Ridgefield Restaurants Awarded Grants To Cover Coronavirus

RIDGEFIELD, CT — Two Ridgefield restaurants are among 92 in the state to be awarded a grant from the Connecticut Restaurant Relief Fund program provided through the DoorDash Main Street Strong effort.

Gallo, on Grove Street, and The Ancient Mariner, on Main Street, are each recipients of $5,000 grants.

The recipients are some of Connecticut’s hardest hit restaurants, representing all eight counties and 57 different towns and cities. The money is meant to be used to cover operating costs, including rent, payroll, purchasing Personal protective equipment, expanding outdoor dining capacity, and other expenses.

During the first round of DoorDash’s Main Street Strong COVID-19 relief grants in 2020, 85 percent of restaurants stated that one of the biggest impacts on their business was reduced sales due to COVID restrictions, and 82 percent cited lost revenue attributed to the declining economy.

The grants are being administered by the Connecticut Hospitality Educational Foundation, the philanthropic 501(c)(3) arm of the Connecticut Restaurant Association.

"The restaurant industry has been hit so hard over the past year, and it's critical we save as many local restaurants as possible so they can be part of Connecticut's post-COVID economic recovery,” said Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association. “We are proud to partner with DoorDash and plan to start mailing checks to selected restaurants next week, exactly one year from the state mandated shutdown of in-person dining. It is our hope that this grant along, with other funding from the state and federal resources, will help our state’s restaurants keep their doors open, keep employees working, and keep serving customers while they continue to recover from this pandemic."

These grants are a part of DoorDash’s five-year, $200 million Main Street Strong Pledge to empower local communities, which included a $10 million grant program effort across select cities, states, and counties in the U.S. and Canada, of which Connecticut received $500,000 earlier this year.

"Restaurants have faced unprecedented challenges in the last year, and DoorDash is proud to support them," said Katie Witman, senior policy advisor at DoorDash. "It is our hope that these grants will help restaurants as they continue to navigate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis."