04/05/2020
To our Houston community;
Restaurants need your support more than ever, there might be long lines at the drive-thru, delay on curbside, calls not answered on the 1st try...but restaurants are doing everything possible to give you the best services, even under this difficult circumstances.
Understand that restaurants are operating on survival mode, you need to be patient and understandable. These are difficult times for our community.
Let's unite and support local business!
From our President and CEO, Dr. Emily Williams Knight:
Perhaps it is because we are weeks into this crisis and people are beginning to really feel the financial, emotional and social impacts of COVID-19, but I am beginning to sense something that we need to agree we will stop - together.
I am beginning to see social media posts calling out restaurants that don’t answer the phone by the 2nd ring, that struggle to keep the speed up in their drive-thru lanes, restaurants that can’t get out to deliver curbside fast enough, and people calling out restaurants who post a limited menu for the day and it doesn’t have their “favorite item."
This needs to stop now.
Our community is suffering the greatest tragedy of its history. We are operating with skeleton staff, limited supply chains, new guidelines and requirements on services provided, employees that are fearful for their own health and that of their families, and antiquated technology. Wrapped around all of this is a deep sense of fear and a killer instinct for survival.
Each day WE need to promote the resiliency, flexibility, strength, and ingenuity of every single person brave enough to operate under these conditions today. Our people have been gut punched, yet try to deliver a pleasant experience each and every day.
We need to feel confident taking on those that show no mercy and expect perfection as if it were January 1st. We also need to show grace and operate with a spirit of generosity when WE purchase meals or interact with employees across the sector.
If there was ever a time to avoid complaining that your order took an extra five-ten minutes, or that they forgot the extra ketchup for your fries, that time is now. I promise you, there are much bigger problems in the world today. And frankly, being able to go to Dunkin each morning and get my iced coffee and see Sarah bravely serving a line of customers is something I need to propel me forward. Too much ice, too little, long wait or short, I am just grateful she is there and can provide me some sense of normal.
Please be kind and show grace, call out those that are not, and together we will get through this.
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