The restaurant offers free food, Despite losing considerable business as concerns around new coronavirus sweep through Central Texas, the restaurant local can be contested with changes brought by anyone who has the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. Free meals are offered.
Crema Bakery and Cafe Brown Bag Lunch in South Austin is providing free of charge to families or individuals who need a meal during spring break. The restaurant posted this offer on social media and said, “it had exploded within an hour,” said Jessica Tomberlin, owner of the bakery with his wife.
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Tomberlin does not know what will slow down the spread of coronavirus in all the city’s closed food restaurants in the coming days and weeks. Even before the order, the cafe brunch this past Sunday — a big money maker that usually made them through the week — was sparse. He started thinking about what he could do to help people who were not showing up.
It didn’t take him long: “Just call, stop in the bus and we know you need to eat. No questions asked. We’ll make lunch for you.”
“It’s counter-intuitive for us to do this at a time when our business is low,” she said. But “it’s our job to feed people, and love to feed people, maintaining them through a time when they can’t provide for themselves.”
Jillian Newman was thankful for the meal on Tuesday. He lived in South Austin and went out for a bike ride to the cafe. “I have been out of work for a few days,” he said. “I work as a contractor, so my contract was terminated when all of this went down.”
A native Austinite, Newman appreciates the outreach business to help the community.
“I think that’s what Austin is all about,” she said. “In situations like this, it is still incredibly important to remember that we are human.”
Message of love
Tso Sugar Delivery is offering free food, too, to anyone who sends an email to tsogiving@tsodelivery.com delivered anywhere within their delivery area.
The restaurant began a campaign to give back even though its catering business, “which is an important part of our business,” said Tso CEO Min Choi, who pit at the outbreak. “There has been a decline in trade overall.”
The Austin-based company is hurting, too: the crater contract during its catering outbreak, but Choe and the owners realize that they still have something they can do to help their community.
This is a message of love and support for a city that delivers service startups that have treated so well over the years. And has stepped in to help members of that community, too.
“We have done a lot of volunteers offering food transportation to people that are outside our distribution area, so that was really heartwarming to hear,” said Choe.
More pain to come
Restaurants across the city are trying to figure out what the closure will mean for their businesses.
Tomberlin spoke to KXAN.com shortly after learning about the city’s order, saying that closing its dining room would be a “big hit” for the cafe. They are only moving to pick out, and curbside pick ups and they are working to create a delivery option.
His goal is to keep the business going for his employees. “It’s just hard to imagine how I’m going to take care of them, how I’m going to take care of my family with all of these things against us,” she said.
She hopes that she does not need to make any staff changes in the coming weeks and that when the outbreak is over, get her clients back on their feet to help her get back right.
“It’s our job as a people,” she said, “to take care of each other.”
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