Restaurants starving for customers near empty schools, hopes remote learning ends soon

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Dave Reynoso has been more than taking care of the appetite of hungry students at his two locations near high schools over the years but remote learning has drastically changed the foot traffic at his doors.

The two locations, one at 149 South Turnpike and the newer restaurant at 900 North Milpas, are near large high schools and several other elementary and junior highs.

The Milpas location is also near the now COVID-quiet Santa Barbara Bowl.

Under normal times both are bustling with high school students hustling over during their lunch breaks or around the start and finish of Friday night football games. It's a business owners dream to have such a consistent flow.

That ended with the hit of the coronavirus, the shut down of schools, and the ongoing delay of sports programs whether it's high school or regional leagues.

Add to that, the ban on indoor dining, forcing the quick construction of patios and this week, the worry of power shut down due to the Flex-alert emergency due to energy shortages.

None of this is a recipe that was in the cookbooks when the businesses were opened.

Post on the top of one refrigeration unit is a motto Dave has gone by since he ran a hot dog cart on the property of a Milpas auto body shop at night. It reads, "Never Give up!"

Now he's using his hard core roots of running a restaurant to hang in there during the current crisis.