Closed until further notice October 2020
Sadly we’ll be closed from Sunday 11th October until the current restrictions, recently announced by our government, are lifted.
We remained closed during the first lockdown as we felt it wasn’t right to bring in our staff as we didn’t believe takeaways were essential.
Under Level 3, outdoor dining for 15 people and takeaway were permitted (also under Level 4). We asked our team if they wanted to give takeaway a whirl as we’d invested heavily in delivering a safe, controlled environment both for our customers and our staff on reopening on the 1st July. They said yes.
We also thought it would be a stopgap for the couple of weeks until the 9th October. So, we decided to throw everything at it. But throwing everything at something doesn’t always mean it’s right.
Due to social distancing, our terrace was reduced to 4 tables, which simply wasn’t viable.
As far as our click and collect service was concerned?
Firstly we’d like to send a massive thank you to all who supported us over the last few weeks.
Ironically it was a great success, with our slots selling out at the weekends. But unfortunately, tapas don’t lend themselves to such a service.
To deliver the level of orders received requires a hell of a lot of prep as we make everything fresh each day from our brava and allioli sauces and our hand rolled croquetas to our bomba and buñuleos, the list goes on. But we also cook to order too.
Of our 25 staff, we managed to keep 9 of our kitchen staff on while we tried click and collect and 3 on the floor. It was great to keep the lights on and at least some of our staff at work.
But by their nature, tapas need volume for them to work and click and collect just can’t deliver that volume to cover the costs involved (we went from 6,000 tapas in a week to 2,000). There’s only so much our amazing team can do in our postage stamp kitchen to meet a particular 6.15pm time slot all in one go! Whilst many restaurant takeaways are starter, main, dessert, tapas had an average of 15 boxes per order heading out (not counting the indivdual sauce pots and the rest!). That's a lot of bagging!
Secondly, with the loss of alcohol sales, we’d need to double the number of orders going out for it to be viable which simply isn’t physically possible.
But restrictions this time round have also come in an environment where the wage subsidy has been reduced and changed making it ever more difficult to manage when you’re waiting 6-8 weeks for it to come back. There’s no suspension of utilities like there was the last time round. VAT hasn’t budged, loan and mortgage moratoriums have been exhausted, the list goes on.
Our government seems to have gone into reverse gear when it comes to supports for SMEs and our teams. It had since March to prepare for the winter that we all knew was going to be tough. Level 3’s throwaway note of 15 outdoor and takeaway basically means majority of restaurants throughout the country will be on Level 5 – or worse – closed – as outdoor is not viable, nor is takeaway, for the majority. Lola being testament to that.
But they’ve also reduced the Pandemic Payment. Our staff is struggling to pay their bills, their rent. Before we had the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme where there was a chance to keep the relationship between the employer and the employee. With the new scheme, this relationship is unfortunately lost. A result of which 1000s will lose their jobs and end up on our live register.
Under these circumstances, we’ve made the heart-breaking decision to shutter the business until our government deems it safe to reopen for dine-in.
We’re still struggling with the fact that over 8,500 people crossed our doors since reopening on 1st July to the start of these new restrictions. We had 25 staff employed. Whilst touching all sorts of wood, not a case reported. We were so proud of how hard our team worked at delivering our safety promise to our customers. But also the personal responsibility our team took whilst outside of work. This is their livelihood, not only ours.
We thought we were “living with COVID” as the government keeps trying to sell. But it seems our efforts were in vain.
It’s hard not to rant, but we do take the health of our staff and our customers as our top priority, without you, we’ve certainly no business.
On a positive note, we hope to reopen on the 31st October. We’ll be monitoring this daily and will keep you posted on our social media.
This means Dublin, and the country, dropping to Level 2, so we can open for dine-in once again.
The sooner we all adhere to government advice and get COVID under control, the sooner we can hope to reopen. We can’t wait to welcome you back the other side of these restrictions in the safe, controlled environment that we, and our team, created for you back in July.
We’d urge you to support your local in the meantime that still remains open. Think Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – that’s when they most need your support!
We’d also like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to you all. Thanks for your ongoing support. Thanks for the lovely messages received. Thanks for being you! Without you, our customers, and our amazing team, Lola simply wouldn’t exist. You’re fab.
Massive Lola hugs and kisses. Stay safe, but importantly stay sane!
Vanessa & Anna xxx
< Previous Article
Lola to remain closed until current government restrictions are lifted, Oct 20
Next Article >
Dublin restaurant (Lola) moved by generous neighbour's kindhearted gesture, LovinDublin Oct 20