GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Daddy Pete’s BBQ continued to serve its award-winning food at its takeout window over the last year’s pandemic, but a big part of their business – food truck and catering – has yet to recover.
But co-founder Tara Davis continues to be upbeat.
We've noticed a definite shift of a lot of people wanting to support local, so please continue to do that,” she says.
We typically have hundreds of catering events and food truck events that we participate in, in a year,” Davis adds. “Last year, we had maybe less than five food truck events that we did.”
Not only has the volume of demand changed for Daddy Pete’s, but the timing has changed, too. “We used to have a really solid lunch group Tuesday through Friday, and now it's more dinner weekends.”
Davis notes Daddy Pete’s has a new schedule: “We've decided to have our hours closed Monday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday is 11 to 7. Saturday is 11 to 7 as well. And then Sunday, we're now open from 12 to 5. Sunday is a new day for us. But we've got a lot of people we're really excited about it.”
The business has been able to survive on takeout business because of pandemic assistance, though the combination of running a business and working for the business leaves little time for filling out forms. “We're trying to work on the business. [To] fill out all the applications and all the requirements has been a challenge,” Davis explains.
But Daddy Pete’s history has worked to their advantage in dealing with changing business conditions. “We come from the food truck world, so you never know from one day to the next when things might change. And so, we have already had that built into our DNA of having to shift and change.”
“And we hope for the best.”
Daddy Pete’s BBQ, 2921 Eastern Ave SE, Grand Rapids 616- 426-8439
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