Innovation During A Pandemic: Restaurants Finding Ways To Thrive In The Face Of Coronavirus

PITTSBURGH (KDKA)– In areas all over the Pittsburgh-area, dining establishments are having a hard time or simply plain providing up.

However, in the midst of all of that– some are really opening for the first time.

That makes you scratch your head, right? How could that perhaps be?

There it is, right in Robinson Town: Pizzeria Davide.

Even though DiAnoia’s Restaurant’s flagship place in the Strip District is hurting, they’re hanging in there. Then, Aimee and Dave Anoia made the changes needed for the pandemic and opened a brand-new location.

“We had the lease prior to COVID and it was a quite turnkey facility when we took it over and figured we needed to move on with it and we more than happy that we did,” David stated. “There are some growing pains, obviously.”

Opening during a pandemic indicated less excitement, less pomp and circumstance, and no grand opening.

“We needed to take on a whole nother aspect of security with our grand opening,” Amiee stated. “It’s not as welcoming to open a restaurant when you can’t have people dine in your establishment and loaf and talk, and toss a huge grand opening. It had a really various feel to a normal dining establishment opening.”

Among the important things that might potentially harm a new dining establishment throughout the pandemic is the 25% tenancy guideline currently in place, however there’s one type of food that people don’t typically eat at a restaurant– pizza.

“Luckily, it’s a pizzeria, so the nature of pizza is that individuals like to take it house and enjoy it in the house, so we have actually decided not to open our dining space at all,” Amiee stated.

The Anoias aren’t stopping at Robinson Town. Carnegie is next.

“That will ideally open end of the year, into 2021, that was actually slated for August of this year, but that was pressed back due to the fact that construction had not started prior to all of this,” David stated.

David said sales at their Strip District location are great and they hope for the very same success in Robinson once it captures on.

Similar To Pizzeria Davide, one of the ways brand-new restaurants have actually had the ability to open is having a place rented or in the works prior to the virus hitting.

For the new Walnut Grill in Bethel Park, it was a mix of that and a little innovation.

Establishing partner Marc Hourvitz said they served up the plan, ended up the building and construction, and now they’re open.

“We have been pushing the Pittsburgh market for almost 20 years, and particularly these last five, we simply search for nooks and crannies in our communities for brand-new areas for a Walnut Grill,” Hourvitz said. “Bethel Park was sitting there simply waiting on us.”

Unlike a pizzeria, Walnut Grill is a standard, dine-in dining establishment, so wouldn’t the capability limits be an obstacle?

“We dining establishment men, we think a little in a different way than the remainder of the world,” he stated. “We found a method using our outside patios to get people at the restaurant to sit outside, in the fresh air, beneath covered outdoor patios, and delight in a little more social life after months of handling coronavirus.”

What do people like Hourvitz and the Anoias know that others don’t?

“We’re not geniuses, anyone in the dining establishment business will inform you it resembles a science, you keep plugging away to see what works and we’ve constantly been a big staple of outdoor dining,” Hourvitz said.

For numerous in the restaurant service, throughout these unsure times, it’s about ignoring the negative, focusing on the favorable, and moving full-speed ahead.