HOUSTON — It was a bustling scene at Common Bond Cafe in Montrose Monday. And if it weren’t for the masks, you might not even know that this Labor Day brunch was different than any other year.
But if you look closer, you can see just how much has changed from past Houston Restaurant Weeks.
“A lot of time when we’re busy like today, we wouldn’t even answer the phones… well now it’s 50-60% of our business is takeout, delivery, curbside," said Common Bond Cafe CEO George Joseph
Joseph has operated this location since 2014 and they've participated in Houston Restaurant Weeks ever since.
While last year's Restaurant Weeks were also during the pandemic, this year’s promotion coincided with an added hurdle -- the surge of the delta variant.
“Restaurants started filling up again and our sales were tracking higher than the year before COVID," Joseph said. "And then now - August it’s softened because of the delta variant. People are getting more nervous. Restaurant Weeks probably helped us to be a little further along than where we would have been."
And it’s showing in the workforce. According to the Bureau of Labor, the leisure and hospitality industry had increased by 350,000 jobs nationally in previous six months. In August, it was stagnant.
“We've been fortunate because our culture is strong. We didn't lay people off during the pandemic. We work hard to make people feel part of the team, we have our core values," Joseph explained. "But as we've expanded and people move up the ranks and we try to get the people coming into the industry, we know that a lot of people left the industry because of the pandemic. It’s a tough line of work.”
So much is still unknown as the pandemic continues, but their ability to adapt is helping them continue to grow even during the most challenging times. Common Bond will open their eighth location in downtown Houston later this month.
“We’ve learned a lot. We’ve improved so much.”
Common Bond has sold over 430 meals for Restaurant Weeks and will be donating $5,000 to the Houston Food Bank. They’ve even added drive-through locations to keep business accessible.