Chinanews.com, October 12th. According to the US "World Journal" report, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has not yet been fully controlled. As the weather turns cold, the catering industry is colder this year. Many Chinese food businesses outside of Chinatown are still struggling for their livelihoods. ; The Chinese owner Mei Shangbin, who has been operating a Chinese restaurant in New York’s Lower East Side for more than ten years, has become the only Chinese restaurant on the east side of Kennedy Road to have outdoor dining. He said that he will “keep it up until now” with the support of regular customers, otherwise he will not wait for work to resume It closed.

  "Mingfengge" owner Mei Shangbin is from Guangdong. Under the limited manpower in the store, the back kitchen and the enterprise table grabbed one hand; from April to July, he closed the store completely like many restaurant owners and had no income.

  Mei Shangbin said that after the New York City government launched the outdoor dining plan, because the store is located on the east side of Kennedy Road, away from the streets with dense Chinese restaurants such as Mott St., it is a bit difficult for his own store to implement outdoor dining, but Fortunately, it was established with the help of many community members and the commercial reform district.

But this is not the only challenge he faces. After the outbreak, due to changes in the food supply chain, many food ingredients have risen in price. "We dare not rise because it is not only the catering industry, but everyone who loses income."

  Mei Shangbin said that the current turnover is only 20% to 30% of what it used to be. Due to various expenditure constraints, the number of staff in the store has also been reduced to only three people, from receiving takeaway orders, entertaining customers, cooking and catering. All must be done.

  In the 13 years of running "Mingfeng Pavilion", Mei Shangbin captured the taste buds of many local diners with cheap and delicious Chinese food. "It's really tiring, but now it’s for regular customers. I can still drive. , It's all relying on their support."

  After the resumption of work, the return of diners was slow. "I really thought about giving up. Closing the store may be easier than now," Mei Shangbin said with a wry smile.

Later, as regular customers gradually came to the store, many Chinese diners kept taking friends to patronize him in order to support him, and even asked him to provide lunch boxes for the Chinese engineering team, which allowed him to persist until now.

  Seeing the permanent closure of an established restaurant, Mei Shangbin said that I believe that the turnover of many restaurants is only "flat." Many businesses still insist on opening stores, in order to return the support of their old customers, but also to be worthy of their continued The original intention of serving the community and opening a shop.

(Zhang Chen)