Restaurant retains about 25 percent of regular business
By Heather Ruenz
Staff Writer
When Dean Pierce and Katie Duckworth bought Someplace Else about 18 months ago they never imagined the challenges they are now facing in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
They had planned to be closed for a few days so the interior of the restaurant, which is in downtown Elkhorn, could be painted.
“It was already scheduled but just so happened to fall right after we were shut down,” said Duckworth, who has worked at the restaurant for 10-plus years. She and Pierce bought it from longtime owners Dennis and Kris Mohr when they retired in 2018.
Upon reopening, they offered curbside pickup and delivery – the latter of which they’d not done prior – but said it took a couple of weeks to adjust to a new way of doing things and less business.
“We’ve had a limited menu and will continue to slowly add things back in. We’ve also adjusted some of our batches and recipes to deal with the changes in the business,” Duckworth said.
“It was a big learning curve, especially Friday night. We’re selling just as much fish but what’s missing is the alcohol and appetizers, those kinds of things. It all adds up,” Pierce added.
Overall, according to Duckworth, they’re operating at about 25 percent of their normal amount of business.
Rolling with the changes
Someplace Else has been open for lunch and dinner since shortly after the shutdown and has continued to roll with the changes, according to its owners.
Duckworth said during the week, there’s a lunch rush and then it’s quiet until dinner, understandably since more people are picking up lunch for businesses in town. With dinner, even though it’s curbside, they’re seeing people want to order later now that it’s getting nicer outside so have adjusted the hours.
There have also been some important lessons learned with the first one being the need to offer delivery and online ordering.
“One of our suppliers had said awhile ago that we needed online offering and I figured we’d do it some day. This situation proved we really do need it and I’m so glad that it’s done. And delivery was not as difficult as we thought it would be,” Duckworth said.
Another lesson has been gaining a better understanding of the kitchen’s capacity.
“We’ve learned how many orders our kitchen can produce in how much time. That’s helped in many ways including maintaining quality,” Pierce said.
“We’ve also kept our full kitchen staff. They need jobs and we need them. We’ve had some who want to wait until this is over, and that’s not a problem. We have others who want to get out of the house so have helped with cleaning and things. And trust me, we’ve cleaned areas we didn’t even know were there,” Duckworth said.
They said it didn’t take long to realize they needed to block off some times for call-in only orders on Friday nights, too.
“We do that for people who maybe don’t have online capabilities. If the amount of food we can do is at capacity for a certain time slot, we can turn off that option. It works well because we have people order fish well ahead of time, and it keeps us from getting overwhelmed,” Duckworth explained.
She said they’ve also made other changes such as adopting new specials in an effort to be more cost effective for families. They created some family meals that have been well received and this week they rolled out a 2-for-1 special on burgers.
It’ll be a slow recovery
Looking ahead, Pierce and Duckworth expect that when they are allowed to reopen, it’ll be a soft opening and will bring a new set of challenges.
“The cost of some of the products are going to go up and we might be short on some things for awhile. Also, some of the drivers left to go work for businesses still operating so we’ll see,” Pierce said.
Duckworth said the entire situation has been tough.
“The snowball effect of this is huge. Everyone feels for restaurants and bars. But look at our suppliers – they have families, too. It’s been heartbreaking,” she said.
Pierce said unfortunately, the restaurant will deal with the effects of the situation through the summer.
“All of the events being canceled will really hurt us plus there’s no Little League or summer sports. Those are all things that bring us a lot of business,” he said.
Local support important
Although the day it’s filled with people again can’t come soon enough, Duckworth said they have a deeper appreciation about the importance of supporting local businesses.
“Even though small businesses are hurting just like us, we support them and they’re making a point to support us. Supporting local is more important now than ever,” she said.
One local business they teamed up with recently for a special lunch delivery was Splashtime Pools and Spas.
“Dan and Angie Farmakis, the owners, are longtime customers and friends. They’ve had good sales and wanted to give back so asked if we would work with them on it,” Duckworth said.
On April 27, they made and delivered 130 lunches to staff of the emergency rooms at Aurora Lakeland and Mercy hospitals, the Elkhorn Police Department and the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.
She said they were very appreciative and it was nice to be able to thank them in person. The Elkhorn Fire Department will also get a meal once the department is able to have a meeting with all of its members again.
Duckworth said despite the ongoing challenges as a result of the coronavirus, they’ve gained a much deeper appreciation for many things, especially the community.
“The support has been amazing. We’re so proud of the community we live in,” she said.
Someplace Else is at 1 W. Walworth St., Elkhorn. For more information call 262-723-3111, visit someplaceelserestaurant.com or follow on Facebook.
