Louis Barrios (middle) with customers.
By Kathleen Furore
On March 19, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order that prohibited in-house dining and drinking at restaurants and bars but still allowed takeout. Four days later, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg issued “Stay Home, Work Safe” emergency orders for the city. And on April 28, restaurants (not bars) learned they could open May 1 with limited capacity (25 percent for most locations, 50 percent for rural counties with five or fewer new coronavirus cases). On May 12, el Restaurante editor Kathleen Furore spoke with Louis Barrios, co-owner with his sister Diana Barrios Trevino of Los Barrios, La Hacienda de Los Barrios, La Hacienda Scenic Loop and Viola’s Ventanas to find out how the restaurants have weathered the crisis and how they’re moving ahead in the “new normal.”
Things changed rapidly for all of the restaurants in the Los Barrios family’s empire as soon as orders came down from on high.
“When the mayor issued the stay-at-home orders, all of our restaurants went to curbside orders. We weren’t really set up to do that, but we always had done carryout, so we just shifted the business model,” Barrios recalls. But that didn’t last for long—at least initially.
“Our revenue was sliding—we only brought in about 10 to 15 percent of our revenue then,” Barrios says. “So, we closed Viola’s Ventanas first, then the other three restaurants, and focused on cleaning and on getting our PPP loans. Our big concern was not receiving PPP loans, so we started to cut our overhead dramatically, laid off 200 employees, put 100 on ‘shared’ lists (with other businesses), and kept 24 employees on the payroll. We knew we needed a base of people once we were able to reopen—it was the best move we made.”
Once the loans arrived, things changed. Because the business could cover payroll, utilities and rent, the restaurants reopened for curbside orders for the second time.
“We did it in a staggered way because we needed to get people back and into a rhythm and synced for lunch and dinner shifts,” Barrios says. “We were just getting ready to start curbside at our fourth location—Viola’s Ventanas—when the governor announced restaurants could open May 1 at 25 percent capacity.”
CREATIVITY DURING CRISIS
A creative, proactive approach to operating in crisis mode helped the restaurants stay afloat. In addition to offering to-go, delivery (through DoorDash and Frnd-Ships) and curbside pickup, Barrios brought back musicians who had entertained in-house pre-Covid, transforming them into street musicians who played as customers picked up orders at La Hacienda de Los Barrios and La Hacienda Scenic Loop.
“Our musicians are independent contractors who are like family to us,” Barrios says. “We said, ‘Let us do curbside La Hacienda-style and serenade you!’ to our customers. They were very generous—they were giving $20, $40, $60 cash tips!”
Barrios also got customer favorites like the Tex-Mex Enchilada Meal into local H-E-B stores—a fortuitous move that opened more doors: organizations including Methodist Hospital, the San Antonio Spurs and Frontline Foods (a group that partnered with World Central Kitchen—the charitable organization led by Chef José Andrés—to support restaurants impacted by shelter-in-place measures while feeding healthcare workers on the front lines) reached out for food.
“All of those things provided incremental business,” Barrios says.
EVALUATING REDUCED CAPACITY
Friday, May 1 marked the reopening of Texas restaurants. All of the Barrios family’s restaurants resumed business that day. Customers sign up at the hostess stand and wait in their cars until a table—with a limit of 6 guests per table—is ready. All play areas are closed, and disposable menus, condiments served only upon request and in single-use portions, and a hand sanitizing station at entrances are now the norm.
Still, results have been mixed.
“We all wear masks and gloves, constantly clean and follow all CDC requirements. Those things aren’t hard to do when you’re only doing 10 to 15 percent of your regular business—social distancing isn’t a problem,” he says. “If we had a full house, it would be harder.”
On Mother’s Day, La Hacienda de Los Barrios got close to 25 percent—but that’s been the best situation so far. “It wouldn’t have mattered if the governor said we could be open at 100 percent,” Barrios says. “Some people are afraid to get out—they’re going to be cautious, especially in high-density areas. For 90 percent of all our customers, this is their first time out since the pandemic started. Right now, they’re just dipping their toe in the pool.”
The fact the restaurants are big, with huge patios, has been a benefit.
“The trend had been for restaurants to get smaller and smaller, I had been getting bigger—and I had been beating myself up about that,” Barrios says. “But now it’s working to our advantage! I don’t think it would have been worth reopening if we didn’t have those big spaces.”
LOOKING AHEAD
With decades of restaurant experience, and countless contacts in the industry, Barrios seems ideally suited to weigh in on what lies ahead. But even this long-time restaurateur is stumped.
“It’s like the question which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Who comes back first, the employees or the customers?” he says. “If it’s the employees, you might not be able to generate enough income to cover things like payroll…so the customers have to come back first. But they might not get the dining experience they prefer because you won’t have enough employees to provide it.”
Then there’s the dilemma of recalling employees who aren’t eager to give up their stimulus benefits, currently set to run out in July. “It’s immoral to turn employees in for unemployment fraud if you can’t guarantee them the hours and don’t have the revenue to support the payroll…but if they wait to come back, there might not be any jobs to come back to,” Barrios says. “It’s a delicate balance—it’s like a minefield.”
While things have worked out for Barrios’ business (“We got the PPP loans, we’re sprawled out, and we’ve been able to work with H-E-B and other organizations. We were at the right place at the right time—I give credit to God,” he says), he isn’t sure what advice to offer his peers.
“If they got a PPP loan and have a large space, I would say, ‘Yes, open as fast as you can, get into a rhythm, and be creative about getting your customers back,’” Barrios concludes. “If they didn’t get a PPP loan, and don’t have a large patio, I don’t know what to tell them. What can they leverage to open again?