Some restaurants are finding creative ways to adapt to the COVID-19 shutdown while others are ramping up methods already in place.
Business at Anthony’s Pizza and Pasta, on the east side of the McDonough Square near the former Henry County High School campus, is “actually better than I expected,” according to owner Troy Miller. With its dining room closed, the facility has expanded its existing carryout and delivery services, enlarging its delivery area and also providing curbside pickup for customers.
Having been in operation since 2002, the restaurant has plenty of long-time customers who have helped keep things going.
“The community has stepped up a lot,” said Miller. “Everyone is trying to help out. There was definitely a down time, but social media and word of mouth have been a big help.”
It is because of that kind of local support that no one has been laid off at the restaurant. A few employees who had already intended to leave because of school or other commitments did so slightly sooner than planned, but of their own accord. “Everybody who wanted to stay has been able to stay,” said Miller. “We don’t have large staff anyway.”
Kirby G’s on the McDonough Square has also avoided layoffs, owner Neil Daniell said. A few of his employees who were working there as second jobs stepped back voluntarily, and most of the servers have become delivery drivers. Whereas a pizza restaurant might lend itself more to carryout and delivery regardless of the situation, Daniell’s business was 95 percent dine-in, which forced him to virtually reverse the entire operation.
“We’ve never done delivery before now,” he said. “This is a unique situation. We are having to do things we probably wouldn’t normally do, but at the same time using every tool available to us to get as much revenue as we possibly can.”
Ordering on the Kirby G’s website is a pretty straightforward process, and some new wrinkles have been added. One of the first menu items displayed when scrolling down the page is an offer to purchase a meal that can be donated to a hospital worker. A new feature of the menu is the “pantry items” section, which allows customers to order from a limited selection of grocery items.
Daniell has not scaled back the menu, although he is looking at things that could be removed to reduce food costs. The most popular items during normal times, such as the burgers, are the best-selling items now.
Many business are utilizing third-party delivery service such as UberEats and DoorDash. Miller has done that at Anthony’s, but Daniell chose not to for several reasons, even though there were some regulatory issues such as insurance that had to be addressed to create his delivery service.
“We prefer to do the delivery ourselves, because that keeps my employees employed,” he said. “It makes more sense for me to trust my employees to deliver the food. They’re going to care much more about it than a third party would. They also keep all of their tips.”
All restaurant owners are waiting to see what officials at the state and municipal levels will do to start allowing businesses to reopen. Nothing is definite yet. “They have their goals, but I haven’t heard anything specific,” said Miller.
Daniell noted that, since opening in April of 2008, he has seen hard times before but noting quite like this.
“We survived the recession of 2008,” he said. “Now we are in something that is completely unique and different.”
