Over the years, “eating out” has changed immensely. We can thank Covid for that–but not necessarily in a negative way. Nowadays, being able to order your food in and sit down at your dining room table feels almost the same as that family home cooked meal. Yes, it’s pricey, but it’s the price you pay to be able to spend those precious few minutes with your people.
It has also become very important to us, as a
family, to support our local restaurant industry. We have first-hand experience with how hard it can be to stay afloat in the restaurant world.
My ex-husband opened a Scottish-fare restaurant called Balmoral in Campton Hills, IL a few months prior to the COVID shutdown (Go check it out if you’re in the area!). Balmoral, found themselves between a rock and a hard place when trying to figure out how the business was going to stay afloat during the pandemic.
With the help of a few dedicated customers—who opened a GoFundMe for Balmoral— and some very generous donations, they were able to keep their heads above water, obtain a consistent flow of customers, and keep pushing forward. Now, almost 5 years later, it's a successful, thriving business. Our son also works there from time to time when he’s not too busy with football or being a high school student. In-fact, he even wants to be a chef someday! (A topic for another day, but queue the proud mother's tears).