The Barstool Fund - Acquista Trattoria
Fund update…. over 12 million raised. Let's end 2020 with a bang! Watch, share, donate. Every dollar matters.
Up next: Acquista Trattoria (Fresh Meadows, NY)
Located in Fresh Meadows, Queens, Acquista Trattoria is a traditional Italian restaurant, serving the area for the last two decades. The restaurant is owned and operated by the Acquista family who brings a wealth of experience into this Union Turnpike eatery.
Reader Email
Dear Mr. Portnoy,
I want to start off by saying how greatly appreciative we are of what you are doing for many of us hard-working small businesses. We were a once-thriving Italian-American restaurant because of our hard work and drive to make every customer happy. However, in the last eight months we have been living a nightmare that we can’t wake up from.
I’d like to tell you a little bit about our family business that we started almost 20 years ago, in 2001. My father Rosario opened Acquista Trattoria, located in Fresh Meadows Queens, 2 blocks away from St. John’s University, with my two older brothers Joe and Carlo, 24 and 23 at the time, by his side. I had just finished my senior year of high school and was starting my freshman year at SJU. We all worked there and it quickly became our second home. My dad was still running his food distributing business in the mornings and would run the place at night, while my brothers Joe, Carlo, Paolo, Fabio, and I would be splitting shifts and running the place. We instantly became a part of the St. John’s community, serving all athletic teams and administrative departments. We were thriving, thanks to St. John’s and the Queens community. The amazing Lou Carnesecca would sneak into our back room for power lunches with some athletic legends and was one of our first returning customers after we were permitted to re-open for outdoor dining this past summer. After 13 years in business, my dad had saved enough, and the place was making enough that we could finally renovate and build a bigger kitchen we desperately needed (I ended up going to culinary school after college and run the kitchen now).
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Fast forward to March 21st 2020, the day we were told we had to close down our dining room and operate only on delivery and take-out to help stop the spread. We created a $35 Family Meal Deal that became popular with our customers, who really supported us and continue to support us through these difficult times. Our bank account went from a few thousand dollars to negative, not including the thousands that we owed to our vendors. We applied for the PPP loan and when that money came through, we were able to re-open after a five-week shutdown and called in our staff and slowly got rid of the debt. Before we re-opened, we let our landlord know that we had received the loan and would pay him the full amount for those two months, but we would need help after that money ran out because our top priority was to make sure our workers would get paid. We agreed to pay half the rent each month. We’ve had some good weeks and some terrible weeks – we are currently down 70% in revenue, but we keep fighting every day. The holiday season is usually a very busy time for us, but with indoor dining shut down again, I’m afraid we won’t make it. The restaurant business is so hard to begin with – my brothers had left the restaurant before this all happened because the place couldn’t sustain us all and now my 68-year-old dad and I are left, operating with a skeleton staff and rotating their shifts so that everyone can get paid.
If there is anything you can do for us to get through these next few months it would save our livelihoods and keep this neighborhood staple open. Whether we receive this relief or not, I commend you for putting your money where your mouth is. Go Prez go! Thank you for hearing our story.
P.S. You need to try our pizza! Come by anytime!
Sincerely,
Sandro Acquista and the Acquista Family