The Best of Times and the Worst of Times | KUSI News at Cali BBQ

KUSI News stopped by Cali Comfort BBQ on the day after Mother’s Day 2020 to talk about the BBQ War Stories that occurred when Cali BBQ sold out in 3 hours on the big holiday.

Good Morning San Diego’s Kacey McKinnon talked with Cali BBQ owner/operator Shawn Walchef during a live social distanced interview outside Cali Comfort BBQ in Spring Valley.

The day before on Mother’s Day 2020, Cali BBQ was slammed with orders for slow-smoked BBQ and to-go cocktails.

Even though we sold a lot of BBQ and drinks that day, that created other problems. We wish we could have served everyone who wanted our food that day, but there was too much demand.

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Even Amazon Prime is experiencing unprecedented delays in this pandemic. It’s a reality we’re facing head on.

“A lot of it is figuring it out day by day. It’s not easy. It’s not easy but we’re fortunate that we’re open. We’re fortunate we have healthy staff and a community that’s supported us through these good times and bad.”

“We’re all figuring this thing out, one day at a time,” Shawn Walchef said on KUSI’s Good Morning San Diego.

Many families were happy with the food and drinks we served during that busy holiday.

Others not so much. For that Cali BBQ apologizes.

To have the same amount of volume in a 3 hour period, when before the restaurant was open for 14 hours, was incredibly difficult.

“We’ve been running a restaurant for 12 years,” Shawn Walchef said on KUSI. “And even though we’ve been running it for 12 years, the last 7 weeks we’ve been solely an e-commerce business.”

But it’s all about learning and moving forward to make every family happy.

“So many people were understanding, and so many people were supportive,” Shawn Walchef said. “We’re going to be making adjustments.”

The 5700-square-foot dining room of Cali Comfort BBQ is closed to customers since California stopped dine-in restaurant service. It has been converted into a takeout and delivery only operation, with easy, and safe, social distancing pick up of BBQ, booze, and beer.

The news showed off the restaurant’s outside set-up that involves lots of signs, arrows, and easy to understand directions on how to get food safely.

We care about making everyone’s experience fun and safe at Cali BBQ.

“My General Manager Eric, my Catering Manager Steven, my team, they’ve been working so hard to make sure we keep social distancing, that we make it safe for our customers, make it safe for our staff.”

“We just want to let all the Mom’s know and all the people in San Diego that this is a very trying time and be patient with your local restaurant owners,” Shawn Walchef said on Good Morning San Diego. “A lot of local restaurants, they really need your support.”