How One Newton Restaurant Is Surviving The Pandemic

NEWTON, MA — Arpit Patel, owner of Baramor Resturant in Newton Centre, left his job in finance to have a little more control over his destiny. He thought he had that with his restaurant at the corner of Langley and Union streets. He was proud of the growing number of regulars, of his weekly menu changes and his customer service. But just shy of a year anniversary in business, the coronavirus pandemic struck.

"The scariest part of this has been the uncertainty," Patel said.

His business model -where people will stop by after work for drinks and a good dinner -meant takeout wasn't a viable option.

"That would have accelerated our cash burn and cost in general," he said.

So, he closed for what was then supposed to only be three weeks. That turned into three months. Without customers, hundreds of dollars worth of food and beer had to be tossed. He was competing with unemployment and people worried about the virus. He set to work trying to figure out how to make reopening, staying in business work. Bills were piling up, and it became a game of triage on how to defer or negotiate deferments and mitigate cash burn. Somewhere in there he got an email from the city's economic planning division about a grant he could apply to it. Within an hour of receiving the email he applied.

Then the governor announced fewer restrictions and that restaurants could serve outside. On June 8, with nine tables outside his restaurant, he opened again. His staff had no problem wearing face coverings or doing their best to distance themselves. He had developed a new QR code menu, so that customers could read the menu from their phone and he would not have to worry about them touching a menu. He saw immediate business, even having to turn dozens of excited would-be guests away.

The next biggest push was asking for a parking spot extension, so that he could use the parking spaces in front of his restaurant to add even more tables. That came last week with a relief and immediate interest.

But then came the rain.

"It was pretty demoralizing to see our business not exist because of the rain," Patel said. Even though the governor has allowed restaurants to serve inside up to 20 percent of capacity, that's about six tables for Baramor, and, customers don't seem ready to eat inside. Fewer customers mean less income and his staff just, sort of, waits. The restaurant eats the loss.

"We were at a terrible stretch," Patel said, adding that other restaurants saw the same thing.

Right about then, he got notice that he was one of seven small businesses in Newton to win a $15,000 economic recovery grant from the city. The City received federal CARES Act funding in early May and targeted $300,000 to help Newton’s small brick and mortar establishments facing financial challenges because of COVID-19.

City officials said 107 businesses owners applied, and after a committee consisting of two Economic Development Commission members and Newton Planning staff reviewed the applications, they were able to award grants of $10,000 and $15,000 to 27 businesses.

"It gave us hope," Patel told the Patch. "And it takes some of the pressure off."

The money will go toward paying paying bills he's defaulted on or deferred and the rent, which is one of the biggest costs he's facing right now.

Pandemic has meant he's had to take on new costs from personal protective equipment for staff and guests, to umbrella bases, and outdoor tables - specially fitted for the uneven pavement.

Rents were negotiated when businesses were booming and generally was set to between 6 and 8 percent of sales. It's going to be impossible to meet those rent requirements right now, he said.
The grant helps for the short term, but, like most restaurant owners he's having to have conversations with the landlord to figure out a compromise for longer term.

The money from business now, also goes to paying off the bills.

"We're not making money at this point, we're just paying off bills," Patel said. "The goal is obviously to make a big dent in those bills, if not pay them off. So come fall, we can reassess and take a more forward look."

Despite it all, he's cautiously optimistic about the rest of the summer and keeping a healthy workforce, and safe place for staff and guests.

"The biggest question mark right now is the ability to negotiate a reasonable rent. That's critical to our longevity," he said.

The rest, he said, depends on where the world goes and when a vaccine is created. Patel said, like other business owners, are watching consumer behavior and he hopes to evolve to meet the needs of the guests, he so badly wants to serve.

"This data is scary so unless we see a vaccine, this isn't gong to change much," he said. "It's all going day by day right now."

Baramor is situated at 45 Union Street.They are open:

• 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday and Tuesday
• 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday - Friday
• 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday and Saturday.

They have both reserve ahead and walk in options.

Also read:

Terry O'Reilly's To Close, Baramor To Open In Newton

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a press release you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how to post a press release, a column, event or opinion piece.