How restaurants can better assist customers during times of uncertainty
Restaurants are the heart of many communities. It's where couples enjoy date night, families celebrate taco Tuesday, and teams gather for postgame grub. But as the world grapples with how to respond to COVID-19, both national chains and independently owned restaurants are quickly strategizing to find new ways to serve their communities.
While I manage the Restaurant teams at Google as my "day job," I am also a restaurant owner who is personally experiencing this crisis from the front lines. My wife and I opened Seven Scoops & Sips in 2019, and we donate a portion of our earnings to worthy causes. (Seven Scoops has been able to donate over $60,000 in the past nine months because of community support.) Before COVID-19, the store was packed every night because people knew that their purchase of an ice cream, coffee, or acai bowl was helping to fund local schools and sports programs, cancer victims, homeless youth, children in need in Harlem, villages in Kenya, and other local and global causes. The sting of this crisis is especially hard since now all funding is put on hold until business can resume.
The pandemic presents unique challenges for Seven Scoops and the industry. And while the path forward depends on many variables, here are some strategies restaurants are adopting to support their customers in this unprecedented moment.
