LOS ANGELES — Smorgasburg is the largest open-air food market in America. It showcases hundreds of local vendors in New York and downtown Los Angeles, but due to the pandemic, the Sunday festival remains closed - leaving many of the food concepts with nowhere to go.
The food festival is where Shrimp Daddy got their start. June Quan, one of the four founders, loves to connect to the community through their hot, garlic butter shrimp. They would sell it at Smorgasburg every weekend.
“Smorgasburg was not only a way to sustain our business; it was our business,” Quan said.
The outdoor food festival used to pop up at Row DTLA every Sunday but has since closed due to pandemic restrictions. Guests would dine on various cuisines from businesses that are just starting to those that have a massive following.
Shrimp Daddy launched at the market just four years ago. Like many other businesses, this was their only location as an opportunity for founders June, Jeremy, Dan, and Ann to work out the kinks and get their brand out to the public, and of course, make money.
“It really is people’s livelihoods. It’s part of our everyday life. We prep the week for Smorgasburg,” Quan said.
The food festival was their only way to serve the public other than one-off events until COVID-19 shut it down. Like many others, Shrimp Daddy had to completely restructure their business model to delivery and pick up and do it quickly with their main source of revenue gone.
“Before we were serving one time a week, and now we serve seven days a week, and it’s amazing actually,” Quan said.
She does notice the positives of the situation but said she misses the Smorgasburg family. She also said it is more than just a food festival, it is the primary source of income for many businesses, and now with it closed, many concepts have nowhere to launch.
“It is a kick-starter for many potential restaurants that could start one day are not able to get their start,” Quan said.
Smorgasburg, with locations in New York, is in touch with their businesses about the possibility of reopening.
Until then, they are offering “Smorg Delivered,” a partnership with Grubhub to spread the word about pop-ups where customers can order food. Co-founder Jeremy Tu said they welcome any efforts during this time.
“They are doing whatever they can to support us, even if it is just marketing. We can see they are working hard to get us back to normal,” Tu said.
For now, delivery and pickup will have to suffice for Shrimp Daddy. Ordering from Smorg Delivered can be done every Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m.- 8 p.m. until November 1.
Free delivery is available for Smorgasburg vendor orders made through Grubhub. Using code SMORG2020 will get you $5 off your first order of $15 or more.