By Zoe Petersen
Arandas is a very popular Mexican restaurant because of its lively ambience and tasty Mexican food.
The owners are resilient despite being severely affected by floods.
Aranda’s inventory was 90 percent depleted just three weeks before opening its restaurant in Montpelier on Main Street.
Lu Thomas, the owner of Arandas Mexican Cuisine, says, “We had to tear out the entire wall, and that, along with the wooden cabinets, was rebuilt.”
FEMA’s need for a multitude of documents to confirm relief assistance further delayed the restaurant’s progress.
In Barre, the floods destroyed 15 Arandas employee homes.
Even though employees were working every hour to open the restaurant, they did not give up.
Thomas continued, “They told us, ‘no’, ‘no’, they said we were working as a team and we had to be hard workers’, so we must pay them, because we need to provide for their needs.”
Arandas is not just a result of dedicated staff but of community help with cleanup and recovery.
Arandas also received cleaning help from Montpelier Alive, and borrowed stock from other vendors.
Thomas says, “People who came to us for help in buying more equipment or other items that we really needed were very helpful.” Thomas.
Donations are used to replace kitchen equipment.
Thomas is deeply appreciated by the city of Montpelier.
She says that in addition to rebuilding the restaurant, she’s also building a community symbol and a culture.
Thomas says that this type of event is going to strengthen our business and community.
Arandas offers a 50 percent discount for Montpelier cleaning crews or businesses that are still rebuilding.
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