NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. — The owners of two local restaurants are voluntarily closing their doors and changing their business model to curbside pickup and delivery in order to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Brothers Robert and Victor Ghini, owners of Barcello and Limoncello, gave their kitchen staff food to feed a family of four for three weeks. The brothers are also inviting all their employees to a 'family dinner' every night at 4:30 p.m. at their restaurants, while practicing social distancing or they have the option to take the food home.
"We made a decision that we never thought we would have to make," said Robert Ghini. "The decision did not come lightly, and it's affecting the lives of 50 families. Fifty people no longer have a steady source of income."
Regular customers of both restaurants have called to ask how they can help, after the curbside pickup was announced earlier this week.
The Ghinis decided that a good help would be by donating to a virtual tip jar. The 'Help Your Favorite Servers and Bartenders' campaign allow costumers to search through a list of staff that they can send money to.
"The amount of inquiries we have had from our clients has been overwhelming," said Ghini. "They are concerned and want to help. So, we came up with the idea that people could help employees they have the most connection with via direct payments."
The brothers are providing costumers with a list of employees who have Venmo accounts, along with the account information, or their social media platforms.
Curbside pickup is from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Barcello is located at 11603 US-1, North Palm Beach.
Limoncello is located at 2000 PGA Boulevard Ste 3110, Palm Beach Gardens,