Since COVID-19 hit the country 14 months ago, San Jose has leveraged staff and resources to measure the impact on our businesses, and then to develop strategies to mitigate the devastating impact of the virus and resulting restrictions on businesses.

We found that the hardest-hit segment of our economy has been the hospitality and retail businesses dependent on in-person interactions – especially our restaurants, bars and cafes.

In another post we summarize all the activities and programs that the City’s Emergency Operations and our Recovery efforts have directed towards this part of our business community, In the process, we came across businesses that have defied the odds, have found ways to innovate, or have redefined how they operate. To share their stories, we launched a series of video vignettes, featuring the owners telling the story of their pandemic survival.

The first of the series focuses on a quintessential San Jose family business, Luna Mexican Kitchen. Co-owner Jo Lopez tells the story of managing the pandemic’s impact on their thriving first location, on The Alameda, and opening a second, much larger restaurant in The Pruneyard at the same time.

Key to the survival was the family’s absolute commitment to their employees – all of the critically important Paycheck Protection Program loan was dedicated to payroll, avoiding layoffs and using the time the restaurants had to be shut down for training, learning and innovating.

Watch the video for the whole Luna story.