Some Richmond restaurant owners are turning to social media to ask locals for support as they struggle with rising costs and sluggish sales.
Why it matters: The pleas are helping fill tables in the short term, but the posts suggest local restaurants need a long-term solution.
State of play: In recent weeks, multiple local restaurants — including Gold Lion Community Cafe, Cobra Burger, Fat Rabbit bakery and Smashed RVA — have posted candid messages asking locals for more business.
- “This is our hail mary, as we are seeing over a 50% decrease in sales this June,” Gold Lion in Manchester wrote last month, adding that the drop in sales coincided with an increase in food and energy costs and a looming rent hike.
- “We need ya. Shit is brutal out here right now,” Union Hill bakery Fat Rabbit wrote last week.
- “At this rate I don’t know how much longer we can keep the burgs walking out the door,” Cobra Burger in Church Hill posted over Memorial Day weekend.
A half dozen other local restaurants echoed their concerns in the comments, saying they’re seeing a similar slump in their own dining rooms…