Restaurants, bakeries, breweries go creative to get business during COVID-19 shutdown
With Lexington practically on lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, restaurants and food businesses are getting extra creative to attract crucial takeout business.
Some local restaurants are offering cold meals to be heated later. And lots of places have added family meals (and some special deals) to their takeout lineup.
They include Carson’s, DaRae and Friends Catering, Selma’s, KSBar and Grille, Bear and The Butcher, Proud Mary BBQ, Red State BBQ, Ranada’s, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Sutton’s, Pasta Garage, Wild Thyme Cooking, Malone’s, Gumbo Ya Ya, The Stave in Woodford County, Stein’s, Local Feed in Georgetown, Heirloom in Midway, J. Render’s Southern Table, Chicken Salad Chick, Double Dogs, Taziki’s, Sedona Taphouse, Cru Wine Bar, Azur, Keene Dining, Rafferty’s, Johnny Carino’s, Bonefish Grill, Cracker Barrel, Texas Roadhouse, Cheddar’s, Bob Evans, and more.
But Guiseppe’s Ristorante Italian might be the only one offering music while you wait. The restaurant on Old Nicholasville Road posted that on Saturday while their drive through carryout was open “Dave Hall will be on our Patio playing smooth jazz favorites as you pull up from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.”
Many places have cutback their menus and altered how customers can get their takeout orders. Joellas Hot Chicken for example has a temporary limited menu that is 20 percent off normal prices. They also have locked the front door to pickups, instead using the dining room garage-door windows for people to get their food, which can only be ordered and paid for online.
Take and cake
Brandi Romines is known for her amazing decorated cakes. She built Kroger Stadium out of cake and frosting and made edible replicas of NCAA championship trophies, among other things.
But when COVID-19 hit, regular orders for her Happy as a Lark Cakes began to dry up. March and April are usually her busiest months.
Romines came up with a clever way to keep things going: She offered bunny cake kits, complete with cake and all the necessary items, and then made a Facebook Live tutorial to show customers how to turn green icing into grass and fondant into a bunny.
“I thought if I sold a dozen I’d call it a success,” she said. She was stunned when she ended up with more than 50 orders. “I thought, How am I going to bake all those cakes? ... I had to make 20 batches of fondant.”
Her customers seemed to enjoy the experience: Many posted their complete projects to show the results.
“The love I felt from my community made it more than worth it,” she said. “Seeing everybody lift you up when you’re struggling.”
She’s trying to decide what the next class might be. Maybe cupcakes this time?
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More fun with frosting
Caramanda’s Bake Shoppe on Southland Drive on March 19 began offering cookie decorating kits and has sold several dozen.
You get a box of a dozen baked sugar cookies on a platter with three bags of icing in colors, sanding sugar and a couple different kinds of sprinkles, all for $25. Kids can decorate and then eat the finished product. Caramanda’s owner Melissa Henderson said the kits can be ordered online at caramandas.com. She said the bakery is also nowoffering smaller cakes for people who are celebrating birthdays or other events at home with family.
Bargain bottles
When restaurants were closed to dining in and bars were shut down entirely on March 16, many were left with an inventory of liquor and wine. And now many places are offering it to customers at bargain prices. Among them: Chevy Chase Inn, which posted a video on the “Chevy Chase Inn and Out,” on what they’d have for sale on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with curbside delivery and online purchasing.
Others offering spirits, either as bottles or drinks, include Al’s Bar, Banners, The Paddock, Pearls Pizza, Manchester Music Hall, Sedona Tap House, Sidebar Grill, Cellar Bar & Grille, El Mariachi Mexican Restaurant, The Stave, Carson’s, J. Render’s, Minglewood, Girls Girls Girls Burritos, Saul Good, Proud Mary BBQ, Chuy’s, Pepe’s and Jake’s Cigar Bar.
Barbecue with a side of toilet paper
Red State BBQ on Georgetown Road has opened a pop-up grocery store, Red State BBQ Provisions with such hot items as ground beef, eggs, bread, rice, and even toilet paper and paper towels. They also have produce and other items. You can call ahead to order barbecue as well as provisions; 859-233-7898*1.
Beer delivery
West Sixth Brewery launched a “beer CSA,” with delivery. You can order beer boxes online at westsixth.com each Monday and get them on Tuesday. The contents will vary from week to week.
And beer that speaks to the times
Mirror Twin is brewing four Pop-Tart Takeover beers that are expected to be ready April 6. Each one apparently has lots of actually pastries in the beer, going by the brewery’s Facebook post.
You get one of each in a four-pack and they all have coronavirus shutdown-themed names: “How much Netflix is too much? Asking for a friend” is a brown sugar cinnamon Pop-Tart Porter; ”Come on Vern its day 19” is a frosted cherry Pop-Tart Milk Stout; ”What day is it?” is a strawberry milkshake Pop-Tart NEIPA; and ”Beers with Beshear” is a wild berry Pop-Tart Blonde.
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 3:32 PM.
