By Tom Norton
tom@wktv.org
Through most of the pandemic people in West Michigan have largely avoided restaurants. In many cases restaurant dine-in business is down as much as 60 percent. But for many restaurant owners, surviving financially on 40 percent of what business you had pre-COVID is not enough. The saving grace for many restaurants and the reason they may be able to survive once the pandemic is finally declared over is in two simple words: take out.
If you walked into Stella’s Lounge on Commerce, HopCat on East Beltline, Grand Rapids Brewing Company on Ionia, Pietros on 28th Street, or Cottage Bar on LaGrave Avenue, on any night pre-COVID you would have found nearly all the tables full. Stella’s became synonymous with burgers customers would swear by. With its now iconic logo, Hopcat was holding its popularity as a place with an extensive beer list and casual dining. Now, five months into the pandemic, the social distancing has severely limited seating creating a financial strain on all restaurants that has been immense.
“It seemed like the situation would change almost daily,” said Mark Sellers, Barfly Ventures founder and the owner of Hopcat, Stella’s and the Grand Rapids Brewing Company. “There were the unemployment issues and PPG funding along with getting loans and applications in and there’s been little time for anything else. We’re actually working harder even though sales are down.”
But even with a 60 percent reduction in sales, Sellers may be in a better position than some restaurant owners. While the number of restaurants he has has helped, Sellers chalked survival up to one primary element: creativity.
“If you talk to the restaurant owners today, the last five months have been the most creative of their careers,” he said, adding that for many, launching the to-go side of their operations was like launching a second restaurant with in itself. Sellers’ restaurants came up with different names and different logos for the to-go side and along with the massive amounts of change for COVID safety, it all caused a shift in thinking how a business would run.
“It’s been a constant creative process in navigating during this time,” Sellers said.
Asked what he envisions post pandemic, Sellers admited to being both a pessimist and optimist.
“I don’t think it’s going to go back to 100 percent,” Sellers said. “People have formed habits through DoorDash and eating at home. There’s going to be a permanent behavior change and take-out and delivery will remain more important than it used to be, ” he said, adding that once they start growing again, restaurants may be designed smaller with a greater focus on take-out and delivery.
Across town, Pietro’s Restaurant has been anchored near 28th Street and Breton in Kentwood for nearly 50 years and owner Tim Fellows saw his restaurant shuttered for 70 days while they waited for the re-open order. When it came, the Pietro’s team saw a return, but with social distancing rules, only to 50 percent capacity. Like every restaurant scrambling to survive, Fellows said they stepped up their game for curbside service, but he quickly discovered though that for some delivery services the percentage they charged the restaurant limited the menu items available to the customer.
“We wanted our customer to have the full menu experience,” Fellows said. This led to Pietro’s using delivery mainstays such as GrubHub and Delivery.com, which charge a percentage that also allowed the iconic Italian eatery to offer their more expanded menu.
“Some of the delivery services charged a higher percentage and we felt that took away menu choices from our customers, so we’ve stayed with the standard delivery services that accommodate our needs as well,” he said.
And several months ago, downtown Grand Rapids saw a burgeoning dining scene with new eateries opening, it seemed, monthly. From the urban hip areas growing up around Stocking Avenue and Bridge Street to Wealthy Street to Michigan Avenue, Grand Rapids was on track to hold its own with any city its size in choices for eateries.
That’s all suddenly changed and Dan Verhil, the owner of the iconic Cottage Bar — the oldest restaurant in Grand Rapids — said he feels for any restaurateur who had the misfortune of opening up just prior to the pandemic. Since opening in 1927 and with Verhil’s ownership since 1980, The Cottage Bar has had plenty of time to establish a routine clientele.
“Our customers thank us for staying around,” Verhil said. The Cottage Bar has had to alter its menu to the items Verhil believes will travel best. The restaurant still offers a small, but cozy outdoor seating area to accommodate diners who want to still experience a sit-down restaurant.
While 93 years of existence does make The Cottage Bar’s roots run deep, Verhil recognizes big changes sweeping through the industry.
“Dining out has been becoming more casual over the years,” Verhil said. “It used to be in the 70s and 80s that dining out was a special occasion, but now it’s pretty casual,” he said.
Verhil also pointed out that the take-out trend has been increasing even before the pandemic.
“It used to be 15 percent of our business,” he said, “but now it’s at 50 percent and climbing. So much so that we’re going to be launching a mobile way for ordering.”
The Cottage Bar has also seen a significant change in to-go packaging where the industry has invested in better technologies, pointing out the example of how fries used to stay crisp for just 10 minutes, but now can hold for up to 40 minutes.
The one thing Verhil pointed out is even though take-out is growing and drive through restaurants seemed perfectly situated for a pandemic situation, take-out and drive through will not replace the dining experience.
“A take-out window just can’t do that,” he said. “Inside you have a server making suggestions from food to wine. It’s all part of that experience.”
Fellows over at Pietro’s adds to that saying that customers have shown their appreciation for the dine-in experience by being very gracious to the servers.
And whether it’s take-out or dine-in, all seem to agree that if anything, the near seismic shifts in the industry over the last few months have taught them all to be better and to think creatively in order to survive. Advertising guru William Bernback said it best when he said that “creativity is the most practical thing a business can employ.” Any restaurateur today would readily agree.
