Crowd Ple aser
26 ACADIANA PROFILE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020
COVID-19 weary? SHUCK’S! in Abbeville has a bread pudding that will make a customer beam the type of rays that will make daisies bloom. The restaurant’s menu says it best, “Sinfully good homemade bread pudding! Topped with hot white chocolate rum sauce. Real rum and plenty of it.”
and bar owners have tried to pivot away from pre-COVID-19 operations and habits during the pandemic. Some are adjusting and existing, while others are closing, filing for bankruptcy or filing lawsuits. Bloomberg reported in July that as a result of COVID-19 “As many as 231,000 of the nation’s roughly 660,000 eateries will likely shut down this year.” In August, Louisiana Network reported that the Louisiana Restaurant Association estimated one in four restaurants in Louisiana will close due to the economic impact of the pandemic. Essentially, COVID-19 has forced the state’s food and beverage industry, which already operates on slim profit margins, to figure out how to provide service daily, pay bills, ensure safety for employees and customers and contend with government regulations that some believe are
beneficial while others interpret as draconian. Gov. Edwards’ first proclamation in the spring limited gatherings to no more than 50 people, closed casinos, bars and movie theaters and forced restaurants to suspended dine-in options in favor of the use of drive-throughs and delivery. Evans complied with all of the state’s orders but eventually closed Luna’s Lake Charles restaurant temporarily after a number of staff members tested positive for COVID-19 as a result of attending off-premise social gatherings. He also delayed the opening of Luna in Lafayette. The Lake Charles restaurant’s profit margin was split in half due to controlled seating regulations inside Luna’s, but Evans admits, “we are blessed with the business we do have now. When I look at the books, we have fantastic Fridays and Saturdays and customers are normally buying food from the time we open.”