Champy’s owner Seth Champion used to only schedule extra people to handle takeout when the weather was bad, which tends to divert diners from the restaurant to the carryout window, he says.
With the past year’s forecast cloudy, so to speak, his three restaurants have been flooded with takeout orders. And the trend doesn’t show signs of receding.
“People got used to going through the window,” he says of the continued deluge, adding, “But dine-in is back 100%. We’re just as busy as we’ve ever been.”
The volume of takeout has been so great, Champion changed the kitchen setup at each of his locations.
“We have split our expo lines to where we have one expo line that does nothing but to-go (food) and another for in-house (meals),” he says. “We’re essentially running two kitchens now.”