FOOD & DRINK
Dining, Drinking and Distancing Downtown During a Pandemic Written During Florida’s Stay at Home Order During the COVID-19 pandemic BY LEON KONIECZNY
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Within about a week, Sanford went from “reservations recommended” to take-out only. The state and county mandated stay-at-home orders quickly changed the business models of most small businesses downtown. A few closed immediately. Some tried modified business practices and then closed. Some closed at first, but then reopened. They all had to quickly find a way to survive. What was that like? How did bars and restaurants adapt? And what does the future hold? Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café took the lead, and quickly cancelled all reservations, reworked their outside area into a pick-up station with appropriate social distancing signage, and revamped their website to allow online ordering. The city helped a bit by allowing businesses to designate parking for take out, too. We picked up a double order of schnitzel on the first weekend of isolation, and it was good as always—the only thing missing was the good old German Music.
Zorba’s, The Sullivan, and The Breezeway. Some restaurants closed immediately, but then slowly reopened for takeout. A notable example was the Colonial Room, which reopened for takeout with a big bang for its monthly fish fry, held on the first Friday of each month. They sold so many French fries that day, they had to call in a few favors for more fries. But still, Sanford was a ghost town, mostly empty by 8 PM every evening, if not earlier. Each business struggling for the small amount of traffic. To support local businesses, the 327 Gentleman’s Club started the “Sanford Stimulus” campaign. We know Sanfordites will do almost anything for a free T-shirt. “Sanford Stimulus” cards—some 7,000 of them, were distributed to the local downtown food and drink businesses that remained open. With any purchase of $10 or more, you’d get a stimulus card. When you collected twelve cards, you can redeem a free “I Stimulated Sanford” T-shirt. Imagine, 7,000 cards times the $10 minimum means a minimum of $70,000 poured into the local economy. But I can tell you that my average bill was closer to $50 plus, of course, generous tips each time. This campaign could’ve brought several hundred thousand dollars to the struggling downtown businesses. Buster’s Bistro stayed afloat with a minimal staff and featured some great food and drink specials and maintained a good social media presence. Their Long Island Iced Tea-like drink in a pint jar was very good—just take
West End Trading Company set the tone for other bars in town. Under the new guidelines, bars as well as restaurants were permitted to offer liquor, wine and beer to-go, so they adapted with a drive-up model. Their sister business, Celery City Craft, went a step further with bagged craft cocktails available to go, and they even came with a straw. Under the circumstances, breweries generally fared OK. Growler or crowler refills were available (and still are) from many of our local watering holes, including Wop’s Hops, Sanford Brewing Company, and Deviant Wolfe. Quite a few businesses closed immediately or shortly after a week or two of struggling. Among them was The District, The Old Jailhouse, Mr. Z’s, 16 M Y S A N F O R D M A G A Z I N E | S U M M E R 2 0 2 0
After Dinner at The District
COURESTY OF LEON KONIECZNY
ate this winter, Downtown Sanford’s food and beverage venues were packed most Friday and Saturday nights. Almost every weekend seemed to bring other events and the corresponding crowds downtown. Several new places were in the process of opening at Henry’s Depot, and Mark Nation’s big restaurant and distillery project was under construction. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and it struck the downtown Sanford food and beverage industry hard.
