTab eliminated the need to hire a dozen or more traditional servers in a 37,000-square foot building with multiple zones. Guests can start a tab anywhere and continue it as they move between courts, the bar, the patio, or upstairs. The system adapts to San Angelo's market, where mobile ordering was unfamiliar, by supporting both self-service and server-assisted ordering. GoTab's responsive support team prioritized UI  updates based on operator requests, proving the platform evolves with its customers.

Interested in building a hospitality experience like this? Now is the perfect time. GoTab empowers multi-use sports and entertainment venues with flexible ordering, seamless integrations, and scalable POS technology designed for how guests actually move and interact.

With GoTab’s new Hardware Flex Leasing Program, operators can access enterprise-grade hardware through predictable monthly pricing, eliminating large upfront investments while maintaining the ability to grow, upgrade, or expand.

Discover how GoTab helps venues launch faster and scale smarter at GoTab.com. Request a demo or connect with our team to bring your vision to life.

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