When the novel coronavirus pandemic shut down Minglewood Harborside’s indoor seating, the staff began to think of how they could shift with the changing dining experience.
That shift has grown feathers and a beak and is known now as Little Red Rooster, a fried chicken eatery with easy takeout and delivery options.
Located at 25 Roger St., in the space formerly known as Minglewood Tavern, Little Red Rooster offers up the ultimate comfort food of chicken, fried and lathered with a variety of sauces. Tater tots, onion rings, and sweet potato fries are this restaurant’s sides of choice.
The physical space has a few tables spread 6 feet apart, but the restaurant’s main focus is takeout and delivery.
“We saw the shift in how people are dining and wanted to meet that need,” general manager Zach Sears said.
The migration toward the new restaurant idea came when Sears realized that sea creatures didn’t travel as well as birds.
Minglewood Harborside, also located at 25 Roger St., specializes in seafood such as seared salmon, grilled swordfish, and baked haddock. And for the first few months of the pandemic that it was allowed to be open, takeout was all the public wanted.
“Mussels don’t travel well,” admitted Sears, who also runs Minglewood’s operations.
Sears and his team began to brainstorm how to serve the community fresh and fast food.
“We spent so much time and thought on tweaking the menu of Minglewood,” Sears explained. “But instead of messing with Mingewood, we decided to make our own little takeout restaurant down the hallway.”
Although both share the same building and are part of Serenitee Restaurant Group, Minglewood and Little Red Rooster are separate restaurants.
Fried friends in the same boat
While they aren't opening up another restaurant, the owners of Woodman's of Essex, located at 119 Main St. in Essex, found themselves in a similar boat to Minglewood when the dine-in option became a lot more difficult.
"In March, we went all curbside," said Maureen Woodman, director of catering sales at Woodman's. "We put the food in your trunk. We had phone ordering. We had operators going. We did so many different things. We just kept changing with the chaos, trying to adapt to the customer."
With the onset of the pandemic, Woodman's catering business dropped by 90% and it returned nearly $70,000 in deposits from 47 events that were cancelled.
"We just refunded everything and said, 'If you could have the event and come back, great, but right now we don't want you to worry about it," Woodman explained. "We knew it was the right thing to do."
The seafood joint offering fried clams and locally sourced lobster along the Great Marsh has limited its indoor dining seating from 300 to 72 to account for social distancing. And while the giant tent in back of the restaurant has been taken down, socially distanced picnic tables remain.
Woodman's has switched to its winter hours and is offering daily specials.
Although things won't be the same in the foreseeable future, Woodman is confident that the restaurant will see the other side of the pandemic.
"Our restaurant side, through COVID, has done very well, actually done better than last year," she said.
Flying off the frying pan
Since opening Oct. 30, Little Red Rooster has seen a flock of customers chow down on its offerings.
“It has been insanely busy,” Serenitee Group's Marketing Director Samantha Porter said. “(Fried chicken) was clearly needed as we are getting a lot of repeat customers.”
Porter said the restaurant staff have already seen people come back three or four times, a promising sign for being open a little over a week.
“It is a great thing to pick up and go,” she added.
Little Red Rooster will be open seven days a week from noon to 8:30 p.m. Hungry customers can order at https://direct.chownow.com/order/21790/locations/38539
Taylor Ann Bradford can be reached at 978-675-2705 or tbradford@gloucestertimes.com.
The Link LonkNovember 10, 2020 at 05:45PM
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