Skip to content

Breaking News

Campaign promotes business lunches to help Baltimore restaurants

Heidi Byler from Ohio, left, and Donna Borntrager from Baltimore have lunch at Zella's Pizzeria while a delivery man drops off foodstuffs to the restaurant. The Greater Baltimore Committee is running a campaign called "Boost for Baltimore Restaurants" where it is challenging business leaders to take employees out to lunch on Wednesday, July 15. The idea is to help restaurants that have been struggling following the riot, curfew and crime spike. The GBC is taking its staff to Zella's Pizzeria in southwest Baltimore on Wednesday as part of the campaign.
Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun
Heidi Byler from Ohio, left, and Donna Borntrager from Baltimore have lunch at Zella’s Pizzeria while a delivery man drops off foodstuffs to the restaurant. The Greater Baltimore Committee is running a campaign called “Boost for Baltimore Restaurants” where it is challenging business leaders to take employees out to lunch on Wednesday, July 15. The idea is to help restaurants that have been struggling following the riot, curfew and crime spike. The GBC is taking its staff to Zella’s Pizzeria in southwest Baltimore on Wednesday as part of the campaign.
Author
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

The Greater Baltimore Committee is encouraging business leaders to take employees to lunch Wednesday to help restaurants that officials say have been losing revenue amid the recent city riots, curfew and spike in crime.

The Boost for Baltimore Restaurants campaign is designed to spur business for eateries, said Don Fry, CEO of the Greater Baltimore Committee, a regional business and civic organization. “Also, it would be a great way of highlighting to the public the value the restaurants bring to our economy.”

The committee is encouraging its 50 board members to treat at least five employees to lunch Wednesday. Members of the GBC are encouraged to take out at least two employees.

The organization is making stickers that read “I (heart) Baltimore Restaurants” over an image of the city’s skyline for participants to wear.

The committee spread word about the campaign through emails to its members, and many responded that they will join the effort, Fry said. Some have committed to treating 50 and even 100 employees to lunch or dinner, he said.

The idea came up, he said, during GBC board meetings where members discussed the economic damage wrought this year following the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, who suffered spinal cord injuries while in police custody.

On the day of Gray’s funeral in April, rioting, looting and arsons broke out across the city. A citywide curfew was imposed for a week, and many downtown businesses allowed workers to telecommute — factors that officials say affected restaurants and other service industries.

Even after the curfew was lifted and businesses resumed normal routines, Baltimore has struggled with a spike in violent crime that has led some to avoid visiting the city for dining and entertainment.

Fry said he plans to take his 20-person staff to Zella’s Pizzeria in Southwest Baltimore on Wednesday.

Cem Ari, one of the owners of Zella’s, said the restaurant was spared in the rioting and looting, but it’s challenging to attract diners because it is tucked away near Hollins Market. He said he’ll be happy to see Greater Baltimore Committee staff Wednesday.

“We’re kind of off the beaten path here, so anything like this helps us,” Ari said.

At Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a downtown accounting and consulting firm, office managing partner Bill Corey is encouraging managers to schedule business lunches Wednesday. At least 130 people with Pricewaterhouse Coopers have reservations at restaurants downtown and in Little Italy that day.

“We’ve really embraced it,” he said. “I think Baltimore restaurants are great, and I know they were hit by the unrest that occurred in April, and that May was a really tough month.”

Corey said some managers are planning team-building lunches and others are taking out clients, interns or new employees.

“Our people love Baltimore. They love living here and they love working here. If there was something to do to show support, they were happy to do it,” he said.

Not only have restaurant owners taken a financial hit, but so have the bartenders, waiters and other lower-paid workers who rely on tips, Fry said. The day of business lunches is a small way to make a dent in the lost earnings and also remind people that Baltimore has plenty of good restaurants, he said.

“We think that the message is a longer-term message that we want Baltimore establishments and businesses to be strong, and restaurants should be supported by local businesses,” Fry said.

Though Boost for Baltimore Restaurants wasn’t coordinated with the restaurant industry, Fry thinks it might help as a lead-in to Baltimore Restaurant Week, which begins July 24. Restaurant Week is organized by Visit Baltimore.

pwood@baltsun.com

twitter.com/pwoodreporter