Wallingford Restaurant Receives Boost From Barstool Sports

WALLINGFORD, CT — Laskara Restaurant in Wallingford is one of the latest small businesses to receive a boost from Barstool Sports and its founder Dave Portnoy.

Frustrated with the plight of small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, Portnoy recently launched the Barstool Fund to help see them through the crisis. Portnoy, perhaps best known for his popular “One Bite” pizza reviews, said the plan for the fund is to provide businesses (starting with restaurants) with a monthly check for as long as is needed.

The Barstool Fund started with $500,000 and is being bolstered by donations from the public, according to Portnoy. The requirement to be eligible is that businesses must keep their employees on the payroll, the employees still need to be getting paid, Portnoy said.

Maria Riopel, who co-owns Laskara with her mother, recently submitted a video to Barstool to be considered for the fund. Laskara is a Mediterranean restaurant at 295 Parker Farms Rd. in Wallingford.

Riopel said her family opened Laskara 21 years ago, and they took a huge hit when her father passed away, but they wanted to keep the restaurant open because “we love it.”

“We love our staff, we love our customers, we love the community,” Riopel said in the emotional video. “And we had some really hard times. We had some things that we didn’t know about after my dad passed away. We were struggling to keep the doors open. We finally did a turnaround, we were starting to do really well, we were starting to see profit again. And then COVID hit.”

Riopel said they tried to do takeout for a couple of weeks, and they ended up having to close for a short time and reopened at 50 percent capacity.

“Our staff has been with us for 20 years and there doesn’t seem to be any help,” Riopel said. “There seems to be help for the big-box places, places that are making millions and then get loans for millions, and they’re doing just fine. The little guys, who go in every day, every night, our staff has been amazing. They are still on the payroll, my mother and I are not… It just doesn’t seem to have any endgame. We want to keep the doors open, we want to pay our employees, we want to pay our suppliers. We’re down about 75 percent… we just need some help.”

Riopel said they are not “money hungry.”

“We have the passion for food, we have the passion of service, we have the passion of love and community and our staff,” she said.

Portnoy contacted Riopel through FaceTime to let her know that Barstool will help them. Laskara will receive $17,000 to stay afloat, according to WFSB 3.

“We read the story, saw, obviously the video, and it’s a no-brainer that we want to help,” Portnoy told Riopel.

An emotional Riopel said she couldn’t wait to tell her mother.

“I didn’t even tell her about this fund at all because I just didn’t want to get her hopes up that anybody was going to help us,” Riopel said through tears.

“I’m speechless,” Portnoy said. “I’m glad we’re doing it… I’m very excited that you get to deliver your mother the news. And like we’re telling everybody, we’ll be there through the end of this pandemic. You guys can go back to your normal business.”

In an update on Monday, Riopel said “a beautiful soul” from Detroit, Michigan, who saw them on Barstool wanted to make a donation and bought gift cards for first responders. Riopel said it was her honor to deliver them on Monday morning.

“… I am absolutely floored!” she wrote in a post on Facebook. “Thank you everyone for every single kind words, we are still in shock! Don't forget to keep supporting all of your local businesses.”

This article originally appeared on the Wallingford Patch