Help us save Spoon & Pork

## Help Save Spoon & Pork

Hello, this is Ray and Jay. We're friends who grew up in the Philippines, bonded by a shared love of food and community. In 2017, we took a leap of faith and started our journey with a small food truck. We had no experience in the restaurant industry — just a dream and the support of our family and friends. It was tough in the beginning, but we found our groove, and by the summer of 2019, we proudly opened our first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Silver Lake.

Our mission has always been to champion Filipino food and share the culture and flavors we grew up with in the Philippines. Spoon & Pork quickly became more than just a place to eat. It was a space where people gathered to enjoy modern Filipino comfort food, share memories, and celebrate our heritage.

We didn’t have big investors; everything we built came from the help of our family and friends. Then came March 2020. The pandemic shut down our city, and like so many other small businesses, we faced uncertainty. But we fought to keep our doors open, switching to takeout, delivering food ourselves, and doing everything we could to survive. Through resilience and grit, we weathered the storm.

In 2022, with hope in our hearts, we opened a second location in Sawtelle. We believed in a strong comeback. But the challenges kept coming. The strikes in 2023 took a toll on our industry, and the skyrocketing costs of goods and labor made it harder than ever to stay afloat. Despite these hardships, we kept pushing forward.

Then the devastating fires hit Los Angeles earlier this year. The loss and heartbreak across our city were immeasurable. In the aftermath, our business plummeted by 80% that month alone. Jay and I made the heartbreaking decision to close our Sawtelle location. We arranged with our landlord to have someone assume our lease, which would have allowed us to recover our deposit and stabilize our remaining location. That’s why we announced our last day of service at Sawtelle would be February 28, 2025.

But in a cruel twist of fate, that deal fell through. We had no choice but to reopen Sawtelle, and now Jay and I are the only ones working the kitchen. Our incredible staff in Silver Lake is stepping up to help us by running the front of the house during these difficult times.

We are on the brink of losing everything.

We’ve never asked for help like this before, but we’re at a point where we can’t survive without it. Our families, our team, and our community mean the world to us. Spoon & Pork is more than a restaurant — it’s a dream we built from the ground up, and it’s a space that brings people together.

We’re humbly asking for your support to help us stay afloat. Every contribution, no matter the size, will go directly toward covering our operational expenses, paying our staff, and giving us a fighting chance to keep Spoon & Pork alive.

If you're unable to donate, there are still other ways to support us:

- Come in and dine with us

- Order takeout or delivery

- Purchase gift cards

- Share our story with your friends and family

- Tell people about Spoon & Pork on social media

Every action makes a difference and keeps our dream alive.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for being part of our journey. Your kindness and support mean everything to us.

Salamat!

With love and gratitude,

**Ray & Jay**