D’Elegance remains open in time of COVID-19

D’Elegance Café in Garapan is now open from 8am to 6pm. (KRIZEL TUASON)

For those not in the know, D’Elegance Café in Garapan has not shut down and continues to operate daily.

D’Elegance Café’s Emily Cabrera said that, like all businesses on the islands, they are also hurting since the COVID-19 pandemic affected the CNMI but they have remained open for the benefit of their regular customers. “We never closed to cater to our regular customers even though we don’t have much profit,” she said.

When the government first imposed social distancing measures and the original curfew, D’Elegance Café reduced its operating hours from 8am to 10pm to 8am to 2pm. With the more relaxed curfew, the restaurant is now open from 8am to 6pm.

Aside from loss in sales, the restaurant has also cut the hours of its employees, Cabrera said. “Sales are down 60% and some employees are out of the job or work much [fewer] hours. …It depends on their expertise needed in the restaurant.”

D’Elegance Café currently offers only take-out service and only one customer at a time could enter the restaurant to adhere to the government’s social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

D’Elegance Café’s daily menu is posted every morning on the restaurant’s Facebook page, and Cabrera said the restaurant’s bestsellers like sisig, kare-kare, adobo, beef steak, fritada and the regular soups like sinigang, tinola, and nilaga continue to be popular with their to-go customers.

Its menu also remains at pre-COVID-19 prices as two-choice meals are still $6.75, one choice is $4.75, and any additional sides is $3.50. The order comes with rice and complimentary soup.

“We thank our loyal customers that they continue to patronage the restaurant even after COVID-19 has made our lives hard. We only do take-outs currently and we only allow one customer at a time. We also want our customers to use precautionary measures like wearing a mask as soon as they enter the premises,” said Cabrera.

For more information and for pre-orders, call D’Elegance Café at 234-9227 or contract them through their Facebook page.

Cabrera also reminded loyal customers that Jullie’s BBQ, D’Elegance Café’s barbecue stand, has also remained open and is ready to serve from 2pm to 6pm daily. Items include $1 per stick of chicken or pork barbecue, $9.95 for a whole chicken, and $5.25 for a half-chicken. For more information or for pre-order, call Jullie’s BBQ at 234-9226.