#GetTakeoutMN hopes to connect restaurants with customers during latest restrictions
A Minnesotan gets takeout from a local restaurant during a 4-week pause to in-person dining in the state.
(FOX 9) - Minnesota officials want residents to consider getting takeout from Minnesota’s 8,700 restaurants this holiday season.
Northbound Smokehouse is one of those restaurants and is known for smoking all of its own meats. Owner Jamie Robinson is worried how long his business will last if it can only offer take out until the middle of next month.
“It’s really important we get some sales in here even though we’re not really built for to-go,” said Northbound Smokehouse Brewpub. “It’s the only revenue we can have at this point.”
With new restrictions banning all in-person dining at bars and restaurants to combat a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is asking people to support their favorite local restaurants by ordering takeout this holiday season.
“We want to help as many restaurants as we can in Minnesota so we can preserve those jobs or that revenue they bring to the economy and the culture they bring to our state,” said Steve Grove, Minnesota’s DEED Commissioner.
DEED is also encouraging Minnesotans to share photos and stories on social media with the hashtag #GetTakeoutMN and for restaurants to post their to-go menu items using the same hashtag.
“We’ve got to come together as a state and do everything we can to help this industry get through a tough time,” Grove said.
As a brewpub, selling their own beer to-go is helping Northbound Smokehouse’s bottom line, but with business down 60 percent doing takeout only, Robinson says every little bit helps.
“Pick a restaurant and order as much as you can from those restaurants these next four weeks,” he said.