KITCHENER -- A Waterloo restaurant is getting a financial boost to help them stay in business amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a news release, Mambella’s Italian Kitchen says they have received a grant of $10,000 from the Canadian Business Resilience Network Small Business Relief Fund.
They say the grant, which is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and Salesforce, was given to a total of 62 businesses across Canada.
“These funds will help us pivot into our next chapter in our ever-changing world. Only one other business in KW was awarded this grant as well so we’re feeling so lucky to be considered,” says owner Tina Brisbin in the release.
The pandemic is not the only thing Mambella’s has had to overcome during their time in business. About eight years ago, when RIM closed its doors to most of its employees in Waterloo, the restaurant lost their main source of customers.
In the release the restaurant says they went from serving over 200 people a day to between 15 and 20.
Brisbin decided to re-build the business, expanding into catering services.
“We thought we had been through the worst of it,” she’s quoted in the release. “Then COVID hit and we were reduced to take out only, providing meals to Grand River Hospital and selling our frozen foods.”
Since then the restaurant has been creating made-from-scratch meals for families, seniors, and students. They also continue to do take-out and catering.
“We don’t know what the fall will have in store for our world, but we do know what we will have numerous delicious dishes in store that you can throw in the oven and not feel guilty about,” Brisbin said in the release.
