I have some stories of just harsh truth, paths ahead, and amazing hope in this blog entry.
The reality for many Asheville-area restaurants: Asheville restaurants experienced Helene differently, depending on the location. Some of the restaurants in downtown Asheville were very lucky - no damage at all, some even never lost power. Some had some minor flooding issues from the rain, untouched by the river. Yet others in Biltmore Village have to do gut renovations and throw out all their equipment due to the 10+ft the river flooded them. Almost all of them, though, lost water.
What does that really look like for a restaurant? Aside from not being able to do dishes, wash produce, or sanitize working areas for health codes, they are required to have bathrooms for employees and dine-in patrons. I have previously suggested porta potties for such an occasion for retail stores. It can also be done for restaurants.
Another issue is staffing. When people leave town after a disaster and had no access to utilities, getting them to come back to work may be difficult, especially for an industry still trying to rebound from covid.
Also, they need to be approved by the health department to reopen. In order to feel helpful, restaurants have been preparing donated meals, which can be done outside health department oversight. Restaurants are using potable water from public distribution sites and donations from breweries who have water as part of the brewing process. Normal commercial levels of service, however, require so much more that until water returns, it isn't worth it. Water sourcing is a big (and expensive) issue.
As they prepare to go back to something resembling normal and to make money, some restaurants are taking notes from Waffle House. They are creating simplified menus that require, in their case, minimum water usage. Aside from smaller menus, operating hours are also being reduced.
Now here's for the really good stuff.
First, World Central Kitchen has a guy named Ruston Waldron. He is a plumber who has worked on installing water tanks in some of the most austere environments. He's been working disasters since 2005 when Katrina hit his hometown. He said Asheville's problems are the worst he's encountered. Yet, in spite of that, he's been able to set up 19 restaurants with 1500-2000 gallon tanks so far. That allows them to cook!
Second, I did my own investigation when I saw SUBWAY shops open. The owners were providing potable water for sanitation for the meat slicers (with an added solution) and for the spray bottles for the bread. I was told and shown other things done in the back to clean everything else that touches food but that's not the headline: I asked if providing their own potable water (it's an expense borne by the franchise owner) was worth it. In the few days they were open that week, the sales were 30% higher than an average week. People were excited to have access to prepared food and willing to pay for it!
What was disappointing is that big SUBWAY wasn't providing the potable water. It would be both huge in building goodwill and help SUBWAY become the reliable food stop of disasters. I am reaching out to them about this...
Being under the gun forces some creative solutions. It can also be done in advance (with business continuity) so action can be taken more quickly.

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