Layoffs from coronavirus start in Modesto restaurants; how to help your favorite spot
A restaurant owner cried with me on the phone this week. We cried together. That’s not professional on my part, but that’s life in our new coronavirus pandemic world.
The potential personal pain and coming financial suffering for everyday workers and small business owners across the Central Valley because of COVID-19 has become suddenly all too real.
What went from, “Well, business is a little down but we’re taking precautions” just a few days ago is full-on “I have no idea how we’ll survive if this goes on for long” right now for area restaurants.
Nationally massive chains from Starbucks to Macy’s are making drastic changes amid shutdowns and lockdowns, and locally Central Valley bars, breweries and eateries are already hurting.
Modesto chef Tye Bauer, who owns and operates three restaurants in town, has shut them all down for inside dining and pickups. This week he also laid off his entire front-of house staff across Bauer’s 66 1/2, Bauhaus and Bauer’s Downtown so they can begin receiving unemployment benefits (which, luckily, they can receive from day one because the state waived the one-week waiting period).
“It’s never easy to let people go, especially when everything is so uncertain right now. None of us have dealt with anything like this. It’s day by day right now,” Bauer said.
He is now working with a skeleton crew of volunteers to get food delivery orders out to people in the region, at no additional charge. Starting Tuesday he began offering the service within a roughly three-mile radius of his Ninth Street location (though they’re very flexible, especially for folks in need).
State says dining rooms should close
Over the weekend Gov. Gavin Newsom asked all bars, nightclubs, brewpubs and wineries to close, and suggested restaurants limit themselves to deliver/takeout only or greatly reduce their dining room capacity to allow for the appropriate amount of social distancing. Then, on Monday night he said restaurants should close their dining rooms.
Many local restaurants, like Bauer’s three sites and Harvest Moon in downtown Modesto, have done just that. Others remain open and are still seating people, and a few St. Patrick’s Day parties were even still planned. Guys, no green beer is worth that.
I’m not here to shame any restaurant owners, who no doubt are trying to balance the public health with financial survival. But restaurants should stop dining-in options now. It’s better for everyone - customers, workers and owners alike - if fewer people are exposed and get sick. Plus, as quickly as things are changing, they probably won’t have any other choice soon.
Harvest Moon owner Mark Smallwood closed his dining room on Tuesday. He is only offering pickup and delivery on orders, but has increased his hours to 7 p.m. to allow people to take advantage of the service throughout the day. Instead of his normal 8 to 10 staff working his usually bustling weekday lunch service, he has three people working part time.
“I want to keep my (dining room open). But people need to do what’s right right now. So it’s closed. And I like money as much as the next person,” he said.
He said he will try to stay open for pickup and delivery through this week, but is not sure whether it is financially feasible beyond that.
Most restaurants already run on a small profit margin, typically from 5 to 10 percent. This is especially true of the mom-and-pop places without deep pockets. And unlike some of their employees who may be eligible for unemployment benefits, most owners are not.
Bauer said many smaller restaurants won’t be able to survive a two-week shutdown. And most wouldn’t be able to recover from a four-week one without some kind of governmental assistance.
Ways to help workers, owners
In the meantime, restaurant owners are urging their customers to keep using their delivery and pickup services. Bauer said people can also buy gift cards, an excellent way to pay it forward right now. And if you pick up food or get it delivered, tip extravagantly.
Modesto’s breweries and bars are also grappling with closures after the governor’s office said they should all close. Turlock’s Dust Bowl Brewing Company closed its three taprooms and brewpubs Monday. The reopened its main Turlock brewery and new Monterey taproom on Tuesday for pickup food and beer orders only.
Modesto’s Contenetment Brewing Company, a fledgling craft brewery near the Modesto Junior College East Campus that opened last summer, has also closed its taproom. They made the call Sunday. To help employees and generate some revenue, they will begin curbside growler refills starting Thursday.
“We did this for everyone’s health, and not to be selfish,” said owner Alejandro Serrato, who with his wife Abena Darden launched the brewery last July. “We’re trying to hunker in. We figure we can last a couple months, but more than that it will be pretty bad.”
Amid all this, some local businesses are also looking for ways to help restaurants stay afloat.
Paul Adams, owner of Modesto-based tech company Evident Business Solutions is offering free online ordering accounts to help area restaurant owners. They will help eateries set up and manager their online orders, in this new world of no seated dining. The fee is normally $59 a month, but Adams said those who ask for help now will have free accounts for life.
The online ordering service is relatively new for the three-year-old company, but already they’ve more than doubled their accounts with the complimentary offer.
“People afraid to go out and go dining anywhere. We want to help restaurants limit exposure,” Adams said. “We want to help restaurants with that.”’
New eateries still opening
They’ve had an influx of requests, and are working with some well-known local brands including Mango Crazy. The savory and sweet snack shops, with three locations in Modesto and one in San Francisco, closed all its dining rooms on Monday. But it continues to offer curbside pickup, takeout and delivery through a variety of services.
Modesto-based founders and owners Andy Lopez and Larry Rivera are also still moving forward with the opening of their new Ceres location, in a former Rita’s Italian Ice site on Mitchell and Hatch roads. They plan to live-stream the ribbon cutting Saturday for its grand opening in order to keep proper social distance. But they’ve also had to reduce staffing at their Floyd Avenue and San Francisco locations.
“Our drive-thru on Kansas has been really busy. The other sites a little slower. We’re doing what we can and moving forward,” Rivera said.
And so does the rest of our valley’s food service industry, into a perilous unknown. Every day is something new and unprecedented. Yet through all of this - along with our medical professionals and first responders - the true heroes of America continue to be the hourly wage retail and service workers. That grocery clerk. That Costco stocker. That restaurant cook. They haven’t stopped working to make sure the shelves keep getting filled and the registers keep humming and your bellies keep being fed.
They’re also the ones taking home minimum wage paychecks and, if they’re part-time, while probably having no paid sick leave. So please, be extra kind and extra patient. And if you don’t need to be there for essential supplies or sustenance - stay home. Stay home to protect yourself and stay home to protect them. Find other ways to support your local spot so it will still be there when this is over.
“It’s going to get harder before it gets better,” Smallwood said, surveying his empty restaurant.
Yeah, it will.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
