The man who encouraged you to share images of lovely latte art, bountiful ramen bowls and fresh-from-the-farm salads from your favorite restaurants and cafes has now launched a website to help keep those ventures afloat.
Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger’s newest build is Save Our Faves, a website that gives Bay Area residents a one-stop-shopping platform where they can purchase gift cards to give a boost to restaurants struggling financially during this COVID-19 crisis.
“Your favorite Bay Area restaurant might close forever. Help save it,” reads the mission statement posted on the homepage.
“It’s a seemingly small gesture, but it means that the business gets income today to stay afloat through the crisis,” Mike and wife Kaitlyn Krieger wrote on Medium. “You’ll get repaid in burgers/lattes/negronis (and gratitude) when they’re back on their feet.”
Hundreds of restaurants are listed on SaveOurFaves.org, and more are being added daily. It’s arranged geographically by region (San Francisco, East Bay, South Bay, Marin), then by city. You can also search for an individual restaurant.
The Kriegers created the site after receiving a worrisome call the Friday before the state shutdown started from a friend who owns a restaurant in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood.
“He was grappling with the realities of coronavirus and his balance sheet,” they wrote. “Should he stay open at potential risk to his staff? How long could he keep the restaurant afloat with sales plunging? By Sunday night he was forced to make the heartbreaking decision to close his doors, unsure of when or whether they’d ever reopen again.”
The Kriegers swung into action that weekend. Here’s how their project works: Save Our Faves is basically a directory of businesses. The gift cards themselves are provided by the restaurants/cafes through their POS (point of sale) systems.
“For example, for Rosamunde Sausage Grill, our site points to their gift card provided through Square, ” Mike Krieger explained via email. “Since we’re not processing any payments/gift cards (just linking to them), we don’t take any fee or cut.”
Customers can select a gift card in any amount from $5 to $500 and have it sent via email or phone text message to themselves — or as a gift to a fellow foodie or someone facing a stay-at-home birthday, with space to add a personal message.
In some cases, Save Our Faves may not have a coupon link for a favorite restaurant of yours that’s posted on the site. You’ll see a note that asks for your email and says: “We’ll let the business know you’re interested. We promise not to spam you.”
If your favorite spot isn’t equipped to sell gift cards, they’ll offer tech support.
Three weeks with few or no customers can kill a business, the couple notes. Restaurants are particularly vulnerable because they have so many fixed costs — rent, labor, loan repayments, insurance, supplies, repairs — and razor-thin margins.
“Consider pre-paying for a month’s worth of spending, or one night out if you visit only occasionally,” the Kriegers wrote. “More importantly, please share SaveOurFaves with friends and family to raise awareness for how we can support the businesses we love most. During this make-or-break time, it’s more important than ever that we band together to help preserve our community.”
