Restaurants chugged along during the first couple months of 2020.
Then the coronavirus pandemic turned them into makeshift grocers and tested bandwidths for takeout and delivery capabilities.
Now, as states slowly reopen, operators are grappling with a patchwork of policies they must adhere to as they enter a post-pandemic environment armed with some heavy lessons from the past nearly two months of quarantines throughout the U.S.
Fast Movers
Thinking fast and creatively became the norm no matter the restaurant industry segment.
“What has really come to light is the outstanding character and strength of our entrepreneurial franchisees, who have never wavered in their ability to adapt to these fast-changing circumstances,” said Newport Beach-based Mountain Mike’s Pizza LLC co-CEO and principal owner Chris Britt.
Mountain Mike’s ranked No. 12 on this week’s Business Journal list of the largest restaurant companies here, with sales last year of $181.9 million across 219 locations. Britt pointed out the pizza category, which typically derives a bulk of its sales from deliveries and to-go orders, fared well during the quarantine, coinciding with a team that worked nimbly.
“Of course, there was a lot to be done when our dining rooms closed, but what it really comes down to is communication and flexibility with both our franchise family, as well as our guests,” said President and COO Jim Metevier. “Things moved very quickly, sometimes hourly, and it was our responsibility to provide our franchisees with the guidance, leadership and tools needed to prepare their teams to continue delivering the high quality service, product and experience that Mountain Mike’s guests expect and deserve.”
Comms Lessons
Good communication was critical during the various state shelter-in-place orders, said Lazy Dog Restaurants LLC co-founder and Chief Executive Chris Simms.
“I definitely feel like one of the lessons learned was flattening out that communication and speaking more often directly to the general managers, managers and all of the people in our restaurants,” Simms said.
“I think in an organization you tend to get vertical as you grow and what I learned was the importance of keeping that communication very flat so that people are hearing messages directly from my mouth.”
The Costa Mesa-based company, which ranked No. 11 on this year’s list with $213.3 million in sales across 36 restaurants last year, had to maintain impeccable communication as it ramped up its infrastructure to handle takeout and delivery orders, in addition to launching Lazy Dog Pantry, an offering of packaged kits which have evolved across the past two months.
Pantry started off as food essential packs for customers striking out in finding basics such as eggs and toilet paper in their local grocery stores at the start of the pandemic. It has since morphed into meal kits and entertaining ways to keep busy with cooking at home.
Which Way?
What direction business goes in the remainder of this year for OC’s 26 largest chains, which pulled in a collective $24.5 billion in 2019 systemwide sales, is anyone’s guess.
Last year, the county’s largest restaurant operators—No. 1 being Irvine-based Taco Bell Corp. with $11.7 billion in 2019 sales—notched an 8.3% gain in overall revenue. Any increase for this year would have to come from a post-pandemic surge, something that will depend on consumer sentiment and trust in businesses’ ability to offer safe places to shop among other factors.
“It’s been such an interesting time,” Simms said. “We thank goodness we’ve spent the last 17 years of our business building a really strong culture that’s focused on our people. So I cannot thank our people who are currently working so hard and helping us survive and our furloughed teammates for all their support.”
“It’s really been an incredible experience and I don’t look forward to ever doing this again.”
