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- All of our breads are homemade.
I make our own pies, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls.
I cut our own meat here, all the specials are homemade.
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When COVID was first announced
and we get shut down for about 10 days
where we didn't do anything.
And it was when the city said
that we would be able to open up I think like April 1st
and it just never happened.
It just kept getting pushed back and pushed back.
So then we decided to just do to goes.
- Got myself patties and we'll deep fry 'em
for about three minutes or so.
- People are very grateful for the type of food we make.
- Make sure you saute some real good.
- People tell us
you know, this is how my great-grandmother made this.
This is the only place that can get it.
Like I remember it.
We were pretty early on noticing this was a problem.
Mid February we started buying extra takeout things.
Then a week before the mandatory shutdown we closed.
We usually take our vacation in July
and we did just said, we're gonna do it now.
We're gonna take five weeks off
paid vacation for all our full-time employees.
Mid April we knew that we were gonna have to be takeout only
- I had to cut a lot of staff
not that they were let go or fired
but I only could use one server at a time
and then I was the only cook for six or eight weeks.
So it was really long and really tiring for myself
but that was the only way
that we would have been able to stay afloat
during that time.
And then once we were able to open the 50%
hours have been cut
but all of my staff has been able to return.
Our dishwasher has worked here for 41 years.
We're one of the oldest restaurants in Tucson.
Gus Balon and his wife Kay who are my grandparents
opened this in 1965.
And now I've had it for 15 years, but I've grown up here.
Even if you're a single person, you can come in here
and you'll have a bunch of people to talk to.
This is a lot of people's social hour.
- This is where people come
and celebrate their important milestones you know.
Been in the family since 1978
I think this was my first stop coming home
from the hospital after I was born.
- We all grew up here.
I started when I was 11 here and my brother was seven.
We were best boys on the weekend, we grew up here.
And when everything started opening up again
there was a lot of restaurants downtown
in the Fourth Avenue and they were serving out in the patios
and on the sidewalk.
So I called the liquor board and I asked them
is it okay if we use our patio we have,
can we serve alcohol out there?
So they said,
well as long as the patio is attached to the building,
it's okay.
You know, we've loosened up on our rules and restrictions
because of COVID.
And I stopped running in the mornings anymore
because I get more exercise running around here
than I would run five miles in the morning.
- [Isamar] We have no idea what days are gonna be busy
what days aren't
so it's difficult to hire people back for that.
- [Eugene] We multitask
and we have to do a lot of more things than you used to do.
- If you're a restaurant owner or anybody in hospitality
you have a really high overhead.
Everything has to be paid for, until you sell it
you don't get the revenue to pay your vendors.
This time of year, we should be really picking up
because the snowbirds
should have been coming back in October.
A lot of them haven't, we are definitely down in revenue.
What I would like to see is people to have the option.
You know, let small restaurants open,
let restaurants open to their full capacity.
We can still wear a mask,
we'll still do the sanitation and everything.
- We do have some customers and people that call in
wherever else is open but you know, why aren't you open?
Why is your diners?
Oh, you know, we wanna play it safe
and keep everyone safe and healthy.
And so this is what we wanna do.
- These aren't just customers.
These are people my family has known for 50, 60 years.
They went to school together.
We played little league with the kids.
- The weather's nice.
It's open fresh air.
The views are good, we have our hummingbirds out there.
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This is my only job my whole life is pretty much been on
all my siblings have all had other jobs
or have other jobs then come and help
but this has been my main job.
It would be strange to not be here, not doing this.
- Even if we take a loss right now,
it is worth it to ensure that we are still here
for who knows how many more months
but hopefully quite a few more.
- Unfortunately, there've been several restaurants in Tucson
that have been institutions who have just decided to close.
And I don't blame them it's been really difficult
and it's run through my mind a couple of times.
I think we'll make it through
if there's not another completely shutdown.
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