Aloha KBAT FANS

I wanted to take a moment to give you a quick look at how and what we are doing so far, as we work through this crisis.

We began to experience a significant sales erosion around the weekend of March 7th. That slide continued through St. Patrick’s Day. During that period of 10 days we had already missed our projections by almost $10,000.

At that point it became clear, that Wednesday March 18th was going to be a difficult day. The math indicated that we would be unable to meet our payroll due on April 3rd. As a business owner I felt that it would be irresponsible for me to continue to employ my staff if there was a chance payroll obligations could not be met. The very difficult decision was made that all non salaried employees would be terminated and paid out vacation plus an additional check including a special 2 day paycheck. I wanted to put as much of the money I had, at the time, in the hands of my employees. This also allowed them to immediately begin the process of filing for the government help they deserve. Employees were offered an opportunity to come back to work as casual status when and if hours allowed. Thanks to the support of our guests, several of these employees have already been able to collect some hours.

Along with my salaried Kitchen Shift Leader and my Son (who was crisis furloughed from his job in California the week earlier, but also worked many hours as a teenager in KBAT) we transitioned to 100% Carry-Out service.

We have implemented the state’s guidelines for safe and essential food service operations. We are only allowing three guests at a time in the shop at one time along with designated tape lines for safer distancing. Our new procedures even include a chlorine based hand sanitizing station at our entry and before coming into contact with the staff or anything in our store. We have even turned away several guests (a.k.a. Jerks) who refused to sanitize their hands.

After discussion with our local suppliers we have made the decision to reduce the menu and utilize the community produced products made here on Big Island.. We have also significantly reduced the menu to reflect the availability of these items. Prices have also been reduced considerably in order to better accommodate our FANS and neighbors who are also struggling through this pandemic shutdown.

So…where are we now? The plain truth is, the rest is up to you…if there is no local demand (with the Governor’s new order, that’s all that will be here beginning tomorrow) for our product it simply makes no sense to keep the lights on.

Over the past week I have seen the progression and digression of many local restaurants. First they started to let you know they were cleaning, then they had less tables and were taking fewer reservations, then they were offering great prices, then they had a whole new take out program…..then they were closed. Restaurant closures irregardless of situation, share one thing in common, lack of business. Due to the nature of the business it is more profitable to close than to continue operations. Food , our inventory left unsold is either thrown away or requires the nation’s most expensive electricity to preserve.

So…what can you do?

-Call our info hotline daily 808-880-1923 x1 and LISTEN to the message.

-Let your friends and family know when we are open and how we are operating. Spread the word, if you can’t visit, PLEASE refer someone who can.

-Follow us on social media… we use Instagram @KohalaBurger and @SurfBurgerHawaii like, comment and share our posts.

-Pick a day or evening this week and plan your meal to be “carry-out” from Kohala Burger, we guarantee your meal to it to be TASTIER, FASTER, SAFER & LESS EXPENSIVE than a visit to Grocery store.

-This also gives YOU the opportunity to keep us going AND keeps YOUR LOCAL-BIG ISLAND Farmers, Fishers, Bakers & Tortilla Makers in business instead of a giant mainland grocery supplier.

-If we are not doing enough now PLEASE text us at 808-895-7339 and let us know what products or services we could provide to earn your business during this crisis.

We are taking this thing day by day. Here is what we know now. Due to the past few days sales levels and lack of demand we are closing today Wednesday March 25,

We will re-open Thursday March 26th 11:30am-3:30pm

Friday March 27th hours are 11:30am-7:30pm.

Mahalo and all the best, stay safe, pray,

Chef Cary