THE RESTAURANT sector that has been hardly hit by the lockdown regulations are using their creativity to turn compliance with the law into profit.
At Waterkloof Corner Shopping Centre two restaurants have started delivering orders to customers’ cars in the parking lot.
Goddess Cafe and PIZAeVINO use wood trays that fit in various cars to serve their customers. Social distancing is observed at all times.
The restaurant has loyal customers who not only love the menu and beverages, but are intent on seeing the businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.
With the sale of alcohol prohibited, restaurants have taken a massive knock in revenue, and had no choice but to figure out how to make ends meet between paying rent and staff salaries.
PIZAeVINO general manager Dawid van der Walt said their name was Italian for pizza and wine, which meant that with the ban on the sale of alcohol, one half of their identity had been taken away.
As a result, unity between the two restaurants made it easy for them to arrangement with the centre management to utilise parking bays to serve customers.
He said people who saw the initiative on social media loved it and wanted to experience it. According to him, the innovative idea had brought some normalcy to the otherwise abnormal situation brought about by the pandemic.
Jordan Martin of Goddess management said: "Like most businesses, including PIZAeVINO, we had to change shifts and spread them out evenly to ensure that our staff was able to survive and take care of their expenses, and we are happy it has been going well.
"We utilised Instagram to market the new way of doing things, and the reception has been good. We even take flowers and put them on the trays as our customers wait for their meals, and they are loving it," Martin said.
Mpho Mokoena took his wife Given out on a birthday lunch, and the couple had a lovely time, sharing a meal in their car and taking pictures of the experience.
Given said she saw the initiative on Instagram and decided she wanted her husband to take her there “to give it a try”.
Young couple Francois Behr and Nina Kruger said they were so happy that they could enjoy their favourite meals while keeping away from other people in the privacy in their car.