Supporting Beloved Staff of Eat Here Now in NYC
Eat Here Now 839 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10065. On the corner of 64 ST and Lexington Avenue on the UES.
We are a family owned neighborhood restaurant that has been here for 30 years. These funds will go directly to helping pay the salaries of 5 staff members (and hopefully more in the future).
My name is Jack Elamrousi and I am the owner and manager of a diner on the corner of 64 ST and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I immigrated to the United States 35 years ago and originally started working at Eat Here Now as a bus boy. Eventually, I became the proud owner of the very place I used to work. To me, Eat Here Now is what NYC is all about. At any given point you can hear at least four different languages being spoken, you hear people asking for “the usual” and waitresses chatting with “the regulars” and getting to know the newcomers. Almost 100% of my staff are immigrants, just like myself, and about 80% are POC. Eat Here Now has been a melting pot and a place where the best this city, and country, has to offer can come alive.
On March 13, 2020 we closed our restaurant and did not reopen until May 25, 2020. In that time, I tried my best to provide salaries for my staff, despite the restaurant's closure. Now, although we are open for business, we are still struggling. My staff is my extended family. I have worked with some of them for 30 years and I don't want to turn any of them away, but continuing to pay them out of pocket is also not sustainable.
We have worked hard for the past 30 years to make everyone feel at home on the Upper East Side with us. We are looking forward to returning to serve our loyal customers. Now we need your help. In other difficult times, my restaurant family would turn to one another for help. But with this situation we cannot. With that in mind, we look to you for support and generosity.
Thank you very much and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
