What’s a new restaurant to do? Offer pop-ups
In an uncertain time for restaurants, the owners of three places in the works are planning takeout pop-ups and doing what they can during the coronavirus crisis to open.
Flourchild, the Milwaukee Street pizzeria planned by chef Andrew Miller, is popping up Thursday at his Third Coast Provisions restaurant next door, at 724 N. Milwaukee St.
Customers can call Third Coast at 414-323-7434 to order the pizzas ahead — like cheese, or pepperoni, or curry with vegetables — and pick them up curbside, delivered by a staffer wearing protective gloves.
“In a time like this, any way we can brighten people’s day is beneficial for the little staff we have left here and the community,” Miller said. If the pop-up is successful, he might plan a couple more of them before the restaurant’s planned opening in May.
Also, he said, the pop-up is a means “literally, hopefully, to come out on the other end“and operate his businesses.
There have been some delays in getting subcontractors and city inspections, but Miller has had more time to work on the restaurant’s brand and concept.
He appreciates the push by customers to support local businesses as best they can while dining rooms are closed under state order and offering takeout and delivery. “I really hope there’s an even bigger push to dining out and doing normal, fun things again with friends and family” once the crisis is past, he said.
“We’re really behind the 8-ball now, and it’s just survival mode,” he said.
Tavolino, a fresh pasta-and-pizza restaurant, was to open by the end of March at 2315 N. Murray Ave.
Instead, it’s popping up with some of its own items on the menu of neighbor Izzy Hops, 2311 N. Murray (the two businesses share a kitchen). The items, like braised pork shoulder ragu with rigatoni, will be available for takeout 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, with orders at 414-249-4489 and curbside pickup only.
Peter Dietrich, who is opening Tavolino with chef Derek Nackers, said of trying to open, “From a planning standpoint, it’s been a challenge.” They wanted to hire their staff, but that’s now on hold.
But he sees the pop-up as a way to connect with the neighborhood while they wait to open fully.
Ben Nerenhausen, who’s opening Allie Boy’s Bagelry & Luncheonette at 135 E. National Ave. with his wife, Staci Lopez, is still working out the details of his pop-up but plans to announce them on Instagram.
If everything goes right, they’re about two weeks away from being able to open and offer takeout from their own place.
If things don’t go right, “We would probably turn everything off, lock all the doors, see if lenders can offer forgiveness for a couple of months and weather the storm with everybody else,” he said.
Kitchen equipment was delivered to the restaurant Wednesday.
“We’re kind of fortunate that this was all a construction phase anyway,” Nerenhausen said. Unlike established restaurants, he didn’t have a staff to lay off, or a walk-in cooler full of food.
The conundrum, he said, is, “Do we try to open in the midst of all this?”
“It definitely keeps both of us up at night trying to weigh these decisions.”
If the plumber arrives this week, then the health inspector could look over the work and Allie Boy’s could make any required changes, then hire staff and order their ingredients, Nerenhausen said.
“We are still moving forward with inspections the best we can,” Claire Evers, deputy commissioner of environmental health at the Milwaukee Health Department, said in an email.
A restaurant with only a few things left to check off might be inspected via a video-chat app. Others might be inspected by a city worker alone on the premises to limit contact.
Inspections might be delayed for a restaurant waiting for approvals from other departments, such as the police.
Nerenhausen noted that Allie Boy’s was going to sell takeout anyway. “At least we’re not opening a fine dining restaurant right now where we’d be geared for something completely different,” he said.
“It’s still a matter of whether people are going out and buying anything at all.”