The restaurant Toss Salads and Wraps in St. Petersburg is surviving despite opening its doors at the beginning of the pandemic and having potential customers fearful of dining out.
The loss of sales in restaurants has contributed to 90,000 American restaurants temporarily or permanently closing. Though Toss has remained open and is continuing to provide the city with healthy fast food, its grand opening came after delaying the original open date three months into the pandemic.
“We were disappointed that we had to push the date back when we were ready,” said Christina Battafarano, co-owner of Toss. “It was just getting worse and worse, and we didn’t know what else to do. So, you know, we were ready to open, so we just went ahead with it.”
The dream of operating a restaurant, that serves a variety of salads and wraps, continued to be a difficult endeavor for Battafarano when she learned that Toss did not qualify for government assistance. Restaurants that opened after the start of the pandemic were no longer eligible.
“It just made it harder because we didn’t get these sales off the bat. Like we thought we would because of COVID. I mean, people were, they were scared to come in,” Battafarano said.
Over the course of the pandemic, the restaurant industry has lost $65 billion in sales. Restaurant owners are hoping that more customers are getting comfortable again with idea of dining out. Battafarano, however, has a plan to keep Toss open and hopes to eventually open a second location.
For more information on Toss and to view their menu, check out their website.
Reporter: Jessica Perlaza
Videographers: Christina Loizou and Jessica Perlaza
Anchor: Gabe Glassman
Web Editor: Christopher Zingale
