Gallo Blanco reopened its doors this week for the second time since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Garfield neighborhood cafe and bar on 928 E. Pierce St. closed in March because it was “not sustainable to be open,” owner and chef of Gallo Blanco Doug Robson said.
Robson also said Gallo Blanco closed out of concern for its employee and staff’s safety, as well as the “consumer confidence” that wasn’t there.
“In order for us to survive, we need the downtown community, and those are the students, the sporting events, the convention business and the people that work downtown,” he said.
The cafe has instilled many precautions to keep their employees, staff and customers safe. Robson said the cafe reduced its seating to 50% with a shift to patio and outdoor dining and will be taking temperatures of its staff.
“I think it is going to be safer for people to be outdoors and have limited seating inside,” Robson said.
The Gallo Blanco staff is also required to wear facemasks. Before they clock in for work, staff must check with the manager, where Robson said the manager takes temperatures and asks the staff members a list of questions about COVID-19.
“All the tables (have been) purposely spaced so they are no closer than 6 feet from any other guest,” Robson said.
The CDC website goes into depth for restaurants and bars on how to reduce the spread, keep a healthy environment and manage sick employees.
“We reopened in May, only to have another surge in COVID, where once again it was just not smart for us to stay open, and our sales were not where they needed to be in order to be sustainable, so we shut it down again,” Robson said.
Gallo Blanco closed for the second time “because it’s not sustainable for a restaurant, to keep it open with no business,” Carlos Diaz, the executive chef at Gallo Blanco and Otro Cafe, said. “That hurts even more because we were super excited.”
Otro cafe is a sister company of Gallo Blanco, located at 6035 N. 7th St. in Phoenix. Otro Cafe also closed because of COVID-19, but reopened in August.
“It was bad and a little bit scary,” Diaz said. “It is hard to close and open and close and open.”
Robson “consolidated the teams” and brought some of the employees from Gallo Blanco to Otro Cafe to help reopen it in August.
“The team that reopened Otro is not going to go back to Gallo,” Robson said. “My whole goal was to preserve as many jobs as I could for people.”
Gallo Blanco and Otro Cafe have many loyal employees who have been with the company since 2002, Robson said. Diaz has worked with Robson for 11 years.
“I really like and believe in the culture of the company, you know, using local sources and supporting the community,” Diaz said.
Robson thinks the government has done a good job in making sure employees were taken care of during this time period. He previously looked into grants, but felt that they weren’t right for the restaurant.
Diaz said he hopes to have community support and that the restaurant is both excited and fearful for the second reopening.
“What happens if we open and then we have to shut it down again, you know, as a small business, we can’t keep doing that,” Robson said. “It’s more than just a business, it’s a community, it’s my people.”
Contact the reporter at astanbri@asu.edu.
