Lots of restaurants closing

We've been trying to help the restaurants out by ordering takeout/delivery most days. We went on DoorDash a little while ago, we were planning on ordering Chinese but the majority of the Chinese restaurants on that site were marked as closed. I started looking around and many others types restaurants also had a lot of closings. I'm referring to such things as Joella's, Cracker Barrel, IHOP, etc. I'm certainly hoping this is a trend.

[Robin Garr]

Mark, I think a lot of restaurants are closing for the duration, choosing not to engage in takeout, curbside, delivery and such. Will they reopen after the pandemic eases? Time will tell, but I would not assume permanent closure just because they're closed now. But for sure this is an economic hit, and it's fair to assume that not all will survive. Very sad. We'll have to wait and see how different the scene looks after this is all over.

What hit me was several of them that now are showing is closed for actually open doing takeout, delivery when the virus situation 1st arose. Actually the one Chinese restaurant we normally use for delivery does a much larger business delivery/takeout than they do in-house. They have a very small seating area that at the most can only see 16 people or so.

Here's what they have posted on their website:

Dear customers,

We have been carefully keeping our eye on the ongoing national crisis that is COVID-19. With that in mind, we carefully considered the general health and well- being of our staff, customers, and all of your loved ones. With hope and concern in our horizon, we want to inform you that we will be temporarily closing until we feel it is safe for our customers and staff and until everything is under control according to the CDC.

Thank you all for your kind understanding and please take care of your loved ones and stay healthy.

With love,
China Cafe

What I find frustrating is that it's hard to get groceries delivered, fearful to actually go into the grocery stores for fear of exposure and the only other option for food appear to be closing down quite rapidly.

What I find frustrating is that it's hard to get groceries delivered, fearful to actually go into the grocery stores for fear of exposure and the only other option for food appear to be closing down quite rapidly.


You can order online at Krogers and pickup curbside. They also offer delivery for a 10.00 fee. Probably have to use a credit card.

For what it is worth, Joella's in Middletown is still open and running according to their Facebook page. I wonder if some of the closures could be that they are no longer using Door Dash in favor of something else? Or perhaps some locations are closed and not others. Just thinking out loud.

Several Asian restaurants are only open for carryout or delivery at (for example) 5-9. If you check before 5, they're listed as "closed". Others continue to list as "closed" but are open for carryout. Everyone seems to do things slightly differently, so you may have to keep trying, especially by calling at the height of the dinner hour.

They say it's temporary, but Tikka House is closed. We were going to get takeout from there Saturday night and were sad to find we couldn't.

[Robin Garr]

I wonder if distancing issues for staff are going to prompt more closures. Kathy Cary posted on FB this morning that La Peche, which had announced plans for curbside pickup this week, is calling it off, citing "government warnings." And I just got a note indicating that BoomBozz (J'town, at least) is discontinuing its curbside service and closing doors for the duration.

I'm getting a request for a food truck to come into neighborhoods every day. And I'm scheduling them. Many are still operating, although several have parked for the duration. Don't forget about those of us on wheels!

Be careful, leah. The Karens are out hot and heavy. If they see 3 ants in a line carrying a pizza crust it goes right on Beshear's facebook page. If a food truck starts drawing anything like a crowd, the government is going to shut it down like Gordon Ramsay at New Jersey Steakhouse. Best plan is to figure out how to mark off a line and make sure social distancing is being enforced. (but you probably already know this. I'm just really worried for all of us right now)