70% Staff Cut, But Full Menu

2020 was a challenging year. Heck, 2021 is hard too...

The big P-word affects all of us, and it still is. Indeed, you're sick of hearing about the madness. We know, we are too.

Yadda, yadda, yadda...

We were required to follow every safety protocol known to man. At one point, we began drinking hand sanitizer and washing our cars with it.

As restaurant owners we already followed safety protocols, but 2020 was above and beyond. But we aren't here to tell you how hard we cleaned or how good of scholars we are for following the rules. Although, we are here to boast just a little bit.

Don't take this the wrong way. We've been open for just about 40 years, so that means we have been doing something right.

"What's that?" you say?

Exactly. We've been open for almost 40 years straight until late November of 2020 when the government shutdown took place, and we were forced to close.

"Okay, we'll follow the rules," we said. "We won't hold pitchforks outside of our building." (even though we wanted to)

Shortly after COVID was declared a pandemic in March of 2020, Cadillac, MI, became a ghost town for a few weeks. Like everyone else, we began to panic.

How long will this last? What's going to happen? Millions of questions began to arise...

Obviously, you know!!! We're speaking to the choir! You went through this too...

Except with us (and other small business owners) at this point, we not only had to worry about our family but our business too! Seriously! How will we put food on the table (for ourselves) if we can't put food on the table for everyone else?

We had to get creative.

At this point (mid-April 2020), we had cut staff by over 70%, the food supply chain was out of whack and simply put, not many people were walking in the door.

What we decided to do is allow our guests like you to order online. That way, they could remain safe, and we could help boost our revenue altogether— remember, we have to eat too.

As things began to somewhat pick up and people began taking their first steps outside, we were still down to only 3 cooks and just a handful of waitresses. There were a few nights when we had zero customers.

However, something began to change.

We began hearing this sound. The sound of our printing machine going off— not just regular orders, but online take-out orders. And yes, many of these were over-the-phone orders as well.

People began seeing us online, but most importantly, they realized that we were still open with a full menu. All they had to do was place their order online (or call) and walk in and pick it up.

We'll tell you why we can boast, and trust us, we never like to. You must've caught us on the right day :)

Many restaurants entirely closed due to being short-staffed, even before the government shutdown. We remained open with a full menu. We took on the workload, even when 70% of our excellent staff wasn't here.

And yes, we wore our masks inside of the 95-degree kitchen.

This isn't to say how hard we work. It's to say how much we care about our business and putting out the best product for each of our customers. This means we will do whatever it takes to keep our business running, and that's what separates us from the surrounding Cadillac eateries.

Until this day, Mary, Susan, and Steve remain the heart of the operation, and they lead by example. "I wouldn't do anything that I don't expect my staff to do, and I do a lot. That means I have one hell of a staff, and that's why we've been open so successfully for so long," Steve Burke says.

Needless to say, the reason we're still around is because of our customers. Customers who are reading this, like you. Customers who leave a positive review online or share their experience with a friend. We genuinely believe that what you give is what you get, which is why we have such amazing customers.

Even though the government shutdown in November of 2020 limited us to curbside only, we sucked it up. We provided a full menu with take-out boxes in bags. Despite laying off 70% of our veteran employees with us for more than 10+ years, we had to fill in the gaps and put in the elbow grease (literally).

Regardless of having only 3 cooks in the kitchen in 2021 and feeding close to thousands of guests per day, we move forward, tackle the day, and show up the next day. Why? Because under all of the bandages, no matter how difficult it may be at times, what truly keeps us going is the smile on the customer's face when they get their meal.

We truly mean that. We've been around for almost 40 years, and as corny as it may sound, the reason is you :)

Thank you!

-Burke's Team