Help Venti's Cafe Survive!
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Surviving COVID and 2020
Venti’s Cafe is a locally owned and operated family restaurant and bar with two locations in Salem, Oregon. Prior to COVID we were a thriving hospitality business dedicated to providing a welcoming environment for both our employees and our community guests. Our commitment to the community is through hospitality and giving back. The onset of COVID created significant operating restrictions, and now we are faced with new debt that will continue to grow until our restaurants are able to operate at full capacity as intended in their spaces. On Friday, Nov. 13 around noontime, Gov. Kate Brown announced new restrictions to help fight the pandemic which now prohibits us from in-house dining and reduces us to take-out and delivery only, which is already proven to be unsustainable. This mandate is for at least two weeks, but likely longer. We will celebrate our 25th year in January 2021 and we are determined to continue serving Salem into the future, but we are now humbly asking for your help.
Pivot, Pivot, Pivot, Invest, Invest, Invest
The onset of COVID was a bit of a shock to all of us! In the restaurant industry, we were faced with State Phase I mandate to close our dining rooms for several months. As a team, we quickly pivoted to a take-out only business model, and within a few weeks spent hours upon hours creating new efficiencies in our operation and business management, reducing overhead expenses and trying to keep as many of our team members on the schedule. However, takeout business only accounted for 25-50% of our normal sales and we quickly began to take on debt. Consumer behavior has changed and many of our community members who work for the City, County and State are remote working, resulting in less foot traffic in our downtown.
During the Phase I mandate we received a PPP loan from our local Pioneer Trust Bank and SBA, but given program details and the timing of our loan approval we only had 8 weeks to use the funds before the rules changed. This was a short-term blessing for our team and our business.
Throughout the months of COVID we also added several streams of revenue, including online ordering, family meals, and third-party delivery.
Once Marion County was approved for Phase II we were able to open our dining rooms with physical distancing guidance. We went above and beyond to make financial investments into the safety of our space for guests and employees including new HVAC air purifying systems, booth dividers, safety barriers and wayfinding signage. Phase II gave us the ability to open our downtown location to approximately 60% capacity (with no ability to open the basement bar) and our South location to approximately 55% capacity. With partnerships with the City of Salem and our landlords, we were able to expand outdoor dining spaces. However, there was significant financing investment needed on our part to make this happen, purchasing new outdoor dining tables and building a patio on the exterior of our South location. With limited service capacity, the investment had to be made with debt.
Then we had the incredible tragedy of devastation in the Santiam Canyon and had wild fire smoke in our community for a couple of weeks which limited our sales significantly for that period of time - although we were thankful to be able to give back by providing meals to volunteers and firefighters keeping our community moving forward!
Now Fall is here, and the Oregon rain has set in, creating less opportunity for outdoor dining. We’ve been diligently working to keep expenses down, but — with the reinstatement of no in-house dining — we are simply facing too many headwinds to keep our restaurants running. This is why we have started the GoFundMe — to help sustain Venti’s Cafe, keeping as many hours for our staff as possible, and chip away at our fixed expenses during the coming cold and raining months in Oregon until we can re-open as a place of gathering for the community for food, music, and hospitality.
Our Story
Venti’s Cafe was co-founded by brothers Dino and Mike Venti in 1996 in the Reed Opera House under the name Venti’s Bento and Ice Cream Cafe where it operated for 12 years. Dino was the owner, janitor and manager for all those years and if you’re reading this you likely had one of his famous single or double double bentos during that time.
In 2008 Dino and Leslie signed a new lease in the current 325 Court Street space and moved the downtown location of Venti’s Cafe + Basement Bar, expanding the Asian and Mediterranean influenced fusion menu and opening Salem’s only basement bar.
In 2011, Venti’s Cafe + Taphouse on Commercial Street in South Salem was opened with a full-service restaurant and bar, including a kids play area.
In 2018, Conrad joined the family business full-time as a co-owner with plans to open more Venti’s Cafe locations in the future. Together with partners they opened Basil & Board in 2018 and before the sights were set on a new Venti’s Cafe location COVID hit us and we’ve been in sustaining mode ever since! For years, we’ve been dedicated to providing nourishing food for the soul for people of all dietary preferences, and, as a family, volunteer on local non-profit boards and financially support several integral non-profits in the community. We have consistently supported integral social cause non-profits such as Family Building Blocks, Isaac’s Room, Marion-Polk Food Share, Enlightened Theatrics, Children's Education Theatre, Tedx Salem, Keep Oregon Green, KMUZ radio, Willamette Valley Road Runners, Cherry City Roller Derby, NAACP, Capital Futbol Club, Salem Police Foundation, Arches and UGM. We also believe in supporting outdoor recreation organizations such as Salem Area Trail Alliance, Chemeketans, High Cascades Trail, Disciples of Dirt, Black Rock Mountain Biking Association, Marion County Jeep Patrol, TORTA, Team Dirt and Cascadia Trail Crew. This list doesn't include all the raffle and fundraisers we've supported over the years. We do this out of our desire to love our neighbors and make Salem one of the most livable cities in the country!
Moving Forward
With two generations of the Venti family working at Venti’s Cafe we hope to sustain our operation and employment for our dear team members, and also continue to be a place for the community to gather and enjoy good, clean food and an incredible hospitality experience. We have pivoted many times this year and we feel that the only thing we can do moving forward is ask for help to save our business and sustain the operations through COVID in 2020-2021.
Venti’s Cafe is a locally owned and operated family restaurant and bar with two locations in Salem, Oregon. Prior to COVID we were a thriving hospitality business dedicated to providing a welcoming environment for both our employees and our community guests. Our commitment to the community is through hospitality and giving back. The onset of COVID created significant operating restrictions, and now we are faced with new debt that will continue to grow until our restaurants are able to operate at full capacity as intended in their spaces. On Friday, Nov. 13 around noontime, Gov. Kate Brown announced new restrictions to help fight the pandemic which now prohibits us from in-house dining and reduces us to take-out and delivery only, which is already proven to be unsustainable. This mandate is for at least two weeks, but likely longer. We will celebrate our 25th year in January 2021 and we are determined to continue serving Salem into the future, but we are now humbly asking for your help.
Pivot, Pivot, Pivot, Invest, Invest, Invest
The onset of COVID was a bit of a shock to all of us! In the restaurant industry, we were faced with State Phase I mandate to close our dining rooms for several months. As a team, we quickly pivoted to a take-out only business model, and within a few weeks spent hours upon hours creating new efficiencies in our operation and business management, reducing overhead expenses and trying to keep as many of our team members on the schedule. However, takeout business only accounted for 25-50% of our normal sales and we quickly began to take on debt. Consumer behavior has changed and many of our community members who work for the City, County and State are remote working, resulting in less foot traffic in our downtown.
During the Phase I mandate we received a PPP loan from our local Pioneer Trust Bank and SBA, but given program details and the timing of our loan approval we only had 8 weeks to use the funds before the rules changed. This was a short-term blessing for our team and our business.
Throughout the months of COVID we also added several streams of revenue, including online ordering, family meals, and third-party delivery.
Once Marion County was approved for Phase II we were able to open our dining rooms with physical distancing guidance. We went above and beyond to make financial investments into the safety of our space for guests and employees including new HVAC air purifying systems, booth dividers, safety barriers and wayfinding signage. Phase II gave us the ability to open our downtown location to approximately 60% capacity (with no ability to open the basement bar) and our South location to approximately 55% capacity. With partnerships with the City of Salem and our landlords, we were able to expand outdoor dining spaces. However, there was significant financing investment needed on our part to make this happen, purchasing new outdoor dining tables and building a patio on the exterior of our South location. With limited service capacity, the investment had to be made with debt.
Then we had the incredible tragedy of devastation in the Santiam Canyon and had wild fire smoke in our community for a couple of weeks which limited our sales significantly for that period of time - although we were thankful to be able to give back by providing meals to volunteers and firefighters keeping our community moving forward!
Now Fall is here, and the Oregon rain has set in, creating less opportunity for outdoor dining. We’ve been diligently working to keep expenses down, but — with the reinstatement of no in-house dining — we are simply facing too many headwinds to keep our restaurants running. This is why we have started the GoFundMe — to help sustain Venti’s Cafe, keeping as many hours for our staff as possible, and chip away at our fixed expenses during the coming cold and raining months in Oregon until we can re-open as a place of gathering for the community for food, music, and hospitality.
Our Story
Venti’s Cafe was co-founded by brothers Dino and Mike Venti in 1996 in the Reed Opera House under the name Venti’s Bento and Ice Cream Cafe where it operated for 12 years. Dino was the owner, janitor and manager for all those years and if you’re reading this you likely had one of his famous single or double double bentos during that time.
In 2008 Dino and Leslie signed a new lease in the current 325 Court Street space and moved the downtown location of Venti’s Cafe + Basement Bar, expanding the Asian and Mediterranean influenced fusion menu and opening Salem’s only basement bar.
In 2011, Venti’s Cafe + Taphouse on Commercial Street in South Salem was opened with a full-service restaurant and bar, including a kids play area.
In 2018, Conrad joined the family business full-time as a co-owner with plans to open more Venti’s Cafe locations in the future. Together with partners they opened Basil & Board in 2018 and before the sights were set on a new Venti’s Cafe location COVID hit us and we’ve been in sustaining mode ever since! For years, we’ve been dedicated to providing nourishing food for the soul for people of all dietary preferences, and, as a family, volunteer on local non-profit boards and financially support several integral non-profits in the community. We have consistently supported integral social cause non-profits such as Family Building Blocks, Isaac’s Room, Marion-Polk Food Share, Enlightened Theatrics, Children's Education Theatre, Tedx Salem, Keep Oregon Green, KMUZ radio, Willamette Valley Road Runners, Cherry City Roller Derby, NAACP, Capital Futbol Club, Salem Police Foundation, Arches and UGM. We also believe in supporting outdoor recreation organizations such as Salem Area Trail Alliance, Chemeketans, High Cascades Trail, Disciples of Dirt, Black Rock Mountain Biking Association, Marion County Jeep Patrol, TORTA, Team Dirt and Cascadia Trail Crew. This list doesn't include all the raffle and fundraisers we've supported over the years. We do this out of our desire to love our neighbors and make Salem one of the most livable cities in the country!
Moving Forward
With two generations of the Venti family working at Venti’s Cafe we hope to sustain our operation and employment for our dear team members, and also continue to be a place for the community to gather and enjoy good, clean food and an incredible hospitality experience. We have pivoted many times this year and we feel that the only thing we can do moving forward is ask for help to save our business and sustain the operations through COVID in 2020-2021.
Organizer
Conrad Venti
Organizer
Salem, OR
