TULSA, Okla. — Restaurants struggling to recover from the pandemic are creating new ways to regain business.
“It’s our little gem here," said David Martfeld, front house manager at Cumin Flavor of India. "We’re really proud of it. We just want to share that with Tulsa.”
Like many restaurants, it's been a tough year for Cumin Flavor of India.
“It’s just been really slow, it’s been our dining room stayed open most nights," Martfeld said. "Our online and delivery services are keeping us afloat really.”
COVID-19 briefly shut the restaurant down last year. Now that it’s reopened, it's running into other issues such as difficulty getting products from India and having a limited staff.
“We’ve been running with like a skeleton crew," Martfeld said. "There’s only been like five of us have stayed on for the past year.”
Other businesses around it are facing similar problems. So, Martfeld decided to step in to help. He’s organizing a “Comeback from COVID” block party in the restaurant’s parking lot near 71st and Memorial. It will benefit Cumin along with other businesses in the shopping center.
“Other businesses here, we’ve all stayed together as a community and looked out for each other," Martfeld said. "And they deserve to have their moment again as well, an opportunity to serve the customers and guests and everything.”
The block party will feature food from the restaurants as well as the Once in a While Band, which is playing for free to help support local businesses.
“We’ve got people out here that are struggling," said Greg Silvis, founder of the Once in a While Band. "They’ve gotta keep these businesses open. It’s terrible we see a business close because lives and families depend on it.”
The block party is Sat., July 24 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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