RICKY CARDENAS, OWNER OF RICKY’S RESTAURANT,
stands for a portrait Tuesday (March 23) inside his restaurant in Taos. Rick’s is one of many local businesses seeking to hire new employees as businesses slowly reopen in Taos County.
‘I’m always willing to help the community. If they want to work, I’ll work with them.’
RICKY CÁRDENAS
Owner, Ricky’s Restaurant
Gustavo Sarazua, co-owner of the Azteca Mexican Grill at 122 Doña Luz Street in Taos, had just opened his new restaurant in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. All the planning and preparation for the new business, which he owned with his brother Nicolas Sarazua, would have to be put on hold.
“We opened March 8. March 18 is when the governor said it was takeout only. We figured since we’re a new restaurant, there was no point in us staying open. So we closed right off the bat in March for about three months,” said Sarazua, 23.
He and his brother applied for Paycheck Protection Program funds, but were denied because their business was new, so they were forced to lay off employees.
They opened again in November 2020, but when the weather got too cold for outdoor dining, they were forced to close a second time.
“I don’t know, honestly, if they themselves applied for unemployment throughout those months that we were closed,” said Sarazua. “But we weren’t qualified for any sort of help, so we didn’t have the means to help them out either.”
When the state began to see progress in it’s efforts to combat the novel coronavirus, it began to lessen restrictions, and the Azteca Mexican Grill opened for the third time in early February 2021.
“Everyone came back — my front of the house staff,” Sarazua said about the employees that were laid off and returned. “In the kitchen, it was nothing but family — my brothers, my dad, my mom, my sister-in-law.”
Capacity at the restaurant, under the current public health order, allows 30 indoor patrons and 40 outdoors. He said they do a number of take-out orders everyday too.
“We’re getting locals back. Some locals are liking our food, so that’s good for us,” said Sarazua, who lives in Ranchos de Taos. “We’ve got to have a healthy combination of both locals and tourists.”
Last week, Sarazua posted a help wanted notice on the restaurant’s Facebook page, in anticipation of remaining open, and growing, as the weather warms up and people get vaccinated.
“So, for sure, a server and a dishwasher,” he said. “Those are the two positions that we at least need one [worker] for each position.”
“We’re hoping that we don’t have to shut down again, and that everything goes well,” said Sarazua.
MODA
Kristin Facciolini, owner of the women’s boutique MODA at 120 Bent Street in Taos, opened her store in 2019. She owns the men’s clothing store, Clarke & Co. next door too — her husband Cullen Stevens runs the day-to-day operations there.
On March 15, 2020, one of Facciolini’s two employees called and said she no longer wanted to come in to work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One week later, the governor ordered all non-essential businesses to close.
“So we packed up a lot of the merchandise, and brought it home,” said Facciolini, who lives in Peñasco.
She kept both stores closed until Memorial Day, while her landlord reduced the store’s rent and utilities by half.
“When we first reopened, we were only open for long weekends for a couple of weeks, because it was still really quiet,” said Facciolini. “In June and July, we were open five days a week, and then by the end of July — and since — we’ve been open six days a week.”
Her two stores are closed on Mondays, allowing Facciolini to do paperwork at home.
“We applied for the PPP.
We were lucky in the first round, we got some money, not a lot, but enough to cover my employees for the eight weeks, even though we were closed longer,” said Facciolini.
When she announced the stores would be reopening, one of her employees was on board — the other was not.
“Because it was slow, and because we did not know what was going to happen, we felt it best that I just not hire anyone,” said Facciolini. “A lot of the shops here in the Dunn House did not reopen until September, because they were riding the unemployment wave. And then they came back, opened their doors and started working again.”
Facciolini said business now is about 90 percent back to normal. She plans to hire a second employee on around April 1.
“Spring Break the past two weeks, we’ve seen a boost,” she said. “And I think February was very slow for us in both the shops, but March — I think with vaccines coming out, more and more people being more comfortable. I think a lot of our older customers, they were vaccinated early, so they’re coming back.”
Ricky’s Restaurant
Ricky Cárdenas has owned Ricky’s Restaurant at 312 Paseo del Pueblo Sur for 33 years. The family-run kitchen employs 10 people, including two of his grandkids.
When the public health order closed his dining room in April 2020, Cárdenas had to lay off four of his employees, and opened up a drive-thru window in order to stay in business.
Last month, he reopened the dining room, and now half his orders are drive-through and half are sit-down.
“Now I know what it’s like to do a drive-up — it’s a lot harder to prepare the food,” said Cárdenas, who never changed his menu during the pandemic.
With business picking up again, he’s looking to replace the four staff members he let go — a dishwasher, a waitress, a waiter and a cook. Cárdenas posted a help wanted message on his Facebook page for the dishwasher job, and had 10 voicemails in a single day — and five more for the waitress position.
“I’m always willing to help the community,” said Cárdenas. “If they want to work, I’ll work with them.”