Earth Burger, located at 656 E Hopkins St, offers customers 100% plant based meat alternatives and supports a zero waste initiative from the kitchen to the take out window.
Assistant manager at the San Marcos Earth Burger Jason Peed, is working during the COVID19 crisis, and said he still does his job normally, however, the restaurant has made changes to protect employees and customers.
“Right now, we’re shortening our hours because of (COVID19),” Peed said. “As a manager, I’m having to make sure that all the employees follow the CDC guidelines, which includes wearing gloves whenever (they’re) handling money.”
Whenever employees handle a transaction with a customer, Peed makes sure that employees throw their old gloves away, wash their hands, and put on new gloves before resuming their shift. The chain has recently started to require that all employees wear masks.
Peed said business is a lot slower than usual, similar to how it is during the off-season in San Marcos due to the lower number of students. To combat the decline in customers, Earth Burger has introduced deals, such as buy-one-get-one-free, to help boost sales. According to Peed, business has started to pick up, as regular customers have started coming almost every day, despite the pandemic.
“It’s a unique situation right now,” Peed said. “We get random rushes at different times. I’m not really used to working like this, but we’re figuring it out.”
According to Peed, Earth Burger has no plans to shut down during the pandemic unless the government orders a complete lockdown. Peed emphasized the importance of takeout restaurants and drive-thrus staying open.
“Not everybody can cook at home,” Peed said. “Some people aren’t used to it, some people are more accustomed to eating out. It’s essential that people are fed.”
To keep up with demand, Earth Burger is offering take out and drive through service and, through applications like DoorDash and Favor, delivery from all locations.
2nd place: Root Cellar
3rd place: Industry