The Gaston Gazette
Since age 16, Frank La Fragola has been working in the restaurant business.
For more than 30 years, he’s worked in all aspects of the trade, including the last 13 years where he’s been the owner of a restaurant. He’s seen a lot of things, but is quick to admit that opening his newest business venture, the Jekyll & Hyde Taphouse and Grill in downtown Belmont, has been the biggest challenge in his life.
“Opening a restaurant is a challenge in itself. Opening a restaurant in a pandemic is the biggest challenge you’ll ever face,” La Fragola said.
For more than a year, he’s worked to get his location at 10 Catawba St. opened and was poised to do so in mid-March when restaurants and bars across the state were forced to close their dining rooms as part of a statewide order from Gov. Roy Cooper. The order was enacted to limit the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19.
La Fragola was forced to lay off much of the staff he had just hired, something he says was “probably the worst thing I’ve had to do in my life.”
And then began the waiting for the governor to lift the restrictions. La Fragola said he never gave thought to cutting his losses and abandoning his plans for Belmont.
“The way I looked at it was a fight for survival,” he said. “Quitting is never an option for me. I’ll fight tooth and nail till the day I die.”
La Fragola said a positive he personally gleaned from the situation was that “I can overcome any challenge.”
“One of the things going into this pandemic was the big unknown. Will we be able to reopen? Will we be able to acquire staff again? Will we survive? And the answer was yes.”
That perseverance paid off on May 22, the first day of the Phase 2 reopening in North Carolina, when the Jekyll & Hyde Taphouse and Grill opened for business.
Since then, the steampunk-themed brewpub has seen a steady stream of customers. An outside patio has been a hit with diners and La Fragola is also excited for the upcoming debut of the in-house beer they’ve been brewing.
The kitchen serves traditional and not so traditional English/Irish/American plates such as Sheppard’s pie, fish and chips and homemade bread pudding. There’s more than 50 craft beers on tap, as well as wine and cocktails.
“For the most part, everyone appreciates us opening up and they’ve been patient with us,” La Fragola said.
He admits there’s been challenges with not only opening a new restaurant, but in following the governor’s restrictions. They are currently operating at 50 percent capacity, as well as following the 6-foot social distancing rules. They’re not allowed to host gatherings in an upstairs event room that could hold as many as 49 people.
“Not having a business open at capacity means you’re not paying all your bills. It’s a struggle,” said La Fragola, who noted his restaurant needs to be at 100 percent capacity to make sure the business is operating in the black.
He was able to rehire a “majority” of the staff he’d laid off in mid-March. And he’s looking to hire additional employees, but says it’s been an ongoing struggle.
“We’ve had help wanted ads out since the day we opened and we still can’t get staffed up,” La Fragola said. “Getting people to come back to work has been nothing but a difficult task at this point. The work force is out there. They just don’t want to come back right now.”
The problem lies in that, when federal unemployment pay is combined with state benefits, the person who is currently without a job may receive somewhere close to $950 each week.
“Why would you want to come back to work when you can collect $950 and do nothing,” La Fragola said. “Honestly, that’s the biggest hurdle I’ve been hearing in the industry.”
La Fragola, who also owns the Jekyll & Hyde Taphouse in Matthews in neighboring Mecklenburg County, has been complimentary of the cooperative spirit he’s found in Gaston County.
“Gaston has been a little more well received to us opening up and serving people. In Matthews, people have been a little more timid to come into the restaurant. They want people to wear masks and gloves everywhere they go,” La Fragola said. “It’s almost like a night-and-day-type operation.”
He’s gracious for the assistance from the Belmont community and local officials.
“It’s really made me happy I made the choice to put a restaurant in this little town because the support we’ve received has just been amazing.”
You can reach Michael Banks at 704-869-1842, email [email protected] and follow on Twitter @MichaelBanksNC.
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Want to go?
What? The Jekyll & Hyde Taphouse and Grill
Where? 10 Catawba St., Belmont
More information? Call 704-846-4933 or visit www.hydestaphouse.com/belmont/