For Local Restaurateur, Pandemic Won't Stop Sudbury Expansion

SUDBURY, MA — Like so many other business owners across Massachusetts, Chandra Gouldrup began 2020 with a pretty solid plan.

Gouldrup would open a new iteration of her bustling Easton breakfast-brunch spot The Farmer’s Daughter in Sudbury's Meadow Walk shopping plaza. No easy task, but definitely something she knew how to do.

Of course, that was before a deadly, microscopic organism began circling the globe.

But Gouldrup is among many business owners who are forging ahead with a new venture or expansion. The pandemic has been especially bad for restaurants, with about 20 percent of them shutting down for good, according to the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. It's also been a confusing period, with danger levels shifting widely between communities, and sometimes confusing guidance from state government.

Gouldrup's secret to moving ahead? She used the pandemic as a learning experience. She learned how to create a menu that was cost-effective and adjusted staffing levels for reduced capacity. Her Easton restaurant is seeing long wait times, just like before the pandemic.

"The good news is we've had a test run at the Easton location," she said. "When we open the Sudbury location we'll be smarter, more fiscally wise."

Opening a new restaurant has come with unforeseen challenges, too. She's waiting on items like seats and glassware, things that are harder to get due to worldwide manufacturing slowdowns.

Gouldrup sought to open the Sudbury restaurant after reaching capacity at her Easton location. The new Route 20 location is close enough to Easton that she can commute between the two restaurants, but far enough that she can reach diners in a new market.

Although somewhat unusable due to seating restrictions, the Sudbury restaurant will also have a patio and bar area where diners can wait for a table. The restaurant will have room for over 100.

Here are renderings of what the restaurant will look like:

To start, the Sudbury restaurant will have less seating indoors — about 75 people to start — and will likely have a menu that mirrors the Easton restaurant, which helps streamline operations.

Just like in Easton, the new restaurant will focus on breakfast and brunch made with locally farmed ingredients. Gouldrop plans to create relationships with farms in the Sudbury area to go even more local. She has her eye on Sudbury's Siena Farms, a supplier for about a dozen restaurants in the Boston area.

The pandemic has also taken some magic out of running a restaurant. Gouldrup wants her customers to have a good meal, but also have good interactions with her staff and each other — masks, gloves and social distancing don't lend to that.

"COVID has taken that all away," she said.

It's strange times, especially for restaurants. But Gouldrup is in good company. Several other local restaurateurs are expanding in the MetroWest and Worcester markets. Local chain the Bagel Table is opening two new spots in Natick and Wayland — the Natick location taking over the former Common Café, which closed due to the pandemic.

At the end of September, the Suzette Crêperie opened in Worcester's Canal District, taking over the long-vacant space once occupied by Weintraub's Jewish Delicatessen. Also in Worcester, first-time restaurant owner David Thacker opened a tiki bar during the worst days of the pandemic back in spring.

It's been an odd year, but Gouldrup is undeterred. Her plan is to open before 2021, although she's wary of setting an estimated date. In the meantime, she's hoping to hold some pop-up events before the holidays to whet local appetites.

"Even with the pandemic going on, things have been lining up," she said. "I think it's going to be a really great match."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of diners that will be able to sit down in the restaurant when it opens.