Fresno businesses have been impacted by the coronavirus, keeping their customers away because of the fear and by order of the shelter in place. The local restaurant Quesadilla Gorilla has been affected by the pandemic.
The manager of Quesadilla Gorilla Maria Mora has seen the challenges it has presented to their business.
“A lot of our sales are dependent on the students that attend fresno city and on the students and the staff at Fresno High. With those two major spots for us being closed it’s hard,” says Mora. She continues, “It’s hard for us to make our lunch sales. But we’re still open and we’re still making business.”
Since the schools are closed in Fresno some customers would not find a reason to come down at their location. That is what is causing business to slow down.
Despite the decrease of customers and business being slow, the restaurant’s regulars are still calling in and ordering through the apps.
Mora is happy about the fact that her customers haven’t forgotten them. She hopes that her customers know that they’re being extra careful.
Her restaurant provides an essential service to the community.
“We provide a service like food. Because food service is considered essential, as long as we follow the CDC protocol. We don’t allow customers to come in and we are not taking cash payments,” said Mora
The staff has faced drastic changes, donning masks and cleaning up after themselves on a constant basis. But it was necessary, Mora believes. The customers and the employees must feel safe.
“We were already a very clean store. We were already clean, we were already sanitizing all of our surfaces,” Mora said.
She felt empathy for the healthcare workers who were caring for patients with COVID-19. She now understands what it’s like wearing a mask every hour during work.
Despite all the changes, she has a good feeling about the business not losing money. She knows that the community in Fresno will be there to support them.
“We were closed for about two weeks just because we were trying to figure out our best approach, what we could do differently, how we can be open. We’ve definitely seen the community come together. They’re so excited to have us back and we’re just as excited to be back,” said Mora.