Sandy's Restaurant is #BlueSpringsStrong

“We’ve been blessed in so many ways during all of this,” said Erika Lucas, owner of Sandy’s Restaurant. But that isn’t to say being in the restaurant business during a pandemic, a stay-at-home order, occupancy restrictions and now a mask mandate has been easy. In March 2020, when Jackson County announced the stay-at-home order, Lucas had to weigh her odds.

“We weren’t known for curbside delivery, and I had to ask myself, are to-go orders going to be enough to pay the light bills?” Lucas said. “I just didn’t see how it was going to work, and I had to – with tears in my eyes – tell my employees that we were going to shut-down Sandy’s completely until the stay-at-home order was lifted.”

At the time, she thought it would just be a two-week closure. But the virus had other plans and the county health department extended the stay-at-home order for nearly two months. And that’s when the blessings came in. Lake City Ammunition needed catering for it’s essential workers and Sandy’s was able to provide that for three weeks. When the order lifted, and Phase 1 of the Jackson County Recovery Plan kicked in, Lucas was able bring all of her employees back and was thankful she had decided to take a risk the prior year and relocate into the bigger space.

Photo by Anthem Photography

“When we moved over here, people thought I was crazy for taking on this much space, but it’s been a blessing,” she said. Lucas said Sandy’s has been able to take advantage of their larger footprint by spreading all the tables apart and hosting “social distancing” banquets in the dining room for interested organizations.

“Our motto through all of this has been to adapt and overcome,” Lucas said. And at one point that even meant selling toilet paper, paper towels, dairy products and dry goods out of the front of their restaurant in a make-shift general store. “As a small business, we can do those types of unconventional things,” she said. “We’ve been able to adapt and give our customers what they need when they need it.”

Now that the great toilet paper crisis of 2020 has subsided, Sandy’s has eliminated the general store and offers socially distanced dine-in options, curbside to-go and delivery to households and businesses in Blue Springs and Grain Valley.

“Our customers are long-time and loyal and we always want them to feel safe and normal when they come eat with us – whatever option they feel most comfortable with,” Lucas said.

Thank you to the City of Blue Springs, The Examiner, Community Services League Blue Springs, and Downtown Alive for supporting our local small businesses. Together, we are #BlueSpringsStrong!

Photos by Jaime Russell, Anthem Photography