On Sunday, the lives of restaurant owners, employees, vendors, and loyal customers changed for the foreseeable future: all restaurant dining rooms in the State of Illinois were ordered to close until the end of the month, at minimum, in efforts to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19 in our communities.

Those restaurants that can pivot to a curbside pickup, delivery, and/or drive-thru model are attempting to do so, while others simply have been forced to shutter for the time-being.

“We are all in times we’ve never expected. For some businesses, like Beef-a-Roo, a locally owned business…will do pretty good during this,” says Scott Frank, owner of Ciao Bella Italian Kitchen on E. Riverside in Loves Park speaking on the transition to drive-thru and curbside service. “We’re a destination, we’re a dine-in restaurant…we are open from 11:00 to 7:00 for curbside carryout, or if anyone wants large catering orders, which we’re doing every day during lunch for a couple of businesses.”

Having had to lay off most of his staff on Monday, Frank and Ciao Bella have simplified to a menu of the restaurant’s most popular dishes, being executed by their chef Arturo, Scott, and his wife Brit, “we’ve got our best selling dishes on there, some dynamite pasta, some fantastic salmon, some great salads…”

Josh Binning and Lucha Cantina in the Edgebrook Shopping Center have also chosen to go at it head-on, open at 4:00 every weekday with their full menu available via a new, temporary curbside service setup, “we’ve got our parking lot setup with a tent out here, with hot boxes to keep your food nice and hot until you arrive, we’ve got a drive up lane…we only ask that you bring your own pen to sign your credit card slips.” And Binning knows everyone is playing with the hand they’ve been dealt, “we’re here, we’re having a good time with our customers…we even had Skyler from Culture Shock DJing out here last night. We’re just trying to make the most of it for us right here, and frankly we’re having a good time, we’ve been given some lemons so let’s make some lemonade, and some fun lemonade at that!”

Though, Binning knows their take on the situation might not be the same as many of their friends in the restaurant community, “It’s unique for every single business. We’re doing it this one way, and there’s restaurants that are just deciding that ‘we’re just going to kinda shut down for a little awhile’ and both of those approaches are absolutely fine…it’s really unique to each and every single business.”

“You’ll see a lot of small business owners put a stop to everything and that’s the LAST thing to do. We need support, customers more than ever and advertising is the last thing to stop during these times. The first day was better than expected. We did 83 orders and only 2 of those were through Grubhub” says Nick Fosberg, owner of Casey’s Pub and Fozzy’s Bar & Grill on E. Riverside.

“The people who came and picked up food were very generous about tips and it put some hope into our staff and their future.”

Benny Salamone of Franchesco’s Ristorante says they are offering free delivery during the shutdown and continuing their existing carryout menu, “people are very excited and grateful that we are able to do this for them, and I think that the same goes for most of the businesses in town that are offering the same service.”

But for many without food service to help keep the doors open, some local bars and businesses, like Bullpen Bar & Slots on E. Riverside have found their hands tied without options, “[It’s a] complete nightmare taking place. Unfortunately, I am not sure if we will be able to reopen which is scary,” voiced owner Joe Giacone.

So how do we help?

“Every restaurant has a unique way to help. Call them. See what you can do to help. For us, the best way you can help at Lucha Cantina is ordering curbside pickup, we’ll have it ready for you”, shares Binning “For some restaurants, the best way to help might be going and buying a giftcard.”

Scott at Ciao Bella rings the same sentiment, “call us for a curbside carryout, or call us and say you want to buy giftcards. We have wonderful customers that said they understand they can’t come in and eat, but want to drive up and buy giftcards. Support the local businesses, every little bit counts!”

For Fozzy’s and Casey’s Pub, there’s incentive, “To keep business going and fun we’re giving away a free roll of toilet paper when people order 2 meals or more. If they buy $25 in food they’ll get $5 in gift cards after we open back up to [the] public. If they order $50 or more they’ll get $10“ says Fosberg.

Check out the ever-growing, up-to-date list of local Stateline restaurants that are open and serving via curbside, delivery, and drive-thru HERE