Shubert Ho and His Food Warriors Step Up to Provide for COVID-19-Impacted

“We are food warriors, we love what we do.”

When COVID-19 closed down the Edmonds School District early on, Bar Dojo — one of four Shubert Ho restaurants — was among the first to step in and help, offering free meals to displaced kids. Ho and his team across the board are still out there, doing what they can to serve, repurposing his four restaurants for online ordering/takeout only, and turning Salt & Iron into a Community Kitchen for kids, medical workers, and seniors. Bar Dojo Chef de Cuisine Luis Brambila and Ho weigh in on the cost/rewards of pitching in.

How’s Bar Dojo doing since COVID-19?

Luis Brambila: Bar Dojo is handling this situation very seriously, just like other amazing restaurants in the area. Business is down 50 percent. We’re trying our best to stay open and we are so happy to have such an amazing support from the Edmonds community, great response for our take-out menu. We’ve also been doing different specials every week to give our dinners a fresh option, working hard every day to keep our community fed. We are food warriors, we love what we do. Also, thanks to all the great people who donate every single day for the kids and the hospitals.

How have you adapted?

Shubert Ho: We have transitioned into quick service takeout only for all units. This seems to be the new norm and result of not being able to have customers dine in.  At Salt & Iron, we are taking this opportunity to support the community by turning this restaurant into a Community Kitchen serving kids, seniors, and medical workers. In addition, we have always had a bunch of concepts in our back pocket for subsequent restaurant locations. It has been fun doing pop-ups at Salt & Iron on the weekends to gauge community interest, i.e., our Hot Chicken & Cheesesteak popup, and our next Tacos and Elote popup.

What’s the response been? The Edmonds community and its surrounding towns have been extremely supportive. We consistently see the same people whom we have developed relationships with over the years buy takeout and contribute to our community campaign of #forthekids and #4thehospitals. It’s amazing how people are really checking in to see what new offerings we might have. 

Do you have online gift cards or gift certificates? We offer online gift cards at each of our units:

https://www.toasttab.com/saltniron/giftcards 

https://www.toasttab.com/bardojo/giftcards

https://www.toasttab.com/marketfreshfish/giftcards 

https://www.toasttab.com/san-kai/giftcards

How can people support you? They can continue to tune in on our social media channels to see what we are serving daily! From getting takeout, to buying BBQ DIY rib packages, to supporting our Community Kitchen Campaign, it all goes to helping us keep our current staff employed and the lights on!