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Restaurant hopes for successful Valentine's Day in midst of COVID-19 pandemic

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Posted at 5:42 PM, Feb 12, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-12 18:21:54-05

(WXYZ) — In today’s We’re Open Detroit we’re focusing on ways to show some love to your “hunny” while showing some love to our local businesses.

Valentine’s Day is usually a busy holiday for restaurants, but many are still struggling amid the pandemic.

One restaurant in Grosse Pointe Woods is hoping you will get takeout as they continue to stay closed for indoor dining.

Garrido’s Bistro is open for business, but take-out only. The small restaurant hasn’t opened its dining room since last March. The owners survived on carry-out only and with Valentine’s Day around the corner, they are hoping you won’t forget about restaurants like this one.

“For the small restaurants to still be open right now, it’s a miracle.”

Vanessa Gonzalez fights backs tear when she thinks about how hard it has been to survive the challenges brought on by the pandemic.

This time last year, we featured Garrido’s Bistro as one of the most Instagramable restaurants in our area with their popular towering desserts.

2020 was supposed to be an amazing year for Vanessa. She expanded the restaurant and got a liquor license.

“Even my husband and I were planning to have our first baby in 2020 and then the pandemic hit.”

It has been almost a year. Valentine’s Day is the second busiest day for restaurants. According to the National restaurant association, before the pandemic, 51% of people they surveyed said they had plans to dine out on Valentine’s Day.

But at a 25% capacity limit, it’s not worth opening for Vanessa. She also believes it’s not safe just yet for her staff and customers.

They were open for outdoor dining for a few months, but that came to end because of the cold weather. Their towering desserts have been put on hold.

“Tried for months to make them to go, but it wouldn’t make it to the door or just look, not as great.”

The rest of the menu offers delicious Latin American cuisine, some with American twists like mac and cheese. With what could have been a lucrative long Valentine’s Day weekend, Vanessa is hoping to make up some of the business through carry-out only.

“This year being on a Sunday, I would expect to be busy from Thursday on, on a normal year.”

But nothing seems normal now.

Vanessa is hoping when you decided on dinner plans this weekend, it will include Garrido’s Bistro!

“Every single sell counts for us and we appreciate it.”

Garrido’s still offers desserts to-go. They are open for take-out starting at 4 pm this weekend.

https://www.garridosbistro.com/

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

Visit our The Rebound Detroit, a place where we are working to help people impacted financially from the coronavirus. We have all the information on everything available to help you through this crisis and how to access it.