Two Years Later: Bellevue Restaurants Wrestle with Continued Challenges

The restaurant business has always been filled with a variety of hardships. However, during the past two years, restaurants across the nation have experienced a growing number of challenges. We spoke to many locals in the restaurant business, including the owners of Roma’s Italian Restaurant, Golden Bowl, and The Bánh Mì Shop, to find out what their personal experiences have been since April of 2020 – When restaurants across the country began to shut down for, what was then, an undetermined amount of time. Through several conversations, it was clear that each had similar hardships to deal with, but they also spoke about Bellevue – and how the community takes pride in supporting local businesses.

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Chloe Tran – Owner, The Bánh Mì Shop

Q: What are some challenges your business has faced in the past two years?

A: I would say it is the uncertainty. In the past few years since the pandemic started, we really didn’t know what to expect. From pandemic-related issues to supply chain, gas prices, etc, we’re just waiting to see what the next challenge will be.

Q: What are some specific examples of how much food or supply prices have risen?

A: In the beginning, we were getting gloves for $23 a case and during the height of the pandemic it shot up to over $100 a case. Cooking oil was around $19 and went up to $40. We’re getting used to seeing things double or even triple in price. We just have to hang on and hope it will be back to normal sometime soon.

Q: How have you handled staffing issues?

A: There have been short periods of time when we are a little short-handed, but nothing we couldn’t cover. We did raise wages for our current team members to stay competitive and most importantly to pay them a comparable wage for the current market. We are lucky to have a very awesome group of people working for us. Being a small restaurant with a small team does help take some of that stress off of hiring.

Q: How has the Bellevue community responded to your business over the past two years?

A: Very supportive! Bellevue has a great sense of community and our customers take pride in supporting locals. We would not be where we are today without them. That is why we try to remain positive and work through our challenges with the least impact on our customers. Our customers face similar challenges, yet still support us, so we want to show them that we appreciate them spending their time and hard-earned money at our business.

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John Stevens – Owner, Golden Bowl

Q: What are some of the challenges your business has faced in the past two years?

A: At the beginning of the pandemic, the biggest challenge for us was finding good, quality staff. For 2022, our biggest challenge is the rapidly increasing food/supply costs. We have to call five different vendors to see if they have certain products we need.

Q: What are some specific examples of how much food or supply prices have risen?

A: Our carryout containers are up 50% from nine months ago.

Q: Where do you see your restaurant five years from now?

A: I see most restaurants doing 75% of more carryout and delivery in five years. Not so much now, but in the future, I think many people are going to slowly move away from the dining out experience. I personally prefer to dine in rather than carry out.

Q: How has the Bellevue community responded to your business over the past two years?

A: The Bellevue community has been very supportive. Not only were they continuing to order frequently from us, but they have also been tipping our team very nicely!

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Albert Gashi – Owner, Roma’s Italian Restaurant

Q: What are some of the challenges your business has faced in the past two years?

A: At the beginning when the pandemic first hit we didn’t know what was going to happen like everyone else. From a business standpoint, we didn’t know how we were going to remain open, however we saw many restaurants doing curbside pick up, which prompted us to do the same – that’s what got us through the beginning. After that, it was hard finding employees and getting our supplies and having to deal with the increased prices of everything. We also had to change our hours because we just didn’t have enough staff to cover all the shifts.

Q: Have you had staffing issues?

A: Yes, we had to change our hours because our staff was overworked and we simply didn’t have enough employees to cover the shifts.

Q: What are some specific examples of how much food or supply prices have risen?

A: Chicken! Fresh chicken breasts used to be $40.00 a case and they are $120.00! We have a large variety of chicken dishes on our menu and we serve a lot of it per dish.

Q: How has the Bellevue community responded to your business over the past two years?

A: Bellevue, as always, has been the biggest support for our business. We’ve never seen a city quite like Bellevue. The surrounding areas have also been amazing and we have a lot of return customers that we’ve gotten to know by name. They have supported us from the very beginning and during the pandemic, they never stopped supporting us. Word of mouth has definitely gotten us where we are too and we are thankful for our new customers also!

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We wanted to close with some final thoughts by Chloe Tran. She talks about the restaurant experience and why it is important to so many people. Most everyone we spoke to at restaurants across Bellevue had similar sentiments. Tran said, “Although it has been challenging for restaurants and businesses as a whole, we like to focus on why we are in this business. Restaurants have never been an easy business, but I have fond memories of eateries I’ve been to throughout my life. I think it is because restaurants are places that provide special meals and experiences outside your home. Everyone has their own challenges, so why come to a sad place to get a dreary meal? We love to serve people, whether they come in for a quick meal, meet up with friends, go on a date, grab a bite after long nights at the hospital, etc. The human experience has been important to us, so we hope to continue providing that positive environment despite challenges behind the scene.”