With CDC telling people stay home for Thanksgiving, catering is in high demand.
The orders at Smokey John’s Bar-B-Que in Dallas just kept coming in. Owners Brent and Juan Reaves say COVID made a noticeable impact on business this Thanksgiving.
“This year is nuts,” said Brent Reaves. “We’ve got two eighteen-wheelers here right now that are full of food that have already been pre-ordered. Our numbers were five times last year, and last year was a record year for us.”
The CDC recommends people only gather with those they already live with. That means, instead of large potluck style dinners, people opted for catering for just a small few.
There’s been such a demand for catered Thanksgiving meals, the Reaves brothers had to cut off pre-orders three days earlier than originally planned.
“The original cutoff day was Friday the 20th and we ended up having to cut off on Wednesday because we needed to be sure we could prepare for all who had ordered up to that point,” said Juan Reaves.
At the Cake Bar in Trinity Groves, people were in line until dusk. Owner Tracy German says 90% of her orders were made online ahead of Thanksgiving Eve.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
“This year our orders tripled,” said German. “Even if people did decide to cook something, desserts are the harder thing to cook and it’s easier just to pick up a dessert.”
Both German and the Reaves brothers said the long hours have been worth it because this year it’s about more than the food on the table. It’s about being thankful for who is at the table, albeit small.
