Providence's Bucktown restaurant seeks crowd-funding to stay afloat
PROVIDENCE — When Bucktown opened at 471 West Fountain St. in 2016, with a menu featuring fried chicken and fish, burgers and po boys, it became an instant hit.
The humble comfort food concept drew diners from well beyond the cozy West Side neighborhood. It was even selected as one of the 50 best new restaurants in America by Bon Appetit.
Now owner Adam Mir sees great urgency in bridging his income gap until spring arrives and the omicron outbreak eases. He's turned to crowd-funding to raise $50,000 necessary to keep his staff employed and rent paid, he said.
"This is a very public thing to ask for help," Mir said in a phone interview. "We’ve put it off till now."
But the winter weather, pandemic- and takeout-weary diners have taken their toll on Bucktown.
"We are in peak disaster mode," he said.
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Yet Mir said he believes the future is bright, if and only if he can get through the next few months.
"I'm still optimistic," he said.
How to help Bucktown
The GoFundMe campaign to "Save Bucktown" has generated many small donations that already add up to more than $5,000 through the first few days. Mir is heartened to see so many customers and local people donating.
The problem, as he explained it, is that they've been doing takeout only now for nearly two years and it's waning. He thinks people want to go out again and he cannot accommodate them. But he is working through how to arrange takeout and fit 26 diners in his small restaurant. He called it a process, made more challenging because of the all the starts and stops when the pandemic surges.
"Takeout is not enough" he said.
The key to his restaurant's survival, he believes, is outdoor dining.
Bucktown didn't get the street seating that saved many restaurants last year. But it has an application in with the city to take two parking spots outside the restaurant for dining space.
"We are far into the approval process," he said, adding that will make a big difference to his bottom line.
"It always feels best when the weather allows people to gather on the porch," Mir said. Street dining will only add to that.
Bucktown got two rounds of PPE back in 2020 that kept his staff of eight paid, but no big grants since.
Mir said the $50,000 will carry him through March for paying staff, rent and outstanding bills.
Other restaurants have been sharing Bucktown's GoFundMe request around social media, no doubt feeling sympathy for its plight.
Bucktown has been a good neighbor, supporting the fishing industry in 2020 when demand for fresh fish dried up due to the pandemic. Bucktown made purchases of monkfish and other small fish and cooked a hearty stew it could freeze. The stew was distributed to food banks at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center in Newport and the Jonnycake Center in Peace Dale.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bucktown owner launches GoFundMe to keep Providence restaurant open
