The Roanoker - November/December 2020 - 50

SWEET DONKEY COFFEE

"We're just
one giant
experiment
right now."

-Dustin Eshelman,
Sweet Donkey Coffee

» Using What You've Got
For South Roanoke's Sweet Donkey
Coffee, good timing smoothed the
transition to to-go orders after Governor
Northam mandated restaurants shut their
dining spaces by March 25.
Co-owner Dustin Eshelman had been
in conversations for a year with an online
ordering app, then known as Cloosiv
and now rebranded as Odeko. She was
interested but hadn't locked in. As the
coronavirus drumbeat sounded louder
every day, Eshelman remembered her
Cloosiv contact.
"I called him and I said: 'I think
now would be a good time,' " Eshelman
remembers. "We were able to launch it
the next day."
Customers could order, pay and schedule
a pickup without walking into the restaurant.
"I knew that if we shut our doors, we
would change people's behavior. People

50

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

would find a new place to go," Eshelman
says. "We never closed. Not one hour. We
were able to roll quickly and stay busy."
As restrictions eased, Sweet Donkey
benefited from the porch, patio and yard
that wrap around the restaurant. By midMay, Sweet Donkey moved picnic tables
six feet apart and invited customers to
enjoy orders outside. Soon, the coffee
shop's beloved Friday night events
returned. Patrons were asked to stay
seated, leave small children at home and
forego reusable cups. But Sweet Donkey's
Friday Food Truck N Tunes was one of
the first community events back on the
calendar.
"We're not anywhere near the volume
we once had, but it's an opportunity for
people to get out of the house and listen
to some live music," she says.
Eshelman is worried about what
happens when the fire pit and heaters
can no longer entice customers to linger.
Aside from reserving meeting spaces,
Sweet Donkey is not planning to seat
customers inside this winter.
"We're just one giant experiment right
now," she says.

» Making Opportunities
As one of Roanoke's finest dining
establishments, The River and Rail's shift
from picturesque platings to compostable
to-go boxes required rethinking every
step of their operation.
In a matter of days, the South Roanoke
bistro swapped herb-topped scallops for
mac and cheese, embracing a family meal
program that was better suited for takeout. They served barbecue and burger
kits and sold uncooked cuts of meat
- locally-raised steaks, house-made
sausages, smoked pork chops.
The restaur ant looked f or any
opportunity to connect local food
providers with customers. For a time, The
River and Rail became a pickup location
for Thornfield Farm vegetables. They sold
dried goods like grits and even hand-cut
ice cubes. The restaurant drafted its first
kids menu, complete with chicken tenders
and a Virginia-grown apple.
"All of a sudden we've got four or five
things," Deal explains. "Each one was
adding a little bit to the bucket in terms
of keeping us going."

TheRoanoker.com

SWEET DONKEY COFFEE: COURTESY OF SWEET DONKEY COFFEE, JENNY MARIE PHOTOGRAPHIE / (FACING
PAGE) CRYSTAL SPRING GROCERY CO: LAYLA KHOURY-HANOLD

Here's a look at how three local restaurants
forged ahead in one of the most heartwrenching years in memory.
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The Roanoker - November/December 2020

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