Business is down at some Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley and a few owners have come up with a creative solution: Close, albeit temporarily.
Top Island Seafood on Valley Boulevard in Alhambra had its last day Sunday, March 8 but David Thao, a supervisor at the restaurant said it plans to reopen at the end of April. “The big reason is because it’s quiet since that happened,” Thao said, referring to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. “Most of the people are scared to come out and eat so just we decided to close because it’s good for the employee and good for customer too.”
He said other restaurants have also closed temporarily — Yelp’s website reports that Henry’s Cafe on the same street is closed temporarily too — but some are simply cutting down on hours. “Some just close for lunch, some for dinner it’s closed. No business, you know,” he said.
The phone lines are still open at Top Island, and when customers call, Thao lets them know that the restaurant will be back, likely with a freshened look. “When the customer calls in we say we just closed down the business temporarily and during this closure we might be remodeling.”
Shanghai No. 1 Seafood in San Gabriel would not comment on whether it would be closing and stopped answering its phone. An employee at Five Star Seafood said the restaurant is not closed as of yet but admitted business was slow.
The fears are widespread due to the misplaced notion that people of Chinese descent are somehow more likely to carry the virus. There is also anxiety that it can be transmitted through food, but according to the CDC’s website, “Currently there is no evidence to support transmission of COVID-19 associated with food.”
It’s not just at Chinese eateries. Restaurants across Southern California are experiencing a dip in sales due to fears of COVID-19. In a survey released Thursday, March 5 by Technomic, a food service industry consulting company, 32% of those who responded said they plan to eat at restaurants less often out of concern about the virus.
It’s independently owned restaurants, with their already low profit margins, that are most affected, while large chains are able to weather the crisis. A spokesperson for PF Chang’s reported that there are no plans to close and that it’s business as usual and at Din Tai Fung in South Coast Plaza there are still lines, although the wait may not be as long.
But in Orange County, Bruno Serato’s Anaheim White House restaurant, which had been solidly booked until the Natural Products Expo West convention was postponed earlier this month had 900 cancellations in a single day. Meanwhile, at Peking Restaurant in Little Saigon, manager Lily Shen said that weekday business has slowed, especially at lunch, but takeout orders are up.
Peking is not planning to close, but it did trim staff hours. “We cut back the hours and some people just take off and say, ‘OK I can do another job,’ I say when we’re busy again I’ll still call you.”
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March 12, 2020 at 06:57AM
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Some Chinese restaurants in San Gabriel Valley closing temporarily with business down from fear of the coronavirus - The San Gabriel Valley Tribune
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