COVINGTON, Ky. — As the restaurant industry continues to deal with closures, decreased employees and increased food prices, one local group, Chowdown Cincinnati, is working to find solutions to keep doors open.
Chowdown Cincinnati is helping business owners like Sergio Gutierrez. Gutierrez, who owns Latonia Bodega, said he's taking after his father in the restaurant business.
"My father actually opened a deli in Covington 13 years ago," he said. "And I grew up in the deli with him. It just became part of my life."
Gutierrez's Latonia Bodega is located at the corner of Decoursey Avenue and 43rd Street. He said the shop allows neighbors to be immersed in Latino culture and cuisine.
Despite the celebration of culture the bodega brings, Gutierrez said it hasn't been easy keeping the doors open. He said this is due to "prices fluctuating and not having enough help."
Nathan Taylor, co-owner of Chowdown Cincinnati, said they have partnered with restaurants like Latonia Bodega to find a solution to help them keep their shop up and running.
See how Chowdown Cincinnati has helped Latonia Bodega in the video below:
"We've had about 350 restaurants reach out to us in the last four weeks that we've launched this initiative," Taylor said.
Chowdown Cincinnati is a foodie-inspired organization and social media platform. The group's Facebook page has roughly 275,000 followers.
The team's new initiative offers media packages for restaurants, including a photoshoot and multiple posts on their platforms. Restaurants interested can click here.
"We've been knocking out three to four features per day for the last three to four weeks," Taylor said.
Gutierrez said he was amazed by the outreach the Facebook Group page had.
"When we made a sandwich, one of our customers actually posted us on Chowdown, and we were able to see the difference that day," Gutierrez said.
Taylor said Chowdown started in 2012 yet blossomed during COVID-19, when multiple community members were trying to figure out what places were open. Now they are striving to keep those same shops open.
"The restaurant industry is facing a lot of different things," Taylor said. "To be able to help local mom-and-pop shops is very dear to my heart."
Gutierrez said he's learned that his shop, much like his dad's, has allowed food to be the root of building a strong neighborhood, and he plans to work as hard as possible to keep the bodega up and running.
"Coming from Mexico, it's like a sense of community," he said. "And by us having little businesses, we're able to help our community as well as the Hispanic community."
One day, Gutierrez said, he hopes to pass their family business to his sons.
