COVID-19 has served as a nuisance to all of the world for the past month. Not only does it affect health but it also affects our economy, especially small businesses. Instead of worrying about chain companies, the real places you should be supporting are local restaurants.

Yes, I understand that you want your Chick-fil-a and Starbucks, but think about the small coffee shops and restaurants in your community that could use some extra support. With COVID-19, the economy is in a bad state—people are losing their jobs, everything has closed so no money is circulating and smaller businesses are suffering the most. Unlike large corporations who have funds to fall back on, most small businesses are run by families who rely on day to day profits to keep their store open. They could be in jeopardy of losing their entire business, which may be the only income the people running them have.

Some places that are continuing to remain open for take-out in the Tampa Bay area include:

• Asian Kitchen
• Buddy Brew
• Kahwa
• PDQ
• Deck Pizza
• Cask Social
• Fresh Kitchen
• Sociale
• Blackjack
• Cook’s Kitchen
• The Pressbox
• Westshore Pizza
• Trattoria Pasquale
• Dairy Joy

All of these places are utilizing their take-out or delivery orders to remain open. These are great options for lunch, dinner or whatever meal you need. At a time like this, support is crucial for places like this to stay open and have a chance of survival when all this is over. This pandemic has taken a toll on every person and every company, but the businesses that are affected the most are the ones with few workers and locations.

I’m not saying that every day you have to go out and order some food from one of these places, I’m just suggesting that you consider them instead of a larger chain restaurant and support your community.