Hey Fam! We need your help! Despite the fact that we (Chefs Steven & Keri) would rather eat bubble gum stuck to movie theater seats than post a Go Fund Me, here we are. Other things we would rather do:
-be the attorney for Tiger King
-Get back with a toxic ex
-deep fry our own faces
-hug a cactus (which we have a lot of)
-Stop eating tacos and burritos
Unfortunately NONE of those things will help us meet our goal. So we are reaching out to our already amazing and supportive community.
The Backstory:
Urban Phoenix is a dream come true for Steven and Keri. We come from vastly different experiences and backgrounds, but coming together to create Urban Phoenix was easy. Our love of Phoenix, food, and people set the tone here. We love our city and it’s incredible art and culinary scene. We were open 4 months before COVID hit. Before we were asked to close down for the health and welfare of our community (which we were happy to sacrifice for), we had been reviewed by the Phoenix New Times, Arizona Republic, Arcadia News, Uptown Magazine, Echo Magazine, and featured on Food Network’s blog as one of Phoenix’s best restaurants. We started off slow, with customers mistaking us for the prior concept, sometimes staying and eating our life changing dishes, and other times angrily storming out because they wanted pancakes. We kept smiling. We kept cooking. Our optimism never wavered because we knew we were doing what we loved and that was going to come out in our food. So, over the next four months we made a lot of friends, put out some great food, fell in love with our staff and customers. We gained regulars, who we are so happy to see getting takeout during this pandemic. We were building momentum. We still had a lot of things to do for Urban, but we’re confident that our trajectory was going to earn us the funds to meet our goals. On March 8th, the weekend before the shutdown, we did two full turns in our dining room for the first time. We were feeling good.
Then Covid happened, and we didn’t have a running start to weather the storm. We quickly pivoted to take out. We started family meals and build your own taco kits. We started grocery services. We fed our newly unemployed staff and gave them every extra penny we had. We paid our rent. We didn’t ask for help or handouts, we just hustled. Adapted. We woke up early, and stayed late as we were the only servers, dishwashers, prep cooks, line cooks, and baristas. We made sure our employees were safely let go and on unemployment so they weren’t left with nothing. We brought our 3 kids, (now out of school) to work with us. They sanitized, and worked the dish pit, and mostly complained of their boredom and missing their friends. We are friends, counselors, parents, cheerleaders. We applied for the PPP, and got lucky. It enabled us to re-employ our staff and our lives got a little easier. But no matter what, sales were down 60-80% so every single dollar we make goes right back out. 75% of PPP has to go to payroll, and that 25% discretionary fund went fast. And now it’s summer - the ultimate test of all Phoenix restaurants. No more tourist dollars, no more patio seating. A Phoenix restaurant’s summer survival is hugely dependent on a big season’s take. Because of Covid, we didn’t get that.
Our Goals:
-A liquor license! We get asked daily if we serve alcohol - and we want to serve you! Tacos and micheladas, burritos and beer, mimosas and bloody Mary’s! We want to welcome you all into our space and create a fun and chill experience. It’s also a key revenue stream that will offset our food costs - which are higher than average because we use the best possible ingredients.
- A bar! We have the space so construction is minimal but necessary for the permit to be approved. Small changes will enable us to safely serve you.
-We need signage! We’ve had a banner hung since we opened. These signs are expensive! Good signage is key to letting the community know we are here.
-Misters and trees! We want to extend patio season here in Phoenix by providing cool shade and mist to our customers on our patio. Many of you know we love plants so much!
- Employee and restaurant grants. Every penny we get over our requested donation will be given away to our employees and other struggling restaurants. We believe strongly in our culinary scene in Phoenix and it’s diversity depends on the small owner-operated model. We cringe at the thought of only being left with big corporate restaurants running for profit instead of passion.
We love you all and are so grateful.
-be the attorney for Tiger King
-Get back with a toxic ex
-deep fry our own faces
-hug a cactus (which we have a lot of)
-Stop eating tacos and burritos
Unfortunately NONE of those things will help us meet our goal. So we are reaching out to our already amazing and supportive community.
The Backstory:
Urban Phoenix is a dream come true for Steven and Keri. We come from vastly different experiences and backgrounds, but coming together to create Urban Phoenix was easy. Our love of Phoenix, food, and people set the tone here. We love our city and it’s incredible art and culinary scene. We were open 4 months before COVID hit. Before we were asked to close down for the health and welfare of our community (which we were happy to sacrifice for), we had been reviewed by the Phoenix New Times, Arizona Republic, Arcadia News, Uptown Magazine, Echo Magazine, and featured on Food Network’s blog as one of Phoenix’s best restaurants. We started off slow, with customers mistaking us for the prior concept, sometimes staying and eating our life changing dishes, and other times angrily storming out because they wanted pancakes. We kept smiling. We kept cooking. Our optimism never wavered because we knew we were doing what we loved and that was going to come out in our food. So, over the next four months we made a lot of friends, put out some great food, fell in love with our staff and customers. We gained regulars, who we are so happy to see getting takeout during this pandemic. We were building momentum. We still had a lot of things to do for Urban, but we’re confident that our trajectory was going to earn us the funds to meet our goals. On March 8th, the weekend before the shutdown, we did two full turns in our dining room for the first time. We were feeling good.
Then Covid happened, and we didn’t have a running start to weather the storm. We quickly pivoted to take out. We started family meals and build your own taco kits. We started grocery services. We fed our newly unemployed staff and gave them every extra penny we had. We paid our rent. We didn’t ask for help or handouts, we just hustled. Adapted. We woke up early, and stayed late as we were the only servers, dishwashers, prep cooks, line cooks, and baristas. We made sure our employees were safely let go and on unemployment so they weren’t left with nothing. We brought our 3 kids, (now out of school) to work with us. They sanitized, and worked the dish pit, and mostly complained of their boredom and missing their friends. We are friends, counselors, parents, cheerleaders. We applied for the PPP, and got lucky. It enabled us to re-employ our staff and our lives got a little easier. But no matter what, sales were down 60-80% so every single dollar we make goes right back out. 75% of PPP has to go to payroll, and that 25% discretionary fund went fast. And now it’s summer - the ultimate test of all Phoenix restaurants. No more tourist dollars, no more patio seating. A Phoenix restaurant’s summer survival is hugely dependent on a big season’s take. Because of Covid, we didn’t get that.
Our Goals:
-A liquor license! We get asked daily if we serve alcohol - and we want to serve you! Tacos and micheladas, burritos and beer, mimosas and bloody Mary’s! We want to welcome you all into our space and create a fun and chill experience. It’s also a key revenue stream that will offset our food costs - which are higher than average because we use the best possible ingredients.
- A bar! We have the space so construction is minimal but necessary for the permit to be approved. Small changes will enable us to safely serve you.
-We need signage! We’ve had a banner hung since we opened. These signs are expensive! Good signage is key to letting the community know we are here.
-Misters and trees! We want to extend patio season here in Phoenix by providing cool shade and mist to our customers on our patio. Many of you know we love plants so much!
- Employee and restaurant grants. Every penny we get over our requested donation will be given away to our employees and other struggling restaurants. We believe strongly in our culinary scene in Phoenix and it’s diversity depends on the small owner-operated model. We cringe at the thought of only being left with big corporate restaurants running for profit instead of passion.
We love you all and are so grateful.
Organizer