Before this unprecedented time in the industry, restaurants were often asked to give to the community. And more often than not, the answer was yes. Even through a time of layoffs, scaled-back operations and major losses in revenue due to the coronavirus, we’re seeing restaurants continue to give back.
Chefs and their staff are emptying out their coolers and giving away free groceries, feeding kids while they’re out of school, delivering meals to seniors and turning their restaurants into community kitchens.
Now restaurants are counting on their communities to support them during a time when their livelihoods truly depend on it and some help could make the difference in whether they stay in business or not.
Customers have answered the call, rallying to support their favorite restaurants with some really cool ideas that you too can implement if looking to send some love to your favorite establishments:
Takeout or curbside pickup. So many restaurants are offering takeout, curbside pickup and delivery that we couldn’t possibly list them all. The landscape is changing quickly, though. The longer restaurants are forced to operate in a take-out-only capacity, the more strain it will cause on staff. So check in with your favorite place, see what they’re doing. Chances are you can find what you’re craving.
Some restaurants, like Brasa, are committed to using money raised from takeout orders to help support those who have been laid off. The restaurant created an emergency fund for employees who might become ill during the pandemic and is also providing provision packages full of food for laid-off workers, all which comes from a 15 percent surcharge on orders.
Buy gift certificates. Buy gift certificates from your favorite restaurants to use at a later date. Lots of restaurants are also offering specials similar to what is available during the holidays — buy a $100 gift card, get a certain bonus amount. (*However, note that in the case a restaurant shutters its doors for good (which we hope won’t happen to your favorite restaurant!), gift certificates typically aren’t reimbursed so it’s a bit of a gamble. But knowing you supported your favorite restaurant may be reward enough.)
For example, if you buy a $100 gift card to shuttered downtown St. Paul restaurant Meritage, they will give you an extra $20 certificate for use sometime in 2020. D’Amico Restaurants are also offering this deal. Jester Concepts (Parlour, Monello, Constantine, P.S. Steak, Borough) gives a $25 bonus certificate for every $100 gift card purchased, and Baldamar and newly opened Pillbox Tavern have the same deal.
And at The Lexington in St. Paul, a “Pot Pie Pop Up” has been running on the weekends. Get two free chicken pot pies when you buy a $100 gift card. Pick-up times are 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, while supplies last. Click on the link on the restaurant’s Facebook page to choose a preferred pick-up day and time. The restaurant plans to continue the promotion until further notice with the exception of Easter Weekend, when an Easter Dinner Curbside pickup is planned.
Coordinate with neighbors and community members. We love this idea. Neighbors in the Great Northern Lofts in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood have been pooling together to order takeout from one restaurant. A volunteer picks up all the food and delivers it door to door. The group has ordered from Black Dog Cafe and planned to pick up food from nearby Saint Dinette as well.
Use #takeout and other similar hashtags. Not only does using such hashtags on your social media posts show community support, but it makes it easy for others to find out what cool things restaurants are doing in terms of takeout. And you might just learn about a promotion you didn’t know about yourself. To get you started, a great one we’ve been following is #FlattenTheCurveHappyHour, which features takeout from local restaurants. On a national scale, some popular ones are #takeouttuesday, #carryoutwednesday and #greatamericantakeout.
Buy merch. Lots of restaurants and bars sell themed apparel and other items and it’s a great way for them to bring in revenue during this time. A few efforts have caught our eye, but check with your favorite spot.
- Due Focacceria is selling T-shirts and hoodies that read “Pasta Unites,” with proceeds to benefit laid-off workers. Find them at duefocacceria.com/pastaunites/
- Meritage is selling T-shirts that read “No Grit, No Pearl,” with “Shuck Buddy” emblazoned on the back. Get them at meritage-stpaul.com
Support restaurant employees who have been laid off directly. In 2019, there were more than 275,000 restaurant workers in Minnesota. Though some are still working to provide takeout, a vast majority of them have temporarily lost their jobs. Here are some ways to give directly to those who are out of work.
- Gavin Kaysen has started a foundation called Heart of the House to support employees laid off from his three restaurants. Give at staysoigne.com/heart-of-the-house/
- Many restaurants have set up GoFundMe accounts to help their laid-off workers directly. Check the social media pages of your favorite place to see what they’re doing. St. Paul efforts we’re aware of: Stewart’s, Black Dog Cafe and Khyber Pass Cafe.
Donate to a restaurant directly. When you hear of something great a local restaurant is doing to help out the community, or you just want to support them through the thick of things, consider simply making a donation directly to the restaurant. We’re hearing of some really nice things out there, such as at Manger restaurant in Bayport, where the owners received a check from an anonymous donor to support the restaurant’s efforts to give away free kids’ meals while schools are shut down. And now that Hope Breakfast Bar on West Seventh in St. Paul has temporarily turned into a community kitchen to provide breakfast to those in need such as kids out of school and families who have lost their job, donations are being taken by clicking on a link on the restaurant website at hopebreakfast.com.
Be on the lookout for fundraisers. Restaurants are fundraising on behalf of their staff who have been laid off as well. We love the idea behind a recent drive by Hola Arepa, in which housemade salsas were sold to raise money to benefit staff. There continue to be efforts such as this, so check in with your favorite places to see what’s in the works.
Drink local, too. Buy locally made beer or spirits from your local retailer, or drive up and pick up craft beer from your favorite brewery, as many of them are offering crowlers and growlers to go. This helps support the little guys who normally earn the majority of their money by serving beer in their taprooms. Helpfully, the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild has created a map with all the Minnesota taprooms offering takeout beer. Find it at mncraftbrew.org. Some distilleries with an off-sale liquor license continue to sell 375-milliliter bottle of spirits per customer per day to go. Places such as Norseman are even packaging cocktail kits where all the ingredients are provided for mixing at home. Because some distilleries have closed altogether to become full-fledged hand-sanitizer production facilities for the time being, check in with individual places to see if your favorite distilleries are offering bottles to go.
Tip a server. There are several ways to do this:
- A website is offering the chance for laid-off service staff to still receive tips. Worker information is verified, then it’s put into a spreadsheet at serviceindustry.tips/en/mn/minneapolis/. When you log in, a random server pops up. You leave a tip. That’s it!
- Through its app, Giftbomb, a Minnesota based company, lets you contribute cash directly to your favorite local business and specify allocations such as the money is for staff tips and also gives you the option of sending a personalized message. In addition, you can do things such as purchase a digital gift card for yourself or someone else. The service already has over 100 local restaurants, breweries, coffee shops, salons, resorts and services in the Duluth area and the Twin Cities. Given these unprecedented times, Giftbomb is removing all its fees to its participating vendors. For more information, visit giftbomb.com
Do you have ideas on how to support your favorite restaurants and their staff? We want to hear from you. Shoot us an email at eat@pioneerpress.com.