Waltham's 'In A Pickle' Closes, Aids Staff During Pandemic

WALTHAM, MA — In A Pickle, the breakfast-and-lunch restaurant on the corner of Moody and Crescent streets, has had its fair share of challenges since owner Tim Burke opened the diner some 17 years ago.

The name itself was born from the tight situation he found himself in when he decided to start the business. But now, as restaurants everywhere cope with the economic downtown, the uncertainty feels real.

Like many other restaurant owners, he doesn't know when his restaurant can reopen, he doesn't know how much of a hit he will end up taking, and he doesn't know what his restaurant will look like when it does eventually reopen. With so many variables, Burke has been focusing on what he can do.

"It's just like anything in life: there are good moments and bad," he said. "Some days it's a gifted vacation and then other days you're like, 'Oh my gosh.' You work 17 years building up a business and it's slowly being depleted, bills are still coming in.

"It's not like we don't have to pay rent, electricity, heat," he said. "And I want to try to be a good employer but all the money is going out and there's no money coming in. "

Concern for employees

When the governor limited gatherings to 10 people, Burke, who also owns Playmakers down the street, decided to shutter that restaurant and moved his employees to help with take out and delivery at In A Pickle. That was a new model for the restaurant that had, until now, focused on table service. It wasn't so much as an effort to make money as it was to keep his staff employed.

"My whole goal was to make more money for the employees than what they would receive on unemployment," said Burke, who worried that his 40 staff members from both restaurants would make ends meet, knowing that many of them depended on tips.

That takeout experiment lasted about a week before Burke decided the best thing for everyone would be to close shop and lay everyone off. But he committed himself to helping connect his staff with as many resources as he could find.

And because several didn't qualify for unemployment he set up a GoFundMe page, where family, customers and community members donated more than $5,000, which he matched, to go toward his staff while the restaurant could figure out next steps. Community members also bought $1,000 worth in gift cards from the restaurant.

"People were extremely generous, family customers, donating to that," he said. "We had people teary-eyed, in tears, and fearful of what was going to be their future. This really helped."

Burke helped connect his staff with unemployment filing resources and set up a private Facebook group where they could connect and share.

When the government introduced the added CARES Act package of $600 extra a week for those on unemployment, he was the first to make sure everyone knew. When the Waltham City Council announced a rent assistance fund, he helped a couple of employees take advantage of it, even driving papers to a landlord in Needham to get a required signature.

He's also been delivering grocery store gift cards to employees who have families and need it most.

"I've just been trying to do right by our employees and keep on top of each employee once a week, and make sure they are doing OK and have the assistance they need, and are eating," he told Patch. "They help me out so it's my turn to help them out. And we are going to need them all when we open up again."

'This is not a no-brainer'

As for aid for the business, Burke said he missed the first loan package for businesses, but applied for the Paycheck Protection program in the second round of funding.

"It's been very confusing," he said. "And there hasn't been a lot of guidance from anybody. Everyone has a little tweak: An accountant understands it one way, the bank another way."

It's not even certain at this point if the package will be a low-interest loan or a grant. And it looks like once he receives the money he will have eight weeks to push it out into payroll.

That means rehiring staff who are now being paid more to stay at home through unemployment than they would if they came back. He's considering hazard pay.

"If we're not able to open at full capacity, I'm not sure what this will mean," he said. "It's a bit of a tight-wire walk. It's not a no-brainer, you really have to put thought into it."

What his days look like now

After the first week of not knowing what to do with himself, Burke still wakes up at 4:15 a.m. and heads to the restaurant, where he's usually alone.

"You just kind of work through it and hope you find the end soon," he said.

He moved up a project to redo the floor near the dishwasher, originally planned for later in the summer, and doing other jobs around the restaurant while it's closed.

What will a reopening look like?

The big question is what will it look like for restaurants like In A Pickle when they are able to reopen. Burke is watching what's happening in other states.

It's not clear what the restaurant will look like, but it will include the loss of regular customers who have died because of COVID-19 and new safety and distancing measures. He doesn't expect to reopen before May 18, the date the governor has extended the stay-at-home advisory.

Meanwhile, he's waiting on a delayed delivery of 280 masks for his restaurant workers, he said.

"There's a lot of unknowns, a lot of feeling it out," he said. "We're going to open up when we think we can do it, when it's safe. We've never experienced this, we're just trying to follow our governor's guidance."

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