Restaurants Care resilience fund assists area eateries through challenging times
Restrictions that once hamstrung the hospitality industry in an effort to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have been lifted, but many restaurants continue down the path of recovery from those trying times.
In the thick of the pandemic, the California Restaurant Foundation started the Restaurants Care resilience fund grant program in hopes of helping local eateries stay afloat.
The resilience fund provided assistance for more than 300 restaurants across eight counties in its first year in 2021. The list of eligible restaurants grew in 2022 to include establishments in Orange County.
There were 58 restaurants countywide that received $3,000 in funding through the grant program in 2022. Of that number, 13 of the recipients were local restaurants: Costa Mesa (eight), Fountain Valley (two), Huntington Beach (two) and Laguna Beach (one).
“Nowadays, everything helps, and especially when it’s that amount of money,” said Teresa Razo, the owner of Cambalache Grill Argentine and Italian Cuisine in Fountain Valley. “It made a big difference. They have two categories — one if you need something new for the kitchen, or if you want to give something to the staff.
“For Cambalache, I submitted [a request] for my staff because they went through a lot. Also, my staff has been putting [together] meals for families in need, and also homeless shelters and stuff like that, so I wanted to give them something. It means a lot. It’s just very helpful to be able to recognize those people that were there with you in the hardest moments.”
Razo added that restaurants are still facing uncertain times.
“Even the customers that you have now, with the uncertainty of the economy right now, people that you would see three times a week, now you see them once,” Razo explained. “It’s very, very tough times again. It was good for a little bit, but it wasn’t enough to recover.”
Funding for the grants is provided by SoCalGas, Pacific Gas and Electric, and San Diego Gas and Electric.
Having already awarded grants to 788 restaurants in the first two years, California Restaurant Foundation executive director Alycia Harshfield said the resilience fund will benefit 366 additional restaurants this year. The grants will also be for $5,000 this time around.
“It has evolved over the three years because in 2021, it was really just focused on keeping doors open,” Harshfield said. “In 2022, the grant was designed for retention bonuses and equipment upgrades. In year three, it’s eligibility for restaurants of one to five units or locations, and there are four funding priorities.
“We’re really, each year, talking to our stakeholders and evaluating the needs and evolving the program. This year, the four funding categories also include retention bonuses and now training for staff, energy-efficient equipment upgrades, and then we’ve added technology adoption because a lot of small businesses don’t have the funds to incorporate technology that can really help them grow their business. … The last [category] addition was unforeseen hardship.”
While priority for the resilience fund grants will be given to new applicants, Harshfield said that past recipients can still be considered. The deadline to submit an online application is May 7 at restaurantscare.org/resilience.
Ross Pangilinan, the owner and chef of Terrace by Mix Mix at South Coast Plaza, said the pandemic led him to sell his first restaurant in Santa Ana. It had been named Restaurant of the Year by Orange Coast Magazine the year it opened.
Both Pangilinan and Razo said they would reapply for the grant if it was available.
“We were really impacted, especially when they didn’t allow indoor shopping,” Pangilinan said of his South Coast Plaza location. “The mall had to actually close for a while. When that happens, you lose your staff, you have to start over. You can only keep so many staff, so it primarily helped with retaining key staff members.
“How many times did we have to open and rebuild again? There was multiple times. I can’t even count how many times it was with all the closures — no indoor dining, no outdoor dining, only outdoor dining. Being able to cover payroll costs was huge with keeping the doors open and keep on reopening for each time we were allowed to.”
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