WASHINGTON — Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy, and owners have struggled keeping their doors open or have been forced to shut down during the coronavirus crisis.
The economic woes of the COVID-19 pandemic have not deterred new businesses from working to open.
Chef J.R. Robinson from Kitchen Cray Café and Lennell Watson, from Crab Boss, are both opening new restaurants along H Street in Northeast D.C. just blocks away from each other.
Watson is well known for his popularity on social media and packing out parking lots with customers clamoring to get a taste of his Florida-style seafood.
Chef Robinson is a celebrity chef, former contestant on Hell’s Kitchen, and known for putting his own swag on quintessential southern and Caribbean dishes.
“You going to get your shrimp and grits. Then, we’re going to have the oxtails. We going to have the lobster mac,” Chef Robinson described.
Both men already own restaurants in Maryland. Watson’s restaurant is in Brandywine, and Chef Robinson owns a spot in Lanham.
The two of them are among a handful of people opening new businesses in D.C. for the first time and during a pandemic.
“So, we were supposed to open in March,” Watson said. “Then, that Sunday before there was a notice put out by the mayor – Mayor Bowser – about everything was going on lockdown because COVID was spreading.”
“When that happened – man,” Chef Robinson laughed. “When we got hit with COVID, bro, it hit us hard because we were just revving up to start hiring for H Street. We started hiring for the café, and it just hit us.”
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Chef Robinson froze hiring new employees, paused construction for more than a month, and delayed when he wanted to open his new business.
“At first, it was kind of scary because restaurants were shutting down, going out of business – it was a lot going on, man. I got worried a little bit,” Watson added.
Watson decided to do a soft opening for his restaurant when some of the coronavirus restrictions started getting lifted.
“Even though you can only do 50% of you occupancy, you still have to pay 100% of your bills and you still have to pay 100% of your lease or your rent. So, it’s a challenge. You got to get creative,” he said.
Chef Robinson is in the final stretch and was waiting to get his inspection from the city which is being delayed because of backlogs from the pandemic.
“Hopefully, we can plan and then there is not a second wave and we go back to square zero because every time we plan – we have to be willing to adjust at the same time,” Chef Robinson said.
Both business owners have had to overcome obstacles in their lives - Watson was previously incarcerated, and Chef JR used to be homeless.
They both have had to be resilient to get where they are now and credit those experiences to being on the track toward fully opening new restaurants in D.C. during the pandemic.