Small eateries such as Chuck and Blaze near LBCC are facing new challenges and discovering new ways to maintain their business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the start of the pandemic when the Stay At Home order was instated, all restaurants, fast-food establishments, and small eateries were required to switch to takeout only, leading many places to face major losses in business.
Cluck and Blaze, specializing in authentic Nashville hot fried chicken has faced drops in business, but has discovered new ways to provide service to customers.
The owner of the eatery Jerry Tut has made major changes and managed to regain customers and improve safety along the way.
“We were mandated to wear gloves, facemasks that we provided to the staff and have it mandatory to wash hands,” Tut said.
Despite the changes, the eatery has also dramatically lost business since the start of the mandatory order given by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, which prompted finding ways to help their service and keeping their eatery alive.
“The college was an important part of the business and it dropped drastically after the mandatory order. We started an online order service which it helped but still hurt,” Tut said.
Months later, the state eased several rules of the orders to allow outdoor dining and other options available for the eatery.
Customers such as Noe Gonzalez have gotten into the habit of eating at Cluck and Blaze once a week.
“It’s good since we need them open with the patio available and more than staying home getting stressed,” Gonzalez said.
Regarding the future of the eatery and ways to connect to customers alike, “We hope for the best as we can to provide fried chicken and see it grow and see the customers coming back,” Tut said.
