How COVID-19 Has Changed Business for Restaurants That Decided to Stay Open During the Pandemic.

Employees pictured outside of Aunt Catfish’s to celebrate 40 years of business in 2019 | Photo courtesy of David Martin Fox35’s Facebook page

Editor’s Note: A King’s student quarantined at home near Daytona Beach, Fla., reports on the restaurant his extended family manages and how it has adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

PORT ORANGE, Fla. – Amid the novel Coronavirus pandemic, many small businesses and restaurants are choosing to close their doors. Aunt Catfish’s on the River, located in Port Orange, Fla., is an anomaly to that trend.

At the beginning of the Dunlawton causeway sits an old building overlooking the Halifax River. It’s the quintessential spot to view an early morning sunrise or watch a pod of dolphins make a quick gasp up for air. This location is also home to Aunt Catfish’s on the River, a family-owned seafood restaurant. 

For 41 years now, the restaurant has been running like a well-oiled machine, with each worker doing their part to fulfill the ultimate goal: giving the customer the best service possible. Prep workers kick start the workday at 4 a.m. by gearing up the kitchen and preparing for the busy day. By the end of the night, the restaurant has served an average of 700 people.

When concerns began to rise over the Coronavirus pandemic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that restaurants would have to move to a carryout service or close their doors for the time being. Brendan Galbreath, owner of Aunt Catfish’s, decided to keep business going as normal as possible, with a drive-through system in the parking lot instead of seating customers in the dining room.

A truck displaying the “Drive-Thru” sign lets customers know the restaurant is open | Photo courtesy of Aunt Catfish’s on the River

“The news kept coming to us and constantly changing. We were busy Monday night, then shut down to 50% capacity Tuesday afternoon. By Thursday we began to think 50% would be OK for a while if we adjusted labor costs and food purchases...” Galbreath said. “Then Friday came and they shut the dining room down. That was tough. We went to carry-out right away, but saw the sales just wouldn't be there.”

It took a few runs of trial and error to get the method of carryout service working efficiently while maintaining the new restaurant guidelines set by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Once Aunt Catfish’s adjusted to the drive-through service, focus shifted to employees, budgeting costs, and applying for the Paycheck Protection Program (P.P.P.) loan. 

To keep labor costs down, roughly 80 percent of employees were asked to take a furlough and the restaurant created a smaller menu to keep food orders low. With the decline in travelers and the lost revenue to the tourism industry that Florida relies heavily on, Galbreath stayed optimistic that the economy would reopen quickly.

“This has no end in sight and will be a slow bleed of cash for an unknown period of time,” Galbreath said. “To go with that, we rely on beachside hotels to be full to supply a lot of our dinner guests. We need them to reopen also so the cycle can resume.”

Hopeful attitudes are something that a lot of owners and employees are keeping up these days as the economic shutdown has forced many small businesses to close. Laura Brickel, a manager at Aunt Catfish’s, has been a dedicated worker in the family business for many years and Galbreath is her first cousin. 

Brickel began waiting tables at the Galbreath family’s previous restaurant in the 1970’s and has stayed in the family business ever since. 

From surviving a tornado to waiting on celebrity John Travolta, Brickel has truly seen it all. 

“It was just like any other table,” Brickel said, regarding her experience waiting on Travolta. “You never know who you could be waiting on. Him and his friend ate lunch and talked for a little bit and left.” 

Many things contribute to the success of a restaurant. The longevity of Aunt Catfish’s is a testament that good customer service and hospitality can make or break a business. Servers greet their tables by calling everyone “cousins” and use words such as “libations” and “folks” to keep with the Southern tradition and charm people have come to know. Brickel believes these factors have kept the business afloat for the last 41 years.

“It’s always had a unique style. We’re on the fourth generation of Galbreaths that are starting to learn how to take over and it’s [the restaurant] staying family oriented,” Brickel said. “Jim Galbreath [Aunt Catfish’s previous owner] always told me that good service keeps people coming back. Food and location are just a piece of the puzzle.”

The Coronavirus pandemic is unlike anything Brickel has seen in her nearly 62-year lifetime. She believes choosing to stay open was the best approach to keeping Aunt Catfish's stable during the Coronavirus.

“An absolute YES.” Brickel said. “Opening the drive-through was key to letting the customers know we are not going anywhere.”

When applying for the P.P.P. loan, it was essential for the restaurant to stay open. After the drive-through service began running smoothly and the kinks were worked out, Galbreath then felt it was a priority to get the loan.

“My motivation is to keep employees paid for two reasons: to hold up my end of the deal for being a teammate of theirs and also to keep an experienced group together to be ready for reopening the restaurant,” Galbreath said. “Nothing would be worse than going through this and having to recreate a staff to get reopened.”

Both Galbreath and Brickel shared a piece of advice for when the restaurant returns to its “new normal.” They want their employees to know that a good work ethic goes far in life.

“The food service industry can become a lifelong career for people,” Brickel said. “You have to be the one who takes the initiative if it’s what you really want.”

For Galbreath, it’s his faith in God that has kept him going.

“For me it's Christian music turned up loud as I go throughout my day,” he said. “It's in the car, on my workout playlist, on my phone when I'm cleaning the pool and any other time I'm able to play it.”

The small business aspect of Aunt Catfish’s can be seen through the resilience that the community of “cousins” have formed during this unprecedented time. The group of employees who continue to work during the pandemic have put themselves at risk to keep the customers coming in.

“The ‘guest experience’ is by far the most important key to Aunt Catfish's longevity,” Galbreath said, describing the restaurant's legacy. “It consists of great food, a clean restaurant, great service, waterfront views, many homemade recipes, unique offerings and more. It’s all these things done really well day after day after day.”