LOS ANGELES: A restaurant chain in Los Angeles has a strange new menu item in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis: healthy meals served with a side of toilet paper.
What started as a joke to keep customers at Simply Salad smiling has become a community service sensation.
“We were speaking to one of our suppliers and he talked about how much extra stockpile they had because all the restaurant and hotel chains are all closed, and that’s where a lot of it goes,” said Bruce Teichman, President and Co-CEO of Simply Salad. “It was really funny because we were like, “Why don’t we take all of it and try to do one roll per person that orders $20 or more?’”
Teichman along with Co-CEO, Cameron Lewis are filling a vital need. As more people use the restrooms at home instead of at work, grocery stores are having a hard time keeping their shelves stocked with the bathroom essential.
“Honestly we’ve never seen such an amazing response on social media,” Teichman added. “It’s everything from people just getting a really good laugh out of it to people genuinely saying thank you for getting me through another day.”
Skeptics may claim the toilet paper promotion is just a ploy to increase sales. But in reality, with people afraid to leave their homes and restaurants limited to only take out and delivery orders, business is down 80%.
“We’re really doing this as a way to be a service to the community,” he confided. “We’re operating at a loss but for us it’s not as important as being there for people that can’t get food from other places because so many restaurants are closed.”
With their newfound publicity, Simply Salad has started helping the heroes on the frontline of COVID 19. The restaurant’s new GoFundMe campaign is raising money for hospitals and medical workers in the Los Angeles area.
“By using the funds that are coming in from our valuable and loyal customer base and the even larger platform we have now, we really feel like we can make a tremendous impact.”
While their community service has grown beyond their expectations, Simply Salad's original intentions have stayed the same: to give people a reason to laugh and hopefully help them see a silver lining.
