Business in a Pandemic
Maryland Restaurant Reopens and Awaits Customers
Until recently, Lahinch Tavern and Grill was a lively center of social activity for Potomac, Maryland. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The live music, the dancing and the jovial hubbub that once characterized the atmosphere at Lahinch disappeared.
Chef Ted Hughes, owner of Lahinch, said that the coronavirus shutdown has been a “disaster” for his business, and he does not know what the future holds. In conversation, he is visibly emotional. He tries to hold himself together as he explains that the business is unlikely to make it unless things start opening up and people start coming again.
Lahinch has had to lay off a large number of employees, and Hughes has only been able to keep those workers who are absolutely essential. Although the restaurant is now officially reopened, still just a couple of employees work in the kitchen — one cleans while the other makes scones for the day. Even the essential workers’ pay is only possible thanks to the paycheck protection program loan the restaurant received.
Zach Shapiro, who has been Lahinch’s bartender since July of 2019, is one of the essentials. Having grown up in the area, Shapiro has a friendly rapport with the many local customers who used to frequent the pub. He enjoys working in the restaurant business, which has been his livelihood for 25 years.
He said that even during the COVID crisis, he has found his work at Lahinch to be “interesting,” in part because he has been able to broaden the scope of his activities. Since the pandemic, Shapiro has taken on additional responsibilities at Lahinch, including food serving, delivery and managing takeout orders.
Job duties may have shifted among the restaurant’s remaining personnel, but overall Hughes is not planning on changing the nature of his business if he does not have to.
Lahinch is not, and never has been, a takeout or delivery type of operation, even though it has always offered both options.
The pandemic did nothing to change that.
Hughes said Lahinch also tried partnering with DoorDash and Grubhub for a while, but he ended the arrangement with them during the pandemic because those companies took too large a cut of the money.
Huges plans to keep operating Lahinch as the traditional Irish pub it was designed to be. Although not Irish himself, he appreciates getting out of the house every day to go to Lahinch for a taste of Ireland. He is relying on his customers to return so they can recreate the social environment and cash flow that every authentic Irish pub needs.
