LaSalle restaurants finding success with all-you-can-eat drive-in model

A pair of restaurants in LaSalle are bringing back drive-in dining in an attempt to drum up business and give people a way to get outside of their houses to eat. 

"Almost everybody who's come here is just lovin' it," said Joaquim Lourenco, sushi and back kitchen manager at the Kona Sushi branch in LaSalle.

Kona is offering an all-you-can-eat deal for people who park in the restaurant's parking lot. Customers can make repeated orders by text and the food is brought to them by a server in disposable containers. 

LA Town Grill, a restaurant just next door is offering a similar deal with all-you-can-eat brunches on weekends.

Lourenco said it's been very popular. The restaurant is busier than ever and are booking spots almost a week in advance especially on weekend days.

"They're just so grateful that there's something to do," Lourenco said. "With COVID and everything it's been tough for everybody."

Lourenco says they're making sure that everyone is staying within their cars and the restaurant is following all the other health and safety requirements required during the pandemic.

"You're not allowed to like pull out your lawn chair and sit out in front of your car and that kind of stuff ... But people make the most of it," Lourenco said.

It's been a while

Matt Montaleone and Sal Loria live together in student housing together and went out for some dynamite rolls and other sushi treats on Sunday — an experience they said they haven't had in quite some time. 

"We haven't had all-you-can-eat in a while so just the fact that we could get out here and have all-you-can-eat is something special," Montaleone said. "It was awesome." 

"I think it's a good concept. I wish we could get out of the cars, but it does make sense to, like keep control," Loria added.  

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit said that it was looking into whether drive-in all-you-can-eats are in compliance with the current stay-at-home order and provincial shutdown, where gatherings are prohibited. 

Dr. Wajid Ahmed, medical officer of health, acknowledged that people are still within their cars and suggested the situation was a "grey zone."

"I've asked my team to take a look at the regulations to make sure that they are in compliance. So far they haven't raised any flags but we'll continue to look into it," he said at the health unit's daily briefing on Monday.