Michael. The restaurateur.
Michael, owner and cofounder of a regional restaurant with multiple locations in the Chicagoland area, has been in the restaurant industry for nearly 30 years. He has, unfortunately, seen an economic crisis or two during his decades in the business. His restaurants weathered the Great Recession and the economic fallout following 9/11. But this Coronavirus pandemic feels different.
It’s the “unknown” of it all, Michael said, from not knowing when restaurants will be able to reopen their doors to how they will have to change operations once they do. There will, no doubt, be a “new normal” restaurants will have to adapt to, but what that looks like exactly has many still wondering.
“Once you know what those changes are, you can start planning for them,” he said. “But until you do, you can’t.”
While specifics are still up in the air, there are some anticipated changes being discussed in the industry. For one, dining tables may need to be spaced further apart. How far exactly, is not known at this point, but it will limit the number of customers in a restaurant each day.
One of Michael’s restaurants would serve 420 people on a typical Friday night. That could drop to 180 people in a night in a post-pandemic world, Michael said. Such a decline would mean a huge hit to revenue in an industry that already has small profit margins.
Even if restaurants can space tables further apart, people may remain wary of being in public and eating outside of their homes. They may not even have the money to dine out as often as they used to. Equally uncomfortable, are the servers and other restaurant staff who may be required to wear safety masks and gloves while at work. Both customers and employees are required for a restaurant to operate and be successful.
“If people are not there, the business is not there,” Michael said. “There is no going around the fact you are going to be with people.”
Restaurants also have to adhere by strict health and safety standards, and for good reason. Places that handle food preparation and consumption will have to be even more vigilant when they reopen in the months ahead, Michael said.
“Our industry is going to have to adapt more significantly or more extreme than other industries,” Michael said. “It is just the way it is. That is kind of a scary thing about all this.”
CURBSIDE-ONLY, FOR NOW
So far, the restaurants Michael owns have been adapting as well as they could to having their doors closed to the public. Since stopping normal operations the evening of Monday, March 16, most all of his restaurants have been offering curb-side pickup and delivery to keep some staff onboard — mainly salaried positions such as chefs, managers and assistant managers. The takeout service has kept those people busy, too.
It’s no surprise people sheltering in place are finding comfort in the restaurants’ Italian fare. The restaurants have also offered take-home pizza kits to give families an interactive, fun meal prep activity, and also did a special prime rib Easter dinner that Michael said was successful.
“I think our food travels well and the chefs have put together an appealing menu of food for people staying home,” he said.
TAKING CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE
Michael is happy his restaurants are still making and serving meals, even if it is on a smaller scale than normal. Mainly, he is happy the takeout is allowing many of his employees to keep working.
“The main purpose of staying open? Yes, people need to eat, and we are providing a service to the community, but it is keeping people employed and keeping people in their jobs,” he said.
When I spoke with Michael last week, he thought reopening by mid-May was a “best-case” scenario. That has already changed, though, as shelter-in-home orders in Chicago are now expected to push into June. As quarantine drags on, Michael often thinks of the restaurant employees who are out of work.
“The servers, bartenders, the dishwashers, the food runners, busboys — I don’t know how they are going to get through this,” he said.
He does know his goal is to get all of his employees back to work as soon as he can. Michael credits the success of his business over the past 28 years to the consistency and dedication of the people who work with him. His employees, some of which have been with the company since the first restaurant opened in 1992, understand the culture of the company and emulate it every day while serving customers.
“Your number one priority should be to take care of your staff and the people that work with you,” he said. “Your business is only as strong as the people who operate it.”
A PLACE TO GATHER AND EAT, SOMEDAY SOON
If there is a reason to be optimistic during this time, it is looking forward to the day Michael can open his restaurants and serve people the food that has kept his business thriving for nearly three decades. He is grateful his restaurants will be able to reopen, as he realizes many restaurants may not be able to. For now, he and his colleagues are doing everything they can to provide a safe environment for the public to come enjoy when they reopen, whenever that may be.
“Our restaurants are community-based,” Michael said. “We will be back open for families to come back in and get together and provide some comfort and relief and some good food.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT MICHAEL...
WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION TO KEEP GOING?
“I still feel a positive future for all of us. We will get over this. There will be changes we adapt to. People still want to be with other people, and we provide a venue for them to do that. The fact that that need is never going to go away, it is our obligation to provide that. And that gives me inspiration to keep going.”
WHAT ARE YOU GRATEFUL FOR AT THIS MOMENT?
“I am grateful for my health, for my wife and dog, and for my brothers and sisters and my family — everyone has been able to survive this so far and stay healthy. And, I am grateful for all the people who have touched my life through work and at home.”
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THINGS “GET BACK TO NORMAL”?
“I look forward to seeing the thing that gives people in the hospitality industry the motivation to do what they do: Seeing people in your space smile. You can tell when people enjoy being in your place, whether it is while they are having a drink at your space or dinner at your table. You have provided comfort and a little oasis for them from their hectic and crazy life. And, I am looking forward to all our lives getting back to some sort of normalcy.”