MILFORD, Ohio — Grocery shoppers hunting for fresh fruit and vegetables while trying to avoid grocery stores will soon have another option.
The Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Milford is opening a drive-thru farmer’s market this weekend.
“This is my family,” the restaurant’s training coordinator Madi Livengood said. “My best friends work here.”
For Livengood and her coworkers-turned-friends, social distancing food service is the new normal.
“For the community, it’s been great because people get to come in here and still get food,” Livengood said. “We’re keeping it clean, keeping it curbside so they don’t have to feel uncomfortable.”
Texas Roadhouse, like restaurants across the Tri-State, is adapting until it can fully reopen.
“I have 120 on my staff,” managing partner Brian Kutcher said. “The first week that this happened, I was down to about 10% of them working.”
Now, 70% of the staff is back and ready to roll out something new.
Starting the weekend of April 18, people visiting the restaurant for their carryout option will have the chance to get fresh fruit and vegetables.
“We came up with this idea with all the restrictions being placed on grocery stores and the availability of food and the high-risk people not wanting to go into the grocery stores, so we thought maybe bring the grocery store to their car,” Kutcher said.
The farmer's market offers boxes of fresh produce -- $30 for fresh fruit, $40 for fresh vegetables plus grill-ready steaks.
“They’re all pre-made up ahead of time,” Kutcher said. “There’s a vegetable box and a fruit box. Each box has 12 or 14 different types of fruits or vegetables in it you can take home.”
Restaurant employees said it’s an alternative for seniors and the immuno-suppressed – and a chance to say "thank you" to all the customers for helping them pull through these tough times.
“We’re saying thank you to the members of our community that have been so loyal to us over the years and given them a safe avenue to get some good quality food,” Kutcher said.
The farmer’s market will be open from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, April 18, and Sunday, April 19.
For more stories on how you can support local businesses during the coronavirus pandemic sent right to your inbox, subscribe to our We're Open email newsletter here.
