Restaurant owners shares journey of opening new spot during pandemic

TUPELO, Miss. (WCBI)- More than 60% of restaurants fail in their first year in the United States. There are always challenges, but opening a new restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic has its own set of obstacles.

It wasn’t long after the government-mandated restaurant shutdowns that Kermit’s Outlaw Kitchen owner Mitch McCamey thought about closing for good.

He was tired of the concept, but this past weekend McCamey opened “Kermit’s Soul Kitchen” in the same space. He says he’s learning a lot about opening a restaurant in the middle of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We wanted to do something that was a little more customer-friendly, more staff friendly, and we feel like we can do a better job and serve better food,” said Mitch McCamey, owner of “Kermit’s Soul Kitchen.”

For Mitch McCamey, that meant going back to his roots as a chef. His mentor was Mike Fernandez, one of the co founders of “Moe’s Original Barbecue” During the 21 weeks the restaurant’s doors were closed, McCamey and his crew transformed the space and the menu.

“We made our food, where it’s roasted, smoked, or slow-cooked, raw preparations, so it’s much faster,” said McCamey.

However, when it came time to hire, many of his former employees couldn’t come back.

“It’s not like everybody just didn’t come back because of COVID or they didn’t want to, it was a big change for everybody, we were off for a long time, but in some ways it allowed everybody to have a fresh start.”

Like many small business owners, McCamey qualified and received assistance through the CARES Act. But he doesn’t see it as a gift from the government.

“That’s a sore subject for me, I don’t want people walking around thinking they got a gift when they are over-regulated anyway by a governing body that can’t even balance a checkbook.”

McCamey says a lot of small restaurants won’t bounce back after the COVID 19 related restrictions that’s why he says another shutdown is out of the question.

McCamey’s other Tupelo restaurant, the “Neon Pig” did not shut down because it is also a butcher shop.