Now, more than ever is the time to show some support for our local shops and restaurants since many are beginning to feel the long term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although faced with their own difficulties, some small businesses still want to help others during this challenging time.
North Park's 619 Spirits Distillery and Tasting Room is trying to create some business with to-go orders, but so far, it's been challenging.
It’s one of only a handful of distilleries operating in San Diego and really prides itself on using local resources.
It has a great relationship with other distillers and restaurants all over town, and also sell their products.
The distillery opened up just about two years ago and right before the pandemic, it was finally about to break even, but that has all drastically changed. The first month after the shutdown, it made half of the sales it did in its first month of being open.
“They say bars and restaurants usually take about a year, year and a half to break even, become profitable. We were right about at that point. We were just starting to break even. Now we’re back to square one," owner Nick Apostolopoulos told NBC 7. "In my mind, it’ll take another year and a half to get back to break even again."
Even though it’s stressful and challenging right now, the distillery still really wanted to reach out and help others, especially those in the food service industry.
Local
For eight weeks in a row, 619 Spirits, along with the help of other local distilleries, have come together to provide the displaced San Diego bar and restaurant workers with a free meal offered on Mondays from 3 to 8 p.m. at the tasting room.
619 Spirits is located at: 3015 Lincoln Ave in North Park. They’ll continue to offer this service until everyone is back to work.
