Join our Pledge to Preserve

Thank you as always for supporting our small businesses.  Restaurants find themselves today in a peculiar situation.  On the one hand, they can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. On the other hand, they are still stuck in the tunnel.  If we don’t act vigorously, they are not going to make it.
Imagine a Long Branch without its restaurants!  Is that even possible? Consider the following sobering statistics: 

According to the Independent Restaurant Coalition (IRC), 1-in-4 jobs lost during the pandemic came from the food and beverage industry. That’s 5.9 million jobs. Now, 85 percent of independent restaurants are likely to close by the end of the year if no direct aid is provided.

To respond to this national restaurant crisis, each of us needs to do what we can in our own neighborhood, and that is why we are asking you to join the Pledge to Preserve Long Branch restaurants. 

Here is a bit of background.  Even in normal, non-pandemic years it is difficult to run a restaurant and keep it in the black. Imagine how hard it has been this past year! Many restaurants generate as much as half their annual income from  weddings, parties, and  holiday-related events (Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Christmas). This year all that has been cancelled. And as a result of the shut-downs and other restrictions, losses from day-to-day walk-in dining has likewise been huge. 

Our restaurants are resilient.  They have creatively changed their operating models. They have put in endless hours to feed our community and to provide their employees with a paycheck so that they can survive. 

As a result, Samantha’s, El Golfo, El Gavilan, La Pasion, Veronica’s, the Pupuseria Azucena, la Casita, the Panaderia, and the others  — have somehow managed to keep going.  But there is no guarantee they will all make it through the coming months — not without our vigorous support.   

Long Branch is not some faceless place. It is a real community. We’ve proven this repeatedly (remember the apartment fire everyone responded to so heroically?) So let’s do this thing.  Let’s make sure our restaurants – which, after all, are our home away from home — make it through these final, challenging months! 

Here are financial ways you can support:

• Pledge to dine at participating restaurants 3 times a month by joining our Pledge to Preserve. We will send out weekly reminders, specials and stories. 
• Dedicate a portion of your stimulus check  towards dining in Long Branch.
• Purchase Gift Cards.

Here are additional ways you can support:

• Help spread the word. Follow, like, share, post, repost on our social media accounts.
• Remind your friends and neighbors to go outside of their normal comfort zones and to discover Long Branch restaurants. 
• Write positive reviews on delivery/internet services. (Grub Hub, Uber Eats, Door Dash, Yelp etc.)
• Share pictures on your social media accounts and neighborhood listservs.