Take out order with CrspyBnch
Following the announcement and release of stricter protocols for the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region last October 19th, affected businesses are consequently expected to adhere to the new rules.
Sadly as it has been since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March, the already hardest hit restaurants made stricter adjustments with what they have already been enforcing in their business – still operating at half capacity with social distancing but this time, reducing group and table sizes to five people. Though it was only to run for two weeks, it can get extended if COVID-19 cases stay in upward trend.
The Filipino Journal visited 3 Filipino Restaurants – Pampanga, Sea Level 100 and Crspybnch and Max’s Restaurant Winnipeg to know how they are coping and adjusting to the new “constantly changing” normal in their business. And their appeal on how the community can further support small businesses.
PAMPANGA RESTAURANT AND BANQUET HALL
Pampanga Restaurant is popular to the Filipino community for a lot of things they offer.
They are a go-to place for breakfast combos, lunch buffets, catering and events. But since COVID-19 outbreak in March, they have done and have been doing changes with their operations to adhere to government rules and at the same time, to keep the business afloat.
Manager Kelly Miranda shared that cancelling their banquet hall events mainly affected their revenue, “That was a huge hit. When they started with groups of 10 people, that was already a hit. Yes, the hall is big but then you have to implement borders. When they did groups of 10, and now the groups of 5, I basically can’t have any bookings at all.”
With four to six events that they used to book in a month, each making around $4000 in revenue, it was really a big loss. Now, she can still take bookings but will have to consider a lot of things like the number of guests and the possibility of new protocols by the city before the booked event happens. Sometimes, if she thinks that the booking will not be worth it for both her and the client, she has to make the hard decision of turning it down.
After 2 months of being closed following the COVID-19 outbreak in March, Kelly and her dad Dino Miranda, re-opened after the government eased up the protocols but had to re-think a few things with their operations given that the foot traffic has already slowed down.
They have adjusted the price of their breakfast, added a few more dishes in their buffet, changed food service hours and subscribed to a delivery company, DoorDash.
“We can lower our price enough that it’s not going hurt us too much but it’s going to attract our customers so he (my dad) always aims for price, good quality and quantity of the food. Those are the things that we offer that attract our customers to keep coming back.”
And being a business that is always affected by the changing protocols, Miranda notes the good and bad side of it.
“It’s good because it’s keeping us safe and making us practice the things that we normally never did. Forcing us to do things that we should do daily even before COVID.
Practicing the good stuff of protecting ourselves, protecting the people. The bad on it is that if people can just cooperate on it but there are people who don’t agree with it and they’re fighting it and so that’s what makes it so hard for us.”
And while they can still rely on some of their food services that help with the revenue, Miranda acknowledges the support that they have been getting from the community which she wants to appeal to for further support.
“When you order food from us whether you’re dining in or getting it delivered or picking up, checking in on your social media, posting on your story and page, go a long way.”
Photo courtesy: Ron Cantiveros
