SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sandra Yanez and her husband, Andres, own Yolanda's Tamales in south Sacramento. The small Mexican food restaurant is doing something that entire industries are struggling to do — thrive.
While many restaurants have been forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic, it appears some businesses are booming in south Sacramento.
"It was definitely a blessing in disguise for us," Sandra said.
In the first few days of the coronavirus pandemic, Sandra panicked. The restaurant is what the family survives on. It's their only income.
But then they got busier. Then, one day, Sandra said they were so busy that they had a line out the door and ran out of tamales for the first time ever.
ABC10 discovered this story on an EaterSF article that detailed how some south Sacramento restaurants are responding to the coronavirus business climate.
"I had to hire a few more people to be able whip out all of the tamales that we're doing and to keep up with the demand," Andres Yanez said.
They think it's a combination of loyal customers, affordable prices and promotions like Taco Tuesday and Tamale Thursday.
"Now the rest of the week, since the pandemic happened, we try to have a family meal every other day of the week as well," Sandra said. "So any day you come to us, you could get a meal from us for $20 to $25."
But Yolanda's Tamales isn't the only South Sacramento restaurant thriving despite the pandemic.
So is Baker's Donuts on Florin Road.
"People love doughnuts. They want to get doughnuts no matter what," Douglas Hem, a manager for Baker's Donuts said.
Baker's Donuts is a Sacramento staple. Positioned in the same place for 35 years, the doughnut shop got extremely popular years ago because of their delicious Instagramable creations.
Since the stay-at-home order was implemented, the shop has been slammed with drive-through, phone and Door Dash orders.
"I think it's just like something that's normal to them," Hem said. "Like, it's a sense of normalcy. Like, you have donuts, it's something that you do routinely."
Hem said they've also been slammed with orders for first responders being sent straight to the hospitals.
Despite being positioned right across the street from a Krispy Kreme that also has a drive through, time and time again, people are choosing to shop local.
"They're like, 'Nope. we want Baker's Donuts. It's been here for 35 years. We want unique, traditional donuts," Hem said.
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Lena Howland.
(Editor's Note: This story has been edited to include the reference to Illyanna Maisonet’s article from Eater SF, where we first heard of the story. We should have been transparent about where the story came from. ABC10 and reporter Lena Howland are sorry for this lack of transparency and omission.)
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