Questex is betting on star power for the 40th edition of the Bar & Restaurant Expo, tapping Aisha Tyler—actress, comedian, and founder of losophē, the organic ready-to-drink margarita brand—to moderate a fireside chat with Roy Choi, the Kogi BBQ chef who launched a thousand food trucks. The conversation goes down March 25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the final morning of a three-day event expected to draw close to 10,000 operators, suppliers, and dealmakers.
Tyler's involvement isn't purely ceremonial. She'll also host a guest bartending session on the show floor, pouring losophē and talking shop with attendees. It's a smart play by Questex: Tyler brings media credibility and a founder's perspective on brand-building in a crowded RTD market, while Choi remains one of the most influential voices on culture, creativity, and the business of feeding people. The session will tackle leadership, cultural influence in dining, and how to build brands that last longer than a TikTok trend.
The Expo kicks off with a keynote from Mike Cessario, founder and CEO of Liquid Death, the canned water brand that's made a cult following out of metal aesthetics and irreverent marketing. Cessario's playbook—brand authenticity, bold creative, zero apologies—has turned water into a lifestyle product, and his session will focus on how operators can apply that thinking to their own customer engagement strategies.
The theme this year is "Every Moment Counts," which in trade show speak means sessions and workshops on operations, marketing, tech, and beverage innovation. Beyond the headline names, the agenda includes dozens of industry experts and operators ready to share what's working right now—not what worked five years ago.
For an industry that's still recalibrating post-pandemic labor, supply chain chaos, and shifting consumer spending, events like this matter. The networking alone—peer-to-peer, supplier-to-operator—can be worth the flight to Vegas. And if you're sourcing new products, evaluating tech platforms, or just trying to figure out how your competitors are threading the margin needle, the show floor delivers.
Registration is open now at barandrestaurantexpo.com. Sponsorship inquiries go to Elliot Howell at ehowell@questex.com. If you're running a bar or restaurant and you're not thinking about Vegas in March, you're missing the room where decisions get made.
