WAUWATOSA — For a local sports bar and grill like Leff's Lucky Town, St.Patricks day paired with a Bucks playoff run and Brewers opening day was setting up March to a be a huge month.
"Everything was falling into place and then boom, everything shut down dramatically and quickly," Mike Szohr, general manager at Leff's, said.
Moving quickly to combat COVID-19 and the pause it put on life, Szohr started to promote carry out.
- The List: These Restaurants Are Offering Carryout, Delivery
- Are You Open? Submit Your Business!
- The Rebound Milwaukee: Resources For Getting Back To Normal
"You can't make that up. You can't go back in time and take those losses and make them all back up. So the plan and the model currently, and again everything is day-to-day now, the goal is gradually to rebrand and rebuild," Szohr said.
Now months later, Leff's can serve at 50-percent capacity.
But that hasn't stopped to-go orders from coming in, so Mike has decided to take advantage of Leff's outdoor space for dine-in customers.
"A lot of the tables from inside are out here and we still have a significant to-go business so we still need the large assembly line like kitchen area," Szohr said.
Though as Mike points out, more tables mean more opportunities for his waiters and waitresses.
"A vast, vast majority have all come back, and they are getting full-time hours. Its been full. All these spread out tables, people are coming and enjoying a little bit of time outdoors. Seeing people and socializing from afar," Szohr said.
Leff's has been around for 25 years. To the customers then and now, Mike said he will forever be grateful.
"We can't thank them enough. Without the support of the community and our customer base, we would have had nothing for two months. As much as we need to be open, totally, the support that those people gave us, it gave us just enough," Szohr said.