China News Service, July 2 (Xinhua Daily), Massachusetts Restaurants United has recently invited Chinese, Spanish, and African restaurant owners to share online, and Mei Peijie, owner of Shojo restaurant in Boston, will participate. Talking about Chinatown restaurants facing particularly severe challenges during the new crown epidemic.
Mei Peijie said that Chinatown is the first area affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. Since the end of January, the business of three restaurants in their family has begun to be affected. Taking Chinatown Longfeng Restaurant as an example, it could hold 500 people for events, weddings, morning tea, etc. All reservations were cancelled after the outbreak. The most recently booked wedding banquet is in July 2021.
He said that most restaurants in Chinatown are still open. Before dinning in the restaurant, only some bakeries and supermarkets were opened, and nomads settled in. Chinatown lost its former vitality and may need to be fully restored before it can be restored.
Now is the time to make changes and identify market gaps. Mei Peijie said that there is currently a large demand for family meals, and family and food are good placebos during the epidemic. The employees of the family restaurant returned on the first day of June 30. Since the three restaurants are in the same building, the combined employees will provide three meals.
He said that due to the greater impact of Chinatown, the current restaurant opening degree is delayed by two stages than state regulations. The three restaurants plan to accept orders after the National Day. Taking into account operating, labor and inventory costs, will focus on holiday operations, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In addition, Mei Peijie talked about returning to the market to guide customers where to order meals. If you use Uber Eats, etc., you may lose customers' habit of ordering food from the restaurant's official website. Therefore, it is still taking time to prepare the official website ordering system, which saves expenses and allows the passenger flow to return to the restaurant first.
However, Mei Peijie also worried that if he resumed eating too late, he might lose the original market share. He said that the community at the northern end of Boston has vigorously restored indoor and outdoor dining, and Chinatown Main Street and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce are also working hard to promote the return of Chinatown restaurants.
Mojitos Country Club nightclub restaurant owner Jody Mendez talked about the most difficult thing is to deal with the uncertainty of the epidemic. She said that funds are limited, and rents and taxes are paid, and you have to pay for takeaways and restaurant maintenance. Coupled with repeated epidemics, you are worried that you may have to close next week.
The owner of Soleil restaurant Cheryl Straughter said that the outbreak has caused them to lose their customers in various aspects such as group reservations, regular customers and private reservations. With the current restart, they have turned to add more takeaway options and provide family meals and set meals. .