close

After Charlotte restaurants ramp up takeout/delivery, some decide to close amid COVID

By Elizabeth W. Jernigan 8 months ago

We never thought the most common word we’d connect with successful restaurants wouldn’t be “delicious” — it would be “pivot.”

But pivoting has been one of the keys to surviving in the food world while a statewide stay-at-home order is in place. Figuring out how to sell food when your dining room is closed has been like a musician trying to play in an empty arena.

So far, the great takeout experiment has had winners and losers among Charlotte area restaurants.

Chris Coleman, for instance, had just opened Goodyear House on Feb. 4, six weeks before North Carolina Gov. Roy

… Read More

When coronavirus threatened to close this food court restaurant, neighbors rallied to save it

By Elizabeth W. Jernigan 8 months ago

DES MOINES, Iowa – From her padded stool perch in the corner of her restaurant, Vietnam Cafe, owner Brenda Tran reigns over the food court – part mama bear, part perpetual party host.

On a typical day, Tran watches new customers settle into tables and chow down, sometimes running into the dining room to hold impromptu lessons on the finer points of Vietnamese cuisine. Swirl your pho noodles like spaghetti! Lean down and slurp the broth!

She chats with her “mall walkers” as they nosh on her special Vietnamese egg sandwiches. After losing her father a decade ago, she

… Read More