Mr. Shepherd, 47, is a conspicuous presence wherever he goes in Houston. He favors one-arm bear hugs, cargo shorts and button-down shirts that hang loosely over a physique that splits the difference between Santa Claus and a defensive lineman. He takes a youthful delight in his success. The house he is remodeling includes a “bourbon wall” and a wine room similar to his steakhouse’s.

But an earnest determination to use his fame to lift Houston also seems to weigh on him. Mr. Shepherd is the most prominent chef to come out of Texas’s most populous city since the heyday of Southwestern cuisine in the 1980s and ’90s. When Mr. Shepherd won the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef Southwest in 2014, he was the first Houston chef in 22 years to receive the honor.

“It’s a lot for one person to shoulder,” he said.

Mr. Shepherd’s responsibilities have grown more intense as he scrambles to respond to the coronavirus. On Monday, an order was issued limiting all Houston restaurants to pickup, delivery and drive-through service. Mr. Shepherd had already reduced the hours and ramped up the takeout operations at all of his businesses.

He was also forced to cancel Southern Smoke’s spring fund-raiser, scheduled for later this month. The charity’s mission is to provide support to members of Houston’s food and restaurant community, and it had just started to see a rise in applications from people who lost jobs because of the pandemic — a trend unlikely to end soon.

“We’re a crisis relief organization,” said Kathryn Lott, Southern Smoke’s executive director. “And the crisis hasn’t even really hit yet.”

Later this year, the Beard Foundation plans to give its first Best Chef Texas award. It’s the latest sign of what many Texans feel is overdue recognition for restaurants in the second-largest state. Houstonians debate how much credit Mr. Shepherd deserves for the state’s rising status, but they agree that he benefits from it.

“I get the complaint that he takes up too much of the air in the room,” said Alison Cook, the restaurant critic at The Houston Chronicle and a fan of Mr. Shepherd’s. “But I think what it eventually means is that everyone gets more air.”