TASTE
The Al Fresco program provides outdoor dining in the DOCO plaza and has brought more customers to the area .
But he also has a mantra he ’ s been telling customers in the meantime : “ Right now ’ s the time to really just support more than you think you need to .”
Blocks away from K Street Mall and DOCO , Capitol Garage co-owner Jerry Mitchell is finishing up on a Friday where he now closes at 3 p . m . — there just isn ’ t enough business to justify keeping his American cuisine restaurant and bar open later .
Mitchell has seen other challenging periods in the near 30 years his business has operated . “ The worst one was 9 / 11 ,” Mitchell says . “ That was pretty dramatic , because it was like an instant 30 percent drop in business , just people being in shock , and it probably took six months to come back . But it doesn ’ t compare to this .”
Asked if he ’ s seen a 50-70 percent business decrease with COVID-19 , Mitchell answers affirmatively and then adds , “ If not more .”
A loan through the U . S . Small Business Administration ’ s Paycheck Protection Program has helped stem the tide for Capitol Garage . “ Without the PPP loan , we probably would not have survived ,” Mitchell says . “ That was the lifesaver there .”
But Mitchell ’ s keeping busy during the pandemic . On this day , he ’ s in the middle of a major indoor renovation project that will take a few weeks and cost nearly $ 200,000 . “ If you feel like you can survive , then you got to plan for the future ,” Mitchell says . “ Because the demand will be high once everybody ’ s allowed to open back .”
What emerges post-pandemic remains to be seen . Valenzuela wonders how many people will return to work downtown and if creative reuse might be undertaken on some of the office buildings to create more housing .
“ We have to look at that future that might not look exactly as it did before ,” Valenzuela says . “ I think there ’ s some folks who think we ’ ll bounce back to exactly the same situation that it was pre-pandemic . I really don ’ t think that ’ s likely . And I think there ’ s an exciting opportunity for us to reimagine what it looks like downtown .”
A few weeks later , on a cloudy Monday in March , John Biller , the service manager at Sauced BBQ & Spirits in
DOCO , scrambles to find the resume of a job applicant who has just returned his phone call . With COVID-19 case numbers falling , his restaurant is busier and needs more staff .
Like so many restaurants over the past year , Sauced has struggled , with Biller estimating that 90 percent of the staff was furloughed when the restaurant initially began to offer takeout only . It ’ s a far cry from the packed crowds who used to grab a quick bite before heading to a game at nearby Golden 1 Center . But the restaurant has persevered , making building up its to-go business part of its long-term survival strategy .
“ Sometimes when things make you change , you ’ re better for it , because of the fact that you ’ re learning to adapt ,” Biller says . “ But you ’ re also learning to think outside the box .”
Graham Womack is a freelance writer based in Sacramento . His work has appeared in a variety of publications , including the San Francisco Chronicle , The Sacramento Bee , and Sacramento News & Review . On Twitter @ grahamdude .
32 comstocksmag . com | April 2021