LOCAL RESTAURANT GROUPS by Peter J. Brzycki TAKE DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO REOPENING
84 Hospitality Group restaurants left Gun Izakaya and bottom right Revolucion remain closed until further notice. | Photos Gazette / file and provided Empire Slice House top right is currently offering takeout. | Photo Gazette / file
Cautious 84 Hospitality Group At 84 Hospitality Group we continue to try and find ways to do right by our employees, customers, and the community. —Rachel Cope
Empire Slice House, Revolución, Burger Punk, Gorō Ramen, Gun Izakaya, Little Market Taking one of the most cautious approaches among operators in Oklahoma City, 84 Hospitality has yet to reopen on-site dining to patrons at any of its locations; it closed all in mid-March. Founder and CEO Rachel Cope recently revealed that despite the extreme caution, two employees at Revolución recently tested positive for COVID-19 while they were operating the kitchen there for carryout and delivery. Revolución was promptly closed, and all employees were tested and then reassigned to other restaurants owned by 84. 12
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Cope recently posted on social media, “I fought whether I was going to be honest about what happened (because I felt some kind of ‘shame’ that I had ‘let’ this happen) but I think it’s important for you to know the truth. It has always been important for us to be transparent, especially when it comes to health and safety.” Despite taking extreme measures, the group continues to do a great deal of takeout from Empire Slice House in 16th Street Plaza District. And in fact, it will soon be opening Empire Slice Shop in the former Slapfish space in Nichols Hills Plaza. That concept will feature counter service, beer and wine and late-night hours. Popular Gorō Ramen, also in the Plaza, remains carryout only. And although Burger Punk is completely closed, 84 is readying a new patio in hopes of providing on-site dining soon. Gun Izakaya in The Paseo Arts District is closed until further notice, but 84’s nearby Little Market is open and operating. Cope recently posted on social media, “At 84 Hospitality Group we continue to try and find ways to do right by our employees, customers, and the community. Above all, be kind, be compassionate, & be safe.”
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HumanKind Hospitality Services We want to be part of the solution in the community, not part of the problem. -Shaun Fiaccone
Picasso Cafe, OSO Paseo, Frida Southwest, The Other Room, The Daley After monitoring the news around COVID-19 for two weeks, on Monday, March 16th, Humankind Hospitality founder Shaun Fiaconne made the tough decision to close all its on-site dining. Like so many bar and restaurant owners in Oklahoma, Fiaconne then had to let go of all of his hourly workers and
focus on carryout while relying on salaried managers and chefs to do it all, including packaging up to-go orders, running items out to cars and cleaning up. “Our staff has a hand in everything, and we are pretty vertically integrated, so it wasn’t a difficult transition,” Fiaconne said. Although its business was down over 75 percent from months with typical operation, it was enough to pay employees and keep everything going until the virus situation improved. When the state and city moved into Stage 2 of reopening, the group opted to open its dining rooms in a staggered fashion using social distancing and special precautions — not only requiring temperature checks, masks and gloves for all employees but also using a low-
