Food, beverage businesses remain open through Tet

Food and beverage establishments are working through Tet or abbreviating their holidays to make up for a year of poor business due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Crab restaurant chain Vua Cua is delivering through the holidays, and some of its outlets closed for two days out of the nine.

“I believe that many people will stay in HCMC during the holiday as they refrain from traveling,” CEO Doan Thi Anh said, adding that last year sales during the holidays were up 300 percent from normal days.

Tet, the Lunar New Year, is by far Vietnam’s most important festival, and most restaurants and other business establishments close for at least a week.

But this year many are either not closing or are opening early to cash in on an opportunity to earn some money after a desperate year.

Japanese chain Mirico reopened three of its six outlets in HCMC on Wednesday.

“We hope the number of customers during Tet this year (starting January 29) will reach the same as last year so that we can make up for months of closure,” manager Luu Hoang Huy said.

Two restaurants in the Quan Bui chain in Thu Duc City are also open for seven days of the nine-day holidays.

“I think many foreigners won’t return to their country this year and we anticipate a lot of customers during the holidays,” a media representative of the chain said.

For the first time since its establishment in 2018 Lagom Café in District 3 will remain open during most of the Tet holidays.

The decision was based her workers’ request, owner Do Thi Ly Na explained. They preferred to work saying the months off due to social distancing in the city were enough for them, she added.

In December revenues from food and accommodation rose by nearly 58 percent from November.

“Most well-known downtown restaurants have been operating at full capacity and even had to turn away some customers,” Le Nguyen Minh Man, owner of Hong Kong Town restaurant in District 1, said.

Business seems set to be “vibrant” in the first quarter, he said.

However, his restaurant would close through the holiday since his workers had been stuck in HCMC for a year and wanted to return home, he said.

Buying materials is challenging since suppliers are closed, and restaurants need to prepare ahead, he said.

Paying workers triple or even five times their normal salary is key to ensuring good service during Tet, he added.