Goodyear House is reopening soon — and has patio expansion plans for after COVID-19.
48 days.
That’s how long the Goodyear House in NoDa was open before it was forced to shut its doors due to the coronavirus stay-in-place orders.
“This virus has been devastating to the business, the owners and every single staff member, just like it has been for every single American,” said Goodyear House partner AJ Klenk. “Our livelihoods have been stripped of us, we have gone further into debt, we have uncertainty around what happens tomorrow.”
48 days.
That’s how long the restaurant will have stayed closed until it reopens for curbside pickup and delivery service this weekend.
“Our leadership team has always enjoyed a good challenge,” Klenk said. “Our team believes life is good, God is great, that we will all make it through this together and come out much stronger on the other side.”
The Goodyear House will celebrate Saturday with a “Social Distancing Pig Picking To-Go Go” menu, along with a modified restaurant menu, new family meals and GYH Essentials offerings of scratch-made condiments and sauces.
Getting back to work
The backstory of the restaurant’s name refers to a phenomenon in the early 1900s, when families would sometimes add on to their homes when they had a good year. That’s often why styles and colors didn’t always match. On The Goodyear House website, the owners wrote: “We’re going through good times now, our house is expanding.”
Reflecting back on the past couple of months, it might not have been a good year to open a new restaurant — even with a much-anticipated one with a Food Network “Chopped” champion chef. But the owners are pressing ahead.
“We are going to keep doing our best to make lemonade out of lemons and doing our best to keep focusing on all that is good in the world. The year started well, and we trust all involved with this crisis will keep doing their best to find the positive in all things,” Klenk said.
Some help is on the way. The Goodyear House was one of the lucky Charlotte businesses that received a Personal Paycheck Protection loan during the first round.
“We were fortunate to get that PPP funding, so we’re trying to use it for exactly what it was made for — to put some people back to work. We brought back all our staff to come back and help us reopen,” said Chef/partner Chris Coleman.
That’s 24 people now back to work.
While that’s good news, it’s not exactly ideal for a restaurant. Klenk explained the one-size-fits-all approach is challenging for the hospitality industry. “For example, it would have been better for Goodyear House to have received their PPP funds the day the North Carolina government allows restaurants to open their doors, so that our payroll could help us with a runway during that time period. Unfortunately, a borrower has eight weeks to use those forgivable payroll dollars starting the day the funds are received, which for us may be six weeks before a potential true restaurant opening.”
The other issue is potential social distancing restrictions once restaurant doors can reopen.
“The main question is, how does one successfully operate a business built and staffed to produce a certain number of sales per day if the government now tells you that you can only possibly do 50% of those sales per day,” Klenk said.
A path for growth
To prepare for those restrictions, the restaurant is advancing plans to expand its backyard patio to its adjoining property next door. This will add roughly 5,000 square feet of exterior space — enough to add 73 seats. Klenk believes this will make The Goodyear House the largest outdoor entertainment and dining space of any restaurant in Plaza Midwood or NoDa.
Included in the backyard expansion will be:
- Bocce ball courts
- Cornhole courts
- An area dedicated to young kids
- A stage area for bands
“Like the cosmopolitan demographic that frequented Goodyear House, we hope a similarly diverse group will enjoy this massive open-air patio,” Klenk said.
Determined: It’s how Klenk and his partners describe the team at the restaurant. Even if they didn’t receive the federal loan, Klenk said they would have found a way. “I haven’t been planning this business for the last 10 years, spent 18 months building it and then opened with a massive bang just to have a coronavirus end our story.”
Back to the number 48. When it was pointed out to Klenk that the restaurant would be closed as many days as it had originally opened, he found this online:
“When you keep seeing 48, it signifies your guardian angels are helping you discover and fulfill your divine life purpose.
“There may be different twists and turns in your life, as well as stops and starts, but all these will lead to your true life calling.”
This has served as an inspirational message for Klenk. “COVID (19) is not the end or won’t define us, instead it will be an amazing new beginning for all of us,” Klenk said.
This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 3:22 PM.
